Hands On Product Training Most Effective
Why we prefer hands-on training rather than classroom training.
One of my favorite quotes is attributed to Benjamin Franklin and no, it is not the often misquoted, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”*
My favorite Franklin quote is, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
I have been involved in distributor, representative and customer product training for close to thirty years. In my experience, hands-on product training is by far the most effective way to help a student retain important information. After decades of Mylar’s on overhead projectors and “death by PowerPoint”, I am a firm believer in engaging the students by letting them “get their hands dirty”.
While some classroom time is required to ensure all relevant content is covered, as a valve manufacturer, there is no better way for our students to feel comfortable with our products than letting them assemble and test our valves. In our distributor and representative training sessions, approximately 50% of the time is classroom and the remaining time is in the engineering lab or on the factory shop floor. Based on the feedback we receive from the students, providing this experience is “priceless”.
