How does learning work? A clever 9-year-old once told me: “I know I am learning something new when I am surprised.” The science of adult learning tells us that, in order to learn new skills (which, unsurprisingly, is harder for adults to do than kids) grown-ups need to first get into a specific headspace.
In a business, this approach is often employed in a training session where employees learn new skills or work on professional development. But how do you ensure your training is effective? In this guide, well explore how to create an effective training session plan and run engaging training sessions.
Planning an effective training session is a crucial skill for anyone responsible for training employees, customers, students, or any other group of learners A well-planned training session allows you to teach new skills and information in an efficient, engaging manner. Follow these steps to plan a training session that meets the needs of your learners and accomplishes your goals
Know Your Audience
The first step in planning any training session is getting to know your learners. Before designing activities or preparing materials, take time to understand:
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Their current knowledge and skill level What do they already know about the topic you’ll cover? What skills or experience do they have? Assess their starting point so you can build on existing foundations
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Their learning goals and objectives. Why are they taking the training? What skills, knowledge, or behaviors do they need to gain? Understanding desired outcomes will shape the training.
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Their learning styles. Do visual aids and demonstrations work best for them? Is group discussion or hands-on practice more effective? Tailor the session to styles that work for most participants.
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Other relevant characteristics like their roles, education levels, ages, cultural backgrounds, or prior experiences with the subject matter. These factors can influence how they best take in new information.
Getting to know your audience’s needs and characteristics will allow you to craft a session that truly works for them.
Define Your Goals
Once you understand your learners, clearly define what you want them to get out of the training. Having clear, specific goals will focus the planning process and provide a roadmap for developing activities and materials. Goals should answer:
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What knowledge will participants gain? For example, the key facts about a new software program.
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What skills will they develop? Such as being able to use specific features of that software.
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How should their attitudes or behaviors change? Like adopting a customer service mindset when using the software.
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What will they produce by the end? For instance, being able to create reports with the software.
The goals should link directly back to the needs of your learners. Keep goals measurable and achievable within the timeframe of the training session.
Choose Your Training Methods
Once you know your audience and desired outcomes, identify training methods that align with these factors. Potential training methods include:
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Instructor presentation: Lecturing or demonstrating while learners observe.
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Discussion: Facilitating discussion among participants about key concepts.
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Hands-on practice: Having learners complete exercises to apply skills themselves.
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Games or simulations: Engaging learners through fun, experiential activities.
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Role playing: Having learners act out scenarios to practice skills.
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Self-paced learning: Providing materials for independent study.
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Real-world projects: Assigning work relevant to their actual roles to solidify concepts.
Choose methods suited to your goals, audience, and timeframe. Use a variety of methods to accommodate different learning styles. Hands-on application of skills often boosts retention significantly.
Design Engaging Activities
With your methods selected, start designing specific activities to include in the training session. Well-chosen activities allow participants to engage with concepts actively rather than absorbing information passively. Effective activities:
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Give learners hands-on practice with relevant skills. For example, having sales trainees actually role play customer consultations.
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Involve realistic scenarios or case studies. Have learners apply skills to simulated situations mirroring those on the job.
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Leverage discussions and reflections. Facilitate conversations that require learners to articulate concepts in their own words.
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Make concepts personally relevant. Use examples tailored to the learners’ actual work responsibilities or interests.
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Keep learners focused and motivated. Interactive exercises prevent zoning out during lengthy lectures.
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Offer variety. Balance out different types of activities to maintain energy and enthusiasm.
Build in activities that let learners immediately apply what they are learning. This strongly reinforces retention and skill development.
Prepare Your Materials
Quality training materials enrich the learning experience and serve as helpful references afterward. Key materials to develop include:
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A session outline detailing the flow of the training, timing for each section, and how activities map back to goals. Share this with learners so they know what to expect.
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Presentations and visual aids like slide decks, videos, handouts, posters, or props to use during instruction. These should present key information clearly and concisely.
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Activity instructions and materials needed for exercises, simulations, discussions, and games. Compile clear instructions and anything learners will need to complete each activity.
