Resuscitating your training session to make it more engaging and interactive holds similar precepts to resuscitation through CPR: Something is better than nothing!

Not many of us can find the time to rework a whole session, but all of us can learn some new habits and take literally 3 seconds to tweak a session to make it better.

Having seen standardised session plans used by many different Emergency Services, it is easy to see that L&D have broken it down and made it as easy to follow as possible. Many include verbs to guide the trainer in how to deliver the session. So today, let the challenge be to replace just one word in your training session plan: Explain.

This verb is used to indicate to the trainer that they need to share a body of theory with learners. Explain how… explain why/why not… Explain the process…

There is nothing wrong with this verb, except for those of us that are trying to find ways to make learning a more active experience, it involves learners listening and absorbing.

Instead, swap this verb out with Ask.  Why do you think…? How do you think…? Why wouldn’t you…? How could we…? What would happen if…?

This tweak will ensure you cover the same content. The difference is you will draw out what the learners already know and force them to think about the content first, before you clarify and expand on any ideas as needed to make sure you covered all the required points.