Here's how to Create Raving Fans inside and outside of the classroom.

Mastering the art of musical showmanship is the vital component to a powerful, rock and roll show.

Learning the essentials of good public speaking is just as important whether youre creating elearning courses or standing in front of a live group of trainees.

Throughout my career, Ive listened to literally hundreds of speakers on many different topics. Ive come to a conclusion that there is a key insight to public speaking and teaching: You can take every course on public speaking, learn all the right jokes and quotes, use all the right body language and dress for success. Yet, if you leave yourself out of the recipe, youll never have a lasting impression on your audience.

Injecting a bit of you.... kicking up your delivery skills just a notch by infusing a touch of showmanship into your gig, will inspire your participants to clap, cheer, give you a standing O, or flick their Bics.

Heres what you need to know. In the case of classroom training, there is a certain camaraderie amongst attendees.... similar to a rock concert where everyone is gathered together in a room... all there for the same reason... for two hours or more.... to witness your favorite tunes (in this case your presentations/courses)... and hopefully by the end you have them singing in unison as the lights come up... and they sigh That was Phenomenal!

Here are the 10 things you can do to have them screaming in the isles.... (and thats a good thing!)

1-Before the class is scheduled, get your PR machine working..cranking out the BUZZ about your class, well before the time arrives.

2-Visualize your outcome before you start. See yourself speaking and teaching. See your audience reacting positively. Feel great about what you about to accomplish. See the end goal people are inspired.

3-When you begin to speak imagine youre just having a conversation with another person... it has a calming effect (and youre very good at it youve been doing it all your life).

4-Frame your talk. Tell them what youre going to tell them. Tell it to them. And then tell them what you just told them. It helps to keep everyone focused.

5-Your Voice. Ahh, your voice. The most powerful communication weapon you have. Do you use it well? Things like melody, pace, volume, tone and pitch... can make you or break you on the music scene. When you use all 5 components correctly, you will have total control over your voice and the sounds that come out when you speak. Your voice can control the high and lows, can get attention, can cause people to sway (monotone), move back (loud) and draw them in (soft). When you can master how and when to control your voice youre on your way to becoming a great speaker.

6-Tell your stories / keep them brief, relative and enjoying. People love stories. They love real-world scenarios where certain principles have been applied successfully for a benefit or gain. Find your stories and use them every step of the way... but dont be boring. Knowing how to effectively use your voice is key, as well as intermittent sprinkles of the final four in this list.

7-Get them to laugh and they will listen. Comedy club... when you are entertained and something is funny you laugh until the drink shoots out of your nose. When the comedian goes to tell another joke, you try and stifle your laugh to hear whats coming next. Laughter is the key to listening.

8-Need to include at least one AHA! What are your key points? Do they have impact? There must be a need for your audience to sit up and take notice and go AHA!

9-Be Spontaneous. I know this sounds so easy... but it does take a bit of work and proper preparation. Deliver your material in a different way. Your audience may know your set list, so shake it up a bit. Strive to create a new show every time.

10- Give them hope and extract emotion from the audience by sharing yours. Try and be compelling. A better life, better job, more money... encourage them to learn and why it will help them to do so. The key is to not to try and motivate them. The key is to inspire them.

You can be motivated for a moment. You can be inspired for years.

Now what about outside of a classroom? Its not always feasible to run training classes a few times per year. It is very costly to fly people in from all over the country to attend a 3-5 day training seminar or workshop. It costs money to house them for the week, as well as the intangible costs of removing them from the field, from their daily jobs. Productivity suffers as a result. So when scheduling your training classes, money is definitely an object and careful planning and consideration must go into each endeavor.

Can you have the same engaging affect on your trainees through long distance learning?

Yes you can.

The key is to follow the 10 steps when you create your elearning training courses. The same presentation you give in front of a live audience can be delivered with just as much impact and emotion and interactivity.

Putting your training program online allows you to accomplish a couple of things:

1. Save time no training class
2. Save money no training class, etc.,
3. Quality of presentation will not change
4. Engage and interact on autopilot

#3 and #4 above can be true for you if the elearning training and tracking system that you utilize affords you these benefits. Make sure when you implement an elearning training and tracking program your needs are met.

The right system will provide you with powerful course authoring tools that allow you to incorporate PowerPoint with voice over, imbed videos, flash, and audio for a full contact experience with your viewer. In addition, your courses need to be incorporated into a powerful automated delivery and tracking system that literally allows you to engage and interact with your trainees on a set schedule, on autopilot.

AND, because this approach to course authoring and delivery really does involve their senses, your trainees have an easier time of remembering the message, as well as being able to view your material on their own time (not pulled from their jobs to attend a training class). Involving their senses through site and sound has a greater impact on the subconscious and their ability to recall the information later (just like the after-effects of a rock show).

What does this mean to you? Bottom line you dont always have to be present. Just because youre not up in front of a packed house of raving fans.... doesnt mean you cant inspire them to learn, retain and recall. Your online training presentations can be just as effective if you follow the 10 steps outlined above.

And the quality of your training doesnt go down... in fact, it gets better and better.

But I think the best part is this.... You wont need to schedule training or track progress for new hires anymore... your training program will literally run on cruise control, allowing you to be more objective focused than detail focused.

The devil is in the details, but he can surely screw up your program if he never lets you come up for air.

When you learn how to pull away from the number one time killer for all training professionals - administration youre on your way to achieving training success.

By having a consistent automated engagement plan in place your fans, will love you and beg you to come out for another encore.

Learn from The Boss and you cant go wrong.

Rock and Roll!

George