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Susan's Picks > Articles
Articles
Susan offers articles on a variety of subjects. We hope that you find the articles of value and they meet your personal and professional needs.
Peruse this page to see if any of the summaries spark your interest.
Happy reading!
Susan Articles
- Staying Focused During Meetings by Susan Otto
Do you feel as if all you do is bounce around from one agenda item to the next, rarely getting closure? You are not alone. Susan provides some ideas on how to stay focused during meeting.
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- Meeting Agenda Items: Let's Be Thorough by Susan Otto
Do you feel like all you do is bounce around from one agenda item to the next without ever really discussing the topic thoroughly? You are not alone. Susan provides some ideas on how to deal with meeting agenda items.
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Meetings are prevalent in every organization. Effective meetings are a “must-have.” Learn the first step to take when determining a meeting is necessary.
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- Meeting Appreciation by Susan Otto
Susan reminds us that we should consider showing appreciation daily by adopting some simple, but effective behaviors during our next meeting.
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- What Are the Ingredients of Piloting a New or Revised Program? by Susan Otto
Susan shares the elements needed to pilot a new or revised class, course, module, or seminar. Take the steps necessary to ensure that your training programs are effective and worth their cost.
How you begin your meeting can influence its effectiveness. Consider these simple tips for opening your next meeting.
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- Meeting Preparations: The Final Checks by Susan Otto
So, you think your meeting agenda is complete. Well, think again. Consider these elements before finalizing your meeting agenda.
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- What Are Training Materials?
Susan shares some training materials you might consider using when designing your training. Depending on your participants’ needs, choose the ones that will be most effective in helping them apply the ideas and skills back on the job.
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Susan walks you through the elements needed to conduct a pilot program for your new or revised training initiatives. Find out what you should say to participants in a pilot training program. Discover what follow up steps you should take to ensure that valuable feedback of the pilot is collected.
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- The Meeting Agenda Details
You’ve created your agenda for your meeting…but have you considered everything you may need? Look over the details that are often overlooked.
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- One Way Designing Training Works
Susan is often asked about how she designs training. Here is one example of how she worked with a client to create a first draft of a training program.
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Creating and distributing an agenda is important in making your meetings more effective. Get some hints on what you should consider in formulating your next meeting agenda.
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Susan is often asked about how she designs training. Here is her first client experience when asked to document…and redesign a training seminar.
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- The Dos and Don'ts of Creating Training Materials
Susan shares the dos and don’ts of creating training materials. These quick tips are sure to help you to begin documenting your ideas, knowledge, and skills so that others can be taught these critical components which are necessary for your organization’s success. (Cincinnati Women Biz Magazine printed this article in 2007.)
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Most meetings are poorly planned. Creating an agenda is a great first step in making your meetings more effective.
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Susan encourages you to choose one moment in your day to be aware. She asks you to snap out of your routine and really consider your next step.
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Susan invites you to choose a moment and being – being aware.
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- How to Find Content When You Need It
Trade magazines, journals, and publications are great source of content, but you have to be able to find it. Read Susan’s organizing tip.
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- Leadership: A Call for Acknowledgement and Uniqueness
Acknowledge, recognize, and support – find out why these three components are necessary in being a successful leader.
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- Attracting Perfect Customers
Attract your perfect customer by standing firm in who you are and what you do. Read about the lighthouse as a metaphor to this idea.
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Susan provides you with options for moving participants around in seminars and workshops so that participants have opportunities to work with, and get to know, other participants.
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- Team Activity – Spirited Role Clarification
Susan shares one of her favorite activities to use with teams – especially those who need to clarify the team members’ roles and responsibilities.
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Susan is frequently asked about the amount of time it will take to design a class. Here are some thoughts to consider.
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- Imagination and Brainstorming Bring Immediate Results
Do you want to add two new games to your training opportunities? One is on conflict; the other one is on stress. And if they don’t work for your situation, they might spark your imagination!
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- Just Because I Can: The Secret
Susan shares what she knows to be true.
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- What Does "It" Look Like?
Want a fun activity to have learners focus on the topic being discussed? Check this article out!
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- Facilitator, Trainer, or Presenter?
Training terms can be so confusing and, unfortunately, I don't have a solution to this issue. However, if you'd like to see all the terms other people use to describe me (Susan Otto), what I do, and what I create, take a look. You will no longer feel like the only confused training practitioner in the world of training vocabulary.
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- Designing Training Materials
If you want a summary on how to create training materials, here's a brief article on a complex subject. The article provides you a variety of concepts to consider when designing.
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Check out a quick, yet interactive, activity that Thiagi had ASTD attendees participate in at a dinner meeting. It's a simple frame game that you can use with a variety of content. Quick, simple, effective…and it's no secret!
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- Do You Remember?: The Interviewee’s Comments
Do you need a game to remind interviewers how important observation, remembering, note taking, and group sharing are to the interview process? Read about this game, which was accepted by ASTD and included in their 2006 ASTD Training and Performance Sourcebook.
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