Author: Bill Monsour

  • How to Become a Professional Trainer: Insights from 5 Experienced Toastmasters

    If you’ve ever wondered how to become a professional trainer, you’re not alone. At the Toastmasters District 59 Conference in Metz, five experienced trainers shared the lessons, mistakes, and breakthroughs that helped them build successful training careers.

    Moderated by Andy Baker, DTM, the discussion brought together John Zimmer, Sangbreeta Moitra, Dorleta Gonzalez, Dirceu da Silva, and Irina Musuc. Their stories were different, but their message was remarkably consistent: becoming a trainer is not about having a perfect plan. It is about curiosity, courage, continuous learning, and a commitment to helping others grow.

    The full panel recording is available on YouTube, but here are seven key lessons that emerged from the conversation.

    1. There Is No Single Path to Becoming a Trainer

    One of the most encouraging themes was that none of the panelists followed a traditional route into training.

    John Zimmer spent years as a lawyer before moving into international work with the United Nations. Sangbreeta Moitra combined neuroscience research with a passion for public speaking. Dirceu da Silva began teaching simply because colleagues needed someone with technical expertise. Others arrived through coaching, leadership roles, or corporate training opportunities.

    Their experiences remind us that professional trainers come from every imaginable background. What matters is not where you start, but whether you are willing to develop the skills required to help others learn and grow.

    2. Often, Other People See Your Potential Before You Do

    Several panelists described a similar moment: people kept asking for their help.

    For John, it was presentation advice. For Sangbreeta, it was invitations to speak and facilitate workshops. For Dorleta, it was audience members who told her that her workshops had made a meaningful difference in their lives and careers.

    The lesson is simple: pay attention when people repeatedly seek your guidance. Those requests may be revealing strengths that you have not fully recognized yourself.

    3. Training Is About Transformation, Not Information

    A recurring distinction throughout the panel was the difference between sharing knowledge and creating learning.

    Many experts can explain a topic. Great trainers help people change.

    Irina Musuc emphasized that the goal of training is not to fill participants with information, but to create awareness, ownership, and transformation. Participants should leave with new insights, practical tools, and the confidence to apply what they have learned.

    The best trainers do not simply transfer knowledge; they facilitate growth.

    4. Community Accelerates Learning

    Every panelist highlighted the importance of community in their development.

    Whether through Toastmasters, professional associations, peer groups, or ETN itself, learning alongside others dramatically shortens the path to mastery.

    Dorleta Gonzalez shared how ETN became instrumental during the pandemic. While many trainers were struggling to adapt, the network’s collaborative learning environment helped her quickly master online delivery techniques and bring those skills back to her organization.

    No trainer succeeds entirely alone. Communities provide feedback, encouragement, ideas, accountability, and sometimes even career-changing opportunities.

    5. A Growth Mindset Is Essential

    One of the strongest messages from the discussion was that learning never stops.

    Even highly experienced trainers continue to refine their craft, test new approaches, seek feedback, and learn from peers.

    Dirceu da Silva spoke openly about how little he knew when he first started. What made the difference was not natural talent, but a commitment to continuous improvement.

    Professional training is not a destination. It is an ongoing process of development.

    6. Relationships Matter More Than Transactions

    Several panelists emphasized that success in training comes from building genuine relationships rather than chasing individual opportunities.

    Sangbreeta Moitra encouraged aspiring trainers to focus on long-term connections rather than short-term transactions. Some of her most significant opportunities emerged years after an initial conversation or speaking engagement.

    Likewise, John Zimmer stressed the importance of generosity—sharing ideas, helping others, and contributing to professional communities. Often, the value you create for others comes back in unexpected ways.

    In training, your network is not simply a source of business. It is a source of learning, support, and growth.

    7. Say “Yes” Before You Feel Ready

    Perhaps the most memorable advice came from a simple idea repeated in different ways by multiple panelists:

    Don’t wait until you feel ready.

    Dorleta Gonzalez encouraged aspiring trainers to volunteer for opportunities before they feel fully prepared. John Zimmer shared how he accepted a workshop opportunity for 1,000 people and figured out the details afterward.

    Confidence rarely arrives before action. More often, confidence is the result of action.

    As John summarized with a smile, many people spend their lives in “Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim.” A better approach may be “Ready, Fire, Then Aim.”

    The Opportunity Is There

    If there was one message that united all five panelists, it was this: becoming a trainer is more achievable than many people think.

    You do not need a perfect résumé. You do not need decades of experience. You do not need to know everything.

    You need curiosity, dedication, a willingness to learn, and a desire to help others succeed.

    And you do not have to make the journey alone.

