Effective trainings begin with intentional decisions made before the training even begins. Development of effective training requires us to make informed decisions about the direction we would like to go and what specific skills we are trying to learn. Topics include: conducting needs assessments, writing training objectives, understanding your adult learners, instructional design, preparing relevant materials, building your knowledge about how we learn, training delivery options, planning for mishaps, and time management
Once professionals have answered key questions and intentionally plan for effective trainings we focus on facilitating a training. What we do and say when facilitating a training develops our skills as practitioners and can make a training memorable or a complete disaster. Topics include: learner engagement, dynamic facilitation, presentation tools & tips, asking quality questions, facilitation techniques, train the trainer, and formative assessments
What we do after a training, matters. This is a critical part of the training design & delivery process. Reflection is a necessary piece because it allows professionals to assess what went well, what did not, what needs to be changed and more. After training, we need to look at various ways we can evaluate and measure training success. Topics include: reflection, formative & summative evaluations, training transfer, and professional development.