What makes a good session

In these smaller groups, participants can work together to find ten things that they have in common with every person in the group. Establishing what people have in common allows individuals to bond over their similarities, leading to a more relaxed and conducive learning environment.

Another great activity to try is role reversal. Encouraging active participation will solidify the lessons learned. As an organizer, this rule is a way to prioritize your time against your most important goals. Consider how some concepts or skills will need more time than than others. What skills are you willing to allocate more time on, and which are nice-to-have that you are okay addressing later? Remember to use the needs assessment, as well as in-person feedback from the group to determine how much time you should be dedicating to a certain topic or skill.

It can be hard for most people to concentrate for an extended period of time. Breaks, however, have been linked to improving concentration. From the Ultradian Method to the Method there are so many different break techniques, so choose the one which suits your training session best.

The venue of your training session is the heart of your event. Your venue will depend on your event brand, as well as the size of your session. If you have a large, company-wide training session perhaps a conference venue will be suitable. Want something a little more creative? Why not choose an unusual venue in the city where you can get creative with your training and really inspire your guests.

Did you know that off-site meeting or conference often improves productivity? Running a training evaluation is key when developing your own skills as a trainer and ensuring you have met your training session goals. Of course, taking into account whether or not your participants have acquired the intended learning objectives.

One of the best ways to gather feedback is through face-to-face conversations with your attendees. Alternatively, you can ask for reflective feedback post training day through an electronic feedback form your attendees can fill out. For instance, consider using a feedback questionnaire or an evaluation form. Like most tips, it is usually best to try implementing a few of these training session suggestions.

If you can choose the room, find somewhere that is in a quiet area away from busy areas. You'll also want a room with good acoustics. You should also make sure the building and room are accessible to people who have any physical limitations. Choose a space with adequate ventilation and easy access to restrooms. Make sure the space is equipped with the equipment, hookups, and resources you will need. Gather and test necessary equipment and materials. Give yourself plenty of time to find the equipment you'll need for your session and test it out before the day of the session.

If you've put together a PowerPoint presentation, for example, make sure you have a computer, projector, and screen. You might want to come to your session prepared with a backup plan in the event of any technology failure. It's a good idea to make a checklist of the equipment and supplies you will need. Make sure all participants will be able to see and hear you.

Make sure you have enough seats for all your participants. Move around the room and check whether everyone will be able to see you and your presentation materials. Sit in the chairs to see if they're comfortable and allow a good view.

Method 3. Greet the participants as they walk in. You can set a positive tone for your training session before it even begins by welcoming participants as they arrive. Introduce yourself and strike up a conversation. You can also hand out any materials you have as part of your welcoming. If you're providing refreshments, guide new arrivals to the refreshment table as they come in. Provide your audience with an overview and outline of the session. When you begin, introduce the participants to the goals and general outline of your training session.

This will let them know what to expect and will let them focus on what is most important. A clear and simple outline printed in a handout will help prevent participants from feeling lost. Start by grabbing your audience's attention. At the beginning of your presentation, play an interesting video clip or tell a personal story to grab the audience's attention. You can try to shock or surprise them or move them emotionally. Stick to the session's schedule.

Training sessions rarely go according to plan, but you should do your best to follow the published schedule as closely as possible. Running late will likely irritate participants and may distract them from the session's topic.

Show enthusiasm when you present. Your audience will engage better with the session's content if you exude passion and energy for your topic. The best way to show enthusiasm is to be yourself and let your personality shine through. Don't shy away from sharing your personal experiences and mistakes related to the session's topic.

Ask questions to gauge participants' understanding. Throughout the training sessions, pay attention to whether participants seem to be digesting what you're presenting. The best way to do this is to ask your audience questions. You can also monitor their facial expressions and body language. For a training session on netiquette, for example, you could put up a PowerPoint slide of an online conversation and ask the audience what parts are problematic.

Let participants get plenty of hands-on experience. Many people learn best by doing, so consider interspersing your presentation with activities that will give participants hands-on experience with the subject of your training session. Anticipate and prepare for frequently-asked questions. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience, and think about what major questions they may have during your presentation.

Thinking about possible questions ahead of time will allow you to come up with clear, simple, and helpful answers. Reiterate your main points. In any training session, participants have a lot of new information to digest, so it is essential that you emphasize what is most important. Repeat the main objectives throughout the training, and make them the focus of your conclusion.

