How to use this book
When planning a trip there are certain things that need to be decided upon. Where will you go? How will you get to your destination? What will you bring with you? What will you do while you are there?
These are all questions that most people will answer prior to leaving on a trip and the answers may necessitate certain actions be performed. But how these questions will be answered can vary from person to person. Some may search the Internet for travel destinations; others may visit a travel agent; while others may speak with family and friends to learn of different possibilities. Because different methods are used, it is quite possible that different answers may be found, but it is also just as possible that the same answers are reached by different methods. It is also possible that people with similar interests and tastes may reach completely different answers based on their methods of research.
Once the travel destination has been chosen, next steps include deciding how to travel (i.e. by car, plane, train, etc.) and, of course, what to pack. Some of these choices are non-choices – you would not travel short distances by plane, nor could you drive your car to an overseas destination. Similarly, tropical destinations warrant a certain wardrobe while cold climates require warm clothing. Deciding what points of interest to visit during your trip is another choice that may be made prior to the start of the trip, while others may decide where to go during the trip. These choices can be made in a variety of orders and some folks may not choose to make some of these choices until they have actually arrived at their destination.
When we were planning this book, we had a certain destination in mind. Our destination is to convey the novice trainer from the seed of an idea for a training session to the completion of the session. You, as a trainer, have your own destinations in mind and each destination will be unique, depending on the subject of the training and the trainers involved. However, as veteran trainers, we realize there are various ways to reach the destination of a well-planned and executed training session. We also realize that as trainers plan their sessions, they may reach a certain point and decide to – or need to – backtrack and make revisions to their plans. So we present the information in a certain order, following a certain track; but even the best planned training sessions do not always follow the planned track. You may find this book behaves in the same manner. In explaining the details of one area of training it may be necessary to reference information presented in subsequent chapters. Therefore, you may be tempted to read the chapters in a different order depending on your needs. But, remember that we have set our itinerary!
We grouped the information into four sections based on when in the training planning process the actions described will mostly occur. You may also decide you need to refer back to parts of previous chapters to make adjustments to your training plan. This is the true nature of training – it needs to be a fluid plan that can, and will, continually adjust to meet the needs of the trainees. One thing we ask of you, our fellow trainers, is to read through the entire book as a whole before focusing on individual sections and/or chapters. In this manner, you will see the well-planned itinerary of our trip.
Now let’s pack our bags and buckle our seatbelts, for we are about to embark on an exciting journey.