Time has evolved every profession and work. The training division has to advance accordingly. The audience is not the same anymore they are much more informed, interactive and razor-sharp. Now people are much more aware of their time and money's worth and they want to maximize the utility of that. To deal with growing expectation of the audience we have to revolutionize our training method too. Forget the old school thinking, now we have to improvise and innovate if we want to exceed the audience expectations.

In the previous article I wrote about how the training should be carried out. But this time around let me talk about what are the traits of the trainer. Not every one is cut out to be a trainer. That's why in many training sessions they fail to provide the right results due to one reason or the other. However, the most common reason in all this is that the trainer either didn't know what he was talking about, was not able to communicate his message effectively or was not in control of the situation.

In this article, I have put together 7'C of trainers. In order to be an effective trainer these are the few qualities that a trainer should possess. This will allow them to have a successful training workshop/ session.

1. Character.

2. Command on subject.

3. Communication skills.

4. Control.

5. Contact.

6. Clarity

7. Charisma / Charm.

1) Character:

By Character I want to refer to the credibility of the trainer. A trainer should have a profile of a trainer. Training is not like any other profession. You have to have an attitude and passion towards Couching and training. Only those trainers have been proven effective who consider this more then a profession or career choice. If you believe that you are doing something more then just earning piece of bread then you would prove to be influential on your audience.

2) Command on subject:

The Second trait that truly matters for a trainer is to have certain command on the subject. Whatever is under discussion if the trainer is clueless about the subject though he might have all the other traits but he could only stall the process until everyone will realize that he/she is just trying to hide behind his/her obliviousness.

The only way you could really grab the attention of the participants is to communicate to them that you have superior know-how of the subject and by the end of this session they will walk out of their with useful knowledge.

3) Communication Skills:

As it's said in "IBM ad. That its one thing to have a big idea and quite another to bring it to life." Similarly we can also relate to it as its one thing to have knowledge inside you and quite another to properly communicate in front of an audience.

Some trainers lose their control and credibility as they don't have the confidence or proper communication skills to communicate. The inability of this leads to lack of interest of the audience in the session.

Trainer has to maintain a balance in maintain the mood of the session. It should not be too serious or too casual. The trainer should also make sure that he communicates according to the level of the audience.

4) Control: The audiences at times have the tendency to sway or shift the topic of discussion to all sorts of dimensions. Now it's the trainer's job to keep everyone on the same page and be on the driver seat all the time.

This not only takes confidence but also needs tactfulness to keep everyone focused in on the subject.

5) Contact:

The trainer should also ensure that he pays individual attention to every participant. He/She should ensure that he/she takes everyone along. Every individual is different in their thinking and understanding so he needs to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

6) Clarity: The message or the subject under discussion should be made as clear and simple as possible. Their should be no element of ambiguity. If the subject is complicated then the trainer should bring down his/her pace accordingly so that he would take everyone along.

This aspect is so vital. As if someone was left behind or was not able to comprehend then he/she will lose all the interest in listening or understanding the rest of the session. Therefore, we need to pace our trainings session accordingly.

7) Charisma:

Now if the trainers really want the audience to actually listen to him/her instead of just hearing and have them properly follow the trainer, he/she should try to develop charismatic personality. If he has this, it would be considered a very strong plus.

Why this is considered significant is due to the fact that this will increase the trainer's acceptability and likeability amongst the audience. They will actually "LISTEN" and will try to keep up to whatever is being communicated to them.

Now above 7 C's could be different for different people, terminology could be different but traits are the same. Training as it's said is an ART. There are no exact words or limit to the qualities. Nobody can claim that these are the only things required. This is a constant learning process for the trainer as well.

About the Author

Syed Muzaffar Aqleem Tirmizi is an expert trainer. Is part of the operational management in leading cellular operator in Pakistan. Have been providing the organizations with practical and powerful solution to their concerns. Trained individual / teams. Has been part of many motivational trainings and speeches. For last couple of years has been involved in helping the top management to improve their team performance by in-depth analysis of their o