Solicit feedback to improve future training sessions. Objectives on the other hand allow such thoughts I am As a fan of John Wooden, I feel that all activities should be timed, including down time and questioning time. This is difficult but aids intensity and discipline. The session plan, in my opinion, should also address RPE for each activity and the physiological energy systems being utilised during the schedule activities. This detail should match the physical demands of your sport and keep the session sports specific.

The session structure, I feel should facilitate implicit learning and have reduced inputs from the coaching staff. This forces the coach to design and plan highly specific game based sessions. The coach and player alike should reflect on the session. Nowadays, the best way is video shot by on a phone, and loaded to a private YouTube channel for storage. What went well? Opportunities for improvement?

Goals for next session? These tend to be easily coached. The real progress is obtained when players and coaches, reflect on their thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions. Reflection to recognise negative and positive psychological factors affecting either performance in training or competition, is hugely beneficial. The simple physiological factors, sleep, tiredness, nutrition should also be considered.

Dear Richard, I really enjoyed reading and watching the blog, and have since recommended that my first year students use it to guide their preparation for - what for many will be - their first ever coaching session. I feel it will be a great help to them, and hopefully it will lead to a lot more coaching sessions that are guided by a clear set of principles.

I fundamentally disagree with Dan in regards to the position on outcomes, both philosophically and practically. Whilst the ideas of nonlinear learning quite clearly are convincing, they are - in my opinion - not a justification for abandoning outcomes in coaching sessions.

In my mind, the warning we receive from the theories around non-linear learning and pedagogy are to do with how, when and if we can accurately assess that learning. In other words, we might say that determining whether learning has occurred is difficult because of its nonlinear nature, but that is not the same as saying 'because we don't know whether learning has occurred we might as well not bother planning what we might want that learning to look like'.

It seems to me that coaching without having a clear 'end in mind' - regardless of whether we can predict whether we meet that end - might miss the point. Moreover, whilst exploratory sessions or scrambles are a rich way in which to generate session outcomes, they require quite a high level of coaching skill to plan and guide.

In my mind. In fact, the advice that I give my first year students more often than not is to be as specific as they can be about their outcomes. In my mind, their session design which is at the most basic level what coaching requires flows from the articulation of an outcome.

Their individual exercises should contribute to that outcome, and that outcome is what keeps them focused in their session. Once they have coached to a number of specific outcomes, they can start to articulate little more around their philosophy. Especially those of us who work with the youngest children should think extra hard around their outcomes and the key technical takeaways - as Richard illustrates in his 'Zoo Coaching Exercise'. If we have to stay with the idea of assessment for learning, a key reflective question we may ask inexperienced coaches might be: 'how do you know you have met your outcomes?

In other words, 'am I using the best tools at my disposal to get to the outcome I am pursuing'. Again, Richard's article is rich pardon the pun in suggestions around this.

Given the nonlinear nature of skill learning let alone game sense and tactics this is nowhere near a suggestion that learning has definitely occurred, but a decent suggestion that they have been coached to clear outcomes.

Richard, I read the blog, and the comments. English is not my original language, so sorry if I understand wrong or I express wrong At this moment I think more like Dan. I think you have to plan your session, the outcomes, but you have to be open to thinks that can appear, and to change if might be need.

We have to be flexible in that way. If we are centered in the player, we can't impose our outcomes to them. We have to be always prepare for different scenarios, and plan our behavior. Other think I don't understand of the article, is the video of the hockey session.

I don't understand the second part of the session. I don't feel that'll engage a player. An also, what I think now, In my background of many years as rugby coach, is that in the demonstration, you have to give the players the option of found their own solutions. Even in basic skills. At this time, I don't believe very mucha in closes drills, I believe that everything have to be practice in context, with decision making.

Giving the boys the option to create. Home About Us Site Help. Activity Stream. Join this group. Leave group: Are you sure you want to leave this space? Join this group: Join this space? Add a new tab Add a hyperlink to the space navigation. Tab name The name that will appear in the space navigation. Tab URL The url can point to an internal or external web page.

Upload an icon file or click the smily face to choose an icon Please enable JavaScript to use file uploader. Your icon:. Open in new tab. Group name. Copy options Copy People Copy Content. Copy group Close. Login to follow, share, and participate in this group.

Not a member? Join now. Welcome and General Blogs. What makes up a good coaching session? Category: General. Blake Richardson. Avg: 4. Make the content and learning objectives of your session clear in your introduction. Work hard to develop the partnership between yourself and the learners. Planning and preparation are key to engaging participants. Get them active early: if they are all active, they are all engaged.