Looking At Training Differently
A Step-by-Step Approach to Designing and Facilitating Training That Engages Your Learners from the Start to the End of Their Training
9-10 September 2023 - Aalst
Play the video below for your 'Welcome' message from me (David)
All the information you need can be found below. Click on the heading on the left to move around the information.
I’m very happy to welcome you to your workshop, ‘Looking At Training Differently” in Aalst on the 9-10 September 2023.
Your workshop will commence at 9.00 am and finish at 5.00 pm on Saturday and 8.30 am until 12.30 pm on Sunday. Please register in the training room between 8.30 am and 9.00 am on the first day as the workshop will start promptly at 9.00 am and we don’t want you to miss a thing.
On the morning of your workshop, please start at reception and then make your way to the training room where I'll be waiting to welcome you and ensure your comfort. When you choose your seat, you’ll find yourself in a small group of people to facilitate the frequent group exercises planned. Flipcharts will be provided to record discussions and conclusions. You will be comfortable here.
Refreshments will be available through the day. Likewise for lunch, this will be provided. We’ll lunch together, that way, I’m available if you want to chat over anything from the training etc.
I’m often asked, “What should I wear?” If you feel more comfortable in work clothes, dress as you would in the office. If you feel more comfortable in casual clothes, then dress in casual clothes. I want you to feel relaxed and comfortable so my suggestion would be casual cloths.
This is a workshop full of structured experiences. Please, do not attend this workshop if what you want is non-stop lecture material. You could get that from a book. Yes, this has great content, but come to this for the experiences that become embedded in your mind and body. My personal goal is that you will ‘own’ the material after your workshop, not just ‘rent it’ for 1.5-days. I want you to learn both implicitly and explicitly. The value you get is more impact and longer lasting learning.
It is always nice if you are able to take care of personal and work-related business before arriving for your workshop. If you’re able to leave your worries at home you can devote full attention to the workshop. While some workshops seem to ‘taper off’ during the last few hours, Eureka’s workshops go ‘full steam ahead’ up until the final moment. We’ll end on schedule but please do not expect to finish early on Sunday.
Looking forward to working with you and the team in Aalst.
To design or redesign an existing or new workshop so that 80% of the workshop time is ‘learners doing’ and without the use of PowerPoint.
The design must adhere to the findings of some of the latest research from the world of cognitive science on how the brain learns and incorporate core principles that help make learning sticks.
Some of the ideas we will explore to help you complete your challenge
- Priming for success - How to increase retention by up to 34%
What is priming and pre-exposure? Research shows that retention can be increased by up to 34%, so what are the best practical ways of doing it to reduced training time and costs? - Openings That Ignite A Room (15 ways to sizzle)
We have 30-60 seconds to create the magic and form neural connections for effective learning - so how do we do it. How do we get buy-in, build high calibre credibility and create the optimum brain friendly learning environment? - How To Write Behavioural Based Objectives
From a design perspective, how do we write objectives that can be observed during the training and measured after the training? As a designer/trainer we need these concrete signposts but our learners could ‘care less’, so how do we convert them into WIIFM’s or Challenges to grab out learners attention and set real world context. - The Power of the Learning Cycle
How to build learners centred modules that ensure learners are totally involved for over 80% of each learning module ie each piece of content. - Techniques for Grabbing Learners Attention
The idea of being able to hold learners attention for any length of time is just not possible. We can forget holding their attention for 1-day, half a day, 1 hour or even 15 minutes. But what we can do is grab their attention and focus it upon key points, then we have to let go. Here learners will take away practical techniques for grabbing and focusing learners attention. - Review, Review, Review
Should we bother or should we not? - Optimal States for learning
To be a good training facilitator you need to be a master at managing learner states – so what’s required from the design side? - Closing with Flair (12 functions of an effective close).
How to design a well-orchestrated close that has a feeling of Movement (so learners know how far they have come), Meaning (to apply the learning to their own work), Value (so that learners know how important the learning will be) etc. However learners leave their workshop is probably how they’ll remember it.
Just because you said it, doesn't mean they learned it
Your Workshop Questionnaire
Please complete and submit your workshop questionnaire. This will help me ensure you get exactly what you are hoping for from our time together. Thank you.
Training Room - Green and Blue Room
Officenter Aalst
Ninovesteenweg 198
9300 Aalst
Phone +32 53 51 02 00
Fellow learners who will be part of your workshop
Jonathan Schuermans
Ben Teirlinck
Kelly Van Eekel
Stefanie D'Herde
Joris Hermans
Delphine Desmet
Meet David - Your Facilitator
Hi. I started training over 40 years ago, honing my skills in the IT field. I was always looking for different ways of facilitating beyond just, 'Press this key, press that key', and over time developed totally learner centred IT training workshops. Over 25 years ago now, I met Christophe who was training in the hospitality industry - developing the same types of ideas as myself. So we decided to join forces and share what worked well for us with other trainers, which is where we are now - concentrating exclusively on Trainer Development.
I work throughout the English speaking world (Christophe does the same but being French, works mainly in the French speaking world).
Most of my time is filled working in-house developing the skills of in-house training teams. Some of the names I’ve worked with include household names you are sure to know including Coca Cola, Decathlon, Jewson, Shell, Microsoft, RSPB, Shelter, Natural History Museum, Amnesty International, Ricoh, Standard Life, Compass Group, Burger King, Carlsberg, ABB, UBS, The Royal Courts of Justice, Lloyds Banking Group, Bank of Scotland, Royal Mail, Pizza Express …
I'm continually looking for new ideas and techniques to make the learning process easier, more enjoyable and longer lasting for all learners. Techniques on their own are not enough; they must be rigorously checked against latest research from the worlds of education and neuroscience. People say,
"Your exciting and flexible approach to sharing your methods of increasing the value of training is infectious. You cannot help but be inspired."
Follow-Up Resources
- Click here to download the workbook
NB - From page 45 onward are additional ideas and techniques. - Link to DS Clock used for time within PowerPoint http://www.dualitysoft.com/dsclock/
Setting I use to display the clock:
- Creating a wordsearch or crossword
www.puzzlemaker.com - To create microlearning modules or a welcome message - https://www.7taps.com/
- For the 'Slush Powder' to make water solid - it's better that you search Amazon in the EU as you'll have to pay import tax from the UK. Just search 'Magic Slush Powder'. You can use the internet also.
- Click here for the Priority Matrix Template (.pdf)
