New Employee Training

On April 11 I went to a mid-size city in Aichi Prefecture to give a seminar to new employees of a car manufacturer. It is a world-renowned company whose annual sales probably far exceed GDP of several small countries all combined. And I was there to show them how to improve English communication skills.

The seminar was challenging in terms of a number of factors.
First, the size of the audience was huge. There were 720 people. It was the largest audience that I had ever addressed.
Second, there was a clear numerical goal given to the audience, and my mission was to set their minds on it so that all of them could achieve it by the designated deadline.
Also, the audience was of a mixed level.
And finally, I had to convey everything in 85 minutes, which is almost 30 minutes shorter than my regular presentation time.
Careful planning and enormous concentration were required for a successful delivery.

Once the seminar started, the audience participated in all of my activities with a positive attitude, listened to my lecture attentively, and took notes so as not to miss important points. I gave everything I had got that I learned from all the great teachers I met in my life.

The seminar ended in a flash! Or at least it felt like it ended in a flash.

I was walked into a waiting room for the guest lecturer, feeling numb.

A couple of minutes later, three people from the HD department came in with bundles of questionnaires in their arms. They, me and my attendant surrounded a table and had a quick review session, each of us going though a selected bundle of questionnaires and sharing comments that were of note.

The leader from the HD department was pleased with a generally positive tone of the questionnaires. I was glad, though not completely satisfied as I found some negative feedback among advanced learners that it left a little to be desired in terms of learning methods for advanced learners. That's something I must work on for future seminars.

All in all, the seminar was success. THE biggest seminar in my entire career was over. I never felt so deeply satisfied with one event. I was thankful that I had this job, and renewed my motivation to do a good job no matter how challenging the situation may be.