What do comedy and driver training have in common? Listen and observe!
November 6, 2024
If you’re a fan of stand-up comedy, have you noticed the best comics connect with their audience through stories based on their life experiences? They also often tell one-off jokes on the fly, depending on what’s happening during a show.
But, when comedians engage with the audience and craft some of the material to the city they’re performing in, it feels more personal. They did their homework and took the time to connect with the audience. They cared.
When it comes to driver training, there are similarities in the way comedians engage with their audiences and the best practices driver trainers use to teach and engage with their drivers. You don’t have to necessarily be funny - these similarities revolve around the ability to observe and listen, and effectively engaging with your audience based on what you see and hear.
In a recent webinar with Jane Jazrawy, she broke down ways trainers can improve listening and observation skills to help drivers get the most out of the material being taught.
In this blog, we’ll cover:
- Keeping Drivers Engaged During Training
- Ask Questions and Encourage Drivers to Ask Them
- The Challenge with Virtual Training
- Tips for Meeting with Drivers 1-1
- Feedback is Key
Keeping Drivers Engaged During Training
Just like a good comedian reacts to their audience in real-time, as a driver trainer, you should too. Instead of reading straight from your slides about your topic, find opportunities to engage and observe how people are reacting to the material. By asking questions and having open discussions, you increase the likelihood that drivers stay focused and engaged. When people sit and listen to you speak for an hour straight, they can easily get distracted or tune you out. Sure, there will always be topics that are more boring or monotonous in nature than others. And some drivers, regardless of what you do, will have trouble paying attention.
Mixing in group or partner activities to discuss or practice concepts you teach can help drivers stay focused and retain the information. Just remember, during these activities, don’t ask your audience to “put themselves into groups”. No one likes to feel like they’re scrambling to find a group or partner to join and potentially experiencing the awkwardness of being left out.
For those drivers who like to be on their phones or talk among each other when you’re speaking, don’t try to tune it out or overreact. Be aware of the situation and simply try moving closer to the people involved while you’re presenting. Your presence, being physically closer to them, is a sure way to get them to stop whatever it is that they’re doing. It works like a charm.
Ask Questions and Encourage Drivers to Ask Them
Throughout your training, regularly ask your audience questions so you can gauge their level of understanding with the material. Not only will this give you feedback on driver comprehension, asking questions also allows them the opportunity to make connections on their own. When you propose a question and have trouble getting volunteers to answer -- or you see blank stares from your audience -- that’s a red light. You need to spend some additional time on that particular subject.
When no one volunteers to answer questions, you can try asking simpler questions and calling on drivers to respond. Try to make sure they have success with this approach, but if they can answer easier questions, you can get them used to talking. They may not like it at first, but having that open dialogue is key in aiding a driver’s comprehension and it helps the trainer understand the level of confidence drivers have in a particular subject.
When you ask questions, avoid closed questions that provoke a ‘yes or no’ response. They don’t give you much information. When you ask, ‘Are you ready to move on?’ or ‘Does everyone understand?’ before moving to the next subject, most people say yes or nod their heads. They may not understand the material, but they see questions as slowing everyone down.
Not only should you ask questions, but encourage drivers to ask their own. It’s completely okay if part of the lesson becomes an open conversation between the instructor and audience. Talking through concepts can help drivers relate to the material and tie in personal experiences depending on the subject.
When someone does ask a question, it’s essential to focus on what they’re saying rather than continue whatever it is that you’re doing. This lets your driver know you are paying attention and that their question matters. You don’t want to accidentally make it seem like questions aren’t important. When you don’t have an answer off the top of your head, it’s okay to pause and take a minute to formulate a response. If you don’t have an answer, let the driver know you need to think about it more and will get back to them.
People need to feel comfortable in the classroom and should feel like they always have the opportunity to feel ‘heard.’ As they say, there’s no such thing as a dumb question.
When you do answer a question, watch how they react to your response. Do they agree with what you said? Look confused? Follow up by asking if what you said made sense or if you answered their question before moving on. It’s possible that you may have answered only part of their question or misheard it altogether. When that happens, ask the driver to repeat the question so you can take another crack at it.
The Challenge with Virtual Training
While it’s much easier to gauge how drivers are responding to training in the classroom, virtual training through Zoom or Teams makes it much more challenging to know how well drivers are picking up the material. That’s especially the case if cameras are turned off and yours is on…it can feel like you’re talking into the void.
If you’re teaching a group of 3 or less, even when your audience has their cameras off, encourage them to unmute their audio connection. This is helpful so that even when you can’t see them, you can pick up audio queues, like groans or comments like ‘Oh, that makes sense.’ They are useful to hear and can help decide how to move forward with your material. When you have a large class size, anyone who isn’t speaking should mute their audio; otherwise, too much outside noise will be distracting for everyone.
Just because you’re giving a lesson virtually doesn’t mean you should refrain from asking questions throughout or providing opportunities to ask their own. Utilize the chat box and ask questions there. Proposing poll questions is another great way to drive engagement with your audience and see what the consensus is with a particular subject. Don’t be afraid to get creative with the types of questions you use when you’re presenting remotely.
Tips for Meeting with Drivers 1-1
While some 1-1 conversations with drivers are relaxed, others, especially if they pertain to a safety-related issue, can be more difficult. For example, when a driver is repeatedly ignoring or breaking safety procedures or had an at-fault collision, checking emotions at the door before you meet with the driver is important. Sure, you may be angry, but displaying that anger in a meeting can quickly turn combative. The point of these types of meetings is to correct the root cause of the issue, and beginning the meeting off on the wrong foot won’t help. Plan ahead before a meeting by thinking of the types of questions you’re going to ask and how you want to steer the conversation. Following through with that plan can help you stay on course. It can also help prevent unwanted emotions from taking over.
When you discover there’s a training-related issue, work with the driver to see where the issue lies. Are they often distracted during lessons? Is there a language barrier? Or are they having trouble grasping a particular concept and need additional coursework or 1-1 help? These issues can all be resolved once you identify the root cause. As a trainer, it’s important to communicate with your drivers about why the training you provide is necessary to keep them, and your company operating safely.
Feedback is Key
There is always room for improvement in anything you do. As a trainer, don’t be afraid to ask your drivers for honest feedback. Whether it's asking drivers at the end of a lesson what their thoughts were or issuing surveys or polls about the training you provide, it is key. As an instructor, you should be open-minded about how you teach and find creative ways to adapt your skills to deliver training that best registers with your drivers.
Remember the example of the comedian who tailors their jokes to the city where they perform? You don’t have to be able to tell jokes, but when you make a conscious effort to observe and listen to your audience when you deliver training, you can learn a lot about how to connect with them. Connection is an important part of learning, so using what you see and hear can help you be more effective as a trainer.