What actually makes a talk or training session stick with a team?

[Keynote Speech]

Thinking about this from a business point of view.

Most companies invest time in talks, training sessions or workshops, but it’s not always clear what makes some of them actually stick with people afterwards.

Some seem to land well in the moment but don’t really change anything long term, while others seem to have more of an impact.

In your experience, what makes the difference?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Presenter
Presentation
Message

 

[Shopclicks]

It's important to include visual representations because people learn in different ways.

I think subject expertise, a dash of humour and audience participation are what works for me.

 

[fisicx]

An exam at the end of training helps.

And iteration.

And a max of two learning point in a 20 minute period. Then a change of topic for the next period. Then a recap.

 

[Newchodge]

Audience participation of any kind always helps. Someone standing next to a screen, looking at the screen, not the audience, and reading out the powerpoint word for word, without adding anything, does not work well. I used to work for an organisation where at least half the senior management team did that. It was excruciating.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Good clear printed notes so the attendees have something to refer to long after the talk

 

[fisicx]

Good clear printed notes so the attendees have something to refer to long after the talk

In the hundreds of training sessions I've had over the years I don't think I've ever looked at the handouts. Even less chance now when a search on t'internet will provide the same information.

Training sticks if there a benefit to retention. If it's just some HR wonk droning on about company values or whatever it's never going to stick.

Audience participation is difficult as a lot of students may not want to speak up. Which means the noisy, biased and belligerent can hijack the training. Think naughty children in a classroom.

And don't get me started on team building.

PS: teaching is a skill. If you don't have the skill the training is far less effective.

 

[Banksbroo]

Topic relevance to individuals
Topic relevance to peoples jobs
Presenter knowledge
Presenter skill in passing across that knowledge
Practical exercise or scenario in which people participate
Something physical and short to take away from the session such as a 1 page summary or 1 page infographic.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

In the hundreds of training sessions I've had over the years I don't think I've ever looked at the handouts. Even less chance now when a search on t'internet will provide the same information.

Training sticks if there a benefit to retention. If it's just some HR wonk droning on about company values or whatever it's never going to stick.

Audience participation is difficult as a lot of students may not want to speak up. Which means the noisy, biased and belligerent can hijack the training. Think naughty children in a classroom.

And don't get me started on team building.

PS: teaching is a skill. If you don't have the skill the training is far less effective.

But the internet will not give you the same detailed information to your specific company's requirement, are you considering it as a computer software related item or for the general type meetings just asking as you appear to be far more computer related than say a person in a sales meeting for example

 

[fisicx]

Over the years I've had health and safety, working at height, manual handling, laser safety, noise, ppe, investors in people, quality systems, CNC machining, asbestos, RIDDOR, COSHH, nuclear safety... The list goes on.

Training is a formal process with an evaluation of competence. The appropriate documents are generally available (eg: instruction manuals).

Lectures, presentations, tutorial and similar don't have the same formality which is why they aren't seen as important by the participants. Giving the participants the slide deck is pointless - they will never get looked at. Same with booklets. They get chucked in the drawer and never looked at again.

The initial question isn't easy to answer with out the specifics. You would need to know what type of training, to whom and for what purpose. Training to operate a forklift truck is totally different to training someone to stack baked beans in a supermarket.

 

[Keynote Speech]

Over the years I've had health and safety, working at height, manual handling, laser safety, noise, ppe, investors in people, quality systems, CNC machining, asbestos, RIDDOR, COSHH, nuclear safety... The list goes on.

Training is a formal process with an evaluation of competence. The appropriate documents are generally available (eg: instruction manuals).

Lectures, presentations, tutorial and similar don't have the same formality which is why they aren't seen as important by the participants. Giving the participants the slide deck is pointless - they will never get looked at. Same with booklets. They get chucked in the drawer and never looked at again.

The initial question isn't easy to answer with out the specifics. You would need to know what type of training, to whom and for what purpose. Training to operate a forklift truck is totally different to training someone to stack baked beans in a supermarket.

That’s a good point, especially around the difference between formal training and things like talks or keynote sessions.

