Trainer Tip: PPPP by Annepaul Vemagiri
Trainer Tip: PPPP.
But before that, here is your task of the day.
Take a Piece of Paper and Paint a P covering the entire sheet.
Take a Pause and look at your P
Pick a name that starts with P
Write 4 Praises for the Person whose name you wrote
My P – Pooja
1. Pooja you are a superwoman
2. Pooja you always carry a smile on your face.
3. Pooja passion towards your work is pure.
4. I am glad we are friends
Have you got a clue of a Trainer's PPPP ?
If yes, well done! If not, here we go
PPPP is a technique used by Trainers before, during or end of the training session to test knowledge and to check learning progress while engaging your learners in a classroom or an online session.
Here are the 4 PPPPs in the sequence of their usage
1. P – POSE A QUESTION
2. P – PAUSE
3. P – PICK A NAME
4. P – PRAISE
1P – Pose a Question
As a trainer we all know that asking questions is one powerful technique that every trainer must use. It is from the list of must have’s.
There are 2 types of questioning and they are Open ended and Closed ended. Both can be used as and when required but the sequence of questioning to test knowledge and learning progress while holding attention of all the attendees at the same time has a trick. Firstly, pose a question towards your learners with your eyes looking around. This would put everyone at attention as they do not know who must answer the question.
While you ask your question, keep your voice loud and clear to be audible to all in the room. Making eye contact is a must, this ensures two things – Get everyone’s attention and also helps you to gauge who could be knowing the answer. The idea is not to embarrass but to encourage participation during the training session.
2P – Pause
Post posing your question, look around, glancing over each one while taking a pause. The pause is to make sure everyone is listening to you. Incase, you notice someone has still not heard you. You may give them time to ask you to repeat.
3P – Pick a name
Out of all the learners sitting in the room, you must pick a name of the person you want to answer your question. Ensure to keep changing the names instead of picking up the same person all the time.
4P – Praise the person
Once you get the right answer, learn to praise. Praise can be in one word like "Bravo", "Superb", "Brilliant" or a phrase like, " that's the right answer". You may also ask everyone in the room to clap for the person. This would also create attention and participation. This also fills your session with good energy. Praise the person and confirm that the answer is right.
As Trainers, you must be able to gauge who has the right answer to avoid embarrassment. To involve all levels of learners, keep a bank of all levels of questions meaning easy to difficult ones so that you can ask as many questions as possible. Make note that you have balanced equally to all.
About The Author
Winner - Asian Education Awards 2023 & Academic Excellence Award for Extraordinary Service & Contribution to Teaching