Facilitate, Don’t Teach: How to Upskill Your Trainers

Trainers often just talk at people instead of engaging them, leading to passive learning. The key is shifting from teaching to facilitating, encouraging active participation. Using strategies like microlearning (Training15s) helps trainers practice skills in real-time, turning boring lectures into dynamic experiences. This shift boosts engagement and retention.

I’ve watched it happen more times than I can count: a well-meaning trainer launches into a session, slides queued, camera on, ready to “teach.” Thirty minutes later, they’ve been talking the whole time. Learners are nodding silently—or, in virtual sessions, have gone completely radio silent. It’s lecture, not learning.

When I led a team of trainers at a mortgage company, I saw this pattern constantly. They were smart, committed, and eager to get it right. But they were also overwhelmed—so focused on mastering content that they never stopped to think about how they were teaching it. They hadn’t been trained in learning theory, so their default was: talk, tell, and hope it sticks.

That’s when it hit me: they didn’t need presentation coaching—they needed a mindset shift. Trainers aren’t there to teach. They’re there to facilitate skill building.

The Shift: From Delivering Content to Building Capability

Upskilling trainers isn’t about adding more instructional techniques. It’s about rewiring how they see their role. Trainers aren’t experts delivering information—they’re architects of experiences that cultivate behavior shifts.

I call it learning accountability—helping learners take responsibility for the thinking work. When trainers “ask, don’t tell,” they force participants to wrestle with ideas, make connections, and build understanding for themselves.

That’s where the magic happens.

Frameworks like Bloom’s Taxonomy and 70-20-10 remind us that real learning lives in the doing. When we create conditions for learners to apply, reflect, and collaborate, we transform sessions from passive listening to active ownership.

As a Master Trainer, I coached my trainer candidate to stop being the “sage on the stage” and start being the “guide on the side.” In another role as the Senior Manager of Learning and Organizational Development, I coached my L&D specialist to “climb Bloom’s”—to design sessions that stretch learners beyond remembering and understanding into applying and creating. And across every organization, one truth held steady: when trainers stop performing and start facilitating, engagement—and results—skyrocket.

The Tool: Training15s—Microlearning for Trainer Mastery

When I led my team of 11 trainers, we introduced something we called Training15s—a 15-minute peer-led skill sprint during our team meetings. Each session focused on a specific facilitation skill, giving trainers a safe space to practice, experiment, and learn from each other.

Here’s how it worked:

1. Choose a Focus Skill
Each week, one trainer led a short micro-training on a facilitation technique—like “asking the second question,” “selling the why,” or “climbing Bloom’s.” The idea was to build skill depth one bite-sized chunk at a time.

2. Practice in Real Time
Instead of explaining, the leading trainer modeled the skill through a mini activity that got the other trainers to “try the new skill on.” For example, in a session on “learning accountability,” the trainer might present a dry policy topic and challenge peers to turn it into a learner-driven exercise.

3. Reflect and Feedback Fast
After each Training15, the group debriefed: What worked? What didn’t? How could you use this in your next live session? This kept learning active and psychological safety high—it was a lab, not a performance.

Within a few weeks, I saw the change. Trainers stopped over-preparing slides and started designing experiences. Sessions became conversations instead of lectures. Ramp-up time for new hires dropped because learning was actually sticking.

Try It: Build Learning Accountability in Your Team

If you’re leading a team of new or developing trainers, start small. Pick one concept—say, “ask, don’t tell”—and host your own Training15 next week. Make it experiential. Let trainers see, feel, and reflect on the difference between teaching and facilitating.

You’ll be amazed at how quickly awareness turns into skill, and skill turns into impact.

When trainers learn to facilitate rather than teach, learners take ownership—and that’s where transformation begins.

Want to help your trainers master facilitation that drives behavior change? 🚀

Check out Letskillup Train the Trainer programs — designed to help facilitators turn lectures into learning that lasts.

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