No matter how well you, as an expert, are prepared: If your participants do not understand the purpose of the training, have different expectations of you, or simply lack basic knowledge, the success of your training is seriously at risk. With our four methods, you can prepare perfectly. Each method takes a maximum of 30 minutes to invest for motivated participants and sustainable training success!
Why Preparation is So Important
As a trainer or coach, you have surely experienced this: Participants come to your seminar or coaching and do not even know what to expect. Instead of diving straight into the content, you have to motivate skeptical participants, clarify fundamental questions, and compensate for missing prior knowledge. Such a start disrupts your content and time plan.
It is particularly dangerous when participants do not see added value in the training at the beginning: They do not engage, take in little new knowledge, or do not apply it in their everyday work. The sustainability of your training is thus already affected before you start with the content.
This effect becomes even clearer in digital or hybrid training: Without clear expectation clarification and preparation, it quickly turns into mere "consumption" of content instead of active engagement. A conscious preparation phase increases commitment and promotes active participation from the very first moment.
Prerequisites for an Ideal Start
A good start with motivated participants looks like this:
Your participants know why they are here and have individual clear goals.
You know the goals of your participants and can address them directly.
Your participants have content-related questions or examples from their everyday lives prepared.
You know what their level of knowledge is.
When these four points are met, a truly great seminar or coaching is possible. Your participants are motivated, have a clear goal in mind, and focus on the important content. Ideally, they have already engaged with the topics beforehand and have interesting content-related questions that also help the co-learners.
Do you also want motivated participants and an effectively used seminar time? With good preparation, that is possible! We will show you four very simple methods for great training preparation and how you can implement them without much effort. The catch: You can implement each method in 30 minutes!
4 Methods to Prepare Your Training
The following four methods have been tested by numerous trainers and are already in frequent use. All methods are so fundamental that they fit nearly any training or coaching. You can choose one or ideally use them all.
1. Preparation Method: "What is Important to You?"
"What is important to you?" Asking participants about their expectations helps you clarify questions and address their wishes proactively in the training.
Why? Often, your participants come with different expectations at the beginning of the training. If you gain an overview of their expectations, you can address them purposefully in your training.
How? Before the first live session, your participants receive some questions from you. The questions should be answered in bullet points. Open questions are well-suited, such as:
"What effect do you hope to achieve from the seminar?"
"What behavioral change do you wish for?"
"In which situations do you want to be able to respond differently/better?"
You evaluate the answers before the seminar or coaching. This way, you can prepare for specific wishes and expectations.
2. Preparation Method: "What is Your Level?"
"What is your level?" Questions about the current level of knowledge help not only you but primarily the participants recognize knowledge gaps and prepare for the upcoming topics.
Why? Your participants check their own knowledge on the seminar topic even before the training and can prepare better for the in-person session. If knowledge gaps are recognized and closed before the in-person session, you can be sure that your content will be understood.
How? Consider which topics will be covered in the in-person session and write down two good questions for each topic. The questions should stimulate the participants to self-reflection and not ask for specific content yet. Good questions might be:
"How well do you assess your knowledge of (your topic)?"
"Which 3 terms do you associate with (your topic)?"
Participants should also have enough time before the in-person event to answer the questions and prepare for your topics with this method.
3. Preparation Method: "Start Well Prepared!"
"Start well prepared": With preparatory tasks, you can collect examples from your participants' everyday life while also sensitizing them for your topic.
Why? Examples and observations from your participants' everyday work provide a good basis for your in-person session. Additionally, participants tune into the topic during the preparation and sensitize themselves to it.
How? Assign your participants a task some time before the actual training to pay attention to something specific at their workplace. Provide them with assistance, such as a checklist with important questions.
Such a task can look different and depends on the topic of your training. For a seminar on "Communication," it might look like this:
Task: "Pay attention to when communication problems arise while communicating with colleagues."
Checklist: 1. "What was it about in general?" - 2. "How was it communicated (in person, via email, phone)?" - 3. "What was the problem?"
One or two weeks before the seminar is a good timeframe, depending on the extent of the task. Consider whether you want to evaluate the results before the in-person session or if the participants should bring them directly to the seminar.
4. Preparation Method: "Look Forward to..."
"Look forward to...": Clearly communicating the process and topics gives your participants security and builds a positive expectation.
Why? Knowing exactly how your in-person session will proceed helps your participants prepare well for the topics. Clear communication creates a positive expectation and encourages them to express specific questions and wishes.
How? Summarize the process and the topics of your seminar briefly. For this, you should ask yourself some questions to clarify any queries from participants.
For example:
"What will happen that day?"
"How can my participant prepare? What should they bring?"
"What is particularly exciting on that day?"
Keep it brief! Additionally, add a call to action for them to share any wishes, comments, or particularly important aspects. A personal video where you explain the proceedings and motivate participants to act fits particularly well for this preparation method.
Practical Tips for the 4 Methods
1. "What is Important to You?"
Added Value: You learn the participants' expectations through open questions and can adapt to their wishes.
Practical Tip: Casual formats with open response options are very well suited for this. An interactive online accompaniment with quizzes or surveys can be quickly set up and brings high added value to your training. Bonus point for you: You can easily collect and evaluate the answers.
2. "What is Your Level?"
Added Value: Your participants recognize and close knowledge gaps before the in-person session. And you can suitably prepare yourself based on their level of knowledge.
Practical Tip: Asking participants for a personal assessment ("How well do you assess your knowledge on the topic?") encourages self-reflection without creating pressure.
3. "Start Well Prepared"
Added Value: Participants observe situations in their daily lives – you use these as examples in the training to enable good learning transfer.
Practical Tip: If you are using an online platform, provide helpful material directly available as a download. For example, a checklist as a PDF. This way, no distributed paper can get lost, and participants can flexibly integrate tasks into their daily lives: Printed, on the PC, or smartphone?
4. "Look Forward to..."
Added Value: You provide participants with exact information about the process and topics of the training, spark their curiosity, and ensure a relaxed start.
Practical Tip: This is best suited for a video where you personally address the participants and discuss the most exciting topics. This way, you can start building a personal relationship even before the first session. You make the video available online for all participants. You also need very little equipment for high-quality self-produced videos!
Conclusion
Successful training does not arise in the seminar room, but in the phase before: Those who clarify expectations, activate prior knowledge, and make relevance visible lay the foundation for sustainable learning success.
Good preparation determines whether your training merely "takes place" or has a real impact. Participants who know their goals, reflect on their level of knowledge, and have already engaged with the topic start with more motivation and utilize the shared time more intensively.
Whether in person, online format, or blended learning: The quality of preparation significantly influences the sustainability of training. With clear structures and small, targeted preparation impulses, you create the best conditions for genuine learning success.
Updated on 26.02.2026
