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Why you want to become a trainer? 5 Example Answers

When interviewing for a position as a trainer, you will likely be asked why you want to become a trainer. Your answer should reflect your passion for helping others achieve their goals. This article will provide some example answers to this question. These answers will help you prepare for your interview and demonstrate your enthusiasm for the trainer role!

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Why does the interviewer ask, “why you want to become a trainer?”

When interviewers ask the above question, they are looking for a few key qualities in your answer. Primarily, they want to know that you have the passion and drive necessary to be successful in the training profession. In addition, they want to see that you understand what training entails and that you have the technical skills required to excel in the role. With that in mind, let’s look at sample answers to this question to help you hit all the key points the interviewer is looking for.

How to answer “why do you want to become a trainer?”

Before you can figure out how to answer this question, you need to ask yourself a few other questions first, such as:

What does this position entail?
What are the key qualifications required?
What are the company’s core values?
How does this position fit into your career aspirations?

For example, let’s say you’re interviewing for a corporate training position. In this case, you should focus your answer on qualities such as adaptability, flexibility, and the ability to work with diverse groups of people.

Alternatively, if you’re interviewing for a personal training position, you should focus on qualities such as passion, intuition, and deep knowledge of fitness and exercise science. Once you’ve determined what qualities are most important for the role you’re interviewing for, it will be much easier to formulate an answer that hits all the right marks.

Another important thing to remember is that your interviewer is likely looking for more than just a list of qualities. They also want to know why you are the best person for this particular job. This is where research comes in handy. Take time to learn about the company’s culture, mission, and values. If they align with your values, then be sure to mention that in your answer. This will show that you are a good fit for the company and the position.

Checkout -> Common Interview Questions and Best Answers

One Line Answers to “why become a trainer?”

I want to help people achieve their goals.
I have a passion for fitness/health, and I want to share that with others.
I want to make a difference in people’s lives.
I enjoy working with people and helping them reach their potential.
I have personal experience with the benefits of fitness/health, and I want to help others experience those benefits.
I want a challenging and rewarding career, and training others would be both.
I want to work in a constantly evolving and changing field, and training is that type of field.
I love the feeling of helping someone reach their goals, whether it’s getting in shape or learning a new skill.
I’m a people person and enjoy working with others, so training seemed like a natural fit.
Everyone has the potential to be great at something, and as a trainer, I would have the opportunity to help people find and reach their potential.

Example Answers to “why do you want to become a trainer?”

“I’ve always been passionate about helping others learn and grow. I love seeing the lightbulb moment when someone grasps a concept they are struggling with. As a trainer, I would get to help people every day develop new skills that would benefit them both professionally and personally. I also have a strong background in [Topic], making me an excellent trainer in this area.

“What drew me to training is that it’s always changing and evolving. There’s always new research and methods being developed, so as a trainer, you’re constantly learning alongside your trainees. I also like the challenge of taking complex topics and making them understandable for those who are learning them for the first time. My years of experience in [Topic] have taught me how to do this effectively.”

“I became interested in training while working in [Industry] and saw firsthand how much impact trainers can have on an organization. I saw how motivated, and engaged employees became when they had access to quality training. I knew then that I wanted to be a part of making that happen for other organizations. My skills in [Topic] would make me an asset as a trainer.

“I was drawn to this company because of its commitment to developing its employees. I know from my own experience that when employees feel like they’re constantly learning and growing, they’re more engaged and productive. As a trainer, I would be passionate about helping employees reach their full potential.”

“I want to become a corporate trainer because I enjoy working with people and helping them learn new things. I have a lot of experience in the corporate world, and my skills and knowledge would be beneficial to companies that are looking to improve their employees’ skills.

I also believe in the importance of lifelong learning, and corporate training is one of the best ways to achieve this. Employees who are allowed to learn and grow will be more productive and valuable members of their teams. And companies that invest in their employees’ development will be more successful in the long run.”

These are all great answers that would demonstrate to the interviewer that you have the qualities they are looking for in a trainer. As you can see, each answer highlights the applicant’s passion for helping others learn, their understanding of what training entails, and their technical skills in the field. Keep these key points in mind when preparing your answer to this question, and you’ll be sure to impress the interviewer!

Conclusion:

As you can see from these sample answers, when interviewers ask, “why do you want to be a trainer?” they are looking for more than just a simple response. They want to see evidence of your passion for teaching, your understanding of what training entails, and your technical skills in the subject matter. Keep these qualities in mind as you formulate your answer to this common interview question, and you’ll be sure to impress your interviewer and land the job!

1 thought on “Why you want to become a trainer? 5 Example Answers”

I want to be a trainer in a big industries like banks and become motivational speaker. Please help me.

Which are the essential qualities of a good trainer?

It’s often said that “the mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, and the great teacher inspires.” Almost anyone who’s ever wondered how to be a good trainer has also wondered how to inspire learners to perform at their best. And when it comes to delivering an effective training program, the qualities of a good trainer can make all the difference.

Many people think that training is as easy as knowing the subject matter and being able to communicate well. While you absolutely need both of these qualities, they’re hardly enough to make an effective trainer.

Learners’ reactions to training hint about whether your training is successful or not.

“If learners think it looks bad, you may have lost a good percentage of the battle in getting them to pay attention.” Patti Shank, learning designer, researcher, and author, says. If learners find the training unappealing, it could hinder their engagement and attention during training.

So, what trainer qualities and skills do you need to become a good trainer?

The core qualities of a good trainer

Are you wondering how to become a good trainer and whether you have what it takes? Well, the good news is that inspiring, superstar trainers are made, not born.

So, what makes a good trainer?

Effective trainers continuously practice and develop qualities that improve their understanding of learner and organizational needs. They understand that the more they exercise these qualities, the better equipped they’ll be to deliver training with accuracy and engagement, create an active learning atmosphere, incorporate current learning trends—and the list goes on.

