Entering week 10 of training with The Data School at The Information Lab, I found myself gearing up for a unique challenge. Delivering a 90-minute training session on Power BI. The catch? It was my first time teaching.
All cohorts of The Data School take on this challenge around the half way point in training. Each person from the cohort delivers a 90 minute session to clients as part of a whole training day, focussed on a particular tool. For DS42, half of us delivered Power BI training and the other half delivered Tableau training.
My session centred on building various chart types in Power BI. I delved into the topic of storytelling through data, emphasizing the significance of choosing the right chart for the message and incorporating formatting best practices. A snippet of the training touched on an introduction to DAX (Data Analysis Expressions).
Choosing Power BI over Tableau for the training session presented a deliberate step out of my comfort zone. Despite having fewer hours in Power BI compared to Tableau, the decision proved rewarding as I became more confident with the tool's interface and formatting options.
In the days leading up to this session, I embraced the mantra of over-preparation. Writing up examples and practising demos consumed my evenings. Not how I wanted to spend my downtime, but nor did I want to fall on my face in front of a class of clients.
However, as the session unfolded, I realized the challenge of managing time within the 90-minute span. Despite the meticulous planning, I could only cover part of my content.
This experience taught me the delicate balance between over-preparation and the realization that 90 minutes flies by swiftly. In a large group, the abilities are going to be mixed, even in a beginner session. Some people naturally pick things up quicker than others and that means your pace of content delivery will not always go to plan. I had some practises exercises I intended to have the class complete, but had to move past these, advising them to complete the additional exercises in their spare time if they wished.
Even in our own sessions at The Data School, the coaches don't always get to complete their desired training content within the session. Instead, having to focus on particular sticking points to bring the group up to speed. This got me thinking about the appreciation for the preparation skills of educators, coaches and trainers. Sometimes thinking on the fly and being able to answer an unexpected questions is required. It may derail your "plan" briefly but if aids to learning of an individual its worth it.
Despite missing some content from my desired plan, I'm glad I had too much content prepared. It taught me that being able to speed up and slow down content delivery is only possible it you have the content available to fall back on.
My biggest fear was in not meeting the class's expectations and my goal was to deliver content that was not only valuable but also worth their time. Especially since some had travelled a large distance to get to London, on a cold December to listen to me speak.
Between the sessions it was great to engage with the class who shared their data analytics journeys, providing a rewarding networking experience. It's interesting to hear that we have the same data challenges across a range of industries but enlightening of how data viz tools like Power BI and Tableau has helped them do more in their roles.
What's great about these sessions is you also have the rest of your cohort in the room for support. You are not in the room alone. Troubleshooting and answering questions during the session occurred more frequently than anticipated, reinforcing the value of teamwork. So shout out to rest of DS42.
In the grand scheme of professional development, this experience marked a significant step beyond our weekly client project presentations. The exposure to presenting to larger groups is gradually transforming into a more comfortable and familiar endeavor.
For those embarking on similar teaching journeys or about to join The Data School, here are a few pieces of advice:
Embrace the Challenge: Face it head-on; the growth on the other side is energising.
Over-Prepare: Better to have too much content than to scramble to fill gaps during the session.
Trust Your Training: The 9-week preparation at The Data School equips you with the knowledge and skills to deliver an excellent session.
You'll Never Feel Ready Enough: Acknowledge that the session is a learning opportunity, and you'll gain valuable insights from the experience.
Good luck!