Hey, Subject Matter Expert! So, You Want to Write a Book.

Good. If you are like 81%* of the population, you want to write a book. You’ve got a lot to say. Maybe you want to write about your life experiences. If you’ve become an expert in your field, perhaps it is your work that moves you to want to tell the world some ways they can do things better because you’ve already figured that out. Whatever your motivation, you have a message to get out to the world and you don’t want to let your experience and knowledge stop with you.

Cheers to you and your willingness to share. Consider this your encouragement. It is hard work. It is not as glamorous as you think so forgo buying yourself a quill. Dig in for the long haul and go for it.

Most people who want to write a book never do. Writing a book is intimidating, like thinking about taking that hike along the entire Appalachian Trial; it’s something that you’ve always wanted to do but it’s overwhelming to think about and plan for. But that journey of a thousand miles really does start with just one step.

Take heart and do some planning. For now, here are five steps to guide you on the path to putting your knowledge, wisdom and experience in writing for posterity. First, breathe and relax. Have confidence. A little organization, dedication and time will get you far. You can do this.

5 Steps to Writing Your Book

1. Organize your thoughts. Put your ideas in order. Make a numbered list. Make a diagram. Use big paper because as you do this exercise, you will remember detail and you’ll need more room. This is your outline. Don’t get too attached to it. After you’ve started writing, or maybe even after you’ve finished your first draft, you may see a better organization. For now, start with the organization that is most logical to you.
2. Schedule writing time. Make it sacred. You need blocks of at least two, preferably four hours, at least once a week. Ideally, you can give it a few hours every morning if you have that kind of space in your life. Take the long view and give yourself a year to complete your manuscript. If you find that the ideas start to flow, you may finish in a few months. Dr. Wayne Dyer finished his first book idea for Your Erroneous Zones in only 14 days! After he knew exactly what he wanted to say, it was just a matter of how fast he could type.
3. Start at the beginning. I like to write an introduction or prologue first simply because it organizes the point and clearly defines the purpose for me at the outset. Often, the introduction changes completely after the book is finished, but again, you have to start somewhere and the logical place is at the beginning where you can set your tone and objectives. After that, write anywhere in your outline that moves you.
4. Don’t get too hung up on being a writer. This one trips people up most often. The very best that you have to offer is in your own voice. Don’t worry about sounding like William Faulkner. His voice is already taken. In fact, if writing isn’t your go-to communication style, speak your book into an audio file using the outline of your book as interview questions. (Example: If you are writing your life story and you have a chapter called “How I Met My Wife”, ask yourself the question, “How did you meet your wife?”) Use voice recognition software to convert the audio file into your first rough draft. You may be surprised how wonderful your book sounds when you don’t think about being a writer. Some of the best speakers and most intelligent people I know are not natural writers. But they can move rooms full of people to laughter and tears. Get that on tape, then clean up the transcript.
5. Hire an editor. As a professional writer, I am the first to admit that I am not a good editor and certainly not my own editor. A writer who is their own editor is like the physician who diagnoses himself: he has a fool for a patient. Trust me, you’ve got blind spots. When you’ve looked at your own manuscript long enough, you don’t see the typos. It is not a moral failing to have someone with an outsider’s perspective improve your work.

Most importantly, relax and enjoy the process. If you have really wanted to write a book, it is because you have something inside you screaming to get out. So sit down, fire up the laptop, and bang away on the keyboard. Have fun with it. You’ll be so darned proud when you have the book in your hand.

*An oft-cited statistic credited to New York Times writer Joseph Epstein.

A Checklist of Best Practices for Working with Content Developers

When subject matter experts are working with content developers and designers for training, marketing, sales, promotion and public relations, what you know is the most important part of the process. It is the job of the content developer or instructional designer to assemble questions, propose an interview and review schedule, and ask you to fill in information gaps.

However, you can have some control of the process itself from your end to help the content developer/writer/instructional designer/trainer to capture your knowledge.

Control can be a wonderful thing. Here are a few tips to make sure you have some leverage on the process.