Let’s take a closer look at what it takes to be a good trainer:

1. Be a good (and patient) listener

Some of the qualities of a good trainer are absolutely non-negotiable. The ability to listen, ask the right questions, and understand the needs of the learner are at the top of this list.

What is needs analysis if not the process of carefully listening to the target audience and unpacking what they need most? A talented trainer is able to listen so closely to what their audience thinks they need, that they can clearly see what they actually need.

For example, a group of sales associates might report that they need product training so they can close more deals per month. A good trainer might determine that sales staff actually have sufficient product knowledge already, but really need negotiation training to win over customers more quickly.

2. Approach training strategically

A strategic trainer knows that training is only effective if it’s within budget and delivers a desirable return on investment (ROI). Sounds obvious, right? Well, unfortunately, these factors are easy to forget once complex training tasks start to pile up.

One of the most important qualities of a good trainer is their ability to keep their eye on the goal and handle limitations without compromising on training quality. This is best achieved through partnering with various roles within the organization, such as department managers, operations, and human resources.

No strategic trainer will start a project without first understanding the costs, desired ROI, and benchmarks involved. This knowledge arms them to deliver the most effective training they can, with the full support of key stakeholders.

3. Encourage engagement

Turning training into a two-way street (rather than a one-person show) is at the core of what makes a good trainer. Yes, being entertaining is a fantastic quality in any trainer. But getting learners to absorb and retain new skills goes way beyond entertainment.

For skill development to really happen, learners need opportunities to share their ideas, answer questions, and practice what they’ve learned. The traditional “top-down” lecture style simply isn’t effective for achieving meaningful learning, even if the lecturer is a blast.

The best trainers encourage learners to ask questions, get involved in activities, and be active in their learning rather than passively consuming the material. Also, they incorporate interactive and participatory elements into their training to keep learners engaged. Even in virtual or hybrid environments.

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4. Be organized

Some trainers are gloriously inspiring one day, and lackluster the next. This is usually due to a lack of effective organization. Want to be consistently great? Take time to plan your training materials and delivery carefully.

Well-organized lessons and materials help you to remain focused on the topic at hand, instead of jumping around. This prevents facilitated sessions from becoming dragged out and losing the audience’s attention.

The role of the trainer as a project manager shouldn’t be underestimated, either. Keeping stakeholders up to date on the training project’s progress is important to remaining strategic and delivering effective training.

Which are the essential qualities of a good trainer?

5. Appreciate good instructional design

The ability to design well-structured courses and build fit-for-purpose content is one of the frequently overlooked qualities of a good trainer. Rather, a trainer’s in-person presence and delivery are often mistaken as the determining factor of their effectiveness.

Truthfully, a lot of work goes into planning training programs that meet all the organization’s training goals and create seamless learning experiences. But this work can make all the difference to learners’ results and long-term behavioral improvement.

A top-notch trainer will have the savvy to design courses that suit the mode of delivery (e.g. face-to-face, blended, or fully online), and create a wide variety of materials that engage and motivate all learners.

6. Be adaptable

Adaptability is an essential trainer skill in the modern workplace. It involves the ability to seamlessly adjust training methods and content to accommodate various learning styles. Plus, respond to the ever-changing needs of the workplace.

With this skill at hand, trainers can attune to the unique learner preferences and capabilities. And then, ensure that the training experience is tailored to maximize comprehension and retention. Also, in a dynamic, tech-driven world, where industry trends evolve rapidly, adaptability is key. Trainers must remain flexible in updating content to stay current and relevant.

By embracing adaptability, trainers create a responsive learning environment that also aligns with the demands and challenges of the modern workplace.

7. Have a finger on the pulse of learning trends

Another aspect of instructional design know-how that elevates a trainer from ‘just okay’ to great, is an awareness of the latest training trends. Effective trainers keep up with current research in adult education and digital delivery and look out for opportunities to incorporate proven trends into their training.

Does this mean that knowing the difference between microlearning and gamification is the be-all and end-all of how to be a good trainer? Not quite.

While exceptional trainers need to know which trends are gaining traction, it’s much more important that they have the ability to be critical about which trends they choose to incorporate.

For example, if you see that webinars are trending as a content format that boosts collaboration over long distances, is it smart to incorporate a webinar in a one-week face-to-face course? Incorporating trends just because they’re trendy is a slippery slope, and easily undermines the effectiveness of training.

8. Analyze and improve again, and again, and again

Self-improvement is one of the most impactful qualities of a good trainer. Because great trainers are not only focused on developing their learners, but also developing themselves. You can improve your performance by taking advantage of surveys and other forms of feedback. Don’t shy away from constructive feedback but take it as an opportunity to re-examine your methods and do better the next time around.

Also, good trainers don’t just improve themselves. They evaluate their training materials regularly, too. Old or irrelevant materials are phased out in favor of content that is more engaging and aligned with learner feedback about the course.

9. Use the right tools

Selecting the right tools is a strategic move that transforms training sessions into immersive learning experiences.

The appropriate training platforms act as the canvas where exceptional trainers give life to training content with multimedia to capture the attention of learners. An LMS allows integrating quizzes and interactive elements to assess comprehension and keep participants actively engaged. In this training environment, learning isn’t a passive activity but a dynamic exchange.

Think of it as a director choosing the perfect stage for a play. Each feature of the software becomes a prop, a cue, or a backdrop that enhances the overall performance (and experience.) So, trainers should recognize that the right tech support allows them to transcend the limitations of traditional training methods. Whether it’s adding VR for hands-on simulations or using collaborative tools for group activities.

For modern training, the right tools are the catalyst for creating an impactful and unforgettable learning journey.

At the same time it’s necessary to build the skills to make the most out of the right tools. Enter tech proficiency. It’s the superhero cape of exceptional trainers in today’s workplace. It’s about rocking the latest tools and platforms to turn virtual and digital training into an interactive spectacle that fits the unique rhythm of remote or hybrid work setups.

