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🥁 Drumroll, please
After a whole month of celebrating one year of the Transformative Trainers Academy, it’s time.
Today I’m announcing who won the 1:1 call with me.
Stick with me to the end, and you’ll also get the answers to two of our puzzles (yes, I’m finally telling you what the playlist spelled out), four simple ways to borrow this kind of celebration for your own sessions, and one last-chance offer that disappears at midnight tomorrow.
But first, a little peek behind the curtain.
How I picked the winner (no hat, no jar, no favourites)
Every challenge you completed earned you one entry. And every entry got its own number.
Then I handed the decision over to a truly random number picker.
(Just google ‘random number generator’ and one will pop up in your browser.)
Why? A random number has no feelings. It doesn’t know who wrote the funniest reply or who decoded the playlist first. It just picks.
Fair, simple, and a little bit thrilling to watch, if I’m honest.
So I clicked the button. The number came up. I matched it to the entry list, and …
🥁 🥁 🥁
🎉 Congratulations, Billy S.! 🎉
You’ve won a 1:1 call with me, on the topic of your choice. A communication puzzle, a creative itch, a training design question: the sky’s the limit.
Billy, check your inbox. I’ve sent you the details to book your call.
And to everyone who played along, shared a story, hummed through a playlist, or unlocked a single door in the vault: thank you. You made this month a joy.
The answers you’ve been waiting for
The playlist puzzle:
Take the first letter of each song in the playlist, and it spells out … TRANSFORMATIVE TRAINING. (If you got it, give yourself a very big gold star.)
The video at the 0:22 mark:
How do I describe Transformative Trainers Academy members? Pure gold. And I mean it.
The vault
If you missed unlocking the vault doors, you can catch it here. Voila! Here are your answers:
1. Which of these is an actual TTA guiding principle?
- Naps are Sacred
- ✅Suffering is Optional
“Correct. Suffering is Optional is principle number two, a reminder to self-direct your own learning and say something when it isn’t working.” - Always Trust the Wifi
2. Most folks who find the Transformative Trainers Academy recognize themselves as one of three types. Which one is real?
- The interpretive dance trainer
- The trainer who peaked in PowerPoint 2007
- ✅The Accidental Trainer
“Correct. The Accidental Trainer has deep expertise, zero training on how to teach it, and suddenly finds themselves in a room full of people waiting on them to speak.”
3. What does equity pricing actually mean inside the Transformative Trainers Academy?
- You can pay in any currency, including seashells
- ✅Everyone pays what fits their financial reality, and gets exactly the same access either way
“Correct. Three tiers, from Supported to Supporter, same access and benefits at every one, and nobody but you ever knows which tier you’re on.” - The more you pay, the faster your emails get answered
4. One of these was an actual topic tackled in a Transformative Trainers Academy Learning Lab. Which one?
- How to train a room full of houseplants
- The ancient and mystical art of PowerPoint fortune telling
✅Fun, creative ways of dividing a room into small groups (RIP counting off by 1, 2, 3)
“Correct. A whole Learning Lab devoted to better ways of dividing a room into small groups, because nobody has ever felt inspired by counting off 1, 2, 3.”
5. Which of these was an actual topic taught in a Transformative Trainers Academy Master Class?
- ✅Tips and tools to help learners feel included, celebrated, and able to truly collaborate
“Correct. That Master Class was about helping learners feel like they truly belong in the room, not just present in it. Every lock is open.” - Advanced techniques in interpretive whiteboard mime
- How to win a staring contest with a disengaged Zoom participant
4 ways to borrow this for your next session
If you teach, train, or facilitate, you can borrow every bit of this. Here’s how.
1. Make entry easy and low-stakes.
One small action, one entry. Nobody has to write an essay or get the answer perfect to take part. Lower the bar and more people step over it.
2. Make it fair, and show that it’s fair.
Numbers plus a random picker take favouritism (real or imagined) off the table. Tell people how the draw works up front, and they’ll trust it.
3. Build a little suspense.
A drumroll, a pause, a “here’s how it happened” before the big moment. It costs you thirty seconds and gives the whole group something to lean in for.
4. Close the loop.
If you set a puzzle, reveal the answer. If you ask for input, show what you did with it. Loose ends leave people hanging; closed loops leave them satisfied and ready for the next thing.
Bonus
Celebrate everyone, not just the winner. The prize goes to one person. The thank you goes to all.
Want more ways to celebrate learning with your groups? Try the T.O.S.S. and P.U.L.L. tool from earlier in our celebration month.
⏰ Last call: your free extra month in the Transformative Trainers Academy ends today
If you’ve been circling the Transformative Trainers Academy all month, this is your moment.
Join by October 13th at 11:59 pm Pacific, and you’ll get one additional month of membership for free. After that, the offer is gone.
It’s the membership for experts who’ve been asked to teach but never trained to teach, with a year’s worth of Master Classes and Learning Labs waiting inside.
Join the Transformative Trainers Academy →
Take Action Now – go on and learn, laugh, and lead
Learn
Laugh
- Missed the anniversary video (dancing corkscrew and all)?
Lead
- Last call! Join the Transformative Trainers Academy by October 7th and get an extra month free. Come see what’s inside →
P.S.
- My next free Learning and Development Roundtable is October 15th. Have you grabbed your spot yet? These sessions are one of my favourite ways to think out loud with a global community. More info here on this month’s topic: Simple tools to stop you and your brain from being overwhelmed. I’d love to see you there.
Since 2009, I’ve been writing weekly posts across five topics. Click into whichever one makes you lean forward just now … you’ll find everything I’ve written on that topic waiting for you there.
- Working Better Together – communication, conflict, creativity, collaboration, change. The so-called soft skills that turn out to be the hardest ones.
- Learning and Development – practical tools and fresh thinking for your own growth … because you deserve the same attention you give everyone else.
- Training of Trainers – if you’ve ever been asked to teach, train, or share your expertise with a group, this one’s for you.
- Tech Tools – not the scary kind, I promise. The kind that saves time, cuts overwhelm, and makes you look and feel like a rockstar.
- Life Lenses® – because the lens you look through changes everything. Posts on perspective, perception, and the Life Lenses® framework for understanding why we all see things so differently.
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