Teaching is an art form. Great teachers hold our attention, make us laugh, and help us to fully understand complex subject matter all at once. Ready to set aside those snore-inducing lectures and make your workshops and training as interesting as possible? Conduct some initial market research with your target customers to shape your course content, then incorporate these fun workshop ideas and tips to up your event game.
Accommodate different learning styles
People learn in different ways. Some of us are visual learners who prefer pictures, videos, and diagrams, while others respond to spoken and written words, music, logic, or even physical activities. To create an inclusive learning environment, try to combine traditional language teaching methods with audio and visual presentations, written handouts, interactive tasks, and group work. You can get an idea of what learning styles and types of activities your students respond to best via pre-workshop survey questions or even feedback after training workshops you’ve run with students previously.
Change the room layout
Training rooms are often laid out in the same way – rows of tables and chairs. Challenge this convention and surprise your attendees by providing beanbags as well as chairs, standing podium tables, and groups of tables and chairs (if social distancing regulations permit) to encourage small groups. Your choice of venue can also have an impact on engagement. A space full of light, colour, and texture can prove to be a far more inspiring space than a bland, windowless meeting room. With workshop activities for large groups, make sure your chosen venue comfortably accommodates all students while meeting social distancing guidelines. This could be a great time to take your workshops online, so consider how you can get set for online event success.
Use props
Props can make your teaching even more engaging. These could be practical props that literally represent your subject matter (think scales, an abacus, or a mannequin) or they could be ridiculous (try a rubber chicken or magic wand). Props liven up your session and will help people remember what they learned. Your training content or workshop ideas might be serious, but people learn best when they are having fun.
Play games
Need to keep your attendees focused? Tap into their competitive sides. Puzzles or riddles, crosswords, memory games, and ordering tasks are all great ways to keep your attendees engaged and on-task. For added excitement, impose a time limit. Remember to tell your prospective students about your gamified approach as part of your pre-event engagement strategy. Marketing your event well can help build a more excited audience and reach more event participants in the future.
Tell stories or use metaphors
Whatever you’re teaching, try to make it relatable to everyday life by using real examples, case studies, and creative metaphors. People will sit still for hours watching a movie – why not steal some cinematic tricks? This works especially well if you’ve moved to virtual event delivery – there are lots of great ways to incorporate cinematic tricks and other virtual event ideas.
Play music
Music can set the mood and get attendees energised before your session and during breaks. Play something upbeat to pump them up, then lower it back down to let them know it’s time to start. You can also use music during the session – soothing classical pieces help people concentrate while completing tasks or group work.
Keep it short
One of the best ways to keep your audience engaged is to not overload them with information – whether the workshop is for work or play. Give them too much, and their brains will simply shut off. Either make your session a maximum of two or three hours or, if it’s taking place over the course of a day, schedule in plenty of short breaks. Give attendees a chance to get up, walk around, grab a cup of coffee, and chat amongst themselves (this can also invite discussion on the topics you’ve covered). Give attendees time to write and organise their notes and help them out by answering any questions and by providing pens, pads, sticky notes, and highlighters at the start of the session.
Provide recognition and reward
Attendees will be more motivated to successfully complete the course if their efforts are recognised and they have something to show for it. Let attendees know they will receive personalised certificates to mark their participation. You should also consider extra incentives such as a competition or small prizes for the students who performed the best or improved the most during the course. Again, tap into those competitive streaks!
Organising a Workshop
Teaching is as much about entertaining your audience as informing them. Make your training or workshops lively, varied, fun, and unexpected and your participants will learn more and be more likely to come back for more, too. Ready to inspire your next batch of students? It’s time to get the word out to your potential students with our marketing tips on how you can promote your event for free.