Tech-savvy trainers aren’t just clicking buttons. They’re creating meaningful learning experiences and a digital culture while breaking down geographical barriers. In this era of flexible work, being tech-proficient is essential for creating training sessions that captivate and resonate with learners.

10. Prize lifelong learning

If you’re wondering about the qualities of a good trainer, you should know that, unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. Don’t expect that you can take a single course once and rest assured you reached your goal. The best trainers constantly ask themselves: “what makes a good trainer?” Because, who better to deliver training than someone who is constantly learning themselves? That’s why lifelong learning is one of the important characteristics of a good trainer.

Trainers who regularly undertake their own learning are more in touch with the struggles and triumphs of the everyday adult learner. This makes them more effective in choosing content types, topics, and convenience features like mobile learning when planning a course.

Lifelong learners are also inherently inspirational. Their passion and thirst for learning is infectious and can make all the difference when the topic they need to teach is dry or obscure.

11. Value inclusion

Inclusivity isn’t a buzzword in the world of exceptional trainers. It’s the guiding principle that shapes every aspect of the learning experience.

Inclusive trainers don’t go with the one-size-fits-all approach. They embrace diverse learning styles and backgrounds and celebrate the uniqueness of each learner. Whether it’s visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or a combination of these.

Beyond adapting content, they create a welcoming space that respects different cultural perspectives, backgrounds, and ages. They foster an environment where every participant feels valued and understood.

With this skill, trainers ensure that every learner feels empowered and engaged in the transformative process of learning. Regardless of their individual journey.

Equip great trainers with the best equipment

The skills and qualities of a good trainer shouldn’t be viewed as just checkboxes.

They’re the ingredients that can turn a training program from good to exceptional. From dull to downright engaging. Plus, trainers should not just own these qualities. They should also apply them.

Learners shouldn’t just complete their program. They should thrive, actively participate, absorb knowledge like sponges and apply it daily. And this is the tangible impact of dedicated trainers.

Plus, to catapult training into the realm of next-level, exceptional trainers need the right software to unlock innovative features. The right tools are the trainers’ active collaborators in creating these immersive learning experience that capture learners.

So, if you’re a trainer on a quest for excellence, combine these qualities with the right software to dive into a world of limitless training possibilities and results.

Save time, frustration and money with TalentLMS, the most-affordable and user-friendly learning management system on the market. Try it for free for as long as you want and discover why our customers consistently give us 4.5 stars (out of 5!)

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Originally published on: 23 Apr 2018 | Tags: Engaging learners , training and development

Christina Pavlou - Former Content Marketing Manager

Christina, ex-Content Marketing Manager at Epignosis, focuses on L&D, diversity, and enhancing workplace well-being. Learn how to improve your work environment. More by Christina!

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Trainer roles and responsibilities: a comprehensive resource (pdf guide), share this article.

Discover the essential roles and responsibilities of trainers with our comprehensive PDF guide/template. Equip yourself with the knowledge and tools to deliver impactful training sessions. Download now!

Understanding the trainer’s roles and responsibilities is crucial to steer learning experiences in the right direction. It’s not about penning down a checklist but more about crafting a journey through the world of learning and development.

An easy-to-use PDF guide or template doesn’t just act as a map – it’s a time-saver and a game-changer, making training more effective and tailored. It’s an invaluable aid for those committed to creating inspiring and impactful training.

In this piece, we will explore the why and what of such a guide. We’ll talk about tweaking it to suit diverse training needs and share some extra resources to support trainers in their mission of enabling brilliant learning.

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Understanding Trainer Roles and Responsibilities

Key components of a trainer roles and responsibilities pdf guide/template, utilizing the trainer roles and responsibilities pdf guide/template, benefits of adopting a pdf guide/template for trainer roles and responsibilities, additional resources and tools for trainers, frequently asked questions.

Before you can design a useful template that supports your objectives, it’s essential to understand exactly who trainers are and what their roles and responsibilities entail.

Trainer’s Overall Objective

A trainer’s role, similar to an architect, is about building an environment that stimulates learning and growth. They are tasked with fostering an environment that enables learners to acquire new knowledge, skills, and competencies.

This broad objective is achieved through various specific tasks such as designing effective training programs, conducting engaging sessions, evaluating learner progress, maintaining appropriate documentation, and continuously seeking professional development.

Designing Training Programs

Designing training programs is a cornerstone of a trainer’s role. Much like an architect draws blueprints before construction begins, a trainer must develop a comprehensive curriculum based on clearly defined learning objectives.

This process requires a deep understanding of the audience’s learning needs and the ability to create relevant and engaging learning materials that cater to these needs.

Ultimately, the design process sets the foundation for an effective, learner-centric training program.

Conducting Training Sessions

Once the design phase is complete, the trainer’s focus shifts to delivering the training program.

This stage requires the trainer to expertly coordinate different elements: engagingly presenting information, facilitating discussions, managing group dynamics, and providing feedback.

It is during these sessions that the trainer directly interacts with learners, creating a stimulating environment that encourages learning and growth.

Assessing and Evaluating Learner Progress

Assessing and evaluating learner progress is a vital responsibility of the trainer.

Similar to how a gardener monitors the growth of their plants, a trainer must track learners’ performance, provide constructive feedback, and adjust the training program as necessary to meet learning objectives.

This iterative process of evaluation and adjustment ensures the ongoing effectiveness of the training program.

Maintaining Training Documentation

A trainer needs to preserve important documents such as attendance records, training materials, learner evaluations, and updates about the training program.

This documentation serves as an essential reference point for improving future training sessions and for demonstrating the effectiveness and efficiency of past ones.

Professional Development

Continuous professional development is as essential for trainers as it is for professionals in any field.

