Creating Content for Educational Workshops

Three principles for memorable workshops and training that resonate long after After 21 years designing and running sessions, from classrooms to boardrooms, I've distilled the essence of compelling learning into three core principles: 1. CONTEXT MATTERS • Don't just present the topic • Bring relevance to your workshop • Make it about their challenges and desires 2. EXPERIENTIAL IS KEY • Don't just choose activities • Take participants on a journey • Design a narrative that builds upon itself 3. EVOCATIVE DELIVERY • Don't just tailor content • Stir something within • Discuss thoughts, reactions & Implications These aren't just principles; they're a roadmap. Whether you're educating the next generation, training teams, or facilitating change across sectors, these fundamentals are your guide to creating lasting learning experiences. ~~ ✍️ How do you ensure your sessions leave a lasting impact on your participants?

Overwhelmed learners don’t learn. They tune out. We know this. And yet, course creators continue to overstuff and understructure their content. 💡 If you want your workshop or course to stick—to spark real understanding, retention and then action—you can't just teach. You have to structure for learning. Two of the most powerful and overlooked strategies? ➡️ Scaffolding: providing just enough support at the right time ➡️ Chunking: organizing information into meaningful, manageable parts When you combine these strategies intentionally, you create learning experiences that feel clear, logical, and digestible, and mos importantly, NOT overwhelming. In my newest article, I dive into: 👉 Why scaffolding and chunking matter 👉 How these two key strategies reduce cognitive load and support real mastery 👉 Practical, actionable strategies for using both in your course or workshop design If you're creating workshops, courses, or learning experiences—and you want people to actually remember and use what you teach—this one's for you. 👇 Read it here and let me know:   Where could you strengthen your scaffolding or chunk your content more clearly?

What will truly move the needle for the participants? (The most fun part of what I do: Learning Design) When designing this 3 months long Peak Performance learning journey, I started the sketch work by speaking to people it was meant for. During initial conversations, one participant’s words that were echoed by the majority stuck with me: "I know I need to focus, but I can’t figure out how to prioritize when everything feels urgent." That became my anchor. Talking to them during our discovery calls gave me a very thorough understanding of their challenges while also noticing their actual needs. The Design Process- To address challenges like this, I focused on three key areas: - Awareness: Helping participants see how busyness often masks the real work that drives results. - Practical Tools: From Walt's thinking model to self energy audits, I selected strategies participants could apply immediately. - Sustainability: I introduced micro-habits, that create big results over time. One of my favorite moments came during an energy management exercise. A senior manager realized she was doing her hardest work during her lowest-energy hours. She shifted her schedule the next week and reported a significant boost in how she perceived herself and in her productivity. Workshops aren’t about cramming in content — they’re about creating actionable breakthroughs. For me, the reward is seeing participants leave equipped with the clarity and tools to perform at their peak and while in their project phase they implemented the tools of peak productivity and witnessed actual shifts. In my next post I will also be sharing a few successful shifts that the participants created. As an L&D Associate, how do you look at the learning design? Priya Arora | LinkedIn for Learning | LinkedIn HR #PeakPerformance #WorkshopDesign #CorporateTraining #LearningThatLasts #LearningJourney #SoftSkills #ExecutivePresence #Facilitator #Session #Workshop #TeamCoaching #TeamBonding #TeamPerformance #TeamBuilding #LearningandDevelopment

Part 2/3: Deepening Engagement in Virtual Workshops As I've navigated through numerous virtual workshops, I've discovered more strategies that deepen engagement and make every session more impactful. Sharing my journey and learning with you, here are additional insights I've found invaluable: 1. Personalize your approach: I've learned the importance of tailoring the content to the audience. This allows me to customize examples and case studies to better resonate with their experiences and challenges. 2. Use engaging visuals and interactive tools: I've incorporated more visual aids and interactive elements like polls, quizzes, and breakout rooms. These tools not only break up the monotony but also encourage participation. It's amazing how a simple poll can invigorate a session and provide instant feedback. 3. Follow-up is key: I make it a habit to send out a summary email after each workshop. This email includes key takeaways, answers to any unanswered questions, and additional resources. It's a small effort on my part, but it goes a long way in reinforcing the learning and showing participants that I value their engagement and growth. 4. Share your journey: I've found that sharing my own learning journey, mistakes included, makes me more relatable and builds a stronger connection with the audience. It demystifies the learning process and encourages participants to embrace their own growth paths with more confidence. I'm curious to know, how do you adapt your sessions to keep participants engaged and ensure they're not just passive listeners? Stay tuned for Part 3, where I'll share some final thoughts and tips on mastering virtual workshops.

