I may be able to help if I can better understand what you are looking for.

I'm looking for some ideas on how to present some training - the leading questions, how to present them, e.g. confined space, manual lifting, forklift etc etc. Just general information, ideas, to brighten up my info. Not looking to delve deep, but to keep them light hearten etc

Traditional teaching and training used to be set up for information to be 'handed down' from a teacher or subject matter expert, and most of the communication was one-way. It's probably the least effective way for people to learn and typically produces little transformation of behaviours or understanding, to say nothing of engaging and motivating learners.

As a general tip, most of the people we are working with in these situations are more accustomed to actively DOING things rather than sitting passively and being talked at, so the first thing would be to look for ways to make training more active. There are SO many possibilities with a bit of creative thinking! The more active and the more novel the activities, the greater impact of learning.

Making content more active can be as simple as doing matching or organising activities with cards. Or you can post photos on the walls and get people to move around the room in pairs or small groups with instructions to identify something in the photo - e.g., hazards, PPE, safety equipment, etc.

A simple review can be done standing up in a circle with a hackysack (or something that won't injure anyone and won't readily roll away!), and each person has to name one thing related to the content, then pass the hackysack to someone else, until everyone has had a turn.

With bigger groups, I would split into two teams, that line up beside each other, and I have a set of questions to ask. If they get their question right, they get a point. If they get it wrong or don't know the answer, the other team can have a go. After the person at the front has answered, they go to the back of the queue. Depending on the size of the group, they may cycle through more than one question per person. This activity offers a multi-sensory review, and also you can coach people by asking more questions if their answers are not quite complete. I would write the score as hash marks on a whiteboard, or you can have a bowl or plate for each team and place a chocolate on their plate for every correct answer.

For adult learners, it works a lot more effectively to facilitate discussion and ask questions to get people to explain in their own words, which reinforces that they KNOW that they know the important points. Find out what they know already, then reinforce and recognise them for that. Then you can ask more questions to get them to fill in any gaps.

From a neuroscience point of view, one of the most effective ways of getting learners engaged is to start with a carefully designed activity that isn't directly tied to the subject matter until after they have finished the activity. That's kind of hard to explain here! But as an example, I often start with a common game activity where I can reasonably predict certain outcomes or behaviours, which I can then use to make points that relate to the subject we are going to talk about. They then have an internalised experience of the concept, which gives them some useful context for the information that follows. I do this when I want people to understand concepts like hazard ID and why we have a SMS, which can otherwise be quite abstract for some people.

I hope that is some help - this is such a vast area of possibilities. I have done a lot of training on this, and still a lot of what I do is just trying things, and often an idea just comes to me when I am preparing.

You can also Google Dr Rich Allen and The Power to Train - I think he has a blog with a lot of good ideas for making training more active. He was my very first trainer on accelerated learning and adult learning, and I remember one of his early pieces of advice to me was that if I was enjoying myself, my audience would too. If I am bored, they will be bored as well.

Thank you for the info.

Nice examples! Can anyone else chip in with practical training techniques they have found resonate with people?

There are great training models but they are of no use if you do not understand how people learn and what engages them. In a past job, I was the national trainer and spent a lot of time getting to know the target audience and how they absorbed information also spent a lot of effort leaning the subjects by engaging the workers in conversations about what they do and how did they learn to do it. From those conversations, you can develop training material that is more suitable to the audience. And also identify when a particular method is not working and change direction to get back track.

You may even find that you will have 2 or 3 presentations for the same subject set at differing learning types, not that you have to use all of them but always good to have a backup.

Just some thoughts and I wish you success in your training.

Some possible resources:

https://keithwebb.com/101-ways-make-training-active-melvin-silberman/

https://www.amazon.com/More-Ways-Make-Training-Active/dp/1118971957

https://www.greenlighteducation.net/

And these tips from Dr Rich Allen himself:
- Brain research suggests:
- Movement helps students stay awake and focused.
- Student-to-student conversation leads to better understanding.
- Visuals can/should be used as triggers to recall key content.
- Music, used properly, can be a significant tool for teaching and learning.
- Memory strategies instantly boost understanding and test scores.
- Effective directions are the key to successful student activities.
- Novelty intrigues the mind and fires curiosity.
- Relevance makes learning real, improving engagement.
- Learning is always emotional – positive or negative!
- Homework rarely improves learning outcomes. (Really!)

Chocolate as unexpected rewards is always a winner to grab audience attention. That Pavlov fulla was really onto something!

Be unexpected - when I explain the heirarchy of controls (words that I never actually use) and it comes to PPE, I use a drawing I found on the internet of a stick figure parachuting off a cliff (parachute is still in the back pack so it actually looks like a pregnant person falling backwards off a cliff). Until it is explained no one guesses what it is but it makes a great story to explain the pitfalls of PPE and why it is last option.

Use powerpoint to emphasise what you say rather than load all the words onto powerpoint and create death by powerpoint. DbPpt also includes using fancy transitions, long transitions, a gazillion pages, lots of bullet points etc. Powerpoint is just something to occupy eyes while you occupy ears and brains.

Have fun!

hi Lee
Keep it real - specific information and ideas that you want to get over along with examples that the learners can relate too.
Stories are always good. case studies; WorkSafe's media releases; newspaper articles; Safeguard articles
Discussions - set the situation and get learners to contribute their stories
Short videos that focus on key points.
Cartoons and games
I use cards a lot - matching this to that; put in order/sequence/process; parts to labels; etc - anything and everything that is visual and tactile
What happened next? i.e. describe a situation and then ask what happens next - and what went wrong
And, I am (hopefully going to) developing a H&S pub quiz - general and specific questions - for the end of the session/day to reinforce learning and have some fun - can carry over points to next session/day

Happy to help!

Mark

I've build HS training programs around Te Whare Tapa Wha and Fonofale models.
I also find that when I train, it's 20% content and 80% delivery. While I always cover the material, no two training sessions are the same.

I present a photo and ask the students to identify the risks in the photo. They are only allowed to say one as we go around the group. The person at the end is really sweating as sometimes there is not many left.

I went to my builder and ask them to take a photo on the site and put in as many of the risks as they can. This becomes a challenge for them to find the risks then simulate them.

The benefit of this exercise is it gets everyone engaged, not just the ones that often speak up first. I usually do it first up so I can jot down peoples names so I can ask them questions during the presentation.

If you email me I can send you one of my photos I use.

What is your email address?

Stuartatk2dotcodotnz

I have emailed you.....thank you.

Make it fun and specific to your audience, particularly if you are talking about risk. I find it's easier to get a group engaged if you have lots of discussions and activities. An ice-breaker I use is "what is health and safety"? Ask everyone to talk within small groups and then come up with key H&S words. Go round each group and write the words up on a whiteboard or flip chart. It helps to see what the initial understanding on health and safety is. A quiz at the end with prizes is always fun too.