To stay at the forefront of their industry, trainers need to stay updated with the latest training techniques, pedagogical advancements, and industry trends.

It’s through this pursuit of knowledge and skills that trainers can enhance their competence, equipping them to deliver increasingly effective training sessions.

When creating a comprehensive guide for the roles and responsibilities integral to a trainer’s role, start with an introduction that emphasizes the significance of each role.

Include instructions on how to use the guide effectively to understand and fulfill these responsibilities.

These tools are invaluable for clearly delineating the individual responsibilities associated with each role, ensuring all aspects of the training process are systematically covered.

Overview of Trainer Roles

The guide should provide a detailed exploration of the multifaceted roles of a trainer. Break down the responsibilities into key areas:

Training Program or Course Development : Here, trainers are engaged in generating training content and materials, keeping existing content up to date, and tweaking courses to suit different delivery modes such as in-person, online, or a mix of both.
Training Program or Course Delivery : This aspect involves trainers taking on the active role of conducting training sessions or courses, igniting the interest of learners, and using a mix of teaching methodologies and tools that include presentations, open discussions, and hands-on exercises.
Assessment : In this role, trainers evaluate learners’ performance, track their progress , provide well-rounded feedback, and handle the administration and grading of evaluations.
Administration : This encompasses the planning and coordinating of training sessions, keeping track of attendance and active participation, and retaining comprehensive documentation of all training activities.
Collaboration : Trainers liaise with subject matter experts and coordinate with other trainers and team members to ensure the delivery of a coherent and holistic training program.
Continuous Improvement : This is an ongoing process where trainers gauge the effectiveness of training programs and courses, gather feedback from learners and other stakeholders, implement enhancements based on this feedback, and established best practices.

Detailed Responsibilities Breakdown

The guide should go into the specifics of planning and building a training program, including the development of learning objectives and materials.

Additionally, it should offer various techniques for the effective delivery of training sessions and provide comprehensive guidelines for assessing and evaluating learner performance.

This will also involve maintaining detailed training records and strategies for continuous learning and growth.

Tips and Best Practices

Remember, your guide should offer more than just an outline of roles and responsibilities. It should provide a wealth of practical tips and strategies to bolster the effectiveness of the training role.

These insights, drawn from industry expertise and best-practice standards, will serve to enrich the trainer’s tool set significantly; it will help them deliver training sessions that are impactful and engaging for learners.

The true versatility of this guide shines in its adaptability. Regardless of the training landscape you’re navigating, whether it’s a traditional classroom, a corporate seminar, a virtual webinar, or an on-the-job training program, the guide can be readily customized.

Just as each training environment has its unique nuances and demands, the guide can be tailored to suit these distinctive contexts, helping trainers deliver the most effective and relevant training sessions.

Incorporating Company-Specific Requirements

The guide’s flexibility extends to integrating company-specific requirements and standards. Every organization has its unique culture, objectives, and operational strategies; the training programs reflect these distinct features.

The guide can be seamlessly adjusted to align with an organization’s values, its strategic objectives, and the specific skill sets it values.

In this way, the guide aids trainers in delivering training that is not just universally relevant but also specifically geared toward their organization’s vision and goals.

Adapting to Various Training Methods

Finally, the guide is a chameleon when it comes to adapting to different training methods. Whether you are facilitating a one-on-one coaching session, leading a large group seminar, conducting an online training webinar, or organizing a mixed-format training program, the guide can be readily modified to meet your needs.

It provides strategies and insights relevant to all these methods, making it an indispensable, flexible resource in a trainer’s toolkit.

The guide is designed to provide trainers the latitude to choose the most appropriate method for their audience, ensuring the highest level of learner engagement and comprehension.

So, why should you use a template when outlining trainer roles and responsibilities?

Conservation of Time and Effort

A well-designed guide acts as a time-saving beacon.

This comprehensive template steers trainers along the correct path, cutting down the time and effort they might otherwise spend in figuring out their roles and responsibilities.

The structured layout and clear-cut instructions assist trainers in efficiently navigating their duties, optimizing their time management, and reducing unnecessary strain.

Ensuring Consistency and Standardization

In the realm of training, consistency and standardization are vital. A common guide ensures that regardless of who is conducting the training, the sessions maintain uniform quality and structure.

This standardization not only helps uphold the organization’s professional standards but also guarantees a uniform learning experience for all participants, irrespective of the trainer in charge.

Enhanced Effectiveness of Training

A lucid understanding of roles and responsibilities is the cornerstone of effective training. By providing this clarity, the guide bolsters the effectiveness of the trainer’s efforts, leading to improved learner outcomes.

It acts as a comprehensive playbook, helping trainers deliver a consistent, high-quality training experience that propels learner success.

Ease of Access and Distribution

Accessibility and distribution ease are paramount in today’s world. Being in a universally accepted PDF format, this guide can be swiftly shared and accessed across various devices.

This digital portability ensures trainers can quickly reference this resource at their convenience, whether they’re in the office, at home, or on the move.

The anytime, anywhere availability makes the guide a truly handy tool for trainers, amplifying their effectiveness and reach.

To further bolster your role as a trainer, here are some additional resources and tools that can streamline your processes and enhance your effectiveness.

Training Program Development Templates: These templates are designed to facilitate the process of creating detailed and structured training programs. Download them here.

Training Structure Template: Outlines the objectives, content, and schedule of your proposed training program . Find it here: Training Structure Template & Examples

Training Proposal Templates: Provide a professional structure for presenting your training programs or courses to potential clients: Access them here: Training Proposal Template

Developing your own Trainer Roles and Responsibilities Guide is an important step towards ensuring effective and efficient training within your organization.

Having a clear outline of roles not only enhances the productivity of trainers but also ensures a uniform and impactful learning experience for trainees. Remember, as trainers, our ultimate goal is to facilitate meaningful learning experiences that contribute to both individual and organizational growth.

