Over the past 30 years, I’ve taught thousands of learners in classrooms, virtual classrooms, conference centers, hotel meeting rooms, home offices, and more than a few places where professional training probably shouldn’t have happened.
Along the way, I’ve discovered that great training has surprisingly little to do with being the smartest person in the room.
Expertise matters, of course. But expertise alone doesn’t create engagement, participation, or lasting learning.
That’s why I wrote Be the Best Trainer You Know: When Expertise Meets Engagement—How to Deliver Virtual Training That Learners Remember.
This isn’t a book about technology. It isn’t a guide to Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, or any other platform. Those tools will continue to evolve.
Instead, this book focuses on the skills that never go out of style.
Inside, you’ll learn practical techniques for:
- Designing engaging virtual learning experiences
- Building learner participation and interaction
- Asking questions that spark discussion and critical thinking
- Using polls, assessments, and activities effectively
- Speaking confidently to a virtual audience
- Creating visuals that support learning instead of distracting from it
- Managing the technology behind the scenes
- Holding attention and maintaining engagement throughout a session
- Delivering training that learners actually remember
The strategies in this book are based on lessons learned from more than three decades in the classroom and more than twenty years teaching live online. Some lessons came from successes. Others came from mistakes. All of them helped shape the techniques I rely on today.
You’ll also meet a few familiar characters along the way. An owl, a chicken, and more than a few foxes make appearances throughout the book. They occasionally help illustrate a point, lighten the mood, and remind us that learning doesn’t have to be boring.
My goal is simple: help you become the trainer people remember for the right reasons.
Whether you’re new to training or a seasoned professional looking to strengthen your virtual facilitation skills, you’ll find practical ideas that you can put to work immediately.
If you’ve ever wondered why some trainers seem to effortlessly engage an audience while others struggle to keep learners focused, this book shares the techniques that make the difference.
Teaching has been one of the great joys of my professional life. I hope the stories, lessons, and techniques collected in these pages help you grow your own skills, increase your confidence, and elevate the learning experiences you create for others.
After all, becoming the best trainer on your team starts with becoming the best trainer you know.