Top tips | Training Courses

Leading a training course can be nerve wrecking even for the most experienced professionals. Here’s our handy tips to ensure your next training course is a success with your audience:

Know your audience

Understanding your audience is key to presenting an engaging and successful training course.

Firstly, consider the how they signed up; did they sign up themselves for personal growth, or is this a mandatory company training course? Team building exercises might not be useful to a group of strangers, and icebreakers useless to colleagues.

Consider any gaps in your audience’s knowledge. Its best to always cover the basics in case there’s some beginners in your audience.

Clear objectives

Define exactly what you want your audience to understand, including the end goal of what you want them to be able to achieve. Do you want them to be able to demonstrate a particular skill perfectly, or have an overall better understanding of a topic?

Once you have answered this question, you can plan your course to fulfil this purpose…

Structure

Breaks

Training courses can often get tiring for both the speaker and audience, so make sure to incorporate breaks into your schedule. Start off with smaller breaks at the start of the day for refreshments and toilet breaks. End the day with longer breaks to help combat the lethargic feeling that swoops in after lunch.

These breaks ensure the energy levels during your training session remain high.

Active participation

Consider adding some breakout sessions to ensure your audience attention doesn’t sway. These sessions can be as small as a 5-minute break to discuss a topic, or as long as a 30-minute collaboration task to get people actively discussing in depth.

These sessions not only ensure your trainees attention stays on topic but also allows for individual development and better understanding of the topic at hand.

Location

Ensure you have the perfect place for your training session. Consider room size and layout, quality of audio-visual equipment, and accessibility of the venue.

Room size / layout

Keep productivity high with the correct room size and layout.

A small room may seem cramped and unprofessional, while a larger room may be daunting for some attendees, and seem impersonal.  

Also, consider the layout of the room. A boardroom style may not work for training sessions with practical breakout sessions but might be perfect for sessions where communication across all attendees is needed.

Equipment

Good quality audio-visual equipment can elevate your training course and encourage audience engagement. Consider creating a slide or presentation deck for your audience to follow along with to keep them interested, and to further understanding.

Accessibility

An easy to access central location is always best to host training courses.  A convenient location reduces stress and ensures everyone arrives on time and ready to engage.

Contact us

Cranmore Park is the perfect backdrop to encourage connection, collaboration, and engagement.

We offer a range of meeting rooms and conference spaces, varying in size and layout to maximise the efficiency of your training event:

• 8 light and airy private meeting rooms suitable for 1-100 people.

• Conference facilities for up to 700 delegates.

• Hybrid and virtual meeting video conferencing.

• Built-in tech, IT support, and fast WiFi.

• Selection of networking hubs and break-out spaces.

• 2 farm to fork restaurants.

• Free onsite parking.

With our unrivalled event management expertise and modern-day catering and hospitality, we will make your next event unmissable.

Planning your next conference, meeting, or corporate event? Speak to us today 0121 713 4450