I think you’re right that context matters a lot. Compliance or operational training has a very different purpose to a keynote speaker trying to shift mindset, improve communication or get people thinking differently about a challenge.

One that stuck with me personally was hearing Derek Redmond speak about resilience and how quickly setbacks can change your direction. It wasn’t really the slides or structure that made it memorable, it was the honesty and the way the stories connected to real experiences people could relate to.

 

[Keynote Speech]

Topic relevance to individuals
Topic relevance to peoples jobs
Presenter knowledge
Presenter skill in passing across that knowledge
Practical exercise or scenario in which people participate
Something physical and short to take away from the session such as a 1 page summary or 1 page infographic.

I think that’s probably the best summary of it in the thread so far.

The relevance point especially feels important. Even a very good speaker or trainer can lose people quickly if they can’t connect the topic back to what the audience actually deals with day to day.

I’ve noticed the sessions that tend to stick are usually the ones where the presenter combines expertise with real stories or practical examples. Derek Redmond is a good example of that. The resilience message is obviously strong on its own, but the reason people remember it is because it feels genuine and relatable rather than overly polished.

Completely agree on takeaways as well. A short summary or something practical people can refer back to afterwards probably has far more impact than a full slide deck nobody opens again.

 

[KYCompliance]

Thinking about this from a business point of view.

Most companies invest time in talks, training sessions or workshops, but it’s not always clear what makes some of them actually stick with people afterwards.

Some seem to land well in the moment but don’t really change anything long term, while others seem to have more of an impact.

In your experience, what makes the difference?

For me personally, the ones that have stayed with me and made a difference to what I do, thought or how I acted, are those that struck a chord or gave a visual demonstration of outcomes. For me, simply listening to someone talk or watching a presentation, even if the topic is interesting, doesn't always have an impact. If I can 'feel' what is being put across or visualise how 'this' or 'that' would impact me or people close to me, it will have a lasting impact.

 

[J_A_M_E_S]

I was always told that new information (such as presentations or training) is better remembered using the Tell/Show/Do method:

1. Tell the person what the new learning or info is.
2. Show them what it is or how to do it.
3. Get them to do it themselves (then provide feedback). *

Doing it themselves gives a much higher chance of them remembering it.

*under no circumstances should the 'do' part be under the guise of 'role play' - or you've just lost your audience!

 

[fisicx]

I was always told that new information (such as presentations or training) is better remembered using the Tell/Show/Do method:

Depends on your learning style. Everyone is different. In my case: Tell me and I’ll forget. Let me read it myself and I’ll remember.

 

[zenithpa]

In our experience, the sessions that actually stick are the ones people can relate to and immediately apply in real life.

A lot of talks sound great in the moment, but if there’s no practical takeaway or follow-up afterwards, people usually go back to old habits pretty quickly.

The best ones tend to feel genuine, interactive and relevant to the actual challenges people deal with day to day.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Depends on your learning style. Everyone is different. In my case: Tell me and I’ll forget. Let me read it myself and I’ll remember.

Depends on your learning style. Everyone is different. In my case: Tell me and I’ll forget. Let me read it myself and I’ll remember.

You quoted

Good clear printed notes so the attendees have something to refer to long after the talk

In the hundreds of training sessions I've had over the years I don't think I've ever looked at the handouts. Even less chance now when a search on t'internet will provide the same information.

Training sticks if there a benefit to retention. If it's just some HR wonk droning on about company values or whatever it's never going to stick.

Audience participation is difficult as a lot of students may not want to speak up. Which means the noisy, biased and belligerent can hijack the training. Think naughty children in a classroom.

And don't get me started on team building.

PS: teaching is a skill. If you don't have the skill the training is far less effective.

 

[Ozzy]

If we assume the attendee is there because they opted to be there, and the subject matter is something they desire to retain, and it is relevant to their life or job; because with none of those then it's irrelevant.
I'd then say the thing that makes the message stick is the hooks the presenter users. They need to be memory triggers that do the recall association for the attendees.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Sadly, a majority of the presentations I go to (training, selling, updates etc) are still people reading off of a powerpoint presentation.

The presentations are poorly designed, over worded and boring, which doesn't help.