Top Qualities of a Good Trainer

We’re sure that one time or another, you’ve been fascinated at how a trainer facilitates class and engages learners. 

You’ve also most likely observed some of the best qualities of a good trainer and already somewhat have an idea of what attributes make a trainer great at their work. Most probably, you’ve also thought of becoming a trainer yourself at a certain point in your career.  

Nevertheless, if you want to find out what really makes a trainer successful, or if you’re looking into switching careers and make training a career option, then this is definitely for you! 

The biggest advantage of taking up a career in training and development is that the skills needed to be a trainer are standard across all industries: the skills required for a trainer in global health are the same in retail, manufacturing, IT, etc. 

A trainer’s main responsibility is to facilitate classes. Since this is a task that most of us see a trainer usually do, oftentimes, the trainer role gets downplayed to being just a mere facilitator. This brings about a certain misconception of what successful corporate trainer skills are perceived to be – limited to just communication, product knowledge, and entertainment value. 

Although communication and facilitation skills are both important skills of a trainer, they’re not the end-all and be-all of corporate training skills. This shallow understanding of what good trainer skills are supposed to be, definitely has to go. What is needed, instead, is a deeper understanding of a trainer’s other tasks and the required competencies that go with them.

For this purpose, we’ve created a list of trainer skills and qualities that are needed to succeed in the field, as follows: 

• Trainers are Strategic Thinkers and Partners 
• Trainers are well-versed in Instructional Design 
• Trainers are Project Managers 
• Trainers are Facilitators of Change and Learning 
• Trainers are Evaluators