Design Training that Leads to Change

Developing well-written, audience-centered learning objectives help keep your presentation tight, focused and, if crafted correctly, can basically write the rest of your presentation for you!

Just because you know how to talk doesn't mean that you can design and deliver an engaging, effective presentation. Once you've defined what your audience should be able to do by the end of your presentation, the next question is: how do you help your audience navigate your content? The following articles offer some basic information on adult learning theory, some ideas on steps to take and even a lesson plan to help give structure to all of your thoughts.

There are a variety of online tools that can help you more rapidly design and develop an engaging training session.

Adult learning theory says that adults want to be active in their own learning process. Building your presentation using interactive elements will increase learner engagement, help with retention and improve your chances of seeing whether or not your audience "gets it" before they leave your session. Beware, just having a list of activities won't guarantee a successful presentation. Making sure you combine engaging activities with sound principles of adult learning theory and instructional design is essential.

Designing the materials used during your session is at least as important as designing what you plan to say and how you plan to say it. The materials that are used in your session have the potential to be used long after your session wraps up. Below you'll find some information on how to make sure your materials are designed to be useful long after your audience has left the training room.

If your training is being used as a vessel for participants to be certified or if you are you seeking accreditation of your course, it will be important to design your learning in a way that aligns with the proper objectives and provides the correct assessment measures. While this will bring your program to another level of gravitas, it will also carry significant additional design work on your part. These articles may not come from the industry in which you work, but there are many transferable lessons to be found for anyone who is considering the launch of a credentialling program.