How to engage your audience during training

When a trainer delivers information, the audience is more likely to remember the information if the speaker is entertaining, and if the audience views the material as valuable.

Getting the audience interested can be tough because individuals have different interests. Think back to high school, and you’ll likely remember classmates who were interested in some topics but bored by others.

For safety training, everyone should be interested, but the speaker may need to captivate them all. Trainers have interests also, and if the presenter isn’t passionate about the topic, the presentation quality will suffer, and some attendees will lose interest.

One way to increase engagement is to explain how and why the material is important to the audience and how it impacts them personally. By making the material relatable and providing action items that attendees can apply, the trainer can better keep everyone engaged throughout the training.

Showing the benefits is also important. People attend seminars on topics like “how to get rich” because they’re hoping to get something out of it. If safety training doesn’t deliver something that trainees view as offering a positive outcome, they won’t see the value and may lose interest.

When delivering training, the audience will be more engaged, more likely to remember the material, and more likely to follow the training if they understand how the training is relevant to them and how it benefits them.

If you show interest in the topic, make the content relatable, and highlight the benefits, most of the audience should find the material sufficiently interesting to pay attention. However, if you’re just going through the motions and do not personally understand or support the material, the trainees won’t either.