I have always been impressed with trainers who have a well prepared room when you walk in. Arriving early, or even the evening before, to set up a room ensures that participants walk into a room that is prepared for learning. Me, I like table settings that are visually appealing, take into account different learning styles, and that add energy to the class from the beginning.
In 2005 I was given the opportunity to become a Covey consultant teaching the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This is easily the best, most well prepared training I have ever been involved with. One of the best things about the class was that I got to train with tenured trainers and learn some of their best practices. In regards to table settings, Gloria Corder’s advice stands out.
Gloria was a contract trainer for the state and traveled extensively to conduct trainings. She had learned how to get the most bang for her packing space and had a great way of managing her table settings so she could effectively travel.
Gloria had a wide variety of table settings that included a handkerchief, sticky notes , flip chart markers, play-doh, and other miscellaneous decorations. To make these travel friendly, and to make set up and breakdown a snap, she used zip-lock bags. She used a gallon size zip-lock bag for each table to manage her set up. Here is how she did it. 
First, she placed the handkerchief and flip chart markers in a sandwich size bag. This helped keep the markers from making a mess on everything if they started leaking and seemed to fit well in the sandwich size bag.
She then placed the sandwich size bag inside the gallon size bag with all the other settings. When she showed up for class she simply tossed a gallon size bag onto each table to set up. When she broke down the class the table settings for each table went back into the gallon size bag and were then packed away.
Considerations:
- Carry only what you need. A few items with some candy often work wonders and result in happy participants. Create a bag for each table setting so you can easily set up and break down.
- Play-Doh is great for tactile learners as it gives them something to manipulate while listening in class. However, you may have to make a rule that play-doh is not a team sport. I had a participant once who was being very disruptive during class, talking during lectures and films, etc. At break when I asked her what was going on, she advised she was trying to make a hamburger and was needing to borrow different colored play-doh from other participants. Let them know ahead of time…NOT A TEAM SPORT. Play-doh refills can be purchased inexpensively and should be changed often to keep it fresh and reduce the transfer of germs.
- 12-24 count colors in each bag is enough for the table to use if coloring sheets are provided. See the post on coloring for more information on the best way to purchase and use colors.
Do you have any ideas for table settings? Send to me at poortrainer@gmail.com
