Passive training dissipates quickly. A real practical transfer in your training or coaching is achieved with the Blended Learning method. Good action prompts are essential for the participant to integrate what they have learned into their everyday life. In this article, find out which five types of action prompts you should use for the best results!
Transfer for high training success
Professional training remains important for the careers of many employees and executives. This was revealed by the recently evaluated Adult Education Survey (AES), a large-scale survey of around 7,000 Germans conducted in 2016. Participation in training has remained high since 2012 – in 2016, around 50% of all German adults aged 18 to 64 participated in a training course.
Among the results of the AES, one fact stands out: despite high participation and interest in professional development, the learning transfer overall remains rather low. Participants are rarely given the opportunity during training to make a connection between what they learned and their own daily life.
Here you can find the complete study on training behavior in Germany 2016 (AES) as a PDF.
The transfer into everyday life is essential for the success of a training or a course. With the concept of Blended Learning, this transfer should succeed during the training: Before, during, and after classical in-person events, you motivate your participants through short online impulses. In these, you remind them of what they have learned and give them clear action prompts.
Good action prompts are the key to successful Blended Learning. The participant must always know which next step will bring them closer to their goal. Only through independent action can the transfer into daily life succeed.
This is how good action prompts work
Without a clear action prompt, your participant will remain passive. Some motivated participants may come up with exercises on their own and work on their practical transfer. However, the vast majority will close the online impulse and return to their daily business without an action prompt. With just a few words, you can contribute to the success of the training as a trainer.
And this is how it works: A good action prompt is…
focused on exactly one next step
immediately actionable or planable within 5 minutes after the prompt
understandable within 3 simple sentences
If you follow these three steps, your participant will be able to execute your action prompt with little effort. Avoid distributing your prompt over multiple steps or formulating a long preparation as a condition.
More on the topic of “Clear action prompts” can be found in this blog post by Konstantin Ristl.
5 types of action prompts – with examples
Let’s not stick to the theory of good action prompts – concrete examples help illustrate. Therefore, I will introduce you to five typical types of action prompts and how you can apply each type in a Blended Learning environment.
As an example, I will use cards from the rocket pack – the card game for Blended Learning. For all five types, I will present a card that introduces a method for online guidance in Blended Learning. At the bottom of each card, you will find the corresponding action prompt for the method.
One more thing: Since “action prompt” is a cumbersome long word, the abbreviation “CTA” is often used as a synonym. A CTA is a Call-to-Action – the English equivalent of the action prompt.
CTA example with training reference
This first of five example CTA types is particularly suitable for the beginning or end of your Blended Learning. Here, you take direct reference to the training and ask 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, take card 4 of the rocket pack: “What is important to you?”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “What is important to you?”
With the action prompt “What do you expect from the training? Write me a few bullet points for each question”, you want to ask for a personal assessment. The participant should actively engage in the training and converse with you and/or the other participants. For the CTA with training reference, you should ensure that the question is formulated as specifically as possible and clarify the following questions: What exactly should the participant comment on? How should they convey their comments?
CTA example with exercise reference
Very popular and highly effective are action prompts with exercise reference. You use them to represent an exercise within your Blended Learning. First, introduce the exercise as such, and then give a clear CTA to carry out the exercise.
A simple “Do the exercise” is simply not sufficient – pay attention to the conditions for good action prompts presented above!
The CTA with exercise reference works according to the following schema:
Engage with exercise … Do this for …
As an example, take card 40 of the rocket pack: “My great role model”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “My great role model”
In the method depicted above, the action prompt is “Consider who is your benchmark for good presentations. How would this person design your next presentation?” Here, an additional sentence is missing, which did not have enough space on the card and that specifies the prompt. For example: “Take 15 minutes for this and note your bullet points in the comment field.” This way, it becomes clear to the participant
what they need to do
how long it will approximately take
and where they should present their results
CTA example for follow-up questions
In some online impulses within Blended Learning, the participant should learn a concept or simply process something passively. For example, during the trainer's greeting or when conveying foundational theory. Here, it helps the participant if you actively encourage them to ask follow-up questions about what was said/learned.
The CTA for follow-up questions works according to the following schema:
Do you have any questions about …? Then ask them as follows …
As an example, take card 6 of the rocket pack: “Convey theory in advance”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “Convey theory in advance”
The CTA “Are there any uncertainties? Write me a comment!” is simply and clearly formulated. If you use this method at the very beginning of your Blended Learning, you should also specify more precisely how the participant should communicate the question – for example, in a comment field or directly as a message.
CTA example for scheduled tasks
As I explained above, not every action prompt can be executed immediately afterward. To ensure the participant carries out the action anyway, you should give them a clear deadline. This can refer to a single fixed date or a recurring time.
Tip: Even with a CTA for a scheduled task, you can prompt an immediate action afterwards – encourage your participant to enter the action directly into 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, take card 29 of the rocket pack: “KPI, AktG, CAC …”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “KPI, AktG, CAC ..”
On the depicted card, the action prompt reads: “Did you understand the topic? Go through the 5 steps every evening for a week.” It is important here, of course, that you have also explained the mentioned steps beforehand. Additionally, you could encourage the participant to directly set an appointment for a specific time in their calendar. It also helps them if you add an approximate duration for the exercise, such as “Plan to dedicate 10 minutes daily.”
CTA example with trigger
This type of CTA is placed at the end because it is frequently used – but does not work as well as the previous types. You use this CTA when you cannot precisely determine the exact date, as it depends on the participant.
The CTA with trigger works according to the following schema:
When ... happens, then act as follows…!
As an example, take card 11 of the rocket pack: “It’s better to ride in tandem”:
Assessment of the CTA in the example “It’s better to ride in tandem”
The action 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 at the time of the CTA, the participant cannot immediately enter the action into their calendar.
High transfer in Blended Learning
You have now learned five examples of five types of action prompts. Remember: With good CTAs, you ensure a higher practical transfer for your participants and advance professional development in the DACH region!
Test out various types in your own training or coaching and observe which types work well for you and which do not. Use the methods presented above from the rocket pack in your existing training in your mind. Where does which action prompt fit? Tip: Make a sketch to better visualize the methods.
