Blog: Training and Development

I can remember when “subliminal” was the buzz word going around town. Anyone sitting in a theatre or watching television was going to go do outrageous things because of the subliminal messages hidden on the screen of either medium. It could be a useful tool in training come to think about it. So does mind-reading, but not everyone or, anyone for that matter, can really do it.

I always talk about tricking my students into learning. It’s not all talk. You might say that my message to them is subliminal. It is in the way I handle my tools and my students or trainees. They learn what I want them to learn. Yes, even the ones who don’t want to be there learn something. Am I advocating that we all learn to train using subliminal messages? Not really. Maybe I just like the sound of the word. Subliminal.

In fact, if you Google the word, you’ll get back such items as “train your wife,” “train your slave,” “train your body and mind,” train special parts of your body”–you know–if you want something bigger, etc. Hypnosis also comes under this category. Is it subliminal? It is suggestive? At any rate, we aren’t in the business of hypnotizing our trainees. So, no, I don’t think we should take the subliminal training too seriously.

However, I think I have close second. In way it is somewhat like my article on reading minds. You can’t really read minds, but you can read body language and observe, using it to your advantage. If you can affect someone’s thought processes you are projecting your own thoughts. Right? Subliminal.

Here’s where tricking students into learning comes in. It does require a flexible trainer or teacher to go with the flow of the class. Allow the class the floor while find a place to jump in and offer your part. Soon, you begin to make sense and they want to hear more. I think that is all a good trainer or teacher does: they become a part of the class. Connected. Not projecting his or her thoughts, but the class thinks as one.

Try this with one of your small training sessions give them a problem to solve from your training agenda, and when they are ready to discuss it (you take on that role as well), you let the ideas flow. The ideas you bring to the table are mostly from your training. I know there is probably another name for this kind of particapatory training. Call it what you will. I like “subliminal.”

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Just so you know I’m a real person, I teach University English and Speech, and Public Speaking and Acting; and like just about everyone in the 21st century, I have a website. In addition, I have authored four books, including my best seller, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development and a novel, a hair-raising tale of the near future called, Harry’s Reality.

Happy training.