Role plays do's and don'ts

Role plays do's and don'ts

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  Role Plays –The Do’s and Don’ts Logically all trainers know that Role Plays are a perfect way to ensure practice of new skills. But somewhere we do realize that not all of us are comfortable acting parts in front of an audience, sometimes the role plays just seem superficial lacking any direction or we are just rushing through things to finish the role play and cover the agenda. To conduct a successful role play carefully design, thoroughly detail, facilitate hands off and objectively debrief; in addition keep in mind a few pointers Do’s  Meticulously plan scenarios to cover the most important parts that need most practice and skills  Plan and set aside adequate time to conduct and debrief role plays  Set the ground rules clearly  Be specific in your description of the role play. This will avoid confusion and your participants will know what exactly to do  Ensure that all participants are comfortable well before role plays start, any awkwardness will impact the quality of role plays  Involve the participants in the program to share their ideas on how the situation could have been better. Begin by asking the actors in the role play what they would have done differently  When you debrief to bring out the learning, refer to the characters in the role play without referring to the individual actors  Begin your feedback by pointing out all the positives, then bring out what could have been better Don’ts  Do not rush in to rescue people. Let them find their way out and find solutions on their own  Don’t interfere when a role play is in progress  Don’t make role plays about a fault finding mission, be a part in a role play and demonstrate what is expected  Don’t target too many learning points in a single role play. The role play will be too scattered and most of the learning points will get lost in confusion  Don’t make jokes at the expense of participants of a role play. Most of us are awkward actors, especially when we know we are about to be judged. Regards, Simplifymytraining.com