This is an excerpt from “Effective SMEs: A Trainer’s Guide for Helping Subject Matter Experts Facilitate Learning.” In this excerpt, Dale Ludwig (Turpin Communication’s Founder) and Greg Owen-Boger (Turpin’s VP) discuss the rewards and risks of asking SMEs to deliver training. If you’ve ever worked with subject matter experts (SMEs) in the training room, you know...
read moreRisks and Rewards of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the Training Role
November 11, 2017 0 Comments
The New Book, “Effective SMEs” Launches Today
November 7, 2017 0 Comments
Dale Ludwig (Turpin’s Founder) and I are happy to announce the launch of our new book, Effective SMEs: A Trainer’s Guide for Helping Subject Matter Experts Facilitate Learning! This book has been in the making for quite a while. We’ve been working with subject matter experts (SMEs) for years, helping them be more effective in their...
read morePreview the First Chapter of Effective SMEs!
October 30, 2017 0 Comments
It’s finally here! The book that Dale and Greg have been working on is ready for pre-order now, and it is set to ship on November 7! “Effective SMEs: A Trainer’s Guide for Helping Subject Matter Experts Facilitate Learning” was commissioned by ATD Press after they realized how popular the topic had been at conferences over the past several...
read moreLearning Styles
October 11, 2017 0 Comments
In this video, produced by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Greg Owen-Boger, Turpin’s VP, discusses designing content for different learning styles. Greg here with Turpin Communication. Let’s talk about learning styles. I know that there are a lot of people in our industry that have a lot to say about it. They say that we...
read moreDig Deeper and Listen for Nuance
October 3, 2017 0 Comments
In this video, produced by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Greg Owen-Boger, Turpin’s VP, discusses digging deeper to achieve the best learning. Greg here with Turpin Communication. I’m going to ask you to think back to your high school math class. Remember how your teacher asked you to show your work? It’s because she wasn’t just...
read morePut Activities in Check
September 25, 2017 0 Comments
In this video, produced by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Greg Owen-Boger, Turpin’s VP, discusses eliminating unnecessary activities. Greg here with Turpin Communication. Learning leaders often bring us in to work with their trainers. Our task is to help them improve their facilitation skills and, ultimately, build their credibility in the classroom. One of the things we see over and over...
read moreEmbrace Lecture
July 24, 2017 0 Comments
In this video, produced by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Greg Owen-Boger, Turpin’s VP, encourages you to embrace lecture. Greg here with Turpin Communication. Conventional wisdom in the industry goes something like this: lecture is bad, activities are good. And I’m not so sure I agree with that. I mean lecture, if done well, and honestly,...
read moreDon’t Waste Your Audience’s Time
May 16, 2017 0 Comments
In this video, produced by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Greg Owen-Boger, Turpin’s VP, discusses respecting your learners’ time. Greg here with Turpin Communication. In my experience coaching trainers, one of the things I recognize is that they often lose credibility because they waste learners’ time in the classroom. They use ineffective icebreakers or unnecessary icebreakers....
read moreHelp! My SME Just Went Rogue… Now What?!
May 3, 2017 0 Comments
If you’ve ever worked with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the training room, the title of this article is probably a familiar one. SMEs can and do go rogue. It’s not unusual for a Talent Development professional to lament the fact that the SMEs they work with don’t follow the facilitation guide or that they...
read moreMake Participating Easy
April 3, 2017 0 Comments
In this video, produced by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Greg Owen-Boger, Turpin’s VP, discusses making learning easy for learners. Greg here with Turpin Communication. Learning can sometimes be difficult, but participating in the learning event should be easy. What that means is we need to create a safe, supportive environment for fruitful learning to...
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