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Learner workbooks or takeaway packets with essential information from the session as a handy reference. Include summaries of key concepts plus copies of presentations, worksheets, and other useful resources.
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Assessments like quizzes or hands-on skill checks to measure whether learners are absorbing key information as the training progresses.
Preparing high-quality materials shows you put effort into the session and gives learners tools to support ongoing learning.
Test and Revise Your Session
After designing a draft session, test it out before the official training delivery. You can:
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Conduct a trial run by yourself. Deliver the session as if for an audience to see how components flow and if the timing feels right.
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Get feedback from colleagues. Have others experienced in training review your session plan and materials to identify areas for improvement.
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Pilot with a sample of learners. If possible, recruit some of the actual participants to go through a pilot session and provide feedback on what worked or needed adjustment.
Testing will reveal pacing issues, confusing instructions, technology glitches, knowledge gaps, and other opportunities for improvement. Refine the session based on lessons learned to maximize its effectiveness.
Additional Tips for Planning a Successful Training Session
Beyond the core steps outlined above, consider these tips:
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Choose a training space suited to the group size, methods, and activities. Ensure adequate room, equipment, materials, and creature comforts.
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Schedule sessions thoughtfully by avoiding conflicts with holidays, busy work periods, or other events competing for learners’ attention and energy.
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Plan timing wisely with sufficient breaks so learners recharge without losing focus. Shorter sessions over multiple days may work better than marathon ones.
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Communicate objectives, expectations, schedules, and prep work clearly to learners beforehand so they arrive ready to fully engage.
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Make safety a priority if any activities involve physical movement, equipment, or other risks. Control hazards and provide appropriate protective gear.
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For virtual training, choose user-friendly videoconferencing tools and engage remote participants with polling, chat, breakouts, or other interactive features. Send materials ahead so learners can follow along.
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Evaluate learning through pre/post testing, skill demonstrations, or other meaningful assessments. Track results to keep improving future sessions.
Key Takeaways
Planning an excellent training session requires:
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Understanding your learners’ needs, goals, and characteristics.
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Setting clear objectives for knowledge and skills to be gained.
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Using interactive delivery methods suited to diverse learning styles.
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Incorporating hands-on practice and realistic application of concepts through well-designed activities.
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Developing materials and resources that facilitate learning and application.
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Testing and refining content before official delivery.
Following these steps will allow you to design training that educates, engages, and empowers your participants to reach new heights of skill and understanding. With thoughtful planning focused on their needs, your learners will leave equipped to apply what they’ve learned to achieve success.
Step 7: Prepare Training Materials
With your session structure in place, it’s time to build out any presentations, workbooks, exercises, or other training materials you may need. Keep the following tips in mind:
- Focus on visuals: Use photos, graphics, charts, and diagrams to bring your content to life. Visual aids are engaging and can help reinforce learning though be sure to keep it relevant to your learning experience and your audience. GIFs and memes can be great, but are they right for your learners? As with any aspect of your training, be sure to balance and vary such elements where possible.
- Keep text minimal: On presentations and handouts, use bullet points and headlines rather than long paragraphs. Your verbal explanation and activities are more important than written text. I find it useful to think of the text in a visual presentation as a prompt for me and an anchoring point for learners, rather than a copy of my script.
- Use real-world examples: Share stories, case studies, and scenarios from relevant work experiences or environments. These make concepts more concrete and easier to apply. Where possible, include further reading or research opportunities for learners to explore after the session is done.
- Use video as necessary: video content can be a wonderful way to enrich your training materials. Bringing in an outside voice or expert can be transformative, and it also gives you as a trainer a chance to take a breath and adjust if needed.
- Borrow, reuse and reference: no single person is an island. Find existing resources, references and materials and reuse or adapt them if permission is available. Creating a training program can be an enormous undertaking, and it’s okay to stand on the shoulders of training giants who came before you. Just remember to reference and give credit!
- Provide workbooks or worksheets: For more complex topics, give participants resources they can refer to again after the session. Workbooks with examples, diagrams, checklists, and room for note-taking are helpful for continued learning.
