One of the biggest misunderstandings about training is that it is mainly about slides and presenting information. Many people believe that good training means standing at the front, clicking through slides and explaining content. This misunderstanding is exactly why so much workplace training fails. Train the Trainer is important because it shifts the focus away from talking at people and towards helping people learn.

Training is not a performance. It is a process that supports understanding, confidence and real application.

Key Takeaways From This Blog

• Why PowerPoint is often overused in training

• What effective training actually focuses on

• How Train the Trainer changes the way people deliver learning

What Do We Mean by Talking at People

Talking at people usually means delivering large amounts of information with little interaction. Slides are packed with text, the trainer speaks continuously and learners sit quietly trying to keep up. While this may feel efficient, it rarely leads to real

Many people step into training roles without ever planning to. They are good at their job, knowledgeable in their subject and suddenly asked to train others. While this can feel flattering, it often comes with nerves, self doubt and a sense of not really knowing what you are doing. This is where Train the Trainer becomes so important.

Train the Trainer is not just about learning how to run a session. It is about building confidence, clarity and belief in your own ability to help others learn.

Key Takeaways From This Blog

• How Train the Trainer builds confidence in people who never planned to be trainers

• Why training skills often unlock new career opportunities

• How confidence and clarity change how people see themselves at work

What Do We Mean by Confidence in Training

Confidence in training is not about being loud or outgoing. It is about feeling calm, prepared and capable. Confident trainers know how to structure a session, explain ideas clearly and involve learners without fear. They trust

Over the years, we have worked with thousands of trainers, managers, and supervisors across a wide range of industries. One pattern appears again and again: learning happens in the room, but reflection and improvement often stop once people return to work.

Training does not fail because people are not capable. It fails because people are busy, distracted, and rarely given the space to think properly about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how they could do it better.

We are well known for our term Throwing the Monkey and that is exactly why we created the Monkey Journals.

Reflection Is Where Learning Actually Happens

On our Train the Trainer programmes, we place a strong emphasis on learning transfer. Training is not about what happens during the session; it is about what people do differently afterwards.

The same principle applies in management development. On our Leadership and Management programmes, we regularly see that managers improve most when they take time to reflect

Most organisations invest in training with good intentions. They want people to perform better, feel more confident and deliver stronger results. Yet many training sessions fail to achieve this. Poor training often looks harmless on the surface, but beneath it sits a significant cost to productivity, morale and revenue.

Train the Trainer is important because it helps organisations avoid these hidden costs and create training that genuinely supports performance.

Key Takeaways From This Blog

• Why poor training creates long term business costs
• How disengaged learners affect productivity and morale
• How Train the Trainer skills protect performance and revenue

What Do We Mean by Poor Training

Poor training is not always obvious. It often looks like people sitting quietly, slides being read aloud and sessions being delivered because they have always been done that way. Learners attend because they have to, not because they want to. They leave with notes, but little confidence in what to do next.

Presentation skills training is often misunderstood. Many organisations invest in it because they want people to stand up and speak more confidently, deliver information professionally, and represent the organisation well.

Confidence is a major driver. For many people, standing up in front of others is uncomfortable, intimidating, and stressful. Organisations hope that presentation skills training will help people overcome this fear and give them practical tools to present with confidence.

However, confidence alone is not enough.

Key Takeaways From This Blog

• Presentation skills training is about confidence, structure, and engagement, not slides.
• Many people can present information but struggle to engage an audience.
• Reading PowerPoint slides is not presenting and causes people to switch off.
• Effective presentations rely on questioning, storytelling, and involvement.
• Poor presentation skills damage learning transfer, decision-making, and credibility.
• Presentation skills are both a workplace

Many people are asked to deliver training at work simply because they know their subject well. While knowledge is important, it does not automatically mean someone knows how to train others effectively. This is where many organisations struggle. Train the Trainer is important because it gives people the confidence and skills to turn knowledge into meaningful learning that actually transfers into the workplace.

When training is delivered well, people leave knowing what to do and feeling confident doing it. When it is not, the impact can be costly.

Key Takeaways From This Blog

• Why confidence is central to effective training
• How Train the Trainer improves workplace transfer
• The wider impact on engagement, morale and performance

What Do We Mean by Train the Trainer

Train the Trainer is about teaching people how to deliver training that works. It focuses on how to explain ideas clearly, involve learners, structure sessions and build confidence. It is not about talking at people or reading slides.

This question is often asked by organisations struggling with inconsistent performance, poor learning transfer, and frustrated managers. The short answer is simple: yes, managers are absolutely supposed to train.

The longer answer is where things usually go wrong.

In many organisations, managers either don’t believe training is part of their role, or they believe it is but have never been taught how to do it properly. The result is frustration on all sides. Managers feel people “just don’t get it”, and staff feel they’ve been shown something but don’t really understand it.

This is a theme we regularly explore on our Train the Trainer programmes, and it also sits at the heart of our Leadership and Management programmes, because training capability is a core part of effective management.

Key Takeaways from this Blog

• Yes, managers are supposed to train. Induction and continuation training are part of the job.
• Telling is not training. People forget what they are told if understanding is not

One of the biggest misconceptions in workplace training is that success is measured by how well a session is delivered. Clear slides, confident facilitation and positive feedback at the end of the day can all feel reassuring. However, great trainers know that delivery alone is not the goal. What really matters is whether learning transfers into the workplace.

This is a key theme we explore on our Train the Trainer programmes, because training that looks good in the room but changes nothing afterwards has limited value.

In This Article You Will Learn

• What learning transfer actually means in practice
• Why strong delivery is not enough on its own
• How effective trainers design sessions that lead to real behaviour change

What Is Learning Transfer?

Learning transfer is the process of learners applying what they have learned in training back in their real working environment. It is the point where knowledge becomes action and confidence turns into competence.

If learning transfer does not happen,

When someone starts delivering training for the first time, they often feel a mix of excitement and pressure. They want to get it right, look credible, and keep people engaged. The problem is that most new trainers focus on the wrong things.

These mistakes are common — and completely fixable. In fact, they are exactly the challenges we help people overcome on our Train the Trainer courses, where we support trainers to deliver sessions with confidence, structure and impact.

In This Article You Will Learn

• The most common mistakes new trainers make
• Why these mistakes happen
• How to avoid them using simple, practical techniques

Mistake 1: Trying to Cover Too Much Content

New trainers often feel they need to “show value” by including as much information as possible. This usually leads to rushed delivery, overloaded slides, and learners who feel overwhelmed.

How to Avoid It

• Decide on the key outcome first: what should learners be able to do after the session?
• Cut anything that doesn’t support