Part of a panel to discuss real-world common and unusual training mishaps and pitfalls.They emphasize ways they mitigated those situations and what they implemented to ensure that the same challenges would not happen again in the library, off-site, and online. The session will include ideas to help any trainer/teacher/learner prepare for and cope with failures that occur in the learning process. Topics include how to stay one step ahead of your learners, what helps to stay calm as things are falling to pieces, and when to call in the cavalry.

1. Embracing Training Failures &
Learning From Them:
What You Can Mitigate in
Advance
Jill Hurst-Wahl
Director, MSLIS Program
Syracuse University
@jill_hw
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Note: I’d like to credit whomever took this photo, but the Internet lost that
information.
What a training failure feels like.

3. Five Failures You Can Mitigate
Before They Occur
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SyracuseUniversityiSchool

4. The Audience
• Problems:
• Unsure why they are there
• Not committed to the training
• Not enough or too much knowledge
• Have their own agenda
• Solutions:
• Well written description
• Who is the event for?
• Learning outcomes
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SyracuseUniversityiSchool

5. The Room
• Problems:
• Bad layout
• Bad line of sight, bad acoustics
• Not enough equipment/resources
• Solutions:
• Define your requirements upfront
• Own the room!
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SyracuseUniversityiSchool

6. The Content
• Problems:
• It isn’t understandable
• Delivery is one-way vs. interactive
• Sage on the stage
• It isn’t flexible
• Solutions:
• Keep it simple & straightforward
• Create interaction
• Plan for meeting varying needs
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SyracuseUniversityiSchool

7. The Clock
• Problems:
• Too much or too little content
• Time taken up by other things
• Breaks become too long
• Participants are not on your schedule
• Solutions:
• Have extra material
• Have an agenda
• Force the schedule
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SyracuseUniversityiSchool

8. The Mouth
• Problems:
• You’re not confident in your delivery
• You cannot be heard
• You’re not fully present
• Solutions:
• Practice
• Take a public speaking workshop
• Block out distractions
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SyracuseUniversityiSchool

9. SyracuseUniversityiSchool
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/shawnarron/8006853151/