1. Organization – Feel free to correct and amend! If the steps or flow of the information that the writer has outlined for you do not make sense to you, put them in a logical sequence for them. Nobody understands the context of the material better than you and that includes the content developer.
2. Timeliness – Be in control of the schedule. Be available for interviews and do reviews on the time you’ve both agreed. If they constantly reschedule or are late, escalate to your manager or theirs because it is impacting not only you, but the whole project timeline.
3. Scheduling Conflicts – Anticipate and avoid scheduling conflicts. You are in demand so you will find that sometimes your regular work may directly conflict with meeting your SME obligation. If you are in a job where this can occur, plan for this contingency. For example, ask the writer if you can work ahead on your deadline for your review, comments and sign-offs. In addition to the content developer, the schedule may also involve a graphic designer, computer programmer, project manager and an editor, and their work is scheduled around your deadline, too. Time is money all the way around. People’s deadlines and budgets are affected by your ability to fit this obligation into your schedule.
4. Accuracy – Provide the information requested and double-check to make sure it is correct when you get drafts of the program (and yes, you may receive more than one!). This seems simple enough and may even seem insulting to mention, but it wouldn’t be here if information isn’t regularly misinterpreted by content developers and failure to check information by subject matter experts didn’t happen.
5. Sign-Offs – Sign off at pre-agreed checkpoints, and make sure you have checked the accuracy of the information when you do. If you are working with a writer from outside your company, there is probably a contract in place between the contractor and your company that makes your company responsible for content after you affix your signature to it. If you sign off on incorrect information, it will cost your company when the project goes into overruns for corrections or scope creep. Internally, your sign-off means the information is going to be finalized, packaged and used in training, sales or public materials. Your sign-off not only is the hallmark of your credibility, but it affects the performance of other people in your organization and the impression of the organization to external audiences, as well.
6. Blind Spots – We all have them. Frequently, we develop blind spots as a result of our success. Because you are the SME, let’s assume you’ve met with a lot of success in your life, and that makes you vulnerable to blind spots. Think through the eyes of a novice when you are explaining details to your content developer. What seems obvious to you may be completely unfamiliar to someone who doesn’t walk in your shoes.

#LectureOff

As I write this, I think it sounds preach-y and I apologize if it does. On the other hand, sometimes when you are in the role of a subject matter expert, it is because you are 100% focused on your skill, ability, craft and knowledge. That is the great thing that makes you valuable.

In this blog in a few hundred words, I ask you to walk in your content developer’s shoes and see the world through their eyes. Without you, we’d be writing about ????

As a subject matter expert, what kinds of tips and best practices work for you when you are talking to writers, trainers and other content developers?

3 Things To Expect From Your Content Developer

Your content developer’s job is to conceptualize and plan a well-orchestrated document, whether that takes the shape of a training program, an article, a video or some other type of communication. It is your job as the subject matter expert to fill in the blanks.

If you find that you are having trouble whittling down what you know to fill in the blanks, or you can’t fill in the blanks as requested, the training or content developer needs to come up with a better plan. A well-designed document will make it fairly obvious to you exactly what the learner or reader/viewer will be consuming. A good plan will also make it obvious what is being requested of you.

When your understanding of the pathway set out by the content designer is different than the execution of the process, communicate your concerns immediately. No use wasting time chasing rabbits down the proverbial rabbit hole.

You will need a few things from a content developer or, in the case of a training program the instructional designer, to know if you have a good working plan.

The ID should be able to tell you three things:

• Objectives and goals of the document you are working on
• Information needed from you to achieve the objectives
• Process and timetable for the project

The Plan

You didn’t get where you are without learning to expect the unexpected and adjust to it. For those of you who like to be prepared, here is a common sense guide as you plan your work with the content designer.

Plan A: Plan your work and work your plan.

Plan B: The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry; midcourse correction.

Plan C: When all else fails, experience has shown that true subject matter experts will get the job done no matter the circumstances.

So while Plan A is preferred and Plan B has been known to occur, many strong training programs and other content have emerged from the fact that you are, indeed, the expert and you got there by dint of hard work and tenacity.

It’s good to have a plan. It’s even better to have a true SME.

  This is the fourth of four posts on tips for training your subject matter expert to be polished in front of learners.

In this final train-the-trainer – or TTT –  post, let’s look at some fundamentals of classroom management that make presentations run more smoothly. Many classroom management issues involve simple logistics. Some seem obvious to experienced facilitators but to the untrained trainer a few of these little logistical details can create speed bumps for the pace of your class if they aren’t handled properly.

