How do you increase interest in a training course before the event? April Parker offers this idea.

At my last company, we ran an “Essential Management Skills” programme which we had invested quite a lot of money and time in designing and marketing internally. It was really important that the delegates buy into the objectives of the programme and not just see it as 'another management course', and also that they completed all the pre-course work. To facilitate this, we introduced the idea of an informal one-hour meeting about two weeks before the course was due to start. We made it a breakfast meeting and provided some food and tea/coffee, and marketed it as an opportunity to meet the trainer, get to know a little about some of the other delegates. and find out more about what to expect on the programme.

It was really successful because it meant that on the programme the trainer could skip past the sometimes tedious introductions and get right into the core content. The trainer was also able to form a relationship with each of the delegates before the cours even began (which helped when he was chasing pre-work and welcoming delegates onto the programme as they arrived) and meant the 'group' had already formed. Finally, as it was a residential programme, it was a good opportunity to finalise details of travel etc. with delegates without having to send loads of emails.

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Ways to inspire curiosity in learners before an event
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