Given my background in the creative industries, I was thinking about how creativity and training are linked.
As a trainer, I often feel that the delivery is a performance – almost improvisation to an outline of a script… whereas writing/developing material is akin to the artist in the studio – creating the next masterpiece.
There are a lot of techniques that we utilise as facilitators – some of them are so inherent to me that it’s difficult to identify them.
The Aims/Objectives & Learning Outcomes/Competencies are your concept, your idea of what it will look like and mean.. Essentially, what do you want this person, your audience, your participants, to gain from it? I remember once hearing a lady in a gallery looking at an abstract painting – “oh yes, t’s gorgeous, but what does it Mean??”
In the case of Art, without the meaning, the objective, it is looked upon as valueless. And so with training. Without an objective, it’s pointless – the question is why does this person need the training and what will they gain from it?
The canvas – the base of your piece, your program also needs attention. There are techniques to prepare it – room layout [literally – where are the desks and chairs put] and size, facilities available [whiteboards, storage, projectors, flipcharts, tea/coffee, bathroom facilities, posters], your preparation, your knowledge, even you mood and energy levels.. all of these things are the base that you work from to create your masterpiece program.
The tools – what are you using to create the program, your props for the performance? Resources needed to complete activities can range from handouts, blank paper, pens, pre-prepared puzzles/cards, craft items, internet resources. These are your brushes and paints.
Your style – this is your brush technique – how you apply the paint to the canvas is what makes you different as an artist.. and so how you apply the words, the body language, the actions; how you run the activities, are what makes your style as a facilitator.
I know there is an Art to Training, and I believe that there is art IN training.