Training is a necessary evil in the corporate world. As the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, once said, “Job training empowers people to realize their dreams and improve their lives.” Additionally, training helps your staff remain up-to-date on procedures and policies so they can work effectively and efficiently.

Even though you’re dealing with adults, they can still be childlike in their ability to lose focus quickly or become easily distracted.

When hosting an online training seminar, you want to keep participants engaged throughout the presentation so they retain the information. But how do you that? These nine tips will help you  keep people engaged during your training seminar.

Administer a Pre-Test

This lets you gauge the group’s understanding of the training material and allows you to make changes as needed. For example, if the participants seemed thoroughly-nuanced with Topic A of your seminar, go over the main points briefly so you can address the other topics that they weren’t as familiar with on the pre-test.

Engage Every Learning Style

There are several learning styles to consider when hosting a training seminar: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or cognitive.

It is up to you to engage these various learning styles throughout the seminar so that everyone finishes with same general understanding of the material. Brainstorm ideas for different exercises people can work through for every subject you’re covering during your training seminar.

Encourage Prop Usage

Distribute a list of materials participants will need for the seminar beforehand. These materials, which can range from practical tools to totally silly ones, should be incorporated into the training as a method for kinesthetically engaging and teaching your audience.

Plus, if you suggest that a bright yellow balloon represents something related to the training material, participants will always associate yellow balloons with that lesson. Kids aren’t the only ones that enjoy playing with toys.

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Playing Games

Training can be monotonous. Therefore, it’s up to you to make it fun for everyone. Since you might be hosting your training seminar online, the sky’s the limit when it comes to making the material fun. Host a five-minute contest during one of the lessons that asks participants to find the funniest picture/meme/video online that represents the material being discussed.

The Student Becomes The Teacher

Begin a portion of your training seminar with some general material for participants to look over, then ask them to present the information to one another. Not only does this encourage interaction and engagement amongst the training group, you might discover a new method for teaching a topic you hadn’t considered previously.

Break Time

Build in break times during your seminar. Tell attendees to step away from their computers for 10 minutes to refresh their brains and energy levels. If you try to execute a four hour long seminar without any breaks, people are only going to remember fragments of your presentation.

Taking a few breaks throughout the seminar will help people retain the information.

Incorporate Creativity

An online training seminar means you can make use of the wonderful content available on the Internet. Videos, GIFs, photos, and interactive tools are some great options for incorporating creative teaching into your seminar.

Let’s say you’re training a group on a new database system. Find a funny GIF that illustrates the process of using (or not using) this database correctly. Think outside of the box, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results.

K.I.S.S.

Keep it simple, smartypants! The more complex your training seminar is, the harder it is going to be for your participants to remain engaged. Comb through your seminar material, edit any dense portions to be more user-friendly, and remove redundancies that aren’t reinforcing crucial takeaways.

Physical Takeaway

After participants have completed your online training seminar, offer them some kind of token, such as a certificate. Having some kind of physical representation of the time and work they dedicated to the seminar will encourage them to revisit the information while they show pride in completing the course.

Although you can give a teacher a gift anytime, it’s especially appropriate during Teacher Appreciation Week, which is May 7-11 this year. This week is your reminder to let inspiring teachers know what a difference they have made in your life or the life of your kids. Teachers receive lots of gifts, so choose yours carefully to ensure it’s meaningful and useful for the teacher.

When Giving a Teacher a Gift, Do:

• Consider what the teacher may need for the classroom and pick a gift that meets those needs, like personalized Post-it® Notes with the teacher’s name on them.

• Get your child involved in the process of selecting the gift, wrapping it, and adding handmade touches, whether it’s a drawing of the teacher or a small craft project.

• Choose a classy greeting card and include a personalized note about why you appreciate the teacher. These notes are often what teachers cherish most because it gives their job purpose.

• Add a gift card to an office supply store or bookstore so the teacher can get classroom supplies, which are often more meaningful for the teacher than gifts to use personally.