Download the Trainer Roles and Responsibilities PDF Guide and Template

Clarify and standardize your trainer roles. This free resource offers a comprehensive outline of responsibilities for your trainers, fostering clarity and consistency in your training programs. Save time, reduce ambiguity, and enhance performance. Get your copy today and reinforce your team’s efficiency.

What are the key roles of a trainer?

A trainer’s key roles encompass course development, delivery, learner assessment, administration, and collaboration with other professionals. They’re also responsible for continuous improvement based on learner feedback and best practices.

What are the responsibilities of a trainer during training sessions?

During training sessions, a trainer guides learning, engages and motivates participants, administers assessments, and provides constructive feedback. They also manage the group dynamics and facilitate interactive discussions.

How can trainers assess and evaluate learner progress?

Trainers evaluate progress through periodic assessments, quizzes, and practical tests. They also analyze learner interaction, engagement, and feedback to understand their grasp of the subject matter.

What documentation should trainers maintain?

Trainers should keep comprehensive records of course materials, learner progress, attendance, feedback, and any changes made to the course based on the feedback.

How can trainers develop professionally?

Trainers can continually develop by seeking feedback, attending professional workshops, staying updated on industry trends, and enhancing their teaching strategies and techniques.

How can I utilize the Trainer Roles and Responsibilities PDF Guide/Template?

The guide/template can serve as a roadmap for defining your roles and responsibilities as a trainer. It provides a structured approach to training, ensuring that all crucial aspects are addressed.

Can I customize the guide/template for my specific training needs?

Absolutely! The guide/template is designed for customization to meet specific organizational requirements, unique training environments, and various training methodologies.

Are there any additional resources available for trainers?

Yes, there are numerous resources such as templates for developing training programs, evaluation forms for assessing learner progress, and a plethora of professional development resources available from Thinkific.

Daniela Ochoa is the go-to Content Marketing Specialist at Thinkific Plus. With years of experience in marketing and communications, she is passionate about helping businesses grow through strategic customer education, content marketing, and online learning at scale.

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Top Qualities of a Good Trainer: Expert Opinion

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Sofia Green See full bio →

Whether you conduct online or offline training, its success depends on many factors, like the quality of learning material, an understanding of the audience, relevance to the training and job needs, etc. However, there is a secret ingredient to effective training which is often underestimated – a trainer’s professionalism. This is a set of professional qualities of a good trainer which empowers them to communicate knowledge, support learners, and take responsibility for the result.

In this article, you’ll find insights into how to be a good trainer from these three experts. Read it now or bookmark this material for future reference.

The Core Qualities of a Good Trainer

Before you dive into the six core qualities of an effective corporate trainer and reflect on them with our guests, you can test yourself a little with the checklist below. It contains the traits that we’ll examine in this article. See if you tick all the boxes! It’s OK if some of them are empty so far – feel free to skip to the ones you need and get ideas on how to improve them.

They are effective facilitators

Training is not the same as didactic teaching. It is the learners’ needs, peculiarities, and objectives that trainers have in focus – not giving lectures from textbooks. They guide learners on how to accomplish training objectives, notice group dynamics and learners’ progress, and manage the training event. That’s facilitation.

Roy Pollock, Chief Learning Officer at The 6Ds Company, emphasizes that good trainers are more than just a “sage on the stage,” and that they should operate with a learner-centered approach.

Good facilitation requires trainers listening more than talking, actively engaging learners, and asking good questions so that learners develop their own insights, examples, and analogies.

Roy Pollock

The 6Ds Company

They are great communicators

Trainers are able to maintain a dialogue with various participants and groups of learners. Their strong communication and interpersonal skills help them attract and maintain attention, break the ice, shift the focus of learners when needed, and be heard by the audience. A successful trainer is also good at nonverbal communication, including body language, which helps to indicate people’s moods, attitudes, and psychological blocks that hinder development.

Dave Potter, Director of Training and Development at Triad Unlimited, points out that a good trainer should possess and master many communication methods:

Assessing the participants’ body language, putting them at ease, and making sure everyone remains engaged requires several types of communication and a great deal of competence in them.

Dave Potter

Triad Unlimited

Barbara Davis Robinson, Director of Organizational Development and Learning at WellDyneRX, also stresses the importance of being good listeners for trainers:

Trainers need strong listening skills. Listening is a skill rarely taught but a critical component to the communication process.

Barbara Davis Robinson

They are ready for the unexpected

There are situations when things don’t go as planned, and trainers should be able to handle such situations easily. For example, not all employees may embrace training: they can doubt its relevance and say something like, “What’s the point? I’d be better off going back to work and focusing on my duties.” A good trainer should be able to communicate the value of this particular training to such participants.

Here is another example from Barbara Davis Robinson:

Imagine that you are in a virtual training class, and the technology wasn’t working properly to break learners into groups. What is your Plan B if something you are doing isn’t working? Trainers must be able to juggle and handle on-the-fly issues that arise.

They are respectful and patient

Trainers deal with adults with various backgrounds, lifestyles, education, and different behaviors. There are sprinters and stayers in training, and Barbara Davis Robinson thinks that a good trainer must pay equal attention to both.

Trainers have to balance the content and cater to multiple learning abilities to keep the group focused and on-track so that learning can take place for everyone. How this is projected and communicated in a respectful manner makes the difference in whether the sprinters stay with you or zone out.

Dave Potter confides that when training audiences with different levels of knowledge, he tries to put himself in a participant’s shoes and imagine what kind of material and approach would resonate with them:

I always think of how to transfer knowledge to some person I know who has a similar background. For entry-level training, I think of training my Mom. Mid-level training is teaching my son, who has a technical background. For expert training, such as a conference presentation, I imagine explaining something to my Leadership Team.

