I wonder what are your opinion of free talks and company courses. To a lot of my colleagues this course is just a milestone that the company mandate on them to clear. I used to think that way but a company course that I went to partially make me see how I can use them to help me.
My project manager used to tell me when you attend a seminar or course, know what you want to gain out of it. Now that will work if you know what you want.
For some courses or seminars you go in to be taken by surprise and that ends up as a different kind of learning experience.
The course that I went to teach about customer intimacy and forging relationship. The trainer is great and in many good talks, seminars and training courses the trainer really matters a lot in making you want to go back the next day, make the lesson less dry and teaches you real application.
The trainer shared with us his experience in his past profession about taking advantage of resources to elevate yourself to a greater level.
What he says is very true. The money is there to spend and if you do not go for it your colleagues will go for it and then you stand to lose out cause you end up stagnating while others improve.
In investing, we attempt to find an intrinsic value to a stock. What we attempt to do is to buy fifty cent dollar. I find that you can look at these courses and seminar the same way.
Some course trainers are so excellent that even though the talk is free or cheap you get a good deal. The realization and the perspective changes could be worth $20,000 in the future even though the talk is free.
A talk on sugar and its relation to cancer may save you large amounts of healthcare course. A good financial planning talk shows you which insurance is important and critical to you saves you from footing large healthcare cost. A good speaker on investing provides points you to what is wrong with your current investing style and ends up making you more than you pay for it.
I urge folks to open their mind and use the information provided to enhance or create new perspectives on your life. The monetary rewards may not be seen now, but you would gain more out of it in the long run.
Kyith is the Owner and Sole Writer behind Investment Moats. Readers tune in to Investment Moats to learn and build stronger, firmer wealth foundations, how to have a Passive investment strategy, know more about investing in REITs and the nuts and bolts of Active Investing.
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TS
Sunday 28th of October 2012
Hi Drizzt,
Let me share with you about my experience with these free talks/seminars that I attended last time. I only attended the investment seminars (e.g. stocks/options, property etc.) I'm sure that the customer relations talks (soft skills seminars) are better than the investment ones I went to in the past.
I won't state whose seminars I attended, but they are all free, and they all have one thing in common: they are all trying to sell you courses at the end of it. And guess what? ALL of them use the same ruse. Which is that "THIS IS THE LAST TIME (or 2nd last time) I'M CONDUCTING THIS COURSE, BECAUSE AFTER THAT I WANT TO FOCUS ON (xxxxxxxxxxx change words here xxxxxxxx)."
Being a sales guy myself, I assure you these are FAKE, and used as a sales pitch because people generally like the idea of 'limited edition' and 'good deals'. These speakers would give a promotional deal, be it for a special group of people, or for group sign-ups. However, even though they say that its the last time they are doing it, THEY ARE STILL CONDUCTING THEM NOW!!!!! What in the world man. I still see them talking about attending their free seminars in the newspapers. I haven't attended them since, but I can almost guarantee you that they are saying the same things. I mean, what the heck man. From years back when you said you want to stop conducting courses and focus on other stuff, till now you are still charging people and telling them the same thing, if this is not a lie then I don't know what it.
Funnily enough, ALL of the ones I attended say the same type of stuff. Not the same investment content. I do admit that some of these fellas do know what they are doing, though not all. But the thing that's the same is their sales pitch. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if they are all trained by the same coach to conduct these sales talks. And yes, these 'free seminars' are essentially sales talks, not lessons. So while you might marginally increase your knowledge, I would take most things they say with a pinch of salt. Would they hold true to their word and conduct lessons? Of course they would. Otherwise they'd long be sued and gone from the newspapers/websites already.
I can't control how you spend your money, ladies and gentlemen. But I'd like to encourage you to find out more, and calculate for yourself if the ROI (return on investment) from these courses are really worth it. Check out forums on how the speakers are, and NEVER sign up and pay for these courses on the spot. You can put your name down as interested if you so wish, but DO NOT pay for them till you are very comfortable with the fact that the so-called guru is really as good as he makes himself out to be.
And another word of advice: if the person is as good as he says he is, and says he earns xxx amt of money from the investment, do realise that a significant amt of money comes from conducting lessons. You will never hit that kind of money unless you have millions of dollars to play with. But then again, if you have millions of dollars, then the course fees for these are like peanuts to you, so you shouldn't even be bothering to listen to what I've got to say. hahahaha all the best everyone, and wish you luck in your investments :)
henry
Tuesday 10th of April 2012
Most people would not pay a cent for any course let alone attend free one!
Unless compelled to do so, they would not see any value in attending any. Till they lose they jobs or when they get sidelined for promotions.
I would gladly attend courses that my company assigns or offer at large discounts.. even if it means doing it at my own time. The last time we attend school, poly or uni would have been years ago. Its always good to have a refresher.
One way to entice people would be: "The Directors attended the same course" usually works!
Drizzt
Wednesday 11th of April 2012
Hi Henry, thanks for visiting. I realized this too late as well, but most people on my side are naturally introverts, so they don't like these kind of things. That line will not work everytime!
Wing
Tuesday 10th of April 2012
Hi Dirzzt,
May I know where do you find these seminars and courses? Your post got me interested and I want to try going for one seminar /course to see how its like.
Thanks
Drizzt
Wednesday 11th of April 2012
hi Wing, most of these are provided by my HR, they give these talks as a lunch time talk. I used to think they are a waste of time, but on and off they put out the talk, they ask for feedbacks and they weed out the weak ones. For courses, we have some mandatory courses to attend. Because they are mandatory people think they couldn't be of much value. But value is different to different people. For me, their value will last for years. Its a good investment
Derek
Monday 9th of April 2012
Hi Drizzt,
I go to seminars to learn something new or to motivate myself. However, I have stopped going for a while because most of them are trying to promote their products/ services. If you want something more, you will have to pay. Of course there are a few gems out there but given my limited time, I would rather just read up from the web. Blogs like yours are good as they provide an unbiased view.
Cheers!