With the introduction of these 4 roles, you will see what it needs to encourage your learners to read, and implement your learning.
As we’ve seen, good trainers are on a mission to help learners meet their challenges, solve their problems, and achieve their aims. You are a mentor or guide for your readers; and a good mentor has to play 4 roles.
Role 1 : Empathise
Imagine your learner and how he’s stuck in an unhappy place. His boss has asked him to do something and he’s unsure how to go about it.
The first thing you do as a good mentor is to emphathise with your ideal learners. You tell them you understand their fears and frustrations, you know they’re unhappy to be stuck; you understand they want to travel to a happier place. You put your arm around your learners’ shoulder, and you tell them: “I hear you, I see you.”
When learners feel you understand them, they’re more likely to listen to your advice and what you can teach them.
Role 2: Point them to a happy destination
The next thing you do as a good mentor is give your learner hope. You point out that the happy destination exists, where they’ll feel happy, more relaxed, confident and more productive or better in any other way.
You tell your learner that you can lead them to that happy destination. Your Modlette will help make their life better . . . you’ll help them reach a goal, solve a problem, or meet their boss’s challenge. That’s why they want to complete your Modlette.
Next week: Roles 3 and 4.