- Use an interactive presentation approach: Don’t just read through slides. Discuss key points, give examples, ask questions, share stories, and prompt participants to add input in their own words. Your energy and engagement will fuel the learning experience.
- Practice and prepare: Know your content inside and out. Practice your presentation and run through any activities or discussions to ensure a smooth facilitation experience. It can be easy to throw off your rhythm if you present a slide you are unfamiliar with!
With compelling and interactive materials, your training session will be both impactful in the moment and valuable as an ongoing resource for your team.
Well-designed workbooks, presentations, exercises, and discussions can continue to support learning long after the session has ended, contributing to real change and improved performance. Check out our guide if you need help designing engaging visual presentations.
Step 6: Pay Attention to Closing and Follow-up
As you enrich your agenda with ideas and details, you’ll probably start wondering about how to make it all fit in the allocated time. Rather than shave off a few minutes here and there or, worse, remove breaks, opening or closing sections (more on those later), go back to the original learning objectives, and get rid of whole activities. Remember: less is more!
As you iterate and change your plan, SessionLab’s agenda planner will come to your rescue by automatically adjusting the time of each slot based on your changes. I usually start my designs by locking the start and end times, as well as the time of any lunch breaks.
While I don’t mind going off schedule during activities if something takes more or less time, I am really keen to make sure the kitchen and catering staff get to do their job as we’ve planned. More importantly, I hold ending times sacred.
To make sure we end on time and don’t have to hurry through closing activities, I generally reserve a 30-minute slot at the end of the day for closing and feedback.
For a training session to end successfully, at least three things are needed:
- Clarity about the next steps, whether these are personal action plans, dates of future lessons, or information of the “you’ll be getting a certificate of attendance in your inbox on Monday” kind;
- A closing moment or small ritual, designed to create a memorable connection and a sense of completion. This can be as simple as asking participants to unmute their microphones if you are working online, and saying “goodbye” in their native tongues. I like to close by referring back to whatever activity we started with. If we opened with introductions in a circle, for example, I’ll invite to close the day with a few words from each participant (but standing up, to make it quicker!);
- Time for participants to give feedback back to you, the trainer. I recommend this be done in at least a couple of ways so that people have the option to give you their opinions both publicly and privately, both personally and anonymously. It’s really lovely to hear a big circle of “thank you” at the end of an intense training, but I also deeply value the critical feedback that often only emerges in written form. You can enable this, for example, with posters by the door on which participants are asked to leave a comment before leaving, or in a questionnaire sent soon after the training ends.
With regular evaluation and feedback built into your training plans, you create a continuous cycle of learning and improvement. Your future trainings will get better and more impactful based on the input from participants. Your team benefits from increasingly targeted, relevant, and engaging learning experiences.
Be sure to also find time for some self-assessment, which is essential for your own professional development. Take notes during your session where possible (your agenda is a great place for this) and find space to consider what went well and what could have gone better. When it comes to running your training sessions again, duplicate your SessionLab agenda and make adjustments with these learnings in mind. Not only will you have saved time designing an effective training session plan, but you’ll also have improved the quality of your training methods!
Train the Trainer – How To Run A Great Training Workshop
Why is it important to plan a training session?
It’s important to plan for training sessions because it helps you organize your thoughts in a logical order. It can also help you articulate challenging topics simply for individuals to understand. Planning your presentations helps to guide the conversation and allows you to expect questions individuals may have about what you’ve covered so far.
How do I create a training session plan?
Pass out questionnaires to evaluate the effectiveness of the session. 10 mins. Collect a questionnaire from each trainee. A training session plan provides a useful format for thinking about the activities and resources you’ll use to guide a group toward a learning objective. To create an effective training session plan, take the following steps:
What is a training session plan?
It’s a roadmap for trainers and facilitators, helping them design and deliver effective learning experiences. A well-crafted training session plan ensures that learning objectives are met, participants are engaged, and the training session is both informative and interactive. Key components of a successful training session plan typically include:
What is a good training session plan?
A good training session plan will benefit both you and your trainers. You visualize each step of the lecture as you plan. It ensures that you have considered everything you need to say and that you convey information in a logical order. You’ll also be able to prepare for points people may find difficult to grasp.
