Attending the 142nd Meeting of the Association of Professional Trainers (APTS)

The 142nd Association of Professional Trainers (APTS) meeting 2 days ago was quite a blast.

We had, for the 1st time, two emcees - Eugene Seah and Jude Lim - who decided to adopt a cross-talk style, to a... rather interesting effect.

Our President, Mr. David Lee, shared his experiences and thoughts with us during his opening address - something I always look forward to.

Then, we had our first speaker - Alvin Lim, who taught us about Risk Management.

He took us through the types of risks that we, as trainers, often come across:

Strategic Risks, Compliance Risks, Operational Risks, Financial Risks, and Reputation Risks

After that, he reminded us that we could do 5 things when it comes to risks:

1) Accept them
2) Reduce them
3) Share them
4) Transfer them
5) Avoid them

(5) is a common response, but never a long-term solution.

After a short break, we had Mike Li sharing what he suggested is The World's Biggest Problem.

Through an audience poll, and some research he had done, many people think that global warming is The World's Biggest Problem.

Well, it certainly keeps me up at night, especially during the past few sweltering days.

Without spoiling what I thought was an excellent TED-style talk, I will share just one key takeaway from it:

The Mediocre Are Always At Their Best.

Now, that's a statement for the ages.

Thank you, Alvin and Mike, for sharing some truly thought-provoking points.

I look forward to your next events!

A Creative, Millennial-friendly Workplace of the Future?

Last Thursday, I attended the 138th APTS Networking and Training Workshop.

Our first speaker was Dickson Tang (of Ideaschap), who spoke on Creativity and its importance in the future of work.

Though we are, inevitably, marching towards a future of automation and artificial intelligence, there are things that machines and computers cannot do well. As good as they are at analysis and logic, they cannot solve creatively.

In that, we have our advantage over them. To that end, Dickson shared 3 things that will be important in an automated future:

An INDIVIDUAL MINDSET that is creative and, instead of saying, “Cannot!” asks “Why not?”

A team INFRASTRUCTURE that is held together by making and learning from mistakes and strives to become well-versed in multiple disciplines.

A bank of IDEAS derived from figuring out how we can add to, subtract from, multiply by or divide up our current thoughts and methods.

He encouraged us to take time to ponder over these points and apply them to what we are already currently doing.

After a short break, we had our second speaker – Vivek Iyyani who spoke about Motivating Millennials at the Workplace.

 He shared the identity and motivations of the Millennials and, true to the Millenials’ embrace of technology, he made use of an audience-interactive online service that allowed us to immediately post our thoughts on the presentation screen.

He reminded us that, though the Millennials are often portrayed negatively, they are a product of previous generations and they still look to their elders for wisdom and feedback.

In order to lead Millennials, he emphasises that the previous generations have to appeal to their values and take the time to understand and mentor them. It is in the interests of superiors in the workplace (especially bosses) to make the work environment conducive to the Millennials using his 10F Model. I'll just mention a couple of them briefly:

FUN – to appeal to and cultivate their passions

FLEXIBILITY – to aid in work-life integration

FORTUNE – in benefits, not necessarily money

As a Millennial myself, I would certainly be more attracted to a workplace that has these things in place.

Once again, thank you, Dickson and Vivek for sharing your expertise and for making it such a fruitful evening.

Thank You For Being Part of My 2017

As 2017 draws to a close, I would like to thank all the incredible people I've met this past year.

Whether it was at a Trainers' Synergy gathering, a SG100 meet-up, an APTS meeting, an Introverts' Network get-together, or the numerous workshops, conferences and events I attended or participated in this year, I was glad to meet you.

Thank you for sharing your experience and for being so generous with your time.

Some of you I met during mission trips, church events (especially our recently concluded stage production - Close Quarters) and church services.

Thank you for demonstrating the love and grace of our Lord, for doing what you do in God's service, and for being a part of the body of Christ. 

I would like to specially thank you who were at my wedding, my speaking engagements, as well as my book launch. 

Thank you for being there to show your support, love and care.

To you whom I have known for years, thank you for your friendship. We may not have been able to meet as often as we'd like, but know that you hold a place in my heart.

As we dive into 2018, I wish you clear direction, excellent opportunities and endless delights.

Thank you for being part of my 2017. I look forward to journeying with you in 2018.

Celebrating Teachers' Day at the 132nd APTS Meeting

On 31st Aug 2017, I presented The Trainer's Toolbox at the 132nd APTS Meeting. 

Though it was targeted at newer trainers, the veteran trainers affirmed that they learned something as well. Now, before you think that they were just 'being nice', allow me to explain how the meeting went.

As a new initiative suggested by the committee of APTS, member speakers will give a presentation that will be subject to evaluation. Feedback will be given at the end of the presentation so that the speaker can be alerted to any possible blind spots and areas of improvement. This was all explained beforehand so the member speakers will know what they are getting themselves into.

I started my presentation by expounding on apples as fruit associated with knowledge. With that information in mind, I had a small gift for each trainer present. As they, too, are teachers, I gave each of them apple-flavoured candy. I had considered actual apples but I found candy to be more portable and less perishable.

The presentation proper continued, as I covered points on how to make any training session impactful by utilising specific techniques and taking certain actions.

Though my presentation went slightly overtime, it was well-received and I was applauded for keeping a consistent, polished delivery.

This was deemed worthy of comment as most of my fellow trainers agreed that, should they have known that they were being evaluated, they would have been more than a little distracted.

In turn, I assured them that it wasn't anything close to natural talent but a result of constant, dedicated practice over many years and that they, too, can achieve similar results.

The areas of improvement mainly revolved around the content I was using - how certain areas could be clarified further, certain parts could be more concise and other parts could be expanded. 

There was also a very useful bit of feedback on providing more audience-related examples. As the audience that evening would be trainers, the examples and stories to be presented could be more related to training and improving oneself as a trainer.

All in all, it was a fruitful (pardon the pun) evening and I am glad that many of the trainers took something useful back with them. If possible, I'd love to give another presentation.

After all, one can never get too much practice.