An important part of effective training lies in the establishment of existing knowledge. Participants who are reflective early on are more likely to engage effectively with the training provided. Additionally, trainers that use this existing knowledge to inform, amend and develop their training content can be more responsive to the individuals’ professional needs. This chapter considers how this can be done in a practical training context.

Teaching chains

The best teaching strategies are not done in isolation, but connect with the previous and the next activity.

Planning

We look at ways to make the planning of sessions less onerous, whilst ensuring they remain rigorous.

Managing behaviour

Even adult learners can present challenging behaviour that can affect the quality of the learning experience. We explore ways of pre-empting this to reduce the overall impact.

Motivation

In this summary we highlight the importance of keeping learners motivated to ensure that the learning is most effective.

Resources

Resources can come in many forms to support the training. We look at a range of these and how they can be used.

Revision

If there is a requirement for a test to be undertaken following the training, we look at how can trainers can encourage participants to revise effectively.

Handouts

We consider how paper-based and electronic handouts can be prepared, organised and distributed to ensure that they serve as an effective support for the learning.

Learning Spaces

We highlight how trainers can make the best of the spaces available to them to enhance adult learning.

Technologies

We explore a range of modern technologies that can enliven training and deepen learning.

Showing progress

It is important that trainers consider ways of showing suitable progress by their participants so that they can demonstrate the effectiveness of their training.

Inclusive training

We examine how can we ensure that everybody is contributing, and getting the most out of our training.