Train-the-Trainer: Using Activities to Make Training Fun

Humor can help make training sessions just as engaging as any fun social occasion, and you don’t need to be an award winning comedian to do it. Even more, games are a great way to help people relax and lose inhibitions about joining discussions, asking questions and role plays. Doing it right, however, takes some skill and careful planning on the part of a facilitator.

This workshop will help identify what kind of humor can be brought to the classroom, and how games can help engage training participants.

At the end of this workshop, participants should be able to:

  • Understand how training can include the use of humor and games
  • Use different types of games
  • Identify methods to elicit participant buy-in
  • Use humor principles in adult learning
  • Troubleshoot when games go badly
  • Develop their own games

Course Outline:

Introduction and Course Overview

You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

Let’s Have Some Fun

We will begin the day with a brief review of the learning cycle and adult learning principles. We will also discuss the value of games in training. Participants will then have an opportunity to share their favorite training game.

Buy-in!

During this session, we will discuss three things that can help the participants see the value of training games.

We will also discuss some great game experiences and some games that flopped, and what we can take away from these lessons.

Choosing the Right Game

Preparation is key to the success of any trainer. This session will discuss some different types of games and activities. We’ll also talk about how to deal with reluctant participants.

When Games Go Badly

Despite our best intentions and planning, sometimes a game won’t work. We will discuss how to anticipate, avoid, and deal with problems.

Using Humor in Training

It’s not hard to be funny; just be CREATIF! We will explore each letter of this acronym during this session.

Wavy Lines

To break the day up and illustrate some of our key points, participants will take part in a quick, fun energizer.

Quick and Easy Games

Participants will take part in three easy games that can be adapted for many situations. Then, they will discuss the games from a trainer’s perspective.

Create a Game

To wrap up the day, participants will work in small groups to create their own game.

Workshop Wrap-Up

At the end of the day, participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.