4.3 The entry behaviour of the trainer

It is important that you work out what your position is at the beginning of a lesson series or course. Try to judge in an honest manner where your strong and weaker points lie in the field of study that will be the focus of the course, as well as with regard to social skills like patience, humour, creativity, motivation, and available time.

Make use of your strong points. You can derive self-confidence from them that will surely stand you in good stead. Do not force yourself into a teacher role by following guidelines that you may have read somewhere or that you remember from your own school days. There are no standard guidelines as there are no standard teachers or trainer.

For a trainer it is important to be enthusiastic about the material to be covered. Use a systematic approach to your lessons, provide diversity, have positive expectations with regard to your students, and be open to their contributions. If your base-line situation is favourable in terms of these points, an important condition for conducting a good and pleasurable course has been met.