Page 226 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

lucas chap 06 11/20/02 12:21 PM Page 215
Grouping Participants and Selecting Volunteers 215
really look at small items, toys, stickers, books, and incentives. Also, because it is
more cost effective if you can get a variety of benefits from an item, ask yourself
three questions: (1) How could I tie that into my program content? (2) Can it be
used in multiple ways (e.g., incentives, rewards, grouping)? and (3) What audience(s)
would the item appeal to? Make a list or purchase those items that you feel best
serve your purpose. You’re now on your way to presentation pizzazz!

Rubber Stamps
Stamps are very popular and come in hundreds of shapes.
They are fairly inexpensive and readily available. There
are entire specialty stores currently selling them; you
can also buy them at art/craft stores, teacher supply
stores, toy stores, and many department stores that
Stamp
sell toys. In addition, you can custom design your
own and have them made by many print shops.
Just as with erasers and toys, you can use them to
indicate group assignments. Simply stamp an image
onto the participant name tents before they arrive and
you are ready to go when the time for an activity comes
around.

PUTTING YOUR BRAIN TO WORK: ACTIVITY
Take a few moments to list other shapes or items you could use for the specific training programs you
conduct. These might be from the list I’ve provided or others you can think of.

Colored Markers
Colored flip chart markers also can be used for grouping participants. They provide a
group identifier and, when ready to brainstorm, each person has a marker to write with
on a flip chart. There are several ways to use markers to group participants. The first
technique is to indicate groupings by placing a series of colored markers at participant
locations. For example, start with red for the first person; then go around the room with
blue, green, and black; and then start over with the same color pattern until each per-
son has a marker. You could then either group all like colors together for an activity or
state that they have “X” number of minutes to form groups, ensuring that all groups
have a person with each color represented (e.g., one red, one blue, and so forth). Either
way, you separate people who were sitting together and change the groupings.