Give Better Feedback to Trainers
If you’ve ever had to give a trainer feedback on their delivery, you know how incredibly difficult it can be. Because facilitation skills often feel subjective, observations can easily devolve into awkward debates over personal preferences. You know the session lacked a dynamic spark—but how do you explain that to a trainer without sounding like you're just picking on their style?
When we evaluate trainers based on what we personally like, we aren't coaching—we're just judging. It's the "Dancing with the Stars" feedback trap, and it leaves trainers feeling defensive and confused about how to actually improve.
In this webinar, training expert Brian Washburn solves that exact challenge. He bridges the gap between subjective opinion and objective data by introducing an evidence-based, structured framework to evaluate trainer performance fairly, consistently, and effectively.
What Brian Washburn breaks down in this session:
🎯 The 4 Aspects of "Good" Training: The core pillars of effective facilitation, grounded in behavioral research (including Source Credibility Theory and Teacher Immediacy).
🎯 The "Volume Knob" for Content: How rigid body language accidentally triggers mind-wandering in learners, and how to measure a trainer's physical presence objectively.
🎯 Overcoming "Superficial Implementation": Why forcing trainers to strictly follow a script backfires, and how to evaluate "Adaptive Fidelity" instead.
🎯 Measuring Real Practice: The critical difference between "Open Skills" and "Closed Skills," and how to audit whether a trainer is providing a true opportunity to perform.
🎯 The Rubric in Action: Watch as we practice using a standardized observation tool on a real 5-minute training clip, aligning our scores to remove the guesswork.
Stop giving vague advice like "good energy" or "nice job." Watch this session to get a standardized tool that turns trainer observations into clear, repeatable steps for professional growth.
🔗To get the handout and incredible resources you can start using to support trainers today, go to: https://endurancelearning.com/free-tr...
00:00 - Beginning Announcements & Speaker Intro
06:08 - Webinar Welcome & "Dancing with the Stars" Analogy
14:12 - Level Setting: What Makes for Good Training Delivery? (Word Cloud)
16:15 - The 4 Essential Keys to Good Training Delivery (Competencies Research)
34:01 - Analyzing the Facilitator Evaluation Rubric
36:31 - Main Room Discussion: Evaluation Form & Rubric Insights
45:09 - Re-convening & Polling: Which Competency is Most Important?
48:17 - Practical Application: Reviewing & Scoring a Presenter Clip (Brian Washburn Sample Video)
55:56 - Clip Review & Scoring Debrief (Brian Shares His Notes)
58:47 - Webinar Wrap-up: Keys to Effective and Useful Observation
59:25 - Next Month's Preview: Helping Subject Matter Experts Train & Final Wrap-Up
📖 This webinar is a great companion to Endurance Learning’s free resource, Putting Together a Train-the-Trainer Program (https://endurancelearning.com/books/p...) that will help you cut through the jargon and understand what kind of session your trainers need to improve delivery, boost learner engagement, and drive better training outcomes.
🌟If you are looking to ditch lecture-only training and sharpen your training delivery skills, the Training Delivery Basics course from L&D Pro Academy is the perfect launchpad for successful facilitation, giving you the foundational skills to lead with confidence and authenticity.
Training Delivery Basics is a self-paced, online course designed to help busy professionals like you deliver engaging and effective training. https://academy.endurancelearning.com...
📖 In addition to his practical experience, Brian is the author of two books. “What’s Your Formula? Combine Learning Elements for Impactful Training” (2021) and "Instructional Design on a Shoestring" (2024). He has also contributed chapters to several publications by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), including “ATD’s Handbook for Consultants” and “ATD’s Handbook for Training and Talent Development.” https://bookshop.org/shop/endurance
⭐Endurance Learning (https://endurancelearning.com/) is a full-service training development partner, specializing in elearning, instructor-led training, and train-the-trainer programs. Since 2015, our team of expert instructional designers and developers has helped professionals with deep subject matter expertise design and develop training that delivers real impact.
You know your content. We know learning design. Let’s partner to build training that works!