Getting your participants to buy into an activity or game you planned as part of your training materials is essential to add energy, interaction and vitality to any courseware material for any topic you teach.

However, your participants will need to be interested before they will feel motivated to join in and take the exercise or game seriously, especially if it involves some element of risk or effort.

The following are some simple ways to motivate participation and ensure your next training game or activity will be effective and achieve it’s planned learning objectives

1.Explain your objectives. Participants like to know what is going to happen and why. Don’t assume that they know your objectives. Make sure they do. “Right now I’m going to ask you to take part in an activity called ‘Making Connections.’ This activity should help you to get to know other members of our group a bit more than you were able to during our brief introductions. In addition, this activity will allow you to practice clear communication and effective listening.”

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2.Sell the benefits. Tell participants what’s in it for them. Explain what benefits they will derive back on the job as a result of the activity. “We often meet new people and introduce ourselves to each other. Usually, getting acquainted provokes some anxiety. This exercise should help you to feel comfortable enough to really get to know someone.”

3.Convey enthusiasm. If you sound motivated about seeing them engaged in an activity, participants will internalize some of your enthusiasm. “This activity is a good one; I think you are really going to enjoy some of the questions that I have planned for you to ask each other.”

4.Connect the activity to previous activities. Explaining the relationship between activities helps participants to see the common thread in your program and see your complete courseware and training material as a whole. “On the survey you just completed, many of you identified over coming shyness as one of your goals. During our first exercise, you will get some immediate practice in conversation skills.”

5.Share personal feelings with participants. Explain why you have found the activity (or one like it) valuable to you and how it links to the training objectives. “I know that I can be reserved at times. It’s nice to have a structured exercise designed to reduce the anxiety involved in meeting people.”

6.Express confidence in participants. Tell participants that you think they’ll do a good job with the activity or that they are now ready to tackle a new challenge. “Now that you’ve already met each other at least once, you should have no problem asking each other questions that are a bit more detailed. Let’s go ahead and get started.”