In Pursuit of Excellent Training Part 1

In my personal journey to improve my knowledge and skills I am always seeking opportunities to hang out with people that are smarter than I am so I can learn from their knowledge and experience. Now some of you may be thinking that I do not have to go far to find those people, and you are right. There are many people in Calgary, in Alberta, in Canada, in North America that are way smarter than I am and have skills, knowledge and experience from which I can benefit. We often do not have to go far. There are so many great books, DVD’s, and online resources. The public library is also only a few blocks from my home and iTunes is close at hand for downloading audio books and podcasts. I also have the good fortune that throughout the year I have the opportunity to have coffee and lunch with past and current members of the Calgary Police Service Learning Centre who provide me with some great insights and inspire me through their continual quest for improvement. A few times a year though, as part of my investment in myself, I travel to a course or conference.

During the first week of July I travelled to Lakewood, Colorado to take the course PowerPoint For Public Safety. This class is taught by Tom Manson from Police Technicalwww.policetechnical.com. The tag line for this course is “From Basic Presentation Design to Video Capture. Essential Skills and Strategies for Public Safety Personnel.” I had heard great things about this course from trainers I highly respect and have been trying to find course dates that did not conflict with my training and speaking schedule. In addition to taking the course I also wanted the opportunity to spend some time discussing training philosophies with Tom who is a really smart guy, an excellent trainer and a genuinely nice person. The course is a classroom course on PowerPoint. Now many people when they hear that about the course have two thoughts:

I already know how to use Powerpoint.
What can you learn from a classroom session on Powerpoint? That has to be boring.

While most of us know something about the use of PowerPoint, many of us are probably self taught and the reality is that we while know how to do a few things we really do not know how to use PowerPoint effectively.

This course is an eye opener for everyone who takes it about how little we actually know about

Powerpoint, and how much we can do with it to enhance the quality and effectiveness of this form of visual aide. People attend this course for a variety of reasons. Some, like myself, are trainers and want to use PowerPoint more effectively in our teaching. Others are investigators who want to use PowerPoint more effectively in developing presentations for juries or public informational sessions. Others are people that will use PowerPoint in budget presentations and other internal functions. Regardless of how or why you use PowerPoint this course is of great benefit.

This is a great course and Tom Manson is the key. In my presentations to Commanders and Chiefs ‘Excellence Through Training’ I talk about instructor selection criteria. One of the most important qualities of a great instructor is passion. A passion to teach, a passion to make a difference in the lives of the learners and a passion to help the people attending the training to achieve their goals. Tom Manson is a man with tremendous passion in all these areas. In my opinion a great instructor is the key to a great course and this course is no exception.

Tom is enthusiastic, open and truly interested in making sure that every person in the class walks away with things that will benefit them directly. He uses a variety of instructional methods to make the class an interactive, fun learning experience. He finds out what the adult learners in the room want from the training and provides it to them so they engage in learning. I highly recommend this course or any other offered by Tom Manson.

The messages here are:

Classroom training does not have to be boring.
There are no ‘dry topics’ just dry instructors.
Sometimes we need to challenge our own assumptions and seek out new experiences.

No matter how much you think you know, there is always more to know. Remember the words of John Wooden “When I am through learning, I am through.”

A side benefit from these type of courses is the fact you get to meet some great people who often serve as an inspiration. I met one of those people on this PowerPoint Course; Joe Cassa from the Wheat Ridge Police Department. Joe is the Commander of Patrol Operations in Wheat Ridge. Joe has been a police officer for 36 years. He still has a great attitude and is committed to learning and personal growth and development. Joe is currently working on his Masters degree in the psychology of communication. This is his second Masters degree. To me Joe serves as an inspiration to all law enforcement professionals, regardless of your length of service. The message I believe he lives is to stay positive and keep learning.

Take care.

Brian Willis

In Pursuit of Excellent Training Part 1

Contact Winning Mind Training

Events

Contact Winning Mind Training

Connect With Us

Events