10 Ways to Make Training more Engaging

1. Start with a Question, Not a Lecture

If I could show you how to double your learner outcomes in less than a minute, would you keep reading?

Most educators begin training by telling people what they’re about to learn. The problem is that the audience isn’t committed. They don’t care yet. You haven’t earned their attention.

But: ask them a question, and they can’t help it – they answer, at least mentally, and that’s got you halfway there. And I’m not talking about “how’s everybody doing?” I’m talking about getting them invested in the result.

The right question sparks curiosity. Instead of giving them a warm, sleepy information bath, you invite people into the learning process. If you can get them thinking, they become active learners, and that’s when things get cooking.

So what does that look like?

Training: When your guest requests a sassy short pixie cut, does your confidence sink through the floor? Do you eye the door for a quick Starbucks run? Would you be excited if I promised that by the end of this class, you’ll not only know how to do them, you’ll be out-sassing the sassiest pixies that ever sassed?

Teaching the Unteachables: You demonstrated you know all three key elements in making a good paper airplane. Now how would you like to make one that flies 50 feet farther and lands precisely where you want it 9 times out of 10?

Consultation: Do your clients nod off in the middle of a consultation? Check their phones? Roll their eyes? If I could share three bullet-proof sure-fire electrified super-sized secrets that turn a nah into a HELL YEAH, would you stick around for just 45 minutes?

When people know what their super power will be as a result of playing with you, they will play.

2. Get People Talking Early

It is a huge mistake when educators allow learners to sit in their silence.

The longer that people sit quietly, the harder it is to pull participation out of them later. But once you’ve got someone talking, whether it’s to ask a question or share an idea, they are more likely to stay engaged throughout the rest of the session.

Your biggest goal in the first few minutes is to create participation. Experts will create a fun exercise at the beginning of class that gets people up and sharing, but you can also ask your learners to:

• Share a recent success
• Discuss a question with a partner
• Reflect on a challenge they’re currently facing

The conversation doesn’t need to be long. It simply needs to happen.

Participation creates engagement. Engagement creates learning.

3. Change the State of the Room

You can instantly increase engagement with a State Change.

Your audience exists in a spectrum of doing, thinking, and feeling. If one of them trends negative and you don’t act to change it, the others follow, and then you’ve lost the room. Where is your audience?

• Physical: active, fidgety, tired, exhausted
• Emotional: captivated, bored, frustrated, upset
• Mental: engaged, distracted, overwhelmed

When people sit in the same position, listening to the same voice, for too long, their attention naturally begins to fade. Energy drops, focus relaxes, participation slows, and retention suffers.

You get to come to the rescue.

Change one state, you change them all. A physical state change is the easiest one to do. If you can see they’re slouching, fidgeting, looking around for distraction, don’t waste time. Get them up, get them moving – you flip their mindset from negative to positive just like that.

Great educators create a fresh state change every 7 – 10 minutes.

A simple state change might include:

• Standing up and moving around
• Changing partners
• Moving to a different station
• Practicing a skill
• Participating in a discussion
• Solving a problem together
• Incorporating a quick game 

The goal isn’t movement for the sake of movement, or you’d just call a break and lose them for sure. The goal is to quickly refresh attention so learners can continue learning at a high level.

A one-minute state change can save twenty minutes of lost attention. 

4.Ask Better Questions

Most educators ask questions. Not enough educators ask questions that create learning.

Questions like “Does everyone understand?” rarely produce meaningful responses. Most learners will just nod along, not wanting to attract attention, and by the time they speak up they’re sincerely frustrated.

Instead, ask questions that encourage thinking.

Questions like:

• Why do you think this works?
• How would you apply this with a guest?
• What challenges could arise?
• What would happen if we skipped this step?
• What’s another way we could approach this?

These questions require learners to process information, connect ideas, and draw their own conclusions.

The more learners think through the material, the more easily they will recall it later.

Good questions don’t test learning. They create learning.

5. Teachers Are Storytellers

Facts inform. Stories connect.

