If I asked you who your favorite college professor or coach was or even your favorite manager,
I bet someone would immediately come to your mind.
I'm thinking of somebody right now.
That's because great teachers motivate and train us to do great things.
My next guest couldn't agree more.
Joining me is Melissa Grey Satterfield, Senior Course Leader from Langevin Learning Services.
Good morning.
So, I gotta tell you, the minute I said that I thought of one person.
Joel Cheatwood.
He gave me my break on TV, and he was not only a great teacher.
He motivated me, he inspired me, and to this day I don't forget him.
And that's really important, to be that in life.
How do you become that kind of person?
Well, there are definitely traits that all good trainers have.
First and foremost, I would say, a passion for learning.
You just have to really love to see somebody get it, to see the lightbulb go on for somebody.
Then, of course, somebody who likes to interact with people.
Good communication skills and patience never hurts.
Alright, Melissa, so you've had a successful career in professional training.
How did it start for you?
Well, I started out in Broadcasting, much like you.
Oh you did?
You do that kind of reporter/anchor look going there.
Thank you.
And corporate training was just a really great fit for me.
I had the communication skills background, and I ended up working as a corporate trainer
and course designer for an organization based out of Los Angeles.
I had never been schooled on how to work with adults in an instructional setting, so I took
a Langevin Workshop, and I left incredibly empowered and enlightened.
So much so, that I took another Langevin Workshop, and then I made it my mission to work for
Langevin, and here I am.
Alright, so for those of us who don't know about Langevin, let's talk about it.
What is it?
We are the world's largest train-the-trainer company.
So, we provide workshops for anyone in the human resource development field.
So, whether you're the frontline facilitator, instructor, or somebody who designs training,
you're a project manager, or you run a training department, we offer workshops.
And, just to kind of put it into perspective, 80% of Fortune 500 companies send their trainers
to our workshops.
Really?
Yeah.
So, when they do that, how do you train a trainer?
That can't be easy.
It's not because...
Patience has got to be up there.
Well, trainers, they can be a tough crowd.
Yes?
I mean, they're scrutinizing us, the instructors, to see if we practice what we preach.
And that's one thing we do very well at Langevin.
We try very hard to model everything we teach, so our workshops are highly interactive.
They're highly participatory.
Our workshops are really based on the philosophy that you don't get paid for what you know.
You get paid for what you do.
So, we're not just teaching a bunch of theory.
There's lots of practice and plenty of opportunities for feedback.
And I'm sure there's lots of skills that you teach, but what's the most intimidating one
would you say for trainers?
Oh gosh, by far, public speaking.
I was going to say public speaking.
And you know, even for someone like me and you - you did broadcast - no matter how much
you do it, it's intimidating to get in front of a lot of people.
So, how do you overcome that?
Very carefully.
I mean, we offer workshops to help people overcome their fear of public speaking.
Less than 10% of the population is comfortable speaking in public.
I like to say practice makes permanence.
Oh.
I like that.
So the more you do it, the more natural you get, and the more second-nature it becomes.
Melissa, do you teach trainers these skills in a traditional classroom setting?
We do.
And in addition to that we do what we call virtual classroom training, which is live
online synchronies training.
But we have so many great tools and resources available on our website.
So, it really depends on how you like to learn.
And when someone is done with the program, do they get a certificate at the end?
They do.
Yes, and everybody loves the certificate.
And in addition to that, we also offer professional trainer certification programs.
So, we have three different levels of certification.
The first level is the specialty certification, and then you move on to your Master Trainer,
and finally you can get the Training and Development Diploma.
Some organizations actually require their trainers to get certified through Langevin.
It does carry a lot of weight in our industry because Langevin has such a strong reputation
in the industry.
How successful is the program?
Well to date we have trained over 100,000 corporate training professionals, and 20,000
of them have gotten certification.
Now, if someone out there is watching and they say, "Okay, I wonder if I could do that?"
What questions should they ask themselves?
First of all, a lot of people possess the traits of a good teacher or a good trainer.
If you've ever taught somebody how to do something, whether it be your child, a co-worker, a friend,
and they got it quickly, chances are you would make a good trainer.
But we have a wonderful staff at Langevin of Customer Service Representatives who will
guide somebody if they're interested in pursuing training on what workshop to take and how
to get started.
What do you enjoy most about training other people?
Well, I do love to see the lightbulb go on, and probably my greatest reward is after a
workshop if I have a client call me or send me an email and tell me that they were able
to apply the knowledge and skill they gained in training on the job, and that I made their
job easier.
That is my greatest reward.
And at that point I know I've hit the jackpot.
For our viewers out there who'd like more information on Langevin, where do they go?
Langevin.com Langevin.com.
Thank you so much for your time.
Now, if what you just saw inspired you to become a corporate trainer, just head to the
website Langevin.com or head our website, TheBalancingAct.com to get started.
And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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