is energizing and counteracts the effects of a full stomach.

by tossing out little giveaways like stress-reducing squeeze balls

to those who answer questions. "People like free things,"

says Von Ohlen.

ask everyone to draw pictures representing aspects of their life.

I always draw first on a big flip chart, and once they see that I

can’t draw, no one is shy." For a closer, she often has her class

blow up balloons. "We put all our stress into the balloon, and

we throw them up in the air to get rid of the stress."

you’re

going to be creative, you’ve got to come up with how you’re going

to make it fun and interesting. Themes are a way to do it."

For training courses dealing with adapting to change, Von Ohlen

advises

taking students on a trip to Oz. Whether participants are adjusting

to a corporate merger or just a new department manager, Von Ohlen

believes a walk down the yellow brick road can ease their experience.

The Oz-inspired meeting room includes a floor mat printed with a

golden

masonry motif, tables covered in blue and white checked cloth, and

red glitter boxes filled with candy scattered about. Even handouts

are adorned with a picture of Dorothy.

Von Ohlen then lowers the lights and shows her students a part of

the Wizard of Oz film. They watch Dorothy’s house detach from Kansas

during the cyclone and whirl away into the unknown.

A discussion follows of how Dorothy felt during these changes and

how she managed to make it through. Von Ohlen extracts from the class

that Dorothy, surrogate for the seminar participants, got through

by relying on her friends. This teamwork approach will help

participants

negotiate changes, too.

For courses dealing with problems in communications, Von Ohlen uses

a jungle theme. The training room is transformed. Animal masks

decorate

the walls. Green crepe paper vines flutter above. A tape of jungle

sounds plays in the background. Von Ohlen even dresses in a safari

outfit.

She explains to participants their train has derailed. They need to

learn how to get out of the jungle and back to civilization.

As a means for escape from the jungle, Von Ohlen has the class build

helicopters, made from kits. This project requires teamwork,

cooperation

and good communication skills. After the whirly birds are assembled

and the participants’ rescue assured, "then we debrief it,"

she says.

"People have a difficult time talking about what’s happening with

them. But they have a real easy time talking about what just happened

in this group as we were building a helicopter."

She leads the discussion to how communication can break down. "It

makes it non-personal,"she says, "It makes it very

non-threatening."

Von Ohlen believes everyone can benefit from improving their training

skills and remains steadfast to her goal of making even mundane

subjects

interesting. "No matter what your job is you are always training

other people," she says "If people aren’t laughing and having

fun in a program, there’s a problem with that program."

— Caroline Calogero

Corrections or additions?

— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.