"Spray and Pray" is where the trainer haphazardly sprays information and facts around the training room and prays that some of it sticks with the participants.
The spray element can be text heavy slides or lecture based classes. The pray speaks for itself. It might sound strange, but the bad training sessions can be just as instructive as the good ones! You see as I attended those classes and contrasted them with classes where I learned and retained more I found the following approach emerge:
A light introduction of the topic with context setting from the audience set the tone for a collaborative session
Getting the challenges of the participants listed (the now familiar sticky note session) helps build buy in (we are solving our problems)
Building a list of measures currently being taken by the participants not only allowed the audience to learn with, but also from one another - again building buy in and promoting peer support (after all learning is social)
Then sharing content on the topic at hand, perhaps a summary of best practices that the facilitator reviews spending the most time on the items NOT covered in 2 and 3 above, going into the how of each to ensure understanding
Finally a practice session, preferably using a real world challenge that is relevant to the audience with a group discussion on application and next steps to conclude
And in all the sessions I've run, I have never had someone ask for more slides and less time discussing the subject
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