Ajit Kamath Wizzes

It's hilarious: One Trainer claims that he is India's No. 1 Train the Trainer. I really don't know who is the Certifying body and what's the basis of this claim but nevertheless the claim is part of the signature line. Another claims to be Mumbai 1st Trainer in a particular Technique. Till recently he claimed to the only one certified in that technique. A Intl. Training Co. Franchisee claims to be the Global Top Training Co. They are a listed Co. in US and their financial statement showed that they were a loss making company until a few years back (whereas the claim started about 7 to 8 years ago). Is this required? And why do we need this? Can't our work speak for ourselves through our clients? Do we think that Client HR is soooo damn stupid that they aren't going to ask us for the rationale on our claim. BTW, are they asking?

Yesterday late night, Sunil and I were sitting and planning the flow of the Theater Training workshop on 15, 16. I am feeling the value and the direction of the training is going on the right track. Most of the participants are trainers and we expect a lot of fun, learning and churning.

Dear Friends, We would like to personally invite you all for the Trainers Forum Meet at Mumbai, on Sunday, 29th May, 2011. Session I –The objective of the session is to understand how Dramatics and Theater techniques are powerful mediums to make a Trainer communicate learning concepts to his participants powerfully. Theater uses all the 3 elements i.e. visual, auditory and kinesthetic Session includes: Introduction Various Theatre Techniques useful in Training Role Plays (commonly used) ‘Improv’ (Improvisation) Forum Theatre – Trainer as a Role Player Forum Theatre – Trainer as a Role Player and Action/Reaction as per the audience Forum Theatre – Professional Actors as Role Players Skills Practice Facilitator: Mr. Ajit Kamat h , Director, Wiz T alks. Ajit started lecturing in 1992, and has been in the space of Soft Skills Training since 1996. Since 2002 he started Training for Corporates' on topics such as Presentation Skills , Communication Ski...

One of my friends & a Faculty in a well-known B-school called me asking for advice: [He works as a Senior HR in a well-known organisation who also moonlights as a Visiting Faculty in a B-school. He is good in his subject, runs the class with a book and sharing his personal experiences. However energy wise he is low in energy in class (his age being on the higher side of 50)]. He is within a few years approaching retirement. He has an option of accepting VRS too with a good package. Now his question was whether he should take VRS and enter the field of Training as a Freelancer? For him Training would a good source additional income and would give him an opportunity to relax too. Now,my thought is "Why are we Trainers here?" For some of us it is "passion " - we have chosen to let go of our other careers and tansition to this field. And this is where we are going to be till a long time. However for some - it's a Pension Plan And for some others - its a Stop-G...

w no response or their colleagues inform that they would get back to us soon. They don't even let us know that it is a "NO". I strongly suspect that this is done either for the 3-quotation requirement (for audit purposes) and therefore they try to source the expensive quotations as they have already finalised their Trainer / Training Company; OR for getting ready-made designs which then they incorporate into their own in-house design claiming it to be their own work. Now this is not what I am writing for. I write to make our Trainers aware of something happening later that really amuses me. Few of these seniors, in recent years have either retired / or gone into independent consultancy..... and some of them have got into training. Now the fun is that they have come to the other side ("the grass being always greener on the other side!"). Recently a few of them were complaining that clients (Companies and thus naturally their HR's ) do not get back, do not re...

A year ago, my very dear Trainer friend Bhupesh Dave (a Magician too!) sponsored my ticket to a very vibrant session of Deepak Chopra at Shanmukhanand Hall, Mumbai. After the session, 4 of us Trainers (myself, Bhupesh, Sachin Kamath & Rajesh Tagore had an interesting conversation. Our observation was that Deepak Chopra in his 3 hour session, in his examples / andedotes / explanations dropped names of some important people like Dalai Lama etc.and surprisingly also of Trainers/Speakers. He also referenced books & articles of fellow trainers/speakers (who probably could be considered his competitors). Now cut to sessions by an Indian Trainer / Speaker. It's always about ourselves and when we do talk about other Trainers / Speakers, it would be more of Western Trainers/ Speakers/Authors whom either we have/haven't met or the audience may never have met. Rarely have I seen any Trainer mentioning about him/her having learnt from a colleague Trainer/Speaker from India itself. ...

