Effective SMEs: A Trainer’s Guide for Helping Subject Matter Experts Facilitate Learning - Softcover

Ludwig, Dale; Owen-Boger, Greg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1562861700 ISBN 13: 9781562861704

Publisher: Association for Talent Development, 2017

Synopsis

Content expertise isn't enough for the training room.

Partnering with subject matter experts can really pay off. SMEs (we pronounce it smees) bring credibility and relevance to live training. They enrich learning programs with their insight and depth of experience. But content expertise alone isn't enough to deliver effective training. . . .

SMEs want to do well in the classroom, but it's often unfamiliar terrain. They're authorities on content, not talent development. Without guidance, they may overshare or find themselves unable to facilitate a productive discussion---all of which frustrate learners. But, with the right approach, you can bring SMEs into the training room successfully, in a way that makes learners, instructors, and managers feel like their goals are being met.

Effective SMEs: A Trainer's Guide for Helping Subject Matter Experts Facilitate Learning is the blueprint to managing SME-led training. Authors Dale Ludwig and Greg Owen-Boger offer first-rate advice gleaned from decades helping presenters, instructional designers, and SMEs become better communicators. Underlying all their tips is their belief that SMEs and instructional designers must get comfortable with each other's role. The authors lay the groundwork for you, describing the fundamental principles of a successful training event and the personal approach they contend every SME and ID bring to the training table. You'll discover how to design learning events with the needs of SMEs in mind. And you'll try out best practices for coaching SMEs to deliver training efficiently and effectively. The authors also share detailed and relatable workplace scenarios drawn from their vast business experience as well as job aids to assist you in a variety of learning situations.

Effective SMEs is the rare book that addresses both designing for SMEs to deliver training and coaching them to be effective once they're in the training room. Don't plan your next live training event without it.

About this title

About the Author:

Dale Ludwig is the founder and president of Turpin Communication, a presentation and facilitation training company based in Chicago. Over the past 25 years, he and his partners have developed methodologies that challenge much of the conventional wisdom in the field. Dale has a PhD in communication from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is co-author of The Orderly Conversation: Business Presentations Redefined. He is a frequent blogger and guest writer at Training Industry's website. In addition to The Orderly Conversation, he is the author of the whitepaper “Getting Past 101: How to Bring Value and Relevance to Presentation Skills Training,” which can be downloaded at www.turpincommunication.com.
Greg Owen-Boger is the vice president of Turpin Communication. He was schooled in management and the performing arts and joined Turpin in 1995 as a workshop videographer. He quickly worked his way up, and now serves as account manager, trainer, and coach for a broad range of Turpin's clients. He is a frequent blogger and popular conference speaker. He is also co-author of The Orderly Conversation: Business Presentations Redefined. Greg served as the 2015 president of the Chicagoland Chapter of the Association for Talent Development, and is among many thought leaders who contributed to Master Presenter: Lessons From the World's Top Experts on Becoming a More Influential Speaker.

Review:

“To many instructional designers, the experience of working with SMEs in facilitation ranges from a futile effort in necromancy to something akin to herding cats. Thanks to Dale and Greg’s efforts with this book, the art of mastering the mentorship and migration of SMEs to facilitators is now a journey well worth taking for every instructional designer.”

 

—Dr. Chuck Hodell

Author, ISD From the Ground Up and SMEs From the Ground Up

“Fantastic book! It provided valuable insights for a subject matter expert (like me) that have helped me understand how best to work with instructional designers so that together we produce the most effective training.”

—Michael Lee Stallard

President, Connection Culture Group

Author, Connection Culture

 

“My first job as a trainer was at AT&T in IT. I had no budget and needed my peers to teach workshops. Yet there was very little available to help me transition my SMEs to learning facilitators. What a gift to be able to share this easy-to-digest, step-by-step process to drive more effective learning. This will be one of those books you grab often as you work.”

—Lou Russell

Director of Learning Services/Duchess, Russell Martin & Associates, a Moser Company

“This book is long overdue! Bringing subject matter experts into a training session can strengthen the credibility of the learning, but done incorrectly it can be a disaster! Greg Owen-Boger and Dale Ludwig have bundled up more than 20 years’ experience into one book that outlines how to design programs using SMEs to bring out the full potential of those experts in a spontaneous and interactive environment.”

—Terri Pearce

EVP HR, Head of Learning, Talent Development and Resourcing, HSBC USA

About this edition

• Publisher: Association for Talent Development
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1562861700
• ISBN 13: 9781562861704
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192