"Hello my name is... and welcome to the Advanced Sales Techniques Workshop. Let's take a look at what our objectives are today." How many times have you heard this opening? While this is one way to open a workshop, it's not a compelling way to capture your audience.

How many have turned to the slide or flip chart titled "Program Objectives" and used it as a sole means of telling participants what today will bring? I don't know about yours, but the program objective slides that I have seen don't offer a compelling reason for the participants to engage. Participants engage for their own reasons, not ours. We have to get inside their brains and see what the content means to them. Why do they care or not? How can we peak their interest? The old WIIFM (or what's in it for me) still applies here. This opening might create more interest for the same Advanced Sales Techniques Workshop.

"Last year the market was such that you could sit in your office, answer the phone and make money. That's a strategy. Given the drastic shift in the market, can you use that same strategy this year and expect the same results (asked as rhetorical)? Clearly the answer is no! Today we are going to take a look at varying strategies that you can utilize to be successful in both up and down markets. By the end of the day___"

It doesn't matter if your instructor guide doesn't provide...

Dear Vernon:
I've been given feedback that I tend not to have a lot of interaction in my classes. What are some ways that I can get my participants more involved?

M.L. in Phoenix, AZ

Dear M.L.:
A best practice is to get participants involved early and often. You should have some type of interaction with them in the first one or two minutes. You can do this with a simple show of hands or rhetorical question. You can also ask questions that lead to the introduction of content by participants.This is important because you are training them to hear another voice besides your own. You are setting the stage for how the class will run. Don't be afraid of this. The job of an instructor is to have people learn. This is best accomplished through their interaction. Don't feel like you have to make every point yourself and be the giver of all information. Have your classes be a sharing of information by all.