KW Technology Ambassador Update | September 10, 2014

Greetings, KW Technology Ambassadors!

Thanks to all of you who participated in the Ambassador webinar last Friday, September 5. The slides are now available for you to download.

We focused on another best practice in training last week, which is being aware of and working to overcome the “Curse of Knowledge” that plagues us all at times.

“When we know something, it becomes hard for us to imagine not knowing it. 

As a result, we become lousy communicators.”

—Chip and Dan Heath, from “Made to Stick”

This excerpt from Made to Stick explains how the Curse of Knowledge can get in our way of effectively training and supporting our learners. We’re at our best when we can put ourselves in the minds of our learners and see things through their eyes. In other words, we do have to imagine not knowing what we know, and remember what made the information “stick” for us when we first learned it.

Here are our top three tips for being an effective technical trainer despite the curse of knowledge:

1. Eliminate jargon. This can be harder than it sounds. Albert Einstein said, “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.” Watch out for acronyms and terms that may be unfamiliar to your learners. In fact, it’s a great idea to test-drive your classes with a trusted friend or family member first, preferably someone who has little to no knowledge of your training topic. They’ll be able to help you determine if your content is too technical and what needs to be simplified into “layman’s” terms. 
2. Use analogies. When you link new knowledge to knowledge that your learners already have, you’re using analogies. For example, when introducing the concept of databases, you could explain that a contact management database is like a rolodex, only modernized. It serves the same purpose—helps you find a person’s contact information—but does it faster and more efficiently. 
3. Assume nothing about your learners. Don’t assume that they know how to get to eEdge, White Pages, or even how to log in to myKW.  This is not meant to be insulting – everyone has to start at the beginning. And, often times, it’s the brand new agents that know nothing about KW Technology who are the most eager and enthusiastic learners. They came to you because they know you can help them with a problem or learn to be more self-sufficient.

What are you doing in your classes to simplify your content and make your training “stick?” Tell us by commenting on this post.

Here’s what’s on the webinar schedule this week. And, don’t forget that we’re constantly adding new videos to the KW Technology section of KWConnect.

Have a great day! 
Brenda Harralson and W. Cavin Weber