Why do so many workshops sound good on paper — but don’t result in students engaging or taking action? That's the question we tackled with the career team at University of North Georgia during our "Leading High-Impact Workshops" session this week. It’s one of the most fundamental questions we need to ask as workshop designers and facilitators. (Because if none of the participants act on the session’s core ideas, what was the point of the session?) Here’s the simple answer: Most workshops focus on delivering information. But the goal of a workshop isn't to transfer knowledge — it’s to transfer ownership. The truth is, students don’t need us just for information. They have 24/7 access to free advice, content, and tutorials online. So our job isn’t just to teach students everything about the topic at hand. It’s to help them understand why the topic matters — and how it connects to something they care about (e.g., career outcomes). That’s where ownership starts. When students see the relevance, they don’t just retain information — they act on it. That was the heart of our conversation at UNG — and we unpacked what that really means, and what it demands of us as facilitators. I left the team with this: “Don’t think of it as presenting to an audience of students — think of it as pitching to investors. They’ve got limited time, limited energy, and a hundred competing priorities. Why should they invest in this?” Big thanks to Diane Farrell, MS for the invite — and for creating space for this kind of conversation. Always energized to work with teams who want to do more than check a box when leading student workshops! — PS: If your team has a workshop-heavy fall coming up, I’d love to show you how to design sessions students don’t just attend — but actually act on. This training is built on the exact framework I’ve used to lead workshops at 35+ institutions across the country. Oh — and it comes with a suite of ready-to-use tools, including: • My POWER Workshop Design Framework • Activity Bank with high-impact, low-prep activities • Engagement strategies to capture and hold attention • And more Interested in learning more? Send me a DM and I’ll share the details.

Elevating your training isn't about huge overhauls. It's in the powerful little things. Okay, flashback: 20 years ago, I was in your shoes, struggling with effectiveness and efficiency in my trainings. My head constantly ached with, "Something is wrong" and "Why can't I get it right?" Sound familiar? It wasn't until I took a step back and realized that I didn't need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, I just had to take a different perspective. Here's the deal: I found that a series of small changes made all the difference. Over time, they stacked up, turning my trainings from “meh” to “powerful”. Engage your audience (clients & employees) by making the training about them. 🗣 Ask them ‘How are you?’ and give them time to share, decompress, and get ready 🗣 Understand their needs ‘What are you hoping to learn today?’ 🗣 Acknowledge their experience ‘What is your experience with this topic? Recognize their frustrations ‘What frustrates you most about this topic?’ Build your training content to help the audience learn and remember information 🏗 Integrate their shared experiences into the training 🏗 Start with simple, familiar, basic concepts first; then slowly progress to complex concepts 🏗 Resist the urge of giving the audience too much information at one time 🏗 Allow silent time for audience to process what you’ve shared Integrate ways to ensure the audience knows when, why, and how to apply training content 👉 Give them time to let things make sense for them 👉 Review the connection from basic to complex concepts 👉 Demonstrate how to apply the information 👉 Provide realistic opportunities for them to practice Now, if you're going to zoom in? I’d say Ideas 🗣 and 👉 are potential goldmines. I've seen them work wonders in my own journey and for countless others. You can easily apply them in #groupcoaching, #onboarding, #webinars, really all #trainings. Share the one you think will have a great impact in your work? #trainingdevelopment

🎯 Here's 3 reflective questions to prepare meaningful workshops To date I've hosted over 300+ in person/virtual workshops across 8+ sectors Here's the strategy I use before EVERY engagement, research tested: 1️⃣ Distinguish the purpose of activities & engagements - "How does this activity support new learning?" - "Is this activity 100% necessary to creating new attitudes/beliefs/new ways of thinking?" If you can't say "YES" or explain this in detail scrap the activity. 2️⃣ Create audience personas using design thinking 🧠 - "Who's in the audience?" - "What's important for me to know?" - "What has already been tried? How might we go one layer deeper?" - "What power dynamics/positions of power are present? How might we bring folx closer to the center?" 3️⃣ Ensure 70% hands-on time for real behavior change 📌 - Many exercises have been pulled from research and best practices from The Arbinger Institute and Elena Aguilar "Transformational PD" These strategies help me deliver workshops that truly resonate! 👇🏾 How do you prepare? What makes workshops meaningful to you? #WorkshopPrep #DesignThinking #EngagementStrategies #ProfessionalDevelopment #EffectiveLearning ---- 💗 I'm Brittany: TEDx Speaker, Executive Coach, and Corporate Trainer!  🎤 I post weekly on Career Development, Personal Growth, & HR/Tech!! ♻️ Like this post? Please like, share, or comment!

