Finding ways to change-up your training can be difficult, especially if some of the ways you've used before don't seem to adapt well to the material you're using now. And who really has time to re-create the wheel? So don't. Borrow some of our tips here. These are less common, but very engaging, ways to put some interaction into your education.

Getting participants in a presentation or training program to listen and take what they heard back to the workplace is often a challenge. Here are six strategies that can help increase transfer of knowledge from the classroom to the job.

Need a visual or object lesson for removing obstacles? Deborah Schonfeld uses this template to create simple boxes. She puts clip art bricks onto each square except for two. On each brick, she writes a specifically stated learning point which becomes the "key" that opens the box. "On the remaining two, put the name of an obstacle that the training will help the employee overcome. On the second free square, place a picture of a door with a key hole," Schonfeld explains. For her session on the fear of presenting, Schonfeld put "fear of making a mistake" on one of the squares as an obstacle. A key to overcoming that fear might be "good use of notes and outline."

CSX Corporation, a transportation company, has a network that spans approximately 21,000 miles and connects to more than 70 ocean, river and lake ports. How do you begin to explain that and the intricacies of rail transportation to new managers? You have them "play" with colorful two-inch wood and plastic toy trains, tracks, bridges, signs and buildings so they get the hang of completing work orders, switching trains, and figuring out what to do their your train car is facing the wrong direction!

Here is the template for a six-sided "brick." Make sure you "close" the door with only something tacky so it can be opened easily.

When you’ve completed your leader notes, conference blurbs or research for a conference session, you may want to run your own “readability diagnostic” to ensure the reading level isn’t too high for your audience to grasp. Word 2007 has incorporated this feature which allows you to see what grade level your information is written for or how easy it is to grasp.

If you are used to classroom training and know the value of interac¬tion among participants, moving to one-on-one training can be frus¬trating. You need some training techniques that will spark the same level of interest, result in retention of the content, and yet fit your one-on-one situation. Here is one activity that allows you to revisit content, give control to the trainee, encourages directed thinking, and allows you an opportunity to give positive feedback.

Perhaps you’re an incredible presenter, very comfortable building rapport, and your groups go away retaining all they’ve heard and experienced. But somehow, no matter how gifted you may be, spelling while you’re presenting always seems to be an issue. There’s something about writing on a flip chart in 224-point font that does even the best spellers in.

If learners are motivated, they retain more information. But can you extrinsically motivate your session attendees? Is it possible? “While you can’t make your participants be motivated, you can create a motivating environment,” said Becky Pluth, vice president of training and development at The Bob Pike Group. Research shows that interacting with your learners “is one of the most powerful factors in promoting learning” while “interactions among learners is another” (Angelo 1993). And teachers who present the information in a dynamic manner and display a genuine interest in what they

Getting people to use learning resources in the company library can be tricky, Kathleen Miller-Buettner and Susan Hayley-Gates say. Their library has books, videos and audio tapes on communication skills, management skills, balancing work and home lives, and dozens of other topics. But, as in many organizations, the materials once went mostly unused. To encourage corporate library use—and learning—the training department initiated a TOM (theme of the month) Club. Membership is free. Each month has a topical theme – effective feedback, industry information and the like. Trainers, however, don’t disclose what the month’s theme is. Instead they post clues throughout the office and via email on the first day of each month. Employees guess the theme, placing their guess in one of the special TOM Club raffle boxes around the workplace.