What Engagement Really Looks Like

Yesterday, I was asked in an interview:
"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯?"

My answer? Engagement isn’t about flashy interactions or gamification for the sake of it. It comes from 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, the feeling that the training is truly worth someone's time.

To create engagement, I would start by understanding:
🔹 What does training currently look like for these trainers?
🔹 What challenges do they face?
🔹 What strategies are they eager to learn?

💡 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: Imagine a train-the-trainer session where we read through PowerPoint slides about adult learning theories. Now, contrast that with a session where trainers 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀, troubleshoot challenges they’ve actually faced, and practice new facilitation techniques with peer feedback.

Which one sounds more engaging? The difference isn’t bells and whistles - it’s about 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

I’ll admit, in the moment, my answer wasn’t as polished as this. I rambled a bit about relevance and the importance of a thorough needs analysis. But after reflecting on it, I realized that at the core of my response was a simple truth: 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.

How would you have answered this question? 👇

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The original LinkedIn post is here.