[53] Fifteen Best Practices for How to Lead a Workshop On Wednesday, I gave a workshop on how to give a workshop—very meta, I know. Andreas Schröter invited me to a be.boosted event where the new generation of fellows will soon be leading their own workshops. So the timing was perfect! But what actually matters when planning and running your own workshop? Here are 15 best practices I’ve developed over the years: ---------- PREPARATION & PLANNING ---------- ⏳ 1) Time Your Workshop Realistically Less is more—don’t overload. For a 60-minute session, plan 30 minutes of content and 30 minutes of interaction. ☕ 2) Include Breaks (Even in Short Workshops!) Attention spans fade fast. Give a 5-10 minute break every 45-60 minutes to keep energy up. 🎤 3) Start Strong—Skip Awkward Intros Ditch the long bios. Open with a question, story, or surprise: "What made the best workshop you’ve attended great?" 🙋 4) Engage Participants Immediately Ask easy, low-stakes questions in the first five minutes: "What’s one word that describes how you feel about leading a workshop?" 🖥️ 5) Prepare Interactive Elements—But Only With Purpose In my humble opinion, many workshops are currently overusing interactive elements like complex quizzes or flashy slides just to seem impressive. Interaction is great, but only when it serves a clear purpose. ---------- DURING THE WORKSHOP ---------- 🎭 6) Get Participants Doing Something People remember what they do. Use polls, breakout rooms, or whiteboards. Example: "In pairs, share one example from experience." 🤫 7) Embrace Silence—Give Thinking Time Ask a question, then wait at least five seconds. If no response: "Take 10 seconds, then type in the chat." 🔁 8) Repeat Key Takeaways Say it → Show it → Let them say it. Reinforce key points with slides, stories, and activities. ⏱️ 9) Manage Time—Stay on Track Use a timer and give reminders: "Two minutes left!" Always build in buffer time. 🛠 10) Have a Backup Plan for Activities No answers? → Share an example. Too fast? → Add a bonus prompt. Too quiet? → Start with 1:1 or small groups. ---------- CLOSING & FOLLOW-UP ---------- 📌 11) Summarize Clearly Before Ending Never stop abruptly—people need closure (and so do you). The final moments of a workshop are often the most important, yet the least prepared. ✅ 12) End with a Call to Action Encourage immediate application or long-term reflection. Example: "Before you log off, write down one thing you’ll use in your next workshop." ❓ 13) Leave Time for Questions—But Make It Engaging Instead of "Any questions?", try more concrete questions such as: "What additional experiences have you had that we haven’t discussed today?” 📚 14) Offer Follow-Up Resources Share slides, key takeaways, or further reading. If possible, offer to answer follow-up questions. 🎉 15) End with Energy & Gratitude Avoid awkward fade-outs! Close with a final thought. If possible, rehearse your closing as much as your opening.

I used to pack my workshops with as many frameworks as possible. Last week showed me why that's exactly wrong. After Conference for Conferences last week, my mind is buzzing with a realization that's reshaping how I design workshops entirely. I've been getting more requests to teach decision-making workshops on Day 1 of team offsites—helping lay the groundwork for strategic conversations that follow. But watching how teams actually interact made me curious: how can I help them build deeper trust and connection while learning to make better decisions, faster? Three insights from last week that are already transforming my approach: 🎯 Start with the transformation, not the agenda: Jenny Sauer-Klein reminded us to center on the "Primary Shift"—what's the from-to experience you want attendees to have? Instead of just teaching frameworks, what if I focused on the transformation from "decision paralysis" to "confident, aligned action"? ✂️ "Writing by erasing" creates more impact: Tucker Bryant's concept hit hard: stop trying to add more and more. What could I intentionally remove from my workshops to create space for what really matters? Sometimes the most powerful tool is subtraction. 🎲 Fun isn't frivolous—it's fertile ground: Watching AI-generated humor, truth-or-dare moments in fireside chats, and opportunities to dance, draw, and sing showed me how play cultivates the psychological safety teams need for real strategic thinking. The shift I'm making: What if decision-making workshops weren't just about frameworks, but about creating the conditions where teams naturally make better choices together? Huge thanks to Jenny Sauer-Klein for curating such a thoughtful experience, and to all the fellow convening nerds who made it unforgettable. What's one thing you'd subtract from your next team gathering to make room for something more meaningful?

"How do we make sure the learning sticks for the long term?" I used to dread this question when designing workshops for clients. It isn’t because I didn't have strategies. I did. They were just... unsatisfying. Option A: Reinforce the learning through ongoing group coaching. Result: Effective, but expensive. "You wanted one workshop, now you need 6 group coaching sessions?" Option B: Nudge with self-serve content. Result: Cheap, but ineffective. If self-serve worked, why have workshops at all? I felt stuck between breaking budgets and crossing fingers. Then we had an idea: What if we could create an interactive environment for participants to practice specific frameworks? A place to get real-time feedback without the high stakes? That's how Roleplays was born. Now, post-workshop, participants can: – Practice workshop-aligned scenarios – Receive instant feedback – Prove their learning retention Best part? It's neither prohibitively expensive nor frustratingly ineffective. Now, when I hear "How do we make sure the learning sticks?" I get excited. Because we finally have an answer we believe in.