Training Tools

A good training session relies on good training design.  But training design isn't always easy.

The purpose of The Training Designers' Club is to make training design quicker, easier and less stressful for busy L&D professionals, and one of the ways that we do that is by testing and reviewing training tools and resources so that you don't have to waste precious time and funds.

Here's a small selection of some of our favourite training tools to help you as well as some other services that you might find helpful.

If You Want Creative Inspiration For Your Training Design...

Unlock your creativity with The Transform Deck - A practical tool to help you to transform learning content into engaging activities, and freshen up your training design.

The deck includes 45 activity types in five suits, together with seven instruction cards detailing new ways to combine, lay out, and play with the cards to transform your learning. Each provide a way to take content and transform it into a different kind of activity so you’ll never deliver boring content again!

Whether you're a trainer, instructional designer, educator, or anyone else involved with creating and delivering learning experiences, the transform deck will help you create memorable, enjoyable and effective experiences for your learners.

Use code TDC for a 10% discount!

If You're Keen To Introduce Creativity Into Your Virtual Facilitation...

Deckhive is a versatile card-based toolkit designed to work in the virtual space.

Different cards inspire different thinking and can be used in a wide range of different ways to unlock thinking, open up communication or build teams. Useful in one-to-one coaching situations as well as group sessions, it's a fantastic way to get people engaged quickly, easily and in a meaningful way.

If you want to create session plans more quickly, or maybe collaborate with other designers in real time, take a look at SessionLab.

Not only is it a brilliant way to edit, amend and track changes easily, it comes with hundreds of ready-written exercises that you can include and templates to get you started.  

Kick start your training design and never get confused by version control again!

Take a look at my video that shows how I use it, and trial it for yourself HERE

As trainers, we know how impactful a well-chosen and facilitated game can be. Including games in live training events not only makes the learning memorable, but it also engages people and helps them to discover important learning points for themselves making learning so much more powerful.

But designing your own game is complicated and time-consuming. That’s why buying them in from a reputable provider like Northgate makes sense. They have a wide range of activities for face to face and virtual training sessions.

Why not browse their catalogue?

AND if you use discount code TDC5 you’ll get 5% off too!

Good training design is good training design regardless of the format, BUT there are some differences in the way we go about it. My real expertise is in designing events for live delivery. If you are keen to create evergreen online courses, I can 100% recommend that you take the advice of Ginette Tessier.

 Her straightforward and practical online course about creating online courses (see what she did there?) will take you step by step through everything you need to know. Whether you’re new to online course creation or brushing up your skills, the pick n mix style of this course makes it easy to get exactly what you need to succeed.

As much as we love to design our own sessions, sometimes we simply don’t have the time.

 If you want to respond to a request quickly OR if you need to add a section that isn’t your area of expertise, these comprehensive editable training materials are perfect!  There are 50 bite-size training sessions ready for instant download, and their editable format means you can bespoke them quickly and easily.  

You get way more than a slide deck – a detailed session plan, delegate workbook, slides and supporting handouts are all included. With the majority of editable courses being available for just £79 it make sense on so many levels to buy in and customize. 

If slides are a bit dull, and online tools a bit too cumbersome, you can spruce up your training with some simple hand drawn graphics – even if you facilitate virtually!

It’s not about being a brilliant artist, but using simple graphics to increase engagement and improve communication in events.

Emer O’Leary can build your confidence in using graphics in her really accessible short programmes and guides. Why not check it out?

If you’re a freelance trainer (or even if you’re not) being able to market your courses/services is essential. But marketing isn’t easy.

This AI-powered dashboard can give you everything you need from very little input. From sales pages to social media; emails to blogs, the Magic Marketing dashboard does all the heavy lifting for you. It can even reflect your style and tone of voice so the tweaks you need to make are minor.  

I show you how I use it in this demonstration (The toolkit has been updated massively since this, but you’ll get the idea)  

Let’s face it, your expertise is in learning and development, not marketing, so save yourself hours (if not days) and take away the frustration of marketing by getting yourself a FREE TRIAL and checking this out.

Social media is a vital part of your marketing strategy if you’re self-employed. But even if you’re employed, maintaining a professional presence and growing your network in the right way is important for your career development.

 Marketing and LinkedIn expert Karen Cureton runs a rolling 12 week small group coaching programme covering everything from strategy to wording to help you to develop your social media presence in an authentic ‘grown-up’ way and help you achieve your goals.  

Use code TDC (or tell her I sent you) to get a discount when you enrol.

If you’re thinking of becoming a freelance consultant, or even if you’ve been freelance for a little while, this 30-day programme is like gold. Being a successful freelance trainer means that you have to take on lots of roles, and not just be a good trainer!

  I completed an earlier variation of this many years ago, and can personally vouch for the sensible advice that Sharon gives. It will stop you from making a lot of common mistakes and give you a real plan to create a successful business.  

Trust me, it’s well worth the investment.

I use New Zenler to host my website. As someone who graduated before the internet was a ‘thing’ for mere mortals, tech simplicity is key for me!

 New Zenler really does have everything you need to set up a website. Whether you need something very simple to act as shop front, to sell products or courses, or host a community it is set up to do it (with no additional plug-ins!!) You can even host all your live webinars and virtual training through it.  

It has lots of page templates so you don’t need to start from scratch, reducing your reliance on website developers.  

You can get a lot of this on the free plan too, so if you want a FREE trial, go and have a play!