They are passionate about teaching

Genuine enthusiasm is highly desirable for trainers. They should know the ways to maintain a passion for their work, keep their heart and mind open, and deeply care about the results of training. As Roy Pollock puts it, an effective trainer is one who genuinely cares about his or her learners’ success.

As the old saying goes: “They must know that you care before they care what you know.” Teaching is a calling, not just a job.

1. Be an active listener

Listen, listen, listen. We’ve touched upon the importance of listening skills above, but it is worth a special mention here. Practice active listening: show empathy, look others in the eye, feel the needs of a trainee. Some can regard a trainer’s job as a way to get on a high horse. That’s not true: trainers should be attentive to the needs, strengths, and weaknesses of others.

Do this first : Listen and watch 4 tips from the School of Life project on how to be a good listener .

2. Advocate for change

Trainers recognize the needs of the staff and work on their development. Moreover, they constantly develop their own competencies, embrace new knowledge, and discard obsolete conceptions. To keep driving change, a trainer should find new ways to interact with trainees , devise new approaches, and be generally innovative.

Do this first : Learn more about the latest trends in corporate training.

3. Think about the now

To be fully present in the process, trainers should practice mindfulness. This is actually a skill to reach a sense of awareness of how you feel, think, communicate, and act in the present moment. The key to this is a trained ability to take a pause (Cara Bradley’s podcast episode ‘ Power of the Pause ’ says it all).

Do this first : For a mindful pause, you can begin with a simple daily breath technique by William Frey, M.Ed.

4. Cultivate energy

We can imagine what it takes from you as a trainer to put so much into sessions. As in fitness training, you can’t rely only on your willpower, you should stay energetic and feel well. Jonathan Halls who was a leading trainer in the BBC corporation and trained hundreds of media professionals, highlights several reasons for trainer burnout. They are:

Halls thinks that trainers can address these challenges only if they plan their energy. To do this, trainers should schedule time for hobbies, relaxation, physical activity, and learn how to set boundaries.

Do this first : Really, put on your own oxygen mask first and follow Hall’s battle-tested tips from his book “ Confessions of a Corporate Trainer: An Insider Tells All .”

5. Use your sense of humor

Humor is the secret ingredient that energizes your audience. It’s all about making training sessions fun and engaging. With humor, you can break the ice and make training content more accessible and understandable. If your training is fun, it increases the attention of your trainees and helps them retain knowledge longer. Just remember to not laugh at someone, but to laugh with someone.

If you’re not sure how to start using humor during synchronous sessions, try some clean jokes for a lighthearted break from intensive training. But it is advisable to research your audience in advance to avoid any jokes that can be perceived as being inappropriately political, ethnic, sexist, racist, or religious.

Do this first : Start practicing humor in learning by giving allusions and references to pop culture: movie quotes, TV shows, or ads. Such jokes are clean and easy to understand. Memes are also good!

6. Be well-versed in ID

eLearning has brought new ways of training via online courses , quizzes , and video tutorials . Now, learning content is as important as the process of knowledge delivery. So, the lines between a trainer’s job and instructional design are becoming increasingly blurred.

A trainer should understand the logic of the instructional design behind what they are asked to teach and should be willing to constructively challenge designs and exercises that do not conform to best practices.

iSpring Suite Max also enables trainers to supplement their courses with dialogue simulations and branching scenarios for soft skills training. Here is an example of an industry-based, role-play scenario for customer service.

With dialogue simulations like this one, your trainees can practice new skills according to the framework you’ve created for them, and you can improve this framework continually and revise the script of every dialogue simulation whenever you need to.

Do this first : Download iSpring Suite Max for free now and try to make a quiz or a dialogue simulation.

7. Develop your presentation skills

Since eLearning has become more and more widespread, it may seem that presentation skills are much less relevant, but that’s not true. Presentations are an integral part of a trainer’s job to hold the attention of the audience during a training session, and this does not change over time.

As much as they enhance live training, presentation skills can be really helpful when recording video tutorials, screencasts, presenter-style videos, and other types of training videos. They bring the feeling of presence and engagement into the learning process and improve the entire training experience.

Do this first : Watch a short video by TED’s curator Chris Anderson, in which he talks about the one secret ingredient behind different successful presentations.

Conclusion

We hope you found these qualities of a good trainer valid and the tips inspiring. You can use this article as a checklist to see which areas are your strengths and/or need development as a trainer. You can also try iSpring Suite Max for free to lighten your workload and move your training online easily.

Can you relate to these skills and traits of an effective trainer? Are they a wake-up call for you, or do you know and follow them in your life and work? Please share your thoughts on how to be an effective trainer in the comment section!

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How to Write a Non-Cliche College Essay About Sports + Examples

What’s covered:, what makes a sports essay cliche.

How To Make Your Sports Essay Unique

Great Examples of College Essays About Sports

Where to get your college essay edited for free, or by an expert.

You’ve been brainstorming essay topics for your college applications, and you think you’ve finally found the right one: an extended metaphor likening your experience on the field with overcoming personal struggles. The problem: many other students have this same thought.

The purpose of a college essay is to make yourself stand out as a unique individual, but when students write about sports, they often blend in. Because of that, students are usually advised to pick a different topic.

That being said, it is possible to write a non-cliche college essay about sports if you put in a little extra effort. Read along to learn how to make your sports essay different from all the other sports essays.

Sports essays are cliche when they follow a standard trajectory. Some of these trajectories include writing a story about:

An agonizing defeat
Forging bonds with teammates
Overcoming adversity
Overcoming an injury
Refusing to quit
Victory during a big game

Because sports essays have very similar themes and “lessons learned,” it can be difficult to make your story stand out. These trajectories also often focus too much on the sport or storyline, and not enough on the writer’s reflections and personality.

As you write your essay, try to think about what your experience says about you rather than what you learned from your experience. You are more than just one lesson you learned!