Most trainers have some kind of icebreaker as a way to introduce themselves and engage learners. If you have favorite icebreakers you’ve learned, share them with trainers who are new to the classroom. There are plenty of ideas online for games to warm up learners. If you have a short class, say one hour or so, you won’t have time to do many complicated activities that take away from your limited time. At least have an introduction that engages the attendees such as a brief entertaining story that reveals a bit about you and your subject.

Logistics

Train-the-trainer sessions should include instructions on how to set down rules that make the class more comfortable for everyone. Yes, you are dealing with adults, but even adults need to be reminded to turn off their cell phones and check messages on the break. Even adults need to be reminded to wait their turn to speak. And even adults need to be reminded that speakers should be given undivided attention when they have the floor and that side conversations are distracting.

When creating a training slide deck, the rules are usually a standard second or third slide before the agenda or learning objectives.  That’s because the trainer needs to discuss logistics before diving into anything of substance to avoid stopping the class to address these things later. If the class doesn’t have a slide deck, simply post the rules where everyone can see them. Just make sure you call attention to them.

Here’s what to include for classroom rules:

• Cell phones: Turn off cell phones and get messages on the breaks
• Exits: Point out exits for emergencies when the location is unfamiliar to the learners
• Bio Breaks: Point out bathroom direction when the location is unfamiliar to the learners
• Temperature and noise: Adjust heat or cooling, ask if everyone is comfortable, and resolve any environmental issues if possible. Call building maintenance if there is a serious issue with comfort or if someone is operating a jackhammer outside the classroom.
• Parking Lot: Create a parking lot for discussions that are outside the scope of the class and for questions that arise and need to be researched (the parking lot can be a white board, a flip chart or some other place where you can write topics that need to be tabled)
• Rants: Encourage participation; discourage side conversations so everyone benefits from the thinking of the group
• Food and Drink: Announce availability or prohibitions regarding food and drink during the sessions. Inquire about food allergies.
• Schedule: Announce beginning and ending times, break times and whether snacks, lunch or dinner is available. Ask if anyone has a conflict. Inquire about food allergies.

In a multi-day class, insert this slide at the beginning of each new day of training as a reminder and briefly review the rules. Adjust these recommendations depending on the material, the class and the location. For example, food or breaks may not be relevant in a one-hour class. Emergency exits and bathroom directions are not needed when employees are familiar with the layout of their own company.

Behavior

Depending on the topic, attendees may encounter strong opinions or emotional moments among themselves. The trainer’s role is to keep the environment safe for people in the room. If an attendee feels attacked professionally or personally, it is important to try to reframe the statement or situation to neutralize the content of the message.

Distinguish between honest, healthy, heated professional discussions and those that cross the line and become personal. Often a strong, fiery debate is appropriate. If things devolve into tears or anger, though, consider the line crossed and jump in to reframe and neutralize the topic. If something can’t be resolved, say “let’s agree to disagree and put this in the parking lot for right now. Perhaps we can come back to this if we have time at the end of the class.” If the issue has no short-term satisfactory resolution, don’t return to it. It will only distract from discussing relevant material.

If a particular individual is disruptive, they often simply need to be acknowledged. Physically move closer to them and ask them for their opinion. Usually after a person is seen and heard, they will calm down and participate. When you encounter an individual for whom attention does not work, you may take them aside on a break, find out if there is a problem and, if it cannot be resolved, invite them to leave.

Your Trainer Appreciates Tricks of the Trade

When you are training your trainers, most subject matter experts who are going in front of a classroom for the first time are excited to be teaching their beloved topic. When you give them a few tips and tools, they will be much more successful. You can head off a lot of unnecessary problems by preparing them with these few techniques.

To review, over the past few weeks we discussed three main areas to cover when training the trainer. No, it’s not rocket science but it’s easy to overlook the easy stuff. Prepare your SME for success as a classroom trainer by including in your train-the-trainer program:

• The material to be taught
• Vocal quality and body position
• Classroom management

What are some of the classroom management techniques that you use to keep classes running smoothly? Share your comments below.

This is the third of four posts on tips for training your subject matter expert to be polished in front of learners.

To review from our previous weeks, train-the-trainer sessions – or TTT sessions – need to include three main topics:

• The material to be taught
• Vocal quality and body position
• Classroom management

This week, we will explore vocal quality and body position to ensure your material can be seen, heard and remembered.

