Have you ever facilitated a training session and found that one or more attendees caught up on sleep the entire time you spoke? Let’s face it, training has the potential to be boring, for both trainer and employee.  The last thing you want are employees trudging all the way to the training room feeling doomed to a session of uncomfortable introductions, awkward silences and yawn-worthy material. 

As a trainer, there are ways to engage your employees with fun, worthwhile training that will relay useful and important information in a way that will stick.  Take the initiative and use these suggestions to give your training an extra boost of enjoyment.

• Engage and interact.  Training games are a great way to engage trainees and keep them paying attention.  Ask questions and organize activities to make the training memorable.  Seek out specialized training games or work training questions into such popular games as Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit.  Merely going through the motions when it comes to any kind of training is highly ineffective and can become redundant.
• Try different training formats.  A perfect training session won’t necessarily occur in the first sitting.  You may need to get a feel for what your employees need to absorb the information.  Experiment with different formats to find the one that best speaks to employees and ensures the information is getting across.  Employee surveys are a great way to establish improvements you could make and what information they’d like to hear you present.
• Update your material.  Find a training program that generally fits the time period and preferences of your employees.  Also, make sure to update often enough that employees are constantly being engaged.  Introduce new elements for each training session and follow-up that captures employees’ attention and motivates them to participate.
• Track and follow up.  Keep a well-written record of every training session you hold so you know what to switch up for the next session.  Require employees to sign a log and then take attendance to ensure everyone is present.  This will also help in designating what activities to use for specific groups on follow-up sessions.  Keep files and data handy for easy reference and additional training when necessary. 

Make training more than just a requirement on your list of things to do.  Give it some extra flare with a fun game and interesting information.  A little laughter and an attention-grabbing conversation will keep everyone awake and interested.