It’s happened to us all at one point – You’re leading a training session, and participants are looking around the room, out the window, at their phones, or even checking email on their laptops. If the session is virtual, you might see people looking somewhere else if their camera is on, or if not, maybe your questions aren’t getting any answers.

This can be scary for the facilitator, but understand this can happen for a number of reasons, and there is always something you can do to bring that energy back. But first, you have to check your ego at the door, because frustration with your learners is counterproductive.

Before we dive into some quick things you can do as a facilitator to bring up the energy in the moment, understand that most problems that crop up in live training are entirely avoidable with good planning.

Possible reasons why they are bored or tuned out:

• Your training is boring (subject matter or delivery)
• The wrong people are in the room (people / subject matter mismatch)
• Training timing is wrong (right before lunch, end of day, etc.)
• Your fonts are too small
• You’re talking too much
• There’s an elephant in the room (something distracting has come up in the workplace or the world)

No matter the reason, you can use these ideas to improve engagement in any live training session – virtual or in-person. Some work better for specific formats.

Teach back (in person or virtual). Put participants in small groups or pairs and arm them with the slide you want them to focus on. Have them each take a turn practicing presenting and explaining the material. Examples:

• Sales reps can incorporate product information into a mini-pitch.
• Customer service reps can have mock calls using the new steps for deescalating an upset customer.
• Account managers can guide each other in following the steps to do something in Salesforce.

Work the room (in-person). Where you see distraction or ebbing energy, go stand behind or near the person. Use friendly eye contact and your voice to gently bring them back to the moment.

Ask engagement questions after every key point (in person or virtual). Do this consistently, so your learners know it’s part of every training. These work best if you are asking for stories, personal experience, or opinions. You are inviting conversation, exploration, and even friendly debate (helps you understand learners’ willingness to adopt the material).

Check in with learners about their feelings (in person or virtual). Take the time to ask your learners how they are feeling about the subject matter before, during and after the training. Make it low-friction: Provide a scale of 1 to 5, explain the levels on a slide or screen, and then invite them to take a poll, answer in chat, or raise their hands. Then do not judge or challenge.

Call a break (in person or virtual). Sometimes you’re working against mental fatigue or competing with their lunch hour. If you recognize many people are just tapped out, end training a bit early or call a short break if there is a lot more material to cover. Learners will be much more willing to stay engaged if they have come to trust that you will be responsive to their needs.

These next ideas work best with a little preparation ahead of time:

Call on people by name, but don’t put anyone on the spot (in person or virtual). Consider telling learners ahead of time that you might call on them to ask about their experience. Introverts will be more willing to share in polls or chats for virtual training, and in very small groups of 2-3 for in-person training.

Tell people ahead of time that you’ll be asking them for their favorite key point (in person or virtual). You’d be surprised how much of the time this keeps learners attentive. Then allow for 5 minutes at the end of training for people to contribute those key points out loud or in chat.

Use the right re-engagement approach for the training format. When working with learners in person, it’s easier to make changes on the fly. However, breakout groups can take much longer to organize and carry out. Have a strategy for organizing small groups quickly and getting them focused on the material without delay.

Virtual groups can be a challenge if people keep their cameras off. There is a feeling of disconnection which will make them less likely to jump in with stories or comments than for in-person settings. If possible, ask participants to stay on camera and avoid asking people to mute themselves except when it’s absolutely necessary. Ask people to engage in chat, and when someone posts something relevant, politely invite them to talk about it.

Larger webinars, where people are usually not on camera and muted, are perhaps the least flexible if you need to improve the energy. For these, plan ahead. Have a couple of engagement strategies ready to go, such as breakout rooms, frequent polls, and funny visuals.

The key takeaways here are:

• Plan ahead for better engagement.
• Use the right method for the training format (in-person vs. virtual).
• Let your learners contribute opinions and experiences.
• Stay aware of how your learners are feeling.