Thursday, September 22, 2011

Anthony Robbins - master trainer!


We went for a booster session with Anthony Robbins this week - and there is no doubt that he is one of the top trainers I have encountered - ever!
I wrote about his amazingly strong training techniques in our March blog and now I am even more convinced of his ability.
If you missed out on the March blog, please read that as well:
http://blog.mci.edu.au/2011/03/anthony-robbins-great-training.html
Anthony has some very good messages and I will capture some of those further down, but it is the way in which he conveys them and ensures that we remember them, that makes his such an effective trainer.
1. He says his key messages over and over again in different ways. He anchors the learning by ensuring that the audience also says it to another person, sees it on the screen and writes it down. "Do you have that written down?" he asks to remind everyone to take note.
2. He creates movement in the room. No one sits down for for more than 20 minutes at a time. Tony knows that movement creates energy in the room and the brain starts thinking and operating differently.He ensures that people are up and about and "shaking it out."
3. There are role plays. I know we hate them and he does not label them as role plays. He says - "let's try it out." Act out what you have just heard so that it embeds in long term memory.
4. His visuals on the screen are simple, easy to follow and designed according to 'slideology' principles.
5. He uses his voice particularly well. Loud, clear and changes the tone and the pace frequently to reinforce the messages.
6. He is so full of energy and as we know, you are drawn to those with the energy. Do we always set our energy on high when we are delivering training? Tony is obviously in peak physical fitness as well because he keeps going at that pace without tiring.
7. He constantly changes the mode of the session and the brain loves that type of change - we remain engaged and in flow. He introduces humour and then becomes serious. He talks and then he writes on the whiteboard. He comes down from the stage and walks around. The group does an activity. The music comes on and then goes off. Constant change and before you know it 3 hours has gone by and you have learnt and recalled main messages.
8. He is very strong on his own personal branding. He is not afraid to share his own stories of his life and triumphs and failures - not in an arrogant way but as part of the learning. He is a brilliant marketing person and not shy to promote his other programs. Why are we as learning and development people not pushing what we do so strongly that we have a high profile in the organisation?
9. And talking of stories, Tony uses lots of stories to make his point clear. He talks about the sports stars he has worked with and their lessons resonate with us. He talks of other people he has coached and he sets us up to believe that anything we want to achieve is possible. Are we using enough stories in our own training sessions to inspire others?
10. Tony gave out no fancy manuals with beautiful images and pages. We all took our own notes and that is the way to go! The more you write yourself in your own words the better. He gave references and told us where to go to read more and learn more - but the live session was all about driving the key messages home.
11. There were over 5000 people in the room. You never felt as though you could not learn because you did not receive special and individual attention. Instead, the energy and the networking were great and in the smaller activities we were learning from each other. I know that in some cases you do need to provide smaller classes for more impact and for special needs - but I am tired of the belief that training is only effective in small groups.
Here are some of the key messages that are relevant for all of us in our personal and professional life:

“See things as they are, not worse than they are.” – Tony Robbins

“The difference between MUST & SHOULD is the life you want and the life you have” - Tony Robbins

“Most people are weak because they can’t tell the truth to themselves, be honest with yourself and the truth will set you free.” – Tony Robbins

“When fear leaves you, life enters you.” - Tony Robbins

“The only thing that is keeping you from what you really want is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t have it.” - Tony Robbins

“In leadership, you get what you tolerate. Lead by example.” - Tony Robbins

“If you want to change your life you have to raise your standards.” - Tony Robbins

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