Want your sessions to shine? Are you following these essential guidelines?

San Diego Training 2014 - we have returned with bags full of new learning activities to engage learners of all shapes and sizes and lots of enthusiasm to improve our learning programs!  It has encouraged us to re-evaluate what we are delivering and stretch for greater heights.  Here are some of the questions we posed to our design and delivery teams:

Be honest with yourself and self-assess - do your programs really shine?  What else could you be doing to ensure that your sessions move from ordinary to EXTRA-ordinary?


1. All activities MUST relate to the key messages of the program.  I detest activities that have no relevance and never want to see any of those 'turn around and massage the back of the person next to you' style energisers.  Is your day structured so that there are constant openers and closers?  Are we sure that these activities are relevant and appropriate?

2. Activities are not the 'nice to have' components of a learning program - they make the training memorable.  After all, if we forget 70% of what we learn within the first 24 hours of attending training, anything that we can do to improve that dreadful percentage is a step forward.  What else could you be doing to ensure that our participants are so engaged that they have instant recall of key points?

3. There must be movement in the room.  Learning has nothing to do with sitting in a chair.  Motion causes emotion and sitting still for a few hours just pools the energy in to a heap on the floor.  What else can we do so that participants are bouncing off the walls?

4. When you talk about your program being interactive, do you mean that there is a lot of discussion going on at tables?  OR, do you mean that there are constant structured activities that have a purpose and a briefing and debriefing that creates AHA moments?

5. Are we stretching our creativity to its limits or are we satisfied with what we have always done in the past?  New materials, new games refresh programs and the facilitators who deliver them.  Are we too bound to the old way of doing things or are we prepared to be more adventurous?

6. How could you do more to create learning experiences for your participants?  What else could be done pre- and post-training to shake things up and to tap in to both the rational and emotional side of the learning experience?

7. Participants learn so much from each other.  Do we have sufficient opportunities for the learning leader to become less important and to value the contribution of the group?

8. Are we doing enough to offer blended solutions?  The blends are so rich in this day of technology - are we ensuring that there is such an amazing blend of all forms of learning that the touch-points with learners are multi-faceted?

Let the games begin!  Much to be done!

Speak to us about how we can train your trainers and designers to create more sessions that deliver great results.