Presentation Training is Essential

Except for a largely untrained rock band experience, I didn’t have any real experience in front of an audience until I spent a few years with Toastmasters. For anyone who wants to truly understand presentation, Toastmasters provides the ultimate education. Not everyone has the time or proximity to take advantage of a Toastmasters chapter, but everyone who gets in front of a group as a speaker, trainer or facilitator needs the skills it teaches.

To get any real value out of a program like Toastmasters or a certified facilitation course, you need months, if not years, to become truly polished and comfortable. Let’s assume you don’t have that kind of time to get ready, or get someone else ready, to present a class or facilitate a meeting. Now what?

When you are training your trainers, if your SME can nail down a few basic behaviors the material can be seen, heard and remembered. I recommend reinforcing basic speaking skills even for seasoned trainers during your train-the-trainer session. Refreshers are good for everyone. Even seasoned SME-trainers can use a little reminding about basic presentation skills.

Be Seen, Be Heard, Be Clear

Entire books have been written on speaking well and body language. For brevity, I just want to arm you with a few highlights that you can use in a quick TTT module. If you only have time to emphasize a few things, there are two main components to speaking, training and facilitating: voice quality and body posture.

1. Vocal Quality: Simply put, you must be able to be heard. This means accounting for people with different abilities to hear, as well. Don’t assume everyone has excellent hearing; they don’t. So even if you think your volume is fine, ask if everyone can hear you. Adjust seating if necessary.

Be sure to articulate your words and speak at a comfortable pace. Most of us have some regional accent or may speak too quickly when we are nervous. All the more reason to slow it down just one notch and pronounce consonants like “p’s” and “t’s” clearly that compensate somewhat for regional variations in pronunciation. This goes double if you have attendees who are non-native speakers. Keep your word choices simple so everyone understands what you are talking about. Even a room full of PhDs may have different specialties and you may be speaking across disciplines. Your goal is to be understood easily by as many people as possible.

When attendees speak, often their comments get lost. If you are leading a discussion or taking questions, be sure to repeat the questions before you answer them or sum up comments made by attendees. When it is obvious a speaker’s volume is too low to be heard, you can also ask them to repeat their comment so everyone can hear them. “Jane, that’s a great point. Would you mind repeating it to make sure everyone heard it?” It is more common than not that your attendees have not spoken loudly enough to be heard by everyone.

Unamplified Situations: In small rooms, you may be unamplified so make sure to speak loudly and clearly without shouting. Want to know if everyone can hear you? Ask them. Ask them early. Ask them again a bit later just to make sure you haven’t lost them. I have a habit of dropping my voice when I am engrossed in the material and I need to constantly remind myself to keep my voice level up.

Amplified Situations: Make sure you do a sound check both before the presentation or class and right after everyone arrives. Place your mic appropriately on your body so you can move your head and body naturally. You don’t want to talk into your collar! When the room is full, do one last check before you begin because people and their clothing absorb sound. You might have been loud and clear in a large empty hall during your sound check, but you may be muffled with a roomful of people during the real thing. Also, if you move around when you speak, be aware of the placement of your mic so it doesn’t create feedback.

2. Body positioning: Your attendees need to see you and they need to see your material if you are using a video or slide presentation. Don’t compete with your slides for attention. If they contain vital information, step aside so they can be read by everyone. Sometimes, with a small room or due to some other logistics, it is hard to find a place to stand where you aren’t obstructing someone’s view of critical material. If that’s the case, move around enough so everyone gets a chance to see your presentation. Also, just like with vocal volume, ask if everyone can see. Again, offer to adjust seating and ask if people would like to move closer.

Everyone needs to see you – not just any side of you but your face. Your face communicates a lot of your message. In fact, if you have attendees who have trouble hearing you, they will be getting critical information by seeing your face. Again, this may mean moving around depending on the size and orientation of the room. As much as possible, do not turn your back on your attendees at any time. It not only obscures your facial expressions, it is impolite.

Finally, body posture communicates most of your message. I’ve seen studies that say body language makes up 80% or more of our message. Smile. Make eye contact with your attendees. Keep an open posture, meaning don’t put your hands in your pockets or fold your arms. Gesture using your arms from the center of your body. Open palms and open arms are good signals to your audience that you want to communicate with them.

One last little hint: just because a presenter is comfortable in front of the class doesn’t necessarily mean they are effective. Reinforce these basic skills to make sure they are not only comfortable with themselves, but that your trainers are making the learning experience comfortable for the attendees, too. When the attendees can see and hear the material, you have accomplished the first step to them remembering what you have told them!

