When we know a subject well, how can we teach others in an engaging and meaningful way? It’s not just about the content, it’s about how we want the participants to think and feel after the training session. Workshop facilitation is an art, and Rachelle Williams describes how to keep the most reluctant learners engaged and inspired. Using techniques that appeal to all learning styles, Rachelle helps you move from lecturing from the front of the room to training from the back of the room.
From Laptops-Up to Leaned-In:
How to create engaging strengths Workshops
How do you take a room with low expectations of engagement with laptops open and turn it into a high-energy session full of contributions and connections?
Using “Training from the back of the room” (TBR) brain science principles and the 4 C’s map – it’s possible.
As a Strengths Coach, you might be thinking about how to design a workshop that keeps people engaged throughout. It’s easy to start with content – throw everything onto slides and end up with too much information! When we’re passionate about the topic, we want to include everything, but that can lead to cognitive overload, leaving participants bored or disengaged.
TBR flips this traditional approach of training & facilitation on its head. It equips trainers & facilitators with tools to design learner led environments that keep the attendees engaged throughout. It ensures that attendees truly learn the content. Don’t rely on the assumption that by delivering the content, it has been received.
TBR takes you from being the “Saige on the Stage” to the “Guide on the Side!”
What is Training from the BACK of the room?
Training from the back of the room (TBR) is a concept developed by Sharon Bowman, originally a book that led to a 2 day practitioner course. The concept explores how our brain works, the six brain science principles to consider with a range of tools and techniques that align to them, along with the 4 C’s map on how to design the structure of a session.
How to use TBR to Design your Strengths Sessions
1. Start with the outcome
Begin by defining what success looks like. Ask: “By the end of the session, what will participants be able to do, think, or feel differently?”
2. Use the 4C’s Map to structure your session
TBR’s 4C’s map offers a brain-friendly flow for workshop design: Connection – Content – Concrete Practice – Conclusion.
3. Engage the Brain: the six brain science principles for learning
When designing your Strengths session, weave in the six TBR Brain Science Principles to keep Energy and focus high:
| TBR Brain Science Principles | Why it matters | Example Tool |
| Images over Words | The human brain remembers images much faster than words, so include plenty of imagery | Quick Draw – getting people to draw their ideas |
| Writing over Reading | Writing enhances processing – the brain can’t think about anything different while your writing | Quick Write – write key insights |
| Movement over Sitting | Movement brings oxygen to the brain to keep it engaged | Standing Survey – use movement to vote or show agreement |
| Short over Long | Attention dips after roughly 10 minutes, so switch things up regularly | Use the 10-minute rule |
| Different over Same | Novelty stops your brain getting bored from spotting patterns | Top Takeaway exercise before the agenda |
| Talking over Listening | You remember a lot more talking through an idea because you process it multiple times | Pair-share – two people discussing an idea |
Keep the learner at the centre
Using the six brain science principles alongside the 4C’s map keeps participants – not the content – at the heart of your workshop design. Find ways to mix it up. Create variety. Encourage movement, conversation and reflection. That’s how you transform disengaged rooms into spaces where learning sticks.
Want to learn more about TBR?
To explore these principles in action, Rachelle Williams offers an online taster workshop – “Unforgettable Sessions: Building Confidence with the 6 Brain Science Principles for Facilitation”. Some of the outstanding feedback includes:
“In just one hour, I have come away with a plethora of skills and tips which I feel I can use straight away, and am really keen to get started. A wonderfully confident trainer, who really comes across, even online, which is always more difficult to be expressive.”
Alan, Intro to TBR Online workshop
“Learning alongside others in a room really brings out the best in me. Rachelle brings a calm, cool presence and knows how to strike the perfect balance — fun and engaging when it’s needed, yet always focused and purposeful. Not once did it feel like a “typical” training session. I didn’t come from a training background, so this material really shifted what I do and how I do it — it’s completely transformed the way I design and facilitate workshops now.”
Evangelo – TBR Practitioner
Register your interest in the next public Training from the Back of the Room – Practitioner Course.
