Becoming a Trainer

It was an August 3rd, around 9 AM, that she made her first step out and started her journey as Trainer in BEST. Like every newbie, she barely slept the night before, more because she had to fine tune everything. Since she gets the topic, she had only ONE fear: messing everything up. She was stressed, excited at the same time, over prepared about her topics and barely aware of different focus that could be brought by her audience.
It was the big DAY and, with her co-trainer, and despite some flaws, some bad timing and some stepping over each other toes, they made it a success. You might wish to experience that too…

It was a March 24th; I had my second step including 2 premières… It was the first time that I had MY trainees, meaning delivering alone, and first time I was delivering 8 hours in a row. That late afternoon, I was exhausted. You will feel the same emptiness at the end of such a challenge, same as feeling of accomplished mission.

July 2008, 11 European trainers are hugging each other very tightly. We spent 10 crazy days and all together delivered over 150 training hours. It is the closing ceremony of a training event. This ceremony ends the first part of a vision, a vision which started to be crafted 2 years before that day. A dream to gather trainers from several student NGOs to train together their members, by doing so to strengthen their organisations’ leadership and network, while working together to share best training practices. By the day of today, that odd vision, supported by few, made some babies and launched a wave throughout European youth NGOs which are now actively developing their training system. The fourth edition of that dream is on its way. Leadership Summer School is how trainers’ vision makes a breakthrough.

Paraphrasing my motivation letter when applying to become a trainer: “my main reason to be a trainer is to help BEST members to develop their potential. I really like to make people realise how they can achieve their goals by themselves, with their own skills, transforming their weaknesses into strength. Trainers can bring new knowledge, though they mainly enlighten the one trainee already have, in a relative latent form, and awake it towards its full potential.”©
From the lines above, I made one mistake… Trainer, in BEST and outside, should not be perceived as a status, it is a process. You are not a trainer, you are constantly becoming one. Step by step, you will craft your path and make your choices among the myriads of options knowledge transfer has to offer. As trainer, you need guidance, knowledge, support, fellows and even crafting tools no one thought about before you. Even though you will clear out your own path, you won’t be alone on that land. Any trainer is part of a huge network one can turn into a family.

My contribution on this part of the site will be to share with you discoveries in most of the fields I have been delivering in the past and future.