One reason training is so enjoyable is the variety of students and personalities one has the opportunity to encounter. Most students are eager to learn, respectful, and professional toward the instructor and other classmates. Technical experts, however, can have very set opinions. They may have spent years becoming more and more proficient in their technology, specific application, or solution. If you are teaching something that challenges their experiences and expertise, you may face some challenging students.

Following are some thoughts on how to handle these situations. But remember, this is a soft skill. These are opinions and opinions are not facts. If these solutions don’t work for you, try someone else’s opinions! I have grounded these solutions in common sense and adult learning principles. They have proven helpful to many and I hope you will find them helpful as well.

Set the Expectations at the Beginning

Years ago, I was working with a children’s group and decided to let them set the rules for engagement. They loved making rules. They were much stricter on themselves than I would have been. They were somewhat disappointed when I narrowed the list of rules from their 20 or 30 items to about 3.

As it turns out, adults are not much different from kids in that regard. If one even hints at turning them loose to make the rules at the beginning of a class, they will likely end up with a fair number of good but trivial rules of classroom behavior.

It is important, however, to agree to certain rules of engagement. Articulate those rules early, before you need them. I tell students very clearly, but in a fun way, that I have only two rules: you must take responsibility for your learning, and you must show respect for other learners.

Be Prepared for Difficult Responses

Setting the expectations is helpful, but you may still get difficult responses, even after the best of introductions. Think through each of the following possible responses before you go to class. It will help you feel prepared for those difficult students.

The Stubborn Mule

“I’ve already made up my mind.”

You may encounter that stubborn individual who has already determined to dislike your product or technology. Perhaps they prefer the competitor’s product, or maybe they are late to the new technology and don’t want to take the effort to learn anything new. The best way to handle stubborn students is to both acknowledge a difference and minimize the difference. Often, stubborn students just want their opinion vocalized. They also want you to know that you are not going to change them. If possible, find them alone and, in essence, tell them you didn’t expect to change them anyway. Consider a private conversation similar to the following.

You know, I noticed you dislike our product. It seems you prefer our competitor’s product. Am I right? Well, I’m fine with that. As long as you can show respect to the rest of the class by not interfering with their learning, I don’t care. If anyone wants to learn about our product, they have to want to learn about it themselves. My job is to help those who have an open mind learn something new. Are you okay with letting me do that?

The Pessimist

“This solution won’t work.”

I was trying to begin a class to a group of particularly unhappy technicians when I got that response. “It won’t work.” The loud and belligerent comment came from the back of the room. After repeated attempts to begin the class, I finally had the following conversation.

You’re right. This solution might not work for you. If you have a better solution, we can certainly discuss that later. Right now, my job is to help those who are willing to learn about this product and this technology. If, as you say, it doesn’t work, you will not be any less skilled in the technology you are already using. If it turns out that this solution does work, those who learned will be among the smart ones. Who here is willing to take that risk?

In this particular case, the entire class arrived upset, but no one wanted to be unwilling to learn, like the one who was vocalizing his concern. His overemphasis ended up working against him, as the rest of the class decided they wanted to learn. Incidentally, the solution did work!

The Helper

“Let me do it.”

Some students will always be the first to volunteer. That is a good thing, but it can be detrimental to others who want to learn. Your job is to distribute the opportunities fairly. Consider the following options:

• Who, on this side of the room knows the answer to this question? [Gesturing away from the student in question].
• Someone who has not answered a question yet, tell me…
• I would like a volunteer that hasn’t had an opportunity…
• I bet someone from this table can tell me…

I am sure you can come up with your own, but you get the point. You do not have to single out individuals for a response; you can encourage them by addressing smaller subgroups.

The Talker

“And then there was that time when I…”

Some students love to hear the sound of their own voice. They may be your best student, but are hindering the learning of others or causing the class agenda to derail. “The talker” is the hardest to address because they often do not have an attitude issue; they just love to talk. One approach to take with an excessive talker is to remind them of the need to stay on track. Use nonverbal cues, such as moving away from them (to disengage) or stopping a gesture in midair. They will subconsciously see that you are waiting to go on and it may—if you are lucky—push them to finish quickly. At times, it may be helpful to talk to them during a break and let them come up with a signal between the two of you that indicates a need to get back on track. If “the talker” feels like part of the inner circle, they may be more willing to help you progress. Sometimes you just have to interrupt them.

Thank you, but I only have a few minutes to finish my point…

Would it be possible to hear the rest of the story during our break?

