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The purpose of a workshop or training is inform your audience of key concepts in a manner that is engaging. And your job as the trainer or facilitator is to keep the interest of your audience.

There are a variety of reasons why someone may zone out in your workshop or training, but the most important reason (I believe) this occurs is because

Your audience isn’t fully understanding the subject matter. 

Ability aside, some people aren’t able to grasp or recall subject matter just by listening to you speak. But there are some tricks you can keep up your sleeve.

Here are some tricks I’ve used to bring ideas to life in my workshops and trainings:

Make it relevant 

Is what you’re teaching useful for your audience and to the subject matter? Sometimes you may not been able to connect with audience beforehand, but when you’re able to, survey your audience to gauge what they’re looking for, what causes them uncertainty about the subject matter, and what they’re hoping to gain.

Tie into real world events

Are there any events or case studies (past or current) you can refer to illustrate your point? When you’re able to draw on an event to tie into your subject matter, you help your audience to connect the dots.

“How does this impact me?”

This tip loosely ties into the second tip. When conveying a message, making a compelling case involves inviting the audience to see how the subject matter directly and indirectly impacts them is important. It presents a urgent need to to only become more involved but also to encourage your audience to seek out more information.

Modeling

“Modeling” is demonstrating something to your audience. If there is an activity that may be very intricate that it may take some time to understand, you show them what to do. Whether it’s showing a movement or performing a writing activity, modeling allows your audience to see what they need to do.

Role play

Similar to modeling, but for your audience. This allows your audience to become active participants assimilating a real life situation in real time. It’s also a clever way to prevent audience members who may not be keen to participate to actually participate.

Teach back

The adage People don’t believe it when we say it, they believe it when they say it, is very important with this tip. This is where the teach back method comes in. Also known as the “show me method”, or “closing the loop”, the teach back method lets the audience explain a concept or skill based on the workshop or training topic, taking on the role of facilitator. If your audience is able to Teach Back, it means they understand the material, especially since they’re tasked with teaching to their peers.

Key Takeaway  

The focus should always be on helping your audience understand the subject matter. Merely standing in front of your audience and reciting information, even if you’re engaging them, doesn’t lead to a high increase of behavior change in the long run. So make it fun and interesting.