Instructor
Spotlight
Ron
Yudd, FMP
Points
of Profit Leadership
Ron
Yudd is an international speaker with more than thirty years of
restaurant operations experience. He has been a long time contributor
to the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation as
a writer, presenter, and subject matter expert. His Points
of Profit Leadership programs are sought by companies that want
to enhance the performance of their seasoned and emerging leaders.
Ron is also the founding director of the Leadership Cares Foundation,
an organization that promotes involvement in mentoring, building
literacy, and feeding those in need.
Presenting
a ServSafe® program provides the trainer with the special opportunity
to directly and positively affect the food safety of the dining
public. This opportunity also presents several challenges to the
instructor. Keeping the presentation interesting and relevant for
the particular audience and ensuring that the information is applied
in the operations are just two of these challenges. You can do a
few things to meet them.
As
you prepare for each presentation, take the following three steps
well before you enter the classroom.
· Find
out as much as you can about your audience.
· Ascertain their current level of food-safety knowledge,
the jobs they perform in their restaurants or foodservice establishments,
and what specifically they want to gain from the training. With
this information in hand, you will have more opportunity to perform
the next step.
· Create an environment in which participants both acquire
information and learn methods of how to apply that information in
their operations.
You
can also use the following golden rules of teaching to ensure a
positive learning experience for your participants and enhance your
own satisfaction.
Protect
Your Participant—Always create a safe environment for your
participants. Start by poking fun at yourself. Share some of your
own food-safety blunders. Never allow participants to feel embarrassed
about their answers or comments. Look for the positive in each response
and be sure to compliment your students for their efforts. Don’t
allow students to make fun or embarrass another. You learner must
feel safe in order to be comfortable. With comfort comes the opportunity
for real learning.
Link
Learned Material to Real-World Application—Each time you teach
a concept, make sure you use real-world or real workplace examples.
You may present a few yourself and ask your participants for others.
Your goal is to link conceptual information to how it can be applied
it in the workplace. Some instructors have found success in asking
students about how they handle food safety at home and then relating
it to safe practices in the workplace.
Look
for Opportunities to Engage the Participant—For each segment
taught, you should always look to involve the participant directly.
Remember how adults learn. They learn by reading, listening, observing,
moving around, role playing, and demonstrating. Mix your method
of instruction. Engage your participants, and challenge them to
demonstrate, act out, teach others, relate their personal stories,
and actively participate in the learning process. The more participants
actively contribute, the more they will retain. They remember what
interests them personally and take home the ideas that they themselves
formed.
By
first honing our individual teaching skills, we have the incredible
honor to grow as instructors who impact food safety directly.
| 
