How can I make the compulsory training more interesting, especially if staff have to attend the training every year or every second year? I deliver,training on such subjects as ethics, code of conduct, fraud prevention, workplace harassment, sexual harassment, anti-discrimination, equity and diversity and cultural awareness for a state government organisation.

Thanks for the question. Here are three things you could consider:

(1) The key to making compulsory training more dynamic, and maintaining everyone's interest, is to use as much novelty in the method of delivery as possible. What's going to be new and different each time they see you? One course might be more activity oriented, while another is more focused on cooperative learning, and perhaps a third one has the participants doing as much of the actual teaching as possible.

(2) One of the easiest ways to add variety into the training room is through the use of music. Again, as with novelty in the delivery style, perhaps one course focuses more one 60's music, while another primarily uses 80's music. There are many ways you can change this up.

(3) Remember the power of framing. Why are they being "invited" to this training? If there is a powerful, inspirational frame, everything that follows is so much easier. Keep reminding them - why are they there, what will they get from it, how will it benefit them in both their jobs and their personal lives? A good frame creates an internal sense of motivation for the participants, and helps surmount that natural sense of resentment that so often emerges in compulsory training sessions.

Here's an important summary note: A wise teacher once told me, "It's not about making the learning environment entertaining, it's about making it engaging." Understanding the difference between these two is critical. While occasionally it's nice to have the training be entertaining to the participants, through humor & interaction, it must almost always be engaging their interest and attention. That's where managing the state of the learners becomes so important, through music, novelty, frames, and ... anything else you can
think of at the time!

I sometimes have problems with the person who wants to answer all the questions I pose. Often they have useful things to contribute, but it makes other participants restless or feel they are unable to get a word in. What do you suggest?

Thanks for the great question. I think that as trainers this is a situation many of us have had to face at one time or another in a workshop. There are several ways to address this situation, and here are some of my personal favorites:

(1) When this special person has just answered a question, you can head it off for the next time in advance by thanking them for their ideas, and adding on, "That's nice, thanks for your comments. Next time I'd like to hear from some other people in the room, so we can be sure balance out the ideas we're hearing from as many people as possible." This way you've set up the audience to know that next time you're calling on someone else.

(2) Even if you haven't prepared the ground in advance, sometimes you can handle it in the moment. If you ask a question and they raise their hand, be blunt yet tactful, and simply say, "I really appreciate all the ideas you've contributed so far. This time I'd like to open up the room to other people who may not have had a chance to speak yet.

(3) Here's another option: consider asking directed questions. While some people may see this as to close to school, if it's handled properly it can be a very useful technique. Far too many times trainers I've observed only ask "general" questions. This means that they're opening the question up to be answered by any participant. Instead, occasionally say something along the lines of, "Greg, you were talking earlier about an idea, so now I want to ask you ... " All of a sudden you appear to be building on his previous idea, instead of calling him out. There are countless variations of this theme, calling on particular participants without them feeling as if they are "on the spot."

(4) Here a unique possibility, which I used recently with a small group of participants. 14 people were in the room. A bag full of tennis balls was available to me. The first time someone responded to one of my questions, I tossed a tennis ball to her and asked that she simply keep it on her table. When someone else spoke up, they also received a tennis ball. Once this pattern is established, you can do many things with it. Perhaps at one point you say, "This next question is for anyone who only has one tennis ball on their table." Or you could say, "This is a 'two-tennis-ball-or-less' question." I've also seen this strategy used where participants sit in groups at common tables, and share tennis balls. Of course it doesn't need to be tennis balls - the objects could be anything you choose. Participants have responded well to this idea, and the biggest reason seems to be that it is clearly visible how much people are participating - and if someone is participating TOO much!

I have tried some of your techniques such as the energisers you use at the beginning of your workshops. But in my organisation there is huge resistance to those active types of activities. People prefer to be talked at, rather than participate.

This is not the first time I have been asked this question. If the organisational culture is averse to more active participatory learning techniques, then it is more of a challenge for you to use them. There are two approaches you can use: 1. Frame it before you introduce the activities. This is what I do in my workshops. I say "Everything we do today has a purpose." Then people are more likely to accept participating more actively because there is a reason for doing it.

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2. Lower the gradient. Learning techniques can be placed along a continuum - from the very active to the more passive. If you use activities that are closer to where they are more comfortable, then you are less likely to encounter resistance. For example, instead of getting people to stand up and talk in groups as an energiser, it would be less threatening to leave them sitting and talking to their neigbours. Always start with activities that are non-threatening and slowly increase from there. Keep checking on the state of your group so you can modify your techniques accordingly. Build up trust slowly.

I love music and I really enjoyed your workshops where you used a lot of music. I started using music with my groups and there has been some negative feedback. "It's too loud", "I hate music from the 60s", "I can't think when music is playing" are some of the comments that I have received. It's really disappointing.

It's often a gradient issue. Sometimes we come out of a workshop as a participant having really enjoyed the techniques used in the workshop. And we latch on to one of our favourites and choose to use that in our next workshop when we are the presenter. Because we are enthusiastic we may use that technique too often or in the case of music, too loud. Start softly and build up slowly. There is plenty of time. The other option is to minimise the occasions you use music. Start using music at the start, the end and during the breaks only. Then gradually increase the types of occasions you use music.

My particular challenge is dealing with disruptive participants. I tend to take it personally and get quite aggressive and controlling with them. Do you have any other strategies you could suggest.

There are two preventative strategies and one to deal with the disruptive person in the moment.

1. Start the beginning of the workshop with how the day will proceed, what your expectations are and how they can contribute.

2. Provide time early on in the session for the participants to contribute.

3. The first time a person is disruptive, you may choose to ignore it. The second time it happens, change the activity. The disruption may be a signal that people's attention is waning. Time to move on.

At the end of a session, I often ask - "So are there any questions?" And I am often met with glazed blank stares and needless to say no questions are forthcoming. How can I improve the group response here?

First, you may wish to consider why the group is not responding. Put yourself in their shoes. They are sitting there listening to you speak about a particular topic - their mind may be on the topic or it may be on other things - then out of the blue comes this question. They then need to switch from listening mode to thinking mode - that may take a few seconds. And for those who were off on topics of their own the switch back to your topic will take longer. Then they frantically try to think of a question which doesn't make them look stupid in front of others. And at that point it is often easier to give up altogether and look glazed.

So how can you improve your response rate? There are a couple of things you can do.

Firstly you could say at the start of your talk or during your talk "At the end of this section, I will check if you have any questions about the topic." Then you have opened the loop to the fact that they can ask questions at a certain time. They are more likely to think of some questions they would like an answer to and when you ask the question, you are more likely to get a response.

Secondly, you could use the "question sandwich" which is question-response-question. It could go like this.

"So are there any questions? They could be questions relating to how you would apply these techniques in practice or questions relating to pitfalls you may encounter when applying these techniques. Are there any questions?"

Using this approach means you are suggesting to your group the types of questions that may be useful to have answered which will shorten their response time.

Thirdly, you could slightly modify your question to them by saying, "What questions do you have?" This generally improves your response rate as well.