# How to Present a Training Session or Workshop to Adults

Build a training session in short cycles of teach, show and practice: explain one skill in a few minutes, demonstrate it, then have people try it themselves before moving on. Start from what the group already knows, check understanding with questions that make people do something rather than 'Any questions?', and plan for practice to take at least as long as your explanations.

By the Speaking Coach team at Sodhera Intelligence. Updated 2026-10-22. Source: https://www.orecci.com/speaking-coach/presentations/training-session/

## Why training is different from presenting

In a presentation, success is the audience understanding your message. In training, success is people being able to do something afterwards that they couldn't do before. That changes everything about how you plan. Adults usually learn a skill by trying it, getting it slightly wrong, and correcting it, not by hearing it explained well.

So the rule for a training session: **less telling, more doing.**

## The teach-show-practice cycle

Break your content into small skills, each taught in one cycle:

| Step | What you do | Time per cycle | Example (made-up: training team leads to run one-to-ones) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Teach | Explain one idea, plainly, with why it matters | 3–5 min | "Start every one-to-one by asking what they want to talk about, before your agenda." |
| Show | Demonstrate it, live or with an example | 2–4 min | You role-play the first two minutes of a one-to-one with a volunteer |
| Practice | Participants try it, in pairs or alone | 8–15 min | Pairs take turns opening a one-to-one |
| Debrief | What worked, what was hard | 3–5 min | "What did your partner say that made it feel natural?" |

Then repeat for the next skill. A 90-minute session usually fits three or four cycles. If you're planning more than that, you're probably planning to tell too much.

## A plan for a 90-minute workshop

| Time | Section | What happens |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 0–10 | Opening | What they'll be able to do by the end; a quick question about their experience |
| 10–30 | Cycle 1 | Teach, show, practice, debrief |
| 30–50 | Cycle 2 | Teach, show, practice, debrief |
| 50–55 | Break | |
| 55–75 | Cycle 3 | Teach, show, practice, debrief |
| 75–85 | Bring it together | One practice that combines all three skills |
| 85–90 | Close | Each person names one thing they'll try this week |

For a 60-minute session, drop to two cycles. Don't keep three and rush the practice.

## Opening: start from what they know

Adults bring experience, and they disengage if they feel talked down to. In the first ten minutes:

1. **Say what they'll be able to do** by the end, in one sentence: "By 11 o'clock you'll be able to run the first ten minutes of a one-to-one that your team actually looks forward to."
2. **Ask about their experience.** "Hands up if you've had a one-to-one that felt like a waste of time. What made it bad?" Take two or three answers.
3. **Connect their answers to the session.** "Good, two of those are exactly what we'll fix today."

A short, relevant warm-up works better than an unrelated game; see [icebreakers](/speaking-coach/glossary/icebreaker/).

## Teaching: keep it short and concrete

- **One idea at a time.** If you have three tips, teach the first, practice it, then teach the second.
- **Give the why** in one sentence. Adults want to know why something is worth doing before they try it.
- **Use examples from their work**, not textbook ones.
- **Show, don't describe.** A 90-second demonstration beats five minutes of explanation.

The guide on [explaining complex ideas simply](/speaking-coach/guides/how-to-explain-things-simply/) has more on this.

## Checking understanding

"Any questions?" usually gets silence, even when people are confused. Ask questions that make people show you what they understood:

| Instead of | Try |
| --- | --- |
| "Any questions?" | "What questions do you have so far?" (assumes there are some) |
| "Does that make sense?" | "Turn to your neighbour and explain the first step in your own words." |
| "Is everyone okay with that?" | "On a scale of one to five, how confident are you to try this tomorrow? Hold up fingers." |
| "Got it?" | "What would you say if your team member didn't want to talk?" |

Then watch the practice. That's where you'll see what didn't land, and you can fix it in the debrief.

## Pacing

- **Watch faces and energy**, not just the clock. Glazed eyes after 15 minutes of talking mean it's time for them to do something.
- **Change activity every 15–20 minutes** at the latest: individual, pairs, whole group, standing up.
- **Plan a break every 60–75 minutes** in longer sessions.
- **Have an optional extra activity** for groups that finish early, and know what to cut if you're running late. Cut content, not practice.
- **Slow down when you give instructions.** Say them, show them on a slide, and ask one person to repeat them back before people start.

## Handling difficult moments

- **Someone knows more than you on a point:** use it. "Sam, you've done this for years. How do you handle it?"
- **Someone dominates:** "Thanks, Sam. Let's hear from someone who hasn't spoken yet."
- **Silence after a question:** wait longer than feels comfortable. Count to seven in your head.
- **A question you can't answer:** "I don't know. I'll find out and send it round by Friday." Then do.

## Rehearse the explanations out loud

The teaching parts are where trainers ramble. Rehearse each explanation out loud and time it; if one runs past five minutes, split it. Speaking Coach lets you practice an explanation with a partner who plays a confused trainee and asks follow-up questions, and then shows you your pace and filler words.

## Questions people ask

### How do I structure a training session?

In short cycles of teach, show, practice and debrief, one skill per cycle. Open by saying what people will be able to do, and close with each person naming one thing to try.

### How long should a training session be?

Long enough for the practice. A 60-minute session fits about two skills, a 90-minute session three or four.

### How do I keep adults engaged in training?

Start from their experience, make them do something every 15–20 minutes, and use examples from their real work.

### How do I check if people understood?

Ask them to show it: explain it to a neighbour, answer a scenario question, or try it while you watch. Don't rely on "Any questions?"

### What if participants don't want to be there?

Acknowledge it lightly, make the first exercise clearly useful for their real job, and keep the explaining short.

---
Speaking Coach on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6767124039
Speaking Coach on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sodhera.speakingcoach