Ask, Not Tell

This is my new toys – A JBL Onstage Micro iPod loudspeaker.    I bought it at the Apple Store in Beijing at around RMB800.   (In fact, I subsequently realised that it costs much more at most places other than the Apple Store.    Some charge up to RMB1,000.)

It is a wonderful tool for my own use at home, as well as in the training rooms.  First, it is compact enough that I can comfortably carry it along my trips.   And though it is small, it is strong enough to cover a room of around 80sqm.   In addition, it comes with a remote control.   With that, you can professionally control the environment no matter where you stand in the training.  Lastly, you can also connect it with your laptop so that you can play, say, video clip in the training room.

这是新的玩具 – A JBL Onstage Micro iPod扬声器。我是在北京的Apple Store买的，约800多人民币。（我事后发觉在其他地方买贵得多，有些甚至高达1,000多人民币。）

这玩具非常好用，无论在家或者培训室内。首先，因为它够细而轻，我可以轻松带着它出差。虽然小，它的输出功率足够覆盖一间80sqm的房间。还有，这扬声器有一遥控装置，让我能专业地从房间不同位置控制培训的环境。最后，我可以把它连上电脑，让我在培训室播放短片。

What can we learn from the movie – The Pursuit of Happiness?

In a class I attended last week, the movie (just a part of it) helped bring out the topic of Time Management and Stress Management.   The movie shows how Will Smith managed to finish the demanding broker work early enough so that he can rush to get the free accommodation at the community centre.    It also shows how he released his stress, say, by taking a break with his kid in the seaside.

It is powerful to use movie clips (especially well-shot ones) to being out the learning points.

我们从这部电影（当幸福来敲门）中可以学到什么？

我上星期参加了一个课程，此课程用这个电影的片断引出了课程的主题：时间管理与压力管理。此电影讲述了威尔 史密斯如何尽早完成高要求的股票经纪人工作，然后可以赶去社区中心争取免费的住宿。电影还讲述了他如何释放他的压力，比如说，与他的孩子在海边游玩一下。

在课堂当中用电影（尤其是著名的电影）来引出学习要点是非常有效的。

The challenge is to identify the relevant movie clips.   I have come across a book 2 years ago which solves this problem.   It is called ‘Movie Clips that Teach and Train’.     For various common training topic e.g. motivation, conflict, the book lists out appropriate clips.   More importantly, it contains debrief questions which the trainers can use to induce reflection and discussion.

In addition, one thing I want to do more is to watch movies from the ‘training perspective‘.    I should identify some chinese-language movies appropriate for some of my classes!!

当然，挑战在于如何发现相关的电影片段。我在2年前曾经读过一本书，解决了以上的问题。这本书叫做 ‘Movie Clips that Teach and Train’(“能够用来教授与培训的电影片段”)。这本书对于许多常见的培训主题，比如：激励，冲突；都列出了合适的电影片断。更重要的是，书中还包含了培训师可以用来反映和讨论的简要问题。

另外，还有一件事我想做的就是从“培训角度”去看电影。我应该发现一些适用于我的课程的中文电影！

I made a casual lunch presentation last week in the office to share my personal view on time management.   Unlike the slides common in our bank, I made mine picture-driven.   Though I did not have much time to prepare, I still like them quite a lot.   Let me share a few with you here.

As I always argue, I believe that most of the time effective slides are supposed to carry pictures rather than words.   Wordy slides will only ‘compete’ with the speaker’s verbal content, which then makes understanding difficult.

上周，我以演示形式与同事分享我个人对时间管理的看法。虽让准备的时间不多，我也在前一天晚上准备了幻灯片，我还特意把它做得跟银行里大部分幻灯片不一样 – 以图而不是字为主导。我挺喜欢它的，让我在这里分享几张：

就如我经常说，我相信有效的幻灯片应该是以图为主，多字的幻灯片只会让听众分心，难以集中精神聆听演讲者说的内容。

I just conducted a TTT class in Shanghai for a number of trainers from local financial institutions.  It was a great experience for me.   It was inspiring to interact with trainers outside my organization.  I learnt new skills and new ways of looking at things in the training world.   More importantly, I was impressed with their eagerness and ability to learn.   They learnt fast.   For example, just overnight, one of them managed to incorporate effectively the element of analogy, example, diagram and questioning into his 5-min practice session!   I seldom encountered learners like this.

This experience made me re-think this blog.   I want to connect to the local trainers better.   As such, I will try again to write this blog in both English and Chinese.  Well, this will cost me a lot more time and I may hence write fewer posts.   But let me try.

我刚刚在上海完成了一个培训技巧的培训，学员是本地金融机构的培训师。通过这两天跟银行以外的培训师交流，我得到不少的启发。我学到新的技巧和在培训世界看东西的不同角度。我尤其对他们学习的热衷和能力留下深刻印象，举例说，其中一位学员，只是经过一天晚上的准备，他有效地把’事例’，’比喻’，’发问’和’图画’元素加到他的5分钟演示中。在我的经验中，只有非常少数的学员能学得那么快！

这次经验让我再考虑把这个博客变成中英文，我希望这样可以让我能联系上本地的培训师，当然，代价可能是因为额外需要的时间让我减少文章的数目！试试看吧！

A picture speaks a thousand words.  I think the same applies to cartoon.   Cartoon can be helpful in presentation to bring potentially boring subject to live.

I find a good source of cartoons on www.glasbergen.com.   Oh, and there are chinese versions on www.hroot.com/businesscartoon/