This was a question raised by Naina Mehta in Trainers Forum. My answer: Thank you for the question which everyone probably wanted to ask but dared not? Before we get stuck-up with blaming our Indian fascination for everything 'phoren', let me offer a perspective. As I have been a 'Certified Trainer' in International programs as well as I deliver my own conceptualised "Training Programs", I hope to present a balanced opinion 1. What is an International Certification? A certification allows you to deliver a particular training program with it's modules (this generally is an Intellectual Property program which has it's base on some research, book, thought or philosophy). This certification allows one to deliver this program across the globe or pre-defined areas (as per the contract signed with the intellectual property holder). Usually these modules are very structured (a few cultural variations allowed) but the trainer can't bring in his own content...

Is mentioning as Ex employee or associate of an organisation, violates the copyright or patent rights ? .... Question asked in Trainers Forum by Manish Agarwal My thoughts: As per my knowledge, there is no law in India that prohibits you to use ex-Company as part of your profile. There could be some Companies who may have signed an agreement before you joined saying that you can't use their name in future and there could be non-competing clause too. We may have to check the legal validity of such clauses. I'm unsure but the Constitution of India (especially the Article that gives one a Right to practice a profession or vocation may support one here) Another thought is - if one can't use it then how come the Past Presidents, Past PM's etc. proudly mention it. Even MP's flaunt it.... and professionally retired Judges use it too. Further let's not forget ex-Army/Navy/Airforce who promptly put up Retd. Colonel / Captain / Cmde etc. in their business cards, letterhea...

I have uploaded the soft copy of the presentation which I delivered at the ISTD Regional Conference at Pune on 16 Jan 2010. Check out http://tinyurl.com/yfxcepr Awaiting videos ... that would be uploaded too.

Most trainers are merely PPT readers - a comment I read on linkedin to which I have put forth my observations below: I have an objection to the loose use of "most" by the originator of the comment here. It assumes that the person has observed all of us Trainers and then made a comment w.r.t. "most". If you had said "Most presenters are PPT readers" I would have agreed. I have had the privilege of conducting TTT's, observing many Trainers / Presenters / Speakers in Mumbai and have a fairly decent network of training friends from whom I have realised that the following: 1. Freelancers and people who get training assignments from Companies generally tend to use PPT more as an Aid and a Cue Card for remembering the flow. They don't end up being PPT readers. 2. There are many Trainers who absolutely don't use PPT at all / or to the basic minimum. They use powerful methodologies like Story Telling, Role Plays, Acitivites, Games, Role Modeling, Grou...

Question by Nisha Dhanuka on http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=48422&discussionID=7595367&sik=&trk=mywl_artile&goback=.mwg_48422_1 My Answer: Whilst designing the training program, I would find out the following: - Why is this training required (Needs) - What is expected to change after this training - Participant profile - Age, Experience, Level, Qualifications, Culture etc. (this would make me decide how the training moves; an e.g. a program for a logical oriented audience would be different from a creative audience - How many days do we have for this intervention. Delivery Styles would be individual but I believe can be trained and enhanced. If the above has been mapped, a passionate Trainer can easily adapt to their audience. 4 Basic Styles are: Lecturer Speaker / Presenter Trainer Facilitator A Trainer has to know how to Train & Facilitate, both. Methodologies and techniques need to be used for being effective in transfer of l...

How much of ‘entertaining’ is advisable in Training? What is the role of humor and fun in a learning environment? The question also how and how much? (The above were questions asked in linkedin) My thoughts: Games, Activities, Humor etc. surely make learning "Fun". I'm unsure whether we can call this 'entertainment' because this can take the Trainer away from the objectives of the learning session. I use instant humour more in the post-lunch space or if I feel that the energy levels of the participants has dipped. I would also decide the "how much" part of it, by mapping my audience well. For e.g. if it's a young crowd (college-going) then the session would be laced with humour and fun, but if it's a senior profile that I am handling, then I would 'tone-down' the humour and fun bit. In certain training programs such as Communication Skills, Presentation Skills, Negotiation Skills etc. the 'fun' element can be integrated as part o...

Last week I was in a meeting. The HR Manager announced that we would be meeting the CEO of this company for a discussion on the training intervention. I was surprised because normally this doesn't happen in the first meeting itself. The CEO was young and dynamic. He was briefed about me well by the HR Manager and we immediately got into the training objectives, the program and the effectiveness (In most cases, whenever I meet senior Management, I have to first give an introduction of myself (either the HR hasn't briefed them about me or the senior hasn't read the brief that was sent). The meeting was focused and ended well. The CEO also gave me required inputs about the targeted group too. I was highly impressed! Meeting over, I had a thought: Why can't more CEO's get involved in the training of the organisation? Why is it difficult to have their perspective of the Training need? Does it mean, I don't trust HR? Absolutely not!!! But my experience is that many HR...

