Can you imagine being a Human Resources expert participating in your Society of Human Resources Chapter (SHRM) meeting’s workshop and experiencing the worst trainer you have ever seen?
An Accidental trainer…
- didn’t set out to be a trainer
- is passionate about their subject
- is a subject matter expert (SME)
- was asked to share their knowledge with others.
The Story
This trainer I am describing was not an “accidental trainer.” She was an expert with over 30 years of experience and a Ph.D. in training. That is what she claimed as she went on and on about all of the letters after her name in her introduction. Next, she called out one of the participants who walked in the door “late”. She did this loudly and rudely in front of all of the people at the workshop.
Tech Issues
She had issues with the PowerPoint and moving from slide to slide. The president of the chapter, who introduced her the first time, is also great at tech. It turns out that she didn’t have her clicker turned on. And she skipped the objectives slide, telling us, “You don’t need to see that slide, I just forgot to take it out”.
Reading the Slides
She read the definition of an accidental trainer (all four bullets) word for word. Her back was turned towards us the entire time. Possibly, the people in the back of the large room couldn’t even hear her. It seemed that she got confused because she started staring out of the window at the trees. Some people looked out of the window to see what she was looking at. Maybe she was just spacing out.
Over Sharing
The part most people couldn’t believe was when she asked everyone if it was hot in the room. She took off her jacket and threw it on a table. She said, “It must be my hot flashes. I’m going through menopause.” She fanned herself and looked around the room. Then her phone started ringing. And she answered it right in front of us! She had a quick conversation and hung up. The conversation was something about her husband taking the dog out. She did say, “I’m sorry for the interruption”.
The audience couldn’t believe that Mary, the program director, selected this woman to conduct a two-hour workshop. It had only been less than five minutes, and most of the class was ready to walk out. This trainer was really, really bad. For sure, the participants could not take another 1 hour and 55 minutes of this terrible training.
Then, the trainer started laughing and said, “I can’t do this anymore”.
The Reveal
That trainer was me. This is the way I started a two-hour workshop. I intentionally wanted the audience to experience a terrible trainer. I wanted them to experience the feeling and emotion of an audience member who was not learning and didn’t want to learn (because of the trainer). I asked them how they felt. Most of them were shocked that anyone could be that rude and awful. Anthony suggested that, at least, it would be a funny, entertaining class. Lori, in the front row, said, “I don’t think you were THAT bad”. Everyone laughed.
The Set-up
I had chosen about 5 people to act out roles.
- Coming in late
- Calling my phone
- Pretending my clicker was off
Then two that didn’t even happen:
- Mayra was playing on her phone. I didn’t even see her because she moved seats, and someone was right in front of her.
- Another conspirator was supposed to raise her hand to ask a question, but never did. I was waiting for a question, and it threw me off my “bad game”.
The Workshop
I continued the class, as myself, letting them know that Mary had told me they were “good sports”. I knew that HR professionals had seen mostly everything at their organizations.
They participated in exercises, large groups, pair and share, discussions, role-plays, and more. The first exercise after my “demonstration” was a small group exercise where each group wrote down everything I did “wrong”. That was fun because the list was long. It got them talking and sharing. The room got loud with ideas and laughter.
When we talked about instructional methods, learning by doing and experiencing emotions turned out to be the most effective method for remembering (except for practice). They took their lists and came up with what a trainer should do and what they could do in their training.
The Secret
The big secret of the class is that training is not about the instructor, facilitator, or trainer. The attention should be focused on the participants. Caring for the learners and supporting their learning is the number one job of the trainer. Feeling emotion helps people remember what is happening.
If I had started the class by asking, “What are all of the things a trainer could do badly when teaching a skill?” They would still have a list, but this way, they experienced the training. When they think back, they will remember that crazy trainer who did everything wrong. They will never remember creating a list.
The Conclusion
So, the next time you are an accidental trainer, remember, having your participants experience and practice is more effective than most other instructional methods. What types of training methods work best for you?
Check out more Accidental Trainer Blogs
https://larg.com/2025/02/the-accidental-trainer-how-to-overcome-imposter-syndrome-and-embrace-your-expertise/
https://larg.com/2025/03/the-accidental-trainer/
https://larg.com/category/professional-development/
