Clearer Thoughts on TAP®.
When Tricia Clewett and Donna Stewart founded their training company Clearer Thoughts at the start of 2001, they were confident to offer their services as innovative and professional trainers. Three years later, in the summer of 2004, they underwent an intense three-day experience that proved them capable of delivering even more than they had previously imagined.
As Clearer Thoughts prospered Tricia and Donna found their confidence in their own abilities was rapidly reinforced. Between 2001 and 2004 they successfully delivered both IT and Soft Skills training to a range of clients on Merseyside and across the country, including major household names such as QVC and Rolls Royce.
However, despite receiving feedback which was consistently high, (80% of all delegate feedback rated all aspects of their training skills as Excellent with the remainder all scoring Good) they felt they needed to compare their methods with industry standards and to receive objective assessment of their skills.
Donna and Tricia decided to invest in the three day Delivery Skills Refresher course offered by The Training Foundation which leads to the TAP® Certificate in Training Delivery Skills.
Donna was the first to complete the course. She enjoyed the group work, ate her dinners very quickly to allow herself enough time to prepare in the evenings and was rewarded with a score of 100% in the final TAP assessment – an uncommon achievement.
The following week Tricia attended the course and found that the structure of the sessions forced her to reconsider the best ways to teach. Spurred on by her business partner she, too, scored 100% in the final assessment.
Since returning to work, both Tricia and Donna have started to put the methodology into practice and are already seeing the benefits.
Donna was startled to discover that the experience had allowed her to produce even better results. “The TAP® methodology makes a huge difference because it allows me to spend more time with delegates and to stimulate them into greater participation.”
Tricia decided it would be possible to get across difficult concepts such as data relationships by means of less lecturing and more questioning supported by the use of games.
“It will take a while, though, to produce revised scripts for the 100 or so courses that we deliver!” she conceded. “Everyone needs a challenge though, don’t they?“
Adrian Snook, Director of Corporate Development for The Training Foundation commented: “We were delighted to hear that Donna and Tricia found their experience so beneficial. We do politely ask our delegates to keep their TAP assessment scores to themselves whilst on the course as others may not have done so well. We also always stress that our courses should never be seen as a competition, but as a unique personal development tool.”
Notes for Editors
High resolution digital photographs of Donna and Tricia with their certificates and on the banks of the Mersey are available on request.