What are your favorite train-the-trainer tips? Pet peeves? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Yes, it’s true. When you are conducting a train-the-trainer session, you need to work with your subject matter expert (SME) to train them how to teach their own material. It sounds silly. In fact, your SME may not want to be taught how to teach their own material! But as part of a train-the-trainer session, make sure you include this vital component.

To review from last week’s blog on train-the-trainer (TTT) sessions, they need to include three main topics:

• The material to be taught
• Vocal quality and body position
• Classroom management

This week, we will explore how to make sure your SME is teaching the program that you have designed together.

TTT for the Unconscious Competent

In my book Working with SMEs, I discuss different types of subject matter experts including the type you most often will work with – a brilliant unconscious competent. Briefly, an unconscious competent is someone who knows their subject so well that they don’t even know how much they know.

In a class with targeted material and a limited amount of time, this can get very messy. As the SME begins to teach the real class, they will think of a million examples and stories from their career. Their love for the topic is the whole reason you want them to teach the class. It is that enthusiasm, however, that can become a runaway train. The SME may be very engaging and the class may love the session. However, without a little structure, the actual training material and lesson plan may be lost.

Therefore, before you put your SME in front of a class, remind them to follow the training program they worked with you to develop.  You can achieve this most easily by asking them to teach a module to you and a few other people using a clock and the timed, written materials. When they teach a lesson to you and are required to stick to the facilitator’s guide, you will both discover:

• How well your timing actually works
• How much flexibility the trainer can take to add their own stories and examples
• If their discussion includes all the points in your learning objectives

Demonstration, Observation, Feedback

Ideally, you will teach the entire class as written to a group of trainers-in-training who will experience the course in its entirety before getting in front of a class. This allows you to get feedback and make any final tweaks in timing, activities and content level.  After you’ve demonstrated the way the class is designed to be taught, turn it over to the trainers to teach back to you. Give each trainee one section of the program to teach; it is unlikely you will have time for each trainee to teach back the entire course.

Some of your trainers who are not SMEs will probably follow your script pretty closely. It is your SME-trainers who most commonly may take the topic and run with it.

As you observe your new trainers, the non-SMEs will learn a lot from listening to the experts. And the SMEs will learn the limits of teaching within the structure of a designed learning experience.  Everybody wins in this scenario.

Finally, make sure to also observe your new trainers for their first few classes. When your SME actually goes live, you can be guaranteed that it will be a different experience for them. Your ongoing support through the transition to teaching real classes is very valuable. Hold their hand until they become an experienced trainer who knows how to teach their subject in a linear way.

The students will benefit and the SMEs will enjoy the experience much more as they become increasingly successful.

  This is the first in a series on conducting train-the-trainer sessions with your SMEs.

Your SME is one of the best resources on the subject of your training program, and that means they can be the perfect classroom facilitator. Most SMEs need some training on how to present material, whether or not they consider themselves seasoned speakers. For this reason, training professionals often include training specifically to teach SMEs how to be live trainers, and these classes are called Train-the-Trainer or TTT.

When a company frees some of its valuable subject matter expertise resources to train its other employees, it is a great opportunity to maximize the SME’s value. Here’s why:

1. SMEs always have more in their heads. You capture some of that good stuff in a live training session.
2. Live students will give immediate feedback about the content and level of the training so you know immediately when you are hitting the mark and when you need to adjust the material.
3. Usually a company’s most valued SME assets not only have a lot of knowledge inside their heads, but their style and demeanor reflect company standards, too. Their personal style is also imparted indirectly as other employees observe the SME’s behavior during the training program.

What Does a Train-the-Trainer Program Include?

It’s a great idea to get your SMEs in front of your learners. It is also an even better idea to prepare them appropriately so you can make the most of the experience. Make sure to conduct a TTT session with your SME before you set them loose on your employees. Even if a SME is accustomed to making presentations, the learning environment is special and different. They need to be prepared to be successful as a facilitator and trainer.

TTT sessions need to:

• Go over the material to be taught
• Review presentation skills including body positioning and vocal quality
• Cover methods for classroom management

In the next few weeks, I will discuss each of these items in more detail.

If you have experiences working with SMEs as trainers, please share your experiences in the comments below.