(Keep in mind that the sports essay is not the only college essay cliche. Learn about other essay cliches and how to fix them in our complete guide).

How to Make Your Sports Essay Unique

1. focus on a specific moment or reflection..

The college essay is a way for students to humanize themselves to admissions officers. You do not feel human if you are describing yourself as just another player on the field!

One important way to make your essay about you (not just about sports) is by focusing on a specific moment in time and inviting the reader to join you in that moment. Explain to the reader what it would be like to be sitting in that locker room as you questioned the values of the other players on your team. Ask your reader to sit with you on the cot in the trainer’s room as your identity was stripped away from you when they said “your body can’t take this anymore.” Bring your reader to the dinner table and involve them in your family’s conversation about how sports were affecting your mental health and your treatment of those around you.

Intense descriptions of a specific experience will evoke emotions in your reader and allow them to connect with you and feel for you.

When in doubt, avoid anything that can be covered by ESPN. On ESPN, we see the games, we see the benches, we even see the locker rooms and training rooms. Take your reader somewhere different and show them something unique.

2. Use sports to point out broader themes in your life.

The main risk when writing about sports is neglecting to write about yourself. Before you get started, think about the main values that you want to express in your sports essay. Sports are simply your avenue for telling the reader what makes you unique.

As a test, imagine if you were a pianist. Would you be able to talk about these same values? What if you were a writer? Or a chemist? Articulating your values is the end, and sports should simply be your means.

Some values that you might want to focus on:

Autonomy (you want to be able to set your mind to anything and achieve it on your own)
Growth (you seek improvement constantly)
Curiosity (you are willing to try anything once)
Vulnerability (you aren’t afraid to fail, as long as you give it your all)
Community (you value the feedback of others and need camaraderie to succeed)
Craft (you think that with deliberate care, anything can be perfected)
Responsibility (you believe that you owe something to those around you and perhaps they also owe something to you)

You can use the ESPN check again to make sure that you are using sports as an avenue to show your depth.

Things ESPN covers: how a player reacts to defeat, how injuries affect a player’s gameplay/attitude, how players who don’t normally work well together are working together on their new team.

Things ESPN doesn’t cover: the conversation that a player had with their mother about fear of death before going into a big surgery (value: family and connection), the ways that the intense pressure to succeed consumed a player to the point they couldn’t be there for the people in their life (value: supporting others and community), the body image issues that weigh on a player’s mind when playing their sport and how they overcame those (value: health and growth).

3. Turn a cliche storyline on its head.

There’s no getting around the fact that sports essays are often cliche. But there is a way to confront the cliche head-on. For example, lots of people write essays about the lessons they learned from an injury, victory, and so on, but fewer students explain how they are embracing those lessons.

Perhaps you learned that competition is overwhelming for you and you prefer teamwork, so you switched from playing basketball to playing Dungeons & Dragons. Maybe, when your softball career ended abruptly, you had to find a new identity and that’s when you became obsessed with your flower garden and decided to pursue botany. Or maybe, you have stuck with football through it all, but your junior-year mental health struggle showed you that football should be fun and you have since started a nonprofit for local children to healthily engage with sports.

If your story itself is more cliche, try bringing readers to the present moment with you and show why the cliche matters and what it did for you. This requires a fair amount of creativity. Ensure you’re not parroting a frequently used topic by really thinking deeply to find your own unique spin.

Night had robbed the academy of its daytime colors, yet there was comfort in the dim lights that cast shadows of our advances against the bare studio walls. Silhouettes of roundhouse kicks, spin crescent kicks, uppercuts and the occasional butterfly kick danced while we sparred. She approached me, eyes narrowed with the trace of a smirk challenging me. “Ready spar!” Her arm began an upward trajectory targeting my shoulder, a common first move. I sidestepped — only to almost collide with another flying fist. Pivoting my right foot, I snapped my left leg, aiming my heel at her midsection. The center judge raised one finger.

There was no time to celebrate, not in the traditional sense at least. Master Pollard gave a brief command greeted with a unanimous “Yes, sir” and the thud of 20 hands dropping-down-and-giving-him-30, while the “winners” celebrated their victory with laps as usual.

Three years ago, seven-thirty in the evening meant I was a warrior. It meant standing up straighter, pushing a little harder, “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am”, celebrating birthdays by breaking boards, never pointing your toes, and familiarity. Three years later, seven-thirty in the morning meant I was nervous.

The room is uncomfortably large. The sprung floor soaks up the checkerboard of sunlight piercing through the colonial windows. The mirrored walls further illuminate the studio and I feel the light scrutinizing my sorry attempts at a pas de bourrée, while capturing the organic fluidity of the dancers around me. “Chassé en croix, grand battement, pique, pirouette.” I follow the graceful limbs of the woman in front of me, her legs floating ribbons, as she executes what seems to be a perfect ronds de jambes. Each movement remains a negotiation. With admirable patience, Ms. Tan casts me a sympathetic glance.

There is no time to wallow in the misery that is my right foot. Taekwondo calls for dorsiflexion; pointed toes are synonymous with broken toes. My thoughts drag me into a flashback of the usual response to this painful mistake: “You might as well grab a tutu and head to the ballet studio next door.” Well, here I am Master Pollard, unfortunately still following your orders to never point my toes, but no longer feeling the satisfaction that comes with being a third degree black belt with 5 years of experience quite literally under her belt. It’s like being a white belt again — just in a leotard and ballet slippers.

But the appetite for new beginnings that brought me here doesn’t falter. It is only reinforced by the classical rendition of “Dancing Queen” that floods the room and the ghost of familiarity that reassures me that this new beginning does not and will not erase the past. After years spent at the top, it’s hard to start over. But surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become. In Taekwondo, we started each class reciting the tenets: honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet.