The Extreme Introvert

“…”

Some students are too quiet. They do not want to say anything. You should note that there are levels of timidity. Some only appear to be timid because there are others who are more outgoing in the class, and they don’t see the need to interfere with them. Others would be timid even if they were the only one in the class. It can be difficult to interpret a student’s level of timidity. Pay careful attention when your trainees introduce themselves at the beginning of class. This is your first and best opportunity to decipher a student’s timidity level.

The best thing to do is to draw the timid student out gently. If you have laid out the ground rules, the expectations will be clear: you expect involvement from everyone. Even so, do not push it too hard. Start by involving the more outgoing students and find simple questions to engage the more timid ones. Thank your attendees for answering questions. Thank all of them, since thanking only the timid student will draw unwanted attention to them.

If you have a particularly timid student, one thing that can be effective is to have the students read each bullet point as you progress through the curriculum. Do not start with the timid one, but move down the line and on their turn they can read the next item just as everyone else. These small wins will eventually turn into questions and engagement will become a reality. Never expect too much. Be content with having stretched the timid student just a little.

The Sleeper

“Zzzz”

Almost every class has a daydreamer or sleeper. Get their attention quickly, before they drift into a land too distant for communication! Use nonverbal body language to get their attention. Move into the daydreamer’s space without drawing attention to them. Usually, that is all that is necessary. If a student is daydreaming, moving into their personal space is usually sufficient to get their attention. If a student is truly tired, it might be a good idea to take an early break. State something like the following:

It looks like we could all use a 5‐minute break.

One of the requirements for learning the next section is 5 minutes of fresh air. Let’s do that now.

The Expert

“I already know this.”

Probably the most dreaded student in technical training classes is the self‐perceived expert. There are two distinct attitudes in an expert. Some experts simply want the instructor to acknowledge them as such. You should. There is no harm in doing so and it will usually help you in the end. Get their assistance teaching other students or find other ways to use their expertise.

Some experts can also be stubborn. This is especially true if you appear to be trampling on a technology in which they have spent years becoming an expert. Jack, a training manager I had the privilege of working with for a few years, was a master at dealing with difficult experts, whom he referred to as “The smartest engineers.” He enjoyed the challenge of getting them to change their minds. I remember watching from the back of the room as a particularly difficult engineer challenged him about his product. The conversation went something like this.

Thank you for that feedback. Yours is one opinion and it may be correct. Would you be willing to come up after class and help me understand your point a little better? Like you, I always want to learn more. Maybe together we can determine if we really disagree, or if we are just using a different approach.

The rest took place after the class. I don’t know how the conversation progressed, but I do remember that the engineer left having changed his mind. By acknowledging his expertise and being willing to learn from him, Jack was able to individually extend the training session and change his attitude toward the proposed solution.

Conclusion

“It’s all about engagement.”

As stated earlier, the best way to deal with most of these problem scenarios is to keep your trainees actively engaged in the learning process. If lecture is the only way you are delivering the content, you are welcoming either a debate or a nap. The concern with lecture is that it does not tell the students how they should respond. Students will respond to lecture, but they will respond in whatever way they desire. The individual student is deciding how to respond for themselves, which causes some to sleep or daydream, others to talk, some to argue and be stubborn, some to volunteer to help, a few to check email messages, and so on. By creating engaging activities, the instructor is telling the students how to respond and this type of effective guidance will significantly reduce troubling circumstances.

What if it doesn’t work?

Every rule seems to have an exception. Some people are just jerks. Even after setting the expectations, keeping the students involved and actively engaged, and addressing them with respect, some will insist on disrupting the class. In those rare cases, remember these three principles.

1. Safety first. If the person is volatile or has been physical at all, you should dismiss the student immediately. Contact his or her supervisor or other authority and seek to get back to learning as soon as possible.
2. Do not be drawn into their trap. If they are argumentative, they want you to react. As soon as you do, you become part of the problem. Don’t fall for it. Stay calm. Give the class a break and try to talk to them in private.
3. Do not sacrifice the learning of the rest of the class because of one student. If it gets bad enough, you may need to talk to their supervisor and you may need to ask the student not to return to class.

In 20 years of training, I have never had to dismiss a student from a class because of behavior. It’s possible that I’ve just gotten lucky. I believe it has everything to do with the methodology of learning by doing.

Making It Practical

Teaching to your peers in the industry can be challenging. If you are in that position, it is because someone believes in your ability to control your classroom and teach effectively.

1. At the beginning of your next class, how will you encourage your students to take responsibility of their learning?
2. How can engaging students reduce conflicts in the classroom?

Before you read Chapter 15, “Virtual Facilitation: Tips for Effective Webinars,” answer these two questions.

1. What are some of the biggest challenges in engaging students in a virtual environment?
2. What are some things that should not change, even if the delivery method changes from a classroom environment to a virtual one?