Dave Chong · HRD Corp Train The Trainer

My Train The Trainer Study Journal

Day-by-day notes, takeaways and reflections as I work through the Train The Trainer course — written for myself, shared for anyone walking the same road.

About

Why this journal exists

I'm attending the HRD Corp Train The Trainer course, and writing things down is how I learn. This journal keeps my notes, takeaways and reflections from each day in one place — and holds me accountable to actually process what I'm taught, not just sit through it.

Journal

Day by day

Ice Breakers, KitKats and Ground Rules
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

Ice Breakers, KitKats and Ground Rules

Before a single slide, our trainer made us live the principles she was about to teach — balloon games, chocolate rewards, and one engagement rule I'm stealing for every meeting I run.

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Learning ≠ Training
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

Learning ≠ Training

"I taught Stripe how to whistle." "I don't hear him whistling." "I said I taught him. I didn't say he learned it." A cartoon that quietly demolishes how most companies think about training.

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Four Theoretical Perspectives of Learning
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

Four Theoretical Perspectives of Learning

Behaviourist, cognitivist, constructivist, collaborativist — four different answers to what learning actually is, and a good trainer picks the right one for each learning goal.

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ADDIE — Instructional Design's Operating System
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

ADDIE — Instructional Design's Operating System

Analyse, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate — with Evaluate wired into every other phase. ADDIE looks like common sense until you notice how many trainings skip straight to Develop.

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The 70:20:10 Learning Model
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

The 70:20:10 Learning Model

Only 10% of learning comes from the classroom. The workshop's real job is to ignite the other 90% — the learning that happens through other people and through the work itself.

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The Forgetting Curve
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

The Forgetting Curve

Within one hour, more than half of what you learned is gone. Within a month, four-fifths. Retention is not about how well content was presented — it is about how often it gets retrieved.

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Lean Learning — 20% Content, 80% Practice
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

Lean Learning — 20% Content, 80% Practice

Only about 12% of employees apply what corporate training teaches them. Lean learning is the response: minimum effective content, immediate application, immediate feedback, repeat.

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Understanding Your Participants
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

Understanding Your Participants

Before you design a single slide, know who is in the room: why they're there, what they already know, what they expect — and the special considerations that decide whether they can learn at all.

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Learning Styles — Activists, Reflectors, Theorists, Pragmatists
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

Learning Styles — Activists, Reflectors, Theorists, Pragmatists

Two axes — how people take experience in, and what they do with it — give four learning styles. I took the assessment: Pragmatist 19, Theorist 17, Reflector 15, Activist 11. It explains a lot.

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The Competent Trainer — Nine Roles in One Person
Day 1 · 17 August 2026

The Competent Trainer — Nine Roles in One Person

A trainer is more than a speaker: designer, educator, communicator, motivator and influencer in one. Nine roles, and an honest self-audit of where I stand on each.

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Contact

Say hello

Taking the same course, or thinking about it? I'd be glad to compare notes —daveckw@gmail.com.