When information is intertwined with emotion, experience, or a real-life example, it’s easier to remember and apply. We’re built for it. Humans have been telling stories to pass on knowledge for as long as there has been language.

Stories show learners how concepts work in the real world.

Share stories about:

• Clients you’ve worked with
• Mistakes you’ve made
• Challenges you or others have overcome
• The big lessons you’ve learned
• Successes from previous learners

Stories make information relatable. They help learners see themselves in the lesson.

The next time you’re teaching a concept, ask yourself:

“What story could help bring this lesson to life?”

People will forget your slide, but they’ll remember your story..”

6. Teach Less. Practice More.

Many educators feel pressure to share everything they know, and that’s an invitation to overload.

Learning doesn’t happen when people hear information – it happens when people APPLY it.

Every time you deliver a concept, wrap it with an opportunity for learners to use it.

This could include:

• Practicing a technique
• Role-playing a consultation
• Working through a case study
• Demonstrating a skill
• Teaching the concept back to a partner

The more complex the skill, the more practice it requires, so there’s no time like the present.

You can’t measure your success by how much you told them. Your success is measured by their success in using what you’ve taught them.

7. Celebrate Small Wins Too

Confidence plays a huge role in learning.

When learners feel successful, they are more willing to participate, take risks, and try new things.

Why then would you only acknowledge the big wins? Great educators recognize progress along the way. Every achievement is an opportunity to launch the next one.

Celebrate moments such as:

• Asking a thoughtful question
• Trying a new skill
• Demonstrating improvement
• Helping another learner
• Applying feedback

Recognition is a human need. People naturally move toward what gets noticed. Use it to reinforce desired behaviors and build momentum.

Confidence grows one small win at a time.

8. Make Learning Relevant

One question lurks at the front of every learner’s mind:

“Why does this matter to me?”

If learners don’t feel the answer to that question, engagement is like pulling teeth.

People pay attention when they understand how the information connects to their goals, their challenges, and their daily work.

Whenever you teach a concept, make it obvious:

• Why it matters
• How it helps guests
• How it improves results
• How it saves time
• How it increases confidence
• How it impacts income

When learners see the value, motivation increases naturally.

People won’t engage with information until they can engage with meaning.

9. End with Reflection

Learning doesn’t happen during teaching alone. It also happens during reflection.

Reflection gives learners an opportunity to organize their thoughts, identify key takeaways, and decide how they will apply what they’ve learned.

Before ending a session, ask questions like:

• What was your biggest takeaway?
• What challenged your thinking?
• What will you apply this week?
• What do you want to continue improving?
• What will you do to implement this with your clients?

These conversations help move information from short-term memory into long-term understanding.

The lesson isn’t over until learners know what they’ll do next.

10. Create a Strong Finish

Many training sessions simply run out of time. The educator says, “Any questions?” and everyone heads back to work.

Unfortunately, this wastes the opportunity to reinforce learning.

The final few minutes of training are key to multiplying success.

Use them to:

• Underline the takeaways
• Reinforce important concepts
• Celebrate progress
• Clarify next steps
• Create accountability

A strong finish sends learners away with confidence and direction.

Your goal is for learners to walk away knowing exactly what they learned, why it matters, and what they will do next.

People remember beginnings and endings. Make both count.

Ready to Become the Educator Everyone Remembers?

The best educators don’t just deliver information. Books do that. Be the educator who creates learning experiences that inspire action, build confidence, and help people grow.

For decades, Chris Baran has helped educators transform the way they teach, coach, and lead in salons, schools, and on stage.

Learn directly from him how to:

✓ Capture attention from the very first minute
✓ Create more engagement, participation, and retention
✓ Ask better questions that spark learning
✓ Coach with greater confidence and impact
✓ Build stronger connections with your learners
✓ Become the educator people request again and again

It’s time to level up your educator skills. Teach & Lead and ChrisCamp Educator Excellence, deliver Chris’s complete system to develop world-class educators.

Great educators don’t just teach information—they create transformation.