It's really really funny. I know of Training Companies whose Trainers are made to claim (who dares ask for proof from the Trainers?) on the floor that their training interventions reduced attrition in client companies, but when it comes to their own Trainers they haven't been able to reduce attrition at all. Many Trainers are leaving sooo soon and that too "hurt" . One of the reason is that most Training Companies (my previous experience and of my network of trainers experiences tell me) don't have any HR processes at all. The Owners / Franchisees run Training Companies like "lalas" with autocratic form of leadership. They don't even let their teams know how much business they do. These are the same guys who 'teach' client participants that other styles of leadership should be used. Another reason is payments of dues... I remember a hilarious incident.... I and the Training Co's BD Manager, were observers to a training program being deli...

In L&T, for a particular division in Mumbai, I coach small teams in delivering an effective presentation internally to their organisation's seniors. At times the coaching is to Supervisors who have to deliver a session to their newly promoted Supervisors. Recently it was for a competition. The fun of coaching such teams is that I'm working with practical application of the learning. In training workshops, the skills are surely enhanced but chances are many of these participants may not get an opportunity to present for the next many months. Presentation Skills / Public Speaking isn't like cycling or swimming.... once learnt, learnt for life. With these skills if you loose out on applying it regularly (at least once a week) the 'enhancement' starts coming back to the original position. If organisations, do not provide opportunities to practice the skill on a regular basis, then the training effectivness (and thus the ROI) may suffer. Can the trainer really be ...

I was in Chail, Himachal Pradesh, near Shimla for a NGO Training workshop. This is a hill station in HP but probably not as crowded as Shimla. Nice quiet place. Temperature about 23 deg. For 3 days that I was there, I went for an early morning walk on 2 of those days. The 2nd day, I started walking uphill, past a gurudwara and further on. This was about 6.30 am. There were houses on the way but "sleepy". I went further on. After about 30 minutes, I paused as I was panting. Suddenly it struck me that it was eerily quiet... few birds, funny croaking by hill crows.... and nothing else. The breeze was playing truant with the cedar trees... and no human sound at all. I was frightened., frightened of the silence and that I was alone. I didn't have the guts to go further on. I started back.... to the noises. I wonder why? Is it that for a hard-core Mumbaite like me, who is so used to sounds (high decibles), so used to voices and noise... this "silence" was terrifying.

Yes, surely but depends on levels. Senior level training budgets are reduced but not training per se i.e. the venue and facilities aren't 5-star hotels anymore (nor residential resorts) but in the office conference room itself (has it's disadvantages but ;-) trainings are happening and no cuts). Similar is the situation for the mid-levels... the only hit is that people have been removed and therefore the no. of days engagement has been drastically reduced. The entry-levels and the junior level freelance trainers have been hit the most. No more bulk trainings... in many companies either being done by internal trainers or by functional heads.... outsourced trainers have been hit. Some companies have smartly started hiring full-time trainers so that a fixed salary could be paid and not per-day rates. This is the India perspective.

Q- I want experiences of trainers speakers on how they entered the training speaking industry. Is it better to work with a training company for a year to understand the industry better or is it better to launch yourself directly as a freelancer. My personal outlook (the Questioners') is that most successful trainers speakers today launched themselves directly into the industry. First there is a difference between Trainers and Speakers. Few of our colleagues do both, but I don't think the "Trainer Speaker" terminology isn't appropriate. Speakers who have directly launched themselves into this industry (I'm not sure whether they considered it an industry!) were experts in their field, either as Professionals OR have written books which have been successful. They were invited to speak at various Forums and they did an excellent job of the same. The audience loved them, learnt from them and understood their books better. More books got sold. Meeting organisers ...

March.... Possibly a month, where companies are concentrating on increasing their figures before the close of the financial year (in India). Planned Training would be at the minimum in March. Therefore in March, personally, I have a lot of time to reflect, meet clients, develop new business etc. Till last year, March was the time the smaller companies / unplanned HR / NGO's would rush to complete their (budgeted for) training. At times it was merely to complete an ISO requirement. But this year, due to market conditions these companies have no interest nor inclination. The heat of March!!!!