You might be thinking, both you and the learner. But who should be doing the work?

On the day, it’s the learner.

There’s truth in the adage, ‘Whoever does the work does the learning'.

Sure, you’ll be working too, but let’s be straight – if you’re using Powerpoint, one slide after the other, you’re doing all the work. You’re busy so you may think they must be. But how much of your content will participants remember and be able to use the next day?


The point is that most of your work, is in the preparation stage. It’s to design the training so each topic or concept is ‘processed’ by them using a method that keeps them engaged with real-world scenarios. Those activities might include some solo reflecting, talking in pairs about their experience, brainstorming new ideas in groups of three, or two teams arguing the pros and cons of an issue. That’s just for starters.

The key idea

In active training mode, our role is to facilitate, not lecture.

It’s to immerse people collaboratively in the ideas, to stimulate deeper thinking and generate new approaches on how they can apply those ideas in their work.

The key questions

To have participants switched-on and engaged we need to ask ourselves two questions.

  1. How do I ensure that I’m giving the audience value?
  2. What’s the best way to engage them so they can see how to apply the ideas?

Your answers will reveal what you believe about how it’s best to learn. But is it their way?