Let’s be honest with each other. Sometimes the training we have to deliver is not up to scratch. Often we blame the content as being boring or dry, or maybe it is “death by PowerPoint”, or perhaps it’s being delivered virtually and keeping people interested is a problem.

In just about all cases the questions we are asking ourselves are:
 
How do I make my training more engaging?
How do I get participants to participate?
How do I bring my (dry/boring) topic to life?

A number of years ago I was working with a government department and one of the participants was delivering mandatory “Code of Conduct” training. He complained that people only show up because they have to. They are like school kids at 2:55 waiting for the clock to tick over to 3:00 when they can rush out the door, and find any excuse not to attend. He blamed the content. Dry and boring. 

My push back to him, ever so respectfully, was that in my experience there’s no such thing as dry and boring content, just a dry and boring trainer.
 
To his credit he accepted the challenge and we worked together to pimp his Code of Conduct training.
 
When it comes to designing training that will work, we need three elements:
 
Structure - I like the 4-Mat model by Bernice McCarthy - I have altered it for my own use, and it works.  Every time.
 
Content - Chunked and sequenced in a way that doesn’t overwhelm, and still informs. According to George Miller, the moment we have more than 5 chunks of content we are at risk of overload.
 
Delivery - Confidence, Conviction and Credibility is what you need if you are going to stand and deliver. Along with a healthy growth mindset (thank you Dr. Carol Dweck).

No one has time to deliver, or participate in training that isn’t working. It’s simply a waste of everyone’s time, money and effort. We need to be delivering training that: 

Flows - Time flies! The session is over before you know it and it has been a good use of time

Resonates - There is immediate relevance and application for the participants

Sticks - There has been sufficient practice for participants to walk away with a new skill

After we worked on his program, my code of conduct friend called me a few weeks later, in quite an emotional state, saying that he and his training was transformed! People were engaged, glued to their seats, and the training even went over time because of questions, comments and interest.  

Need help pimping your training? Get in touch and we can talk about some options.