    That is exactly why the European Trainers Network exists: to provide a supportive community where aspiring and experienced trainers can learn from one another, develop their skills, and grow together.

    If you’ve ever wondered whether training might be your next chapter, perhaps the best advice from the panel is the simplest:

    Raise your hand. Say yes. Start learning.

    The rest can be figured out along the way.

    Sign up for upcoming programming from ETN

  • Am I a fake trainer?

    Why does it sometimes feel like I’m wasting my own time—and my students’ time and money—by teaching theory they’ll forget by tomorrow?

    I became a trainer because I wanted to make a real, lasting difference in people’s lives. I wanted my students to leave not just informed, but changed—more capable, more confident, better equipped to act. Yet too often, I catch myself wondering whether I’m delivering insight or just information. And that question can be unsettling.

    Recently, I read an article in The New York Times about how to fight fascism effectively. While its focus is political, it offered a powerful lens for thinking about education and training more broadly. As I read, I tried a simple mental exercise: replace the word “organizers” with “trainers,” and “voters” with “students.” Suddenly, the article felt like it was speaking directly to my work.

    The core idea is this: lasting change doesn’t come from dumping information on people. It comes from helping them make sense of their own experiences—connecting those experiences to ideas, values, and positions they can truly own.

    That led me to a question I’m still wrestling with:

    Is a trainer’s job to participate in the process by which students transform their experiences into well-formed positions?

    If that’s true, then effective training isn’t about perfect slides, clever frameworks, or covering more content. It’s about dialogue, reflection, and creating space for meaning to emerge. It’s about helping students process, not just receive.

    I’m curious what you think.
    Do you agree with this definition of a trainer’s role?
    And if so, how do you design your training to make that transformation possible?

    I’d love to hear your perspective.

    Find the whole article here: Opinion | A New Playbook for Saving Democracy, Defeating Fascism and Winning Elections – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

  • Online Education: Your Toastmasters Skills Are Needed

    In the September 2022 issue of Toastmaster Magazine (page 24), an insightful article on online learning highlights the work of the European Trainers Network—a community dedicated to helping Toastmasters grow as trainers in both virtual and in-person settings.

    Written by Megan Preston Meyer, the article explores which Toastmasters International skills truly come into play in online environments—whether you’re leading a session as a trainer or participating as a student. With virtual learning now firmly embedded in how we teach and learn, Meyer’s piece offers timely reflections on how core Toastmasters competencies translate, adapt, and even become more critical online.

    Below is an excerpt from her article that captures these ideas in action.

    Level Up With

    Online Education

    Translating Concepts

    The prerequisites for teaching online are a) an interest in the material you’ll be teaching, b) a bit of business and marketing know-how, and c) communication skills. The Pathways program will give you a leg up on the last one, and there are other resources out there, as well.

    Bill Monsour, DTM, is the co-founder of the European Trainers Network (ETN), an organization for Toastmasters in Europe who are interested in teaching and training. Its mission is to “provide networking opportunities and serve as an information resource for its members.” It does so by not only helping members to “develop their training skills, but also their business skills,” Monsour says. The ETN emphasizes proven adult learning methods and offers regular masterclasses on marketing and promotion; one recent session focused on optimizing LinkedIn profiles, for example.

    During the lockdown, the ETN understandably saw increased interest in virtual training methods. Online or in person, though, the foundations of effective teaching remain the same— they’re just enhanced. “Moving online doesn’t mean that you don’t need all those skills that you had before. In fact, it’s all the same skills, plus new skills on top—technical skills,” says Monsour. “You need to reimagine [communication] in the online environment. It’s like translating one language to another; you can’t do it literally, word-for-word, you have to look at the basic concepts and understand how, in the new world, that concept is done in a different way.”

    One area in need of translation is audience engagement. Just like in Toastmasters meetings, when you’re not in the same physical space as others, you need new ways to interact. “There are all sorts of tips for engaging people [online],” Monsour says. “We use breakout rooms quite a bit … to enable discussion that wouldn’t otherwise happen.” Whiteboard tools like Miro, which enable annotation and collaboration, are also excellent ways to raise the engagement level.

    At the same time, Monsour warns, don’t get too distracted by the technology. “Remember when PowerPoint first came in, and people were all excited that ‘we can make something spin,’ and ‘we can make all these different colors and fonts and stuff’? Once the wizardry and the novelty wore off, it became ‘death-by-PowerPoint.’ People get caught up in the technology and the excitement of it, and they lose the human element.” That human element, not a flashy platform, is what sets successful online teachers apart.

    (link to read the whole article in Toastmasters Magazine)