I’ve been fortunate to deliver dozens of train-the-trainer sessions to a wide variety of organizations. Its pretty common for a clients to tell me that their trainers just aren’t dynamic and they need to improve. When I share the types of train-the-trainer activities I use, clients are sometimes startled and realize that their training doesn’t include anything like these activities. That’s when I know I have an opportunity to make an impact. I can expose these trainers to new activities and get them thinking about the sessions they deliver.
When you deliver your train-the-trainer activities, your trainers should know that:
- Training activities can be fun
- Training activities should be engaging, and
- Training activities must be effective.
Aren’t Fun Training Activities Engaging?
Activities can be meaningful, engaging, and fun if done correctly. There are several factors in building an effective train-the-trainer, the first of which is to use activities that are appropriate for the phase of instruction. One simplified model with four phases of instructions is the Anchor, Content, Application, Future Use model.
Using that model, I’ve put together 20 engaging activities that can be introduced to trainers by phase of instruction.
Train-the-Trainer Anchor Activities: Connect Learners to the Topic
- Would You Rather: Boost the energy level in the room and get people laughing together. You may think of this activity as more of a cocktail party game, but the truth is that if used well it can help your learners connect to the training topic.
- Name Tag Switch: A challenging icebreaker focused on listening skills. The key to this training activity is the element of surprise. You can download more icebreakers in our updated Activities Cookbook.
- 6-Word Memoir: A concise way for participants to share. This training activity has a lot of benefits. First of all, it is quick. Second, it is very easy for all learners to participate in. Third, it is incredibly simple to focus on your topic.
- The Messy Start: Get learners thinking about the topic at hand as soon as they enter the room (or the Webinar). Our free Endurance Learning webinars always include a video with trivia about the webinar topic.
- Haikus: Tap into learners’ creativity and learn about them at the same time.
Not ready to design your own train-the-trainer session? Brian Washburn and Endurance Learning are experts at creating customized train-the-trainer sessions for organizations like yours! Get a Free Quote for a Train-the-Trainer session.
Train-the-Trainer: Creative Ways to Share Content
- Facilitating Dialog: When you have some “experts” in the room, have them get the dialog started.
- Cosmo-style Quiz: Don’t judge it until you’ve tried it. Remember, activities CAN be fun!
- Storytelling: Stories stick. The risk is that stories veer off target and become less of a content-delivery mechanism and more of an opportunity for a facilitator to tell some funny stories they want everyone to hear.
- Draw It: Why not tell the story in pictures? Don’t judge drawing skills. The goal is to use the process to help learn the content.
- Organizing Stickies: Create a visual representation of data, opinions or a concept.
- Speed Dating: Get people discussing the topic quickly. There is no dating in this training activity, but it does add some fun to the process of sharing content with each other.
Train-the-Trainer Application Activities: Practice and Demonstrate New Skills
- Polling: Get large groups involved. It can be low or high tech.
- Kahoot: Games are great for most groups. Let them play and compete. Speed matters so it isn’t just knowing the answer.
- Role Play: I saw you roll your eyes. Call it something else, but practicing in scenarios is essential for many objectives.
- How I see It: Lay perceptions on the table and discover the grey areas in our perceptions.
- Build a Puzzle: This never fails. Just make it intentional.
Future Use Train-the-Trainer Activities
- Action Plans: Use this approach to action plans to “Double the likelihood that learners will apply what they’ve learned”
- Magic Paper: A low-tech way that creates shared accountability.
- Group Debrief: A whole list of ideas to improve debriefs.
- FlashCards: Put a job aid in your learner’s pocket.
Want to create train-the-trainer activities that are both FUN and MEANINGFUL? Sure you do! Check out Soapbox, the all-in-one presentation creator. Soapbox will help you to write your objectives and pick the best activities for your content. PLUS Soapbox will provide you with ready-to-print handouts, a facilitator guide and a slide deck in as little as 5 minutes!
