Introduction:🎶📚
In the creative realm, borrowing and refining existing ideas is a time-honored practice embraced by great minds across various disciplines. From Pablo Picasso’s famous quote, “All great artists steal,” to Albert Einstein’s notion that “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources,” the concept of building upon the work of others is deeply ingrained in our cultural fabric. Surprisingly, this approach remains underutilized in the field of corporate training. In this post, we’ll delve deep into how to incorporate leveraging the principles of cover songs to enhance training delivery and explore practical strategies for trainers to integrate this approach into their practice.🎨📖
“"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." - Charles Caleb Colton🌟”
Leveraging the Musician’s Playbook: Tips for Effective Practice🎵💼
As a musician with years of experience, I’ve learned invaluable lessons about the power of practice. The first tip, borrowed from my musical journey, is to dedicate time to practice every day. Just as I committed to daily trombone practice sessions throughout junior high and high school, corporate trainers must carve out dedicated practice time to refine their skills consistently.🎺📝
Set aside time to practice. It can be for twenty minutes, it can be for an hour, but set a minimum and stick to it. It takes discipline to stick to it every day. When I was young, I was lucky to have nagging parents and an egg timer to hold me accountable. After deciding on a practice schedule, it’s a good idea to take into account potential excuses that may come up in the future. For instance, you may have planned holidays, legitimately fall sick, or be required to attend an all-day event.
It’s helpful to document these excuses ahead of time so that you can refer to them later. When you find yourself not wanting to practice, you can check your pre-approved list of excuses and see if any of them apply. If not, then it’s time to buckle down and get practicing.🕒📆
Now that we have established the importance of setting time aside to practice and explored some tips for how to stick to a practice schedule, let’s look at some innovative ways to fill that practice time.🤔💡
Embracing the Cover Song Mentality in Training🎶📝
Learning to practice effectively seems much easier for a musician than it does for a corporate trainer. Musicians are taught how to practice by being given scales, sheet music, different exercises for warming up and warming down, and cover songs to play. Practicing cover songs is impactful because it gives you a great bar to hold yourself against. As you work to master the song, you can see, hear, and feel the difference between the jerky sounds of your first couple of attempts versus the smooth, full sounds of your later run-throughs.
Eventually, you’ll begin to add your own flavor to the song, and your style will come through more and more. After covering several songs, you’ll start to write your own songs, which might be rooted in another artist’s work but is uniquely yours. The best part is that the artist you stole from most certainly stole from someone else.Learning to practice effectively seems much easier for a musician than it does for a corporate trainer. Musicians are taught how to practice by being given scales, sheet music, different exercises for warming up and warming down, and cover songs to play. Practicing cover songs is impactful because it gives you a great bar to hold yourself against. As you work to master the song, you can see, hear, and feel the difference between the jerky sounds of your first couple of attempts versus the smooth, full sounds of your later run-throughs.
Eventually, you’ll begin to add your own flavor to the song, and your style will come through more and more. After covering several songs, you’ll start to write your own songs, which might be rooted in another artist’s work but is uniquely yours. The best part is that the artist you stole from most certainly stole from someone else.🎤🎸
Applying the Cover Song Concept to Training🎤📊
It is not as difficult as it may seem to replicate a training process. In the training world, an equivalent to a cover song can be anything you want it to be. For instance, it can be a Ted Talk or a recording of a college professor delivering classroom training. If your company has recordings of training sessions, you could use them too.
BONUS: By using your company’s recorded training, you can cross-skill and deliver that training at the same time.🌟📹
Start by breaking down what you are covering into 2-5 minute segments that can be practiced individually. You can break it down any way you want, but I usually start at the beginning and work my way through each section I have broken down.
Then, practice each section until you are satisfied with it. Record each session, so you can listen to it later. You might delete some recordings because you know where you made mistakes and will correct them in the next recording. Others might give you opportunities to improve when you rewatch them.
Once you have one “cover” presentation down, do another and then another. Try to cover different genres and presenters. Before you know it, you will have learned many tips and tricks from various people and greatly developed your own presentation skills.📹📝
Conclusion: Transforming Training through Inspired Practice🚀📚
In conclusion, the concept of cover songs offers a powerful connection for enhancing training delivery and fostering continuous improvement. By adopting a musician’s mindset, trainers can draw inspiration from diverse sources, refine their skills, and elevate the quality of their training sessions. So let’s embrace the art of cover songs, tap into our creative potential, and revolutionize the world of corporate training one practice session at a time.
By embracing the cover song methodology and integrating musical principles into their training practice, trainers can unlock new levels of creativity, innovation, and excellence. So let’s elevate training delivery together and embark on a journey of continuous improvement and growth.🌱🎶