The thing about change is that it eventually stops making things so different. After nine different schools, four different countries, three different continents, fluency in Tamil, Norwegian, and English, there are more blurred lines than there are clear fragments. My life has not been a tactfully executed, gold medal-worthy Taekwondo form with each movement defined, nor has it been a series of frappés performed by a prima ballerina with each extension identical and precise, but thankfully it has been like the dynamics of a spinning back kick, fluid, and like my chances of landing a pirouette, unpredictable.

Why it works:

What’s especially powerful about this essay is that the author uses detailed imagery to convey a picture of what they’re experiencing, so much so that the reader is along for the ride. This works as a sports essay not only because of the language and sensory details, but also because the writer focuses on a specific moment in time, while at the same time exploring why Taekwondo is such an important part of their life.

After the emotional image is created, the student finishes their essay with valuable reflection. With the reflection, they show admissions officers that they are mature and self-aware. Self-awareness comes through with statements like “surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become” and maturity can be seen through the student’s discussion of values “honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet.” These are the kinds of comments that should find their way into a sports essay!

“Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one.

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we compete with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

In the beginning, you might think this is another cliche sports essay about overcoming adversity. But instead, it becomes a unique statement and coming-of-age tale that reads as a suspenseful narrative.

The author connects their experience with martial arts to larger themes in their life but manages to do so without riffing off of tried-and-true themes. Through statements like “I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was” we learn about the students values and their desire to be there for those who depend on them.

The student also brings it full circle, demonstrating their true transformation. By using the “Same, but Different” ending technique , the student places themself in the same environment that we saw in the intro, but experiences it differently due to their actions throughout the narrative. This is very compelling!

“1…2…3…4 pirouettes! New record!” My friends cheered as I landed my turns. Pleased with my progress, I gazed down at my worn-out pointe shoes. The sweltering blisters, numbing ice-baths, and draining late-night practices did not seem so bad after all. Next goal: five turns.

For as long as I can remember, ballet, in all its finesse and glamor, had kept me driven day to day. As a child, the lithe ballerinas, donning ethereal costumes as they floated across the stage, were my motivation. While others admired Messi and Adele, I idolized Carlos Acosta, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet.

As I devoted more time and energy towards my craft, I became obsessed with improving my technique. I would stretch for hours after class, forcing my leg one inch higher in an effort to mirror the Dance Magazine cover girls. I injured my feet and ruined pair after pair of pointe shoes, turning on wood, cement, and even grass to improve my balance as I spun. At competitions, the dancers with the 180-degree leg extensions, endless turns, and soaring leaps—the ones who received “Bravos!” from the roaring audience—further pushed me to refine my skills and perfect my form. I believed that, with enough determination, I would one day attain their level of perfection. Reaching the quadruple-pirouette milestone only intensified my desire to accomplish even more.

My efforts seemed to have come to fruition two summers ago when I was accepted to dance with Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet at their renowned New York City summer intensive. I walked into my first session eager to learn from distinguished ballet masters and worldly dancers, already anticipating my improvement. Yet, as I danced alongside the accomplished ballerinas, I felt out of place. Despite their clean technique and professional training, they did not aim for glorious leg extensions or prodigious leaps. When they performed their turn combinations, most of them only executed two turns as I attempted four.

“Dancers, double-pirouettes only.”

Taken aback and confused, I wondered why our teacher expected so little from us. The other ballerinas seemed content, gracing the studio with their simple movements.

As I grew closer with my Moscow roommates, I gradually learned that their training emphasized the history of the art form instead of stylistic tricks. Rather than show off their physical ability, their performances aimed to convey a story, one that embodied the rich culture of ballet and captured both the legacy of the dancers before them and their own artistry. As I observed my friends more intently in repertoire class, I felt the pain of the grief-stricken white swan from Swan Lake, the sass of the flirtatious Kitri from Don Quijote, and I gradually saw what I had overlooked before. My definition of talent had been molded by crowd-pleasing elements—whirring pirouettes, gravity-defying leaps, and mind-blowing leg extensions. This mindset slowly stripped me from the roots of my passion and my personal connection with ballet.

With the Bolshoi, I learned to step back and explore the meaning behind each step and the people behind the scenes. Ballet carries history in its movements, from the societal values of the era to each choreographer’s unique flair. As I uncovered the messages behind each pirouette, kick, and jump, my appreciation for ballet grew beyond my obsession with raw athleticism and developed into a love for the art form’s emotive abilities in bridging the dancers with the audience. My journey as an artist has allowed me to see how technical execution is only the means to a greater understanding between dancer and spectator, between storyteller and listener. The elegance and complexity of ballet does not revolve around astonishing stunts but rather the evocative strength and artistry manifested in the dancer, in me. It is the combination of sentiments, history, tradition, and passion that has allowed ballet and its lessons of human connection to become my lifestyle both on and off stage.

This essay is about lessons. While the author is a dancer, this narrative isn’t really about ballet, per se — it’s about the author’s personal growth. It is purposefully reflective as the student shows a nice character arc that begins with an eager young ballerina and ends with a reflection on their past. The primary strength of this essay is the honesty and authenticity that the student approaches it with.

In the end, the student turns a cliche on its head as they embrace the idea of overcoming adversity and demonstrate how the adversity, in this case, was their own stereotypes about their art. It’s beautiful!

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite.

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin.

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

This essay uses the idea of sports to explore a more profound topic—growing through relationships. They really embrace using sports as an avenue to tell the reader about a specific experience that changed the way they approach the world.

The emphasis on relationships is why this essay works well and doesn’t fall into a cliche. The narrator grows not because of their experience with track but because of their relationship with their coach, who inspired them to evolve and become a leader.

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Athletic Trainer Essay Examples

Personal statement on why i want to be an athletic trainer.

As someone who has always been passionate about sports and fitness, I have always been interested in pursuing a career in athletic training. In this essay I explore the role and mains skills of an athletic trainer, moreover I will explain my purpose of becoming...

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