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Top tips to creating a little FIRE into training where people have FUN and LEARN!

Top tips to creating a little FIRE into training where people have FUN and LEARN!

Top tips to creating a little FIRE into training where people have FUN and LEARN!

Too many times over the years we have heard people moaning about having to attend a training course. It is boring! I do not learn anything new! How is this even relevant to me?!

On our courses, 9 times out of 10, it is the people who at the beginning did not want to be there, that come to life during the course, engage and have fun! We get some of the best feedback from people who started off not wanting to be on the course.

Why is this? Because we blow their expectations out of the water! They have an idea in their head of what training courses are like, based on poor or mediocre previous experiences - well we do not do poor and we are definitely not mediocre! Training should always be enjoyable, and you should always learn something new.

Here are our criteria to add a little FIRE to your training courses and ensure everyone leaves the session with a smile on their face and armed with new information relevant to their workplace!

Fun - attending a course is a little break from the 'norm' of your everyday work - it should be a different and fun experience! Even serious and sensitive topics can have a little fun injected into them. Try including a variety of activities such as a quiz, practical simulation, group work and get people out of their seats. Something as simple as instead of getting the group to write on flipchart paper, use some glass pens and have them write on the windows instead. This went down really well for us, they feel a bit naughty (it cleans off just fine though), it gets them out of their seats, and it is something a bit different.

Informative - the very definition of informative is 'providing USEFUL or INTERESTING information'. Cut out the waffle! Ensure the information you are providing is USEFUL to those people in their workplace - give them examples of how it is useful to them. The information should be INTERESTING! You can teach someone the words to 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', they will have gained this information. But you can do more to make it interesting, tell them some background, stats or how it has been used in real life. For example, did you know that the tune for 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' was based on a song written by Mozart?

Relevant - Having fun and having the information is great, but ensure it is relevant to that person in their role, within their workplace. You may have taught them how to move someone from a wheelchair to a bed in a clear training room environment - great! What if the person they care for falls when on the toilet and is in a tight space - now how do they use the manual handling skills they have learned to deal with this situation? Make sure it is RELEVANT - ask the attendees on the course for some scenarios they have come across and ensure they know how they would use the skills they have just been taught if they come across that scenario again.

Engaging - attendees on a course are more likely to take in the information and enjoy the session if it is engaging. You need to get their attention and keep it! Mix up the course, have a variety of activities scattered throughout the session to keep them on their toes. Have regular breaks and do things outside of the norm, do things in a way they perhaps would not expect on a course.
Basically, put into practice what we have already talked about under 'fun', 'informative' and 'relevant'. This way the attendees should then become engaged with what you are saying because they are having fun, they are finding the information useful and interesting, and they can see how it is relevant to them in their role.

If the courses include these 4 criteria, then you can expect to see feedback like this:

"Very enthusiastic and engaging session"

"Craig kept the sessions lively, interesting and interactive with us giving real life examples."

_"Craig is an amazing teacher. Craig is thorough, professional and hilarious!
Learned so much today. Most educational training, I have received to date."_


If you would like your staff to attend training courses with a little FIRE in them, then contact us to setup a time to have a chat training@ctrcaretraining.co.uk and we would be happy to help.