Train the Trainer Seminar: Starting the Seminar Right

The way you start your seminar is vitally important. If you’re conducting a “train the trainer course”, you know people will be measuring your credibility by how you run your event. How you start and how you end are crucial to how your event will be perceived. Even if you’re not out to train the trainers, your stock will go up with attendees if your are punctual and don’t let distractions affect your event.

I would open a keynote speech with a story, but with seminars I like to open with introductions. Remember, the primary intent of a speech is to motivate and secondarily to educate. Seminars are just the opposite. That being the case, starting with introductions makes sense.

Start and End on Time, But Control What That Means
You must always start and end on time. There are no exceptions to this rule.

I make it very clear in all of my promotional literature that we start and end exactly on time. I also put this on the confirmation I send to people. Additionally, we remind people of this fact when they register. I start on time. People will respect you for doing this, even those who come late.

If you can’t do it any other way, leave out levels of detail that are less important than main points. This means that you must mark information that you can leave out. This way, if you see you are running short on time, you know what can be left out as you go.

Never penalize people who made it to your event on time by starting late. Reinforce the behavior by being prompt. If you have a multi-day event, people will get the message and get into their seats on time the following day, particularly if you deliver good information.

Many people make plans for what they will do after your event is over. They make these plans based on the time frames you give them. Stick to them. Many people don’t want to miss any of your seminar, but neither do they want to miss meeting a friend for dinner.

If you list the topics to be covered at your seminar never put exact times those items will be covered. Put the items in the order they will be covered and divide them into a morning and afternoon line up.

If you decide to ignore this advice and provide exact start times for subjects, I guarantee you that some anal-retentive type will look at his or her watch and say: “It’s 10:30, why aren’t we covering thus and so?” This is deadly. Don’t lock yourself into a time frame.

Things happen during the course of the seminar which may cause you to spend more or less time covering certain topics. Even if you have done the seminar 50 times before, this may still happen. A given group may need more or less concentration on a given issue. Keep yourself flexible.

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