Passive training dissipates quickly. A real practical transfer in your training or coaching can be achieved with the blended learning method. Good prompts are essential for participants to integrate what they have learned into their daily lives. In this article, find out which five types of prompts you should use for this purpose!
Transfer for high training success
Professional training remains important for the careers of many employees and executives. This was the result of the recently evaluated Adult Education Survey (AES), a large-scale survey of around 7,000 Germans in 2016. Participation in training programs has remained high since 2012; in 2016, around 50% of all German adults aged 18 to 64 participated in a training program.
Among the results of the AES, one fact is particularly interesting: despite the high participation and interest in professional development, the learning transfer is overall quite low. Participants are rarely given the opportunity during training to establish a connection between what they have learned and their own daily lives.
Here you will find the complete study on training behavior in Germany 2016 (AES) as a PDF.
The transfer to everyday life is essential for the success of training or further education. With the concept of blended learning, this transfer is to succeed even during the training: before, between, and after traditional face-to-face events, you as the trainer motivate your participants through short online impulses. In these, you remind them of what they have learned and give them clear prompts.
Good prompts are the key point in successful blended learning. The participant must always know which next step brings them closer to their goal. Only through independent action can the transfer to everyday life succeed.
Especially in digital learning, such clear next steps are particularly important. Without concrete prompts, many online impulses go unanswered because participants return to their daily work immediately after reading or watching. A clear CTA ensures that information actually leads to action.
How good prompts work
Without a clear prompt, your participant remains passive. Perhaps some motivated participants will independently think of exercises and work on their practical transfer. However, the vast majority will close the online impulse without a prompt and return to their daily tasks. With a few words, you can contribute to the success of the training as a trainer.
And here's how it works: A good prompt is…
focused on exactly one next step
directly actionable or planable within 5 minutes after the prompt
understandable in 3 simple sentences
If you keep these three steps in mind, your participant will be able to execute your prompt without much effort. On the contrary, avoid distributing your prompt over multiple steps or formulating a long preparation as a condition.
You can find more on the topic of “Clear prompts” in this blog article by Konstantin Ristl.
5 Types of Prompts – with Examples
Let’s not just stay with the theory of good prompts – concrete examples help to illustrate. I will present a total of five typical types of prompts and how you can use each type as an example in blended learning.
As an example, I will use cards from the rocket pack – the card game for blended learning. For all five types, I will present one card each, on which a method for online support in blended learning is introduced. At the very bottom of each card, you will find the corresponding prompt for the method.
One more thing: Since “prompt” is an awkwardly long word, the abbreviation “CTA” is often used as a synonym. A CTA is a call to action – the English counterpart to the prompt.
CTA Example with Training Reference
This first of five example CTA types is particularly suited for the beginning or the end of your blended learning. In it, you make direct references to the training and ask, for example, about expectations, wishes, or evaluations.
The CTA with training reference works according to the following schema:
How do you evaluate / What do you expect from …? Share … with me!
As an example, consider card 4 from the rocket pack: “What is important to you?”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “What is important to you?”
In the prompt “What do you expect from the training? Write me a few key points for each question”, you want to ask for a personal assessment. The participant should actively participate in the training and engage in conversation with you and/or other participants. With the CTA with training reference, you should ensure that the question is formulated as specifically as possible and that the following questions are clarified: What exactly should the participant comment on? How should he communicate the comment?
CTA Example with Exercise Reference
Very popular and highly effective are prompts with exercise references. You use them to present an exercise in the context of your blended learning. First, introduce the exercise itself and then, in the form of a clear CTA, give the task to carry out the exercise.
A simple “Do the exercise” is just not enough – pay attention to the conditions for good prompts presented above!
The CTA with exercise reference works according to the following schema:
Engage with exercise … Do this …
As an example, consider card 40 from the rocket pack: “My great role model”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “My great role model”
In the method illustrated above, the prompt reads “Think about who serves as your reference image for good presentations. How would this person design your next presentation?” Here, there is still an additional sentence needed, which had no space left on the card and which specifies the prompt. For example: “Take 15 minutes for this and write down your key points in the comment field.” This way, the participant also understands
what he has to do
how long it will approximately take
and where he should present his results
CTA Example for Questions
In some online impulses in blended learning, the participant is supposed to learn a fact or simply process something passively. For example, this could be during the trainer's greeting or when conveying basic theory. It helps the participant if you actively encourage them to ask questions about what has been said/learned.
The CTA for questions works according to the following schema:
Do you have any questions about …? Then please ask them in the following way …
As an example, consider card 6 from the rocket pack: “Conveying theory in advance”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “Conveying theory in advance”
The CTA “Are there any uncertainties? Write me a comment!” is simple yet clearly formulated. If you use this method at the very beginning of your blended learning, you should formulate more precisely in what form the participant should submit the question – for example, in a comment field or directly as a message.
CTA Example for Scheduled Tasks
As I explained above, not every prompt can be executed immediately afterward. To ensure that the participant still carries out the action, you should give them a clear schedule. This can refer to a single fixed date or a recurring time.
Tip: Even with a CTA for a scheduled task, you can immediately provoke action afterward – ask your participant to enter the action directly in their calendar. This way, they won’t forget the task, and your online impulse will feel complete to them.
The CTA for a scheduled task works according to the following schema:
Make … at the time …
As an example, consider card 29 from the rocket pack: “KPI, AktG, CAC …”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “KPI, AktG, CAC ..”
On the illustrated card, the prompt is: “Understood the topic? Go through the 5 steps every evening for a week.” It is important that you have explained the mentioned steps in advance. Additionally, you might ask the participant to directly schedule a fixed date and time in their calendar. It also helps them if you add an approximate duration for the exercise, such as “Plan to allocate 10 minutes straight for this daily.”
CTA Example with Trigger
This type of CTA stands last because it is often used – but does not work as well as the previous types. You use this CTA when you cannot determine the exact date yourself because it depends on the participant.
The CTA with trigger works according to the following schema:
When … happens, then act as follows…!
As an example, consider card 11 from the rocket pack: “It's better to do it in tandem”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “It's better to do it in tandem”
The prompt “Share your most important insights after each meeting” gives participants an idea of what to do at what time. However, if the meetings have not yet been scheduled by the time of the CTA, the participant cannot immediately enter the action into their calendar.
Conclusion: High Transfer in Blended Learning
The success of blended learning is determined less by content than by the quality of the prompts that motivate participants to actively implement.
When participants know exactly what their next step is, the likelihood that they will actually try out what they have learned and integrate it into their work increases. Good CTAs help turn theoretical knowledge into concrete actions.
The five types of prompts presented show how diverse such impulses can be designed. Whether training reference, exercise, question, scheduled task, or situational trigger: each of these forms can specifically support learning transfer.
Therefore, anyone who wants to use blended learning successfully should not only think about content but also about the next concrete action of the participants. That’s where the crucial difference between passive training and real practical transfer arises.
Updated on 03/06/2026
