Photo by: Edmond Dantès via Canva
Presenting training content effectively will set your learners up for success during their practice time! Years of experience in the training room has helped me develop as a facilitator of learning. And I’d like to share some of that experience with you. Give these delivery suggestions a try to improve the effectiveness of your presentations in your next training session.
Start by introducing your content one objective at a time. This introduction includes stating the objective, outlining the benefits of learning the task, and providing a quick overview that lets the learners know how they will achieve the objective. Chunking your content into digestible pieces will make it easier for your learners to absorb and remember the new content.
I encourage you to create excellent visual aids! PowerPoint (PPT) is a great way to deliver your visuals. Embed meaningful visuals throughout your presentation to enhance your learner’s understanding. Slides, charts, diagrams, and infographics are all visuals that can help learners connect with the content.
Remember, these visuals should support your delivery, not BE your presentation. Include keywords or phrases on your slides that will guide your delivery. You can use these key phrases to guide your conversation and expand on it, not become something you will “read to” your audience.
Next, make sure your delivery is engaging and interactive and not a one-way conversation. Benjamin Franklin sums this up well, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” You have many options regarding presentation methods, but typically, the content drives this decision. For technical content, I’d suggest a demonstration. If your content is interpersonal, a pre-recorded behavior model shared via video can be ideal. A lecturette (i.e. interactive mini-lecture that doesn’t last more than 15-20 minutes) is one of the best ways to deliver conceptual content. Often, you can build a check for understanding right into these lecturettes.
Make your delivery relevant and memorable by using real-life examples and analogies that help learners make connections. Asking lots of questions and allowing learners to share their experiences can also keep your learners engaged and motivated.
Your delivery should make up just one-third of the training time, the other two-thirds should be spent on practice and feedback for the learners.
Keep these tips in mind, and your training delivery will surely be memorable and effective!
Our Instructional Techniques for New Instructors workshop will give you the skills, tools, and resources to effectively present your organization’s content!