In Your Teacher Gift, Make Sure You Don’t:

• Include baked goods or other foods that the teacher may not be able to eat. Dietary restrictions are very common these days, so unless you know a teacher absolutely loves a particular treat, leave it out.

• Go overboard on the teacher-themed gifts with apples or pencils or mugs saying “World’s Best Teacher.” They have probably been getting these for years and don’t need any more.

• Choose scented items, like lotions or candles, that the teacher may not actually like. Many of these end up getting re-gifted because the teacher doesn’t like the scent and won’t use them.

Teachers have one of the most challenging and underpaid jobs around, so take the time to choose a unique gift that recognizes the time and energy the teacher has put in during the year. The teacher should be able to look at the gift the next day and remember exactly who it is from and what they liked about it. As you’re deciding what to give this year, browse our catalog at Paper Direct to find high-quality gifts for each teacher on your list.

Whether you work at a non-profit organization that works with volunteers who help to improve the community, or you are a teacher in a classroom who relies on parent volunteers, it’s important to remember those special people who are dedicating their time to your cause. National Volunteer Week takes place this year from April 21 through April 27, so be sure to do something that week to make your volunteers feel special. The following ideas will help you create a week they won’t soon forget.

5 Ways to Make National Volunteer Week Special for Your Do-Gooders

1. Organize an awards ceremony to honor your dedicated volunteers. Consider distributing special, custom awards to each contributor on your team. Ideas for awards include “Volunteer Who Logged the Most Hours” or “Most Creative Volunteer.” Just make sure everyone gets something at this event, and don’t forget to create personalized awards to hand out.

2. Write each volunteer a personalized thank you note. Using the custom volunteer note cards available on PaperDirect, you can take the time you need to truly express your gratitude for the efforts of your volunteers.

3. Give the gift of a personalized tote bag. This is a practical gift that your volunteers will use for many years to come. It will help them bring supplies to and from the volunteer site, as well as provide many uses in their personal life.

4. Create personalized coffee mugs for your volunteers. The volunteer mugs on PaperDirect include sayings like “The Difference is You” and “We Appreciate You.” These sentiments express your gratitude, and the volunteer receives a great gift that will make them feel appreciated each morning as they enjoy their cup of coffee.

5. Take them to lunch and give them a lapel pin to thank them for their time and effort. Everyone enjoys a delicious meal, and awarding them with a special lapel pin will make it all the more memorable. Volunteer lapel pins that state “Volunteers, A Work of Heart” are available.

No matter which route you decide to take, just make sure your volunteers know how much you appreciate them. Chances are you couldn’t get your job done without these special individuals who are donating their time and skills to your organization. To make personalized gifts, note cards and awards quickly and easily, stop by PaperDirect. We have specialty volunteer products that will work great for this particular occasion.

Students of all ages (no matter how “cool” they are) appreciate being acknowledged for doing a good job or for improving upon something like behavior, perfect attendance or grades. While certificate awards are definitely morale boosters and plaques and trophies look great on the wall or shelf, there really isn’t any way a student can take his/her reward around where it can be seen (nothing wrong with showing off a bit, right?).

Motivational pins can be used as a reward for student achievement and as an incentive for other students striving to better themselves. While some students may act as though recognition is not a big deal, every parent and teacher knows that children of all ages like a pat on the back every now and then. Motivational pins are inexpensive, attractive and can be worn on any type of clothing.

Recognition awards like motivational pins not only shows the student his good work, attitude, behavior, or attendance is being acknowledged, but they show other students that good work does not go unnoticed. Whether it’s an award for achievement such as “Highest Math Grade” or an award for someone who is showing improvement like “Most Improved Classroom Behavior,” motivational pins can be worn every day and serve as a constant reminder of what the student did to earn that pin.

Student recognition awards like motivational pins actually serve two purposes. They’re designed to show appreciation for deserving students, and they’re designed to help boost morale amongst in other students. Having a recognition program using certificate awards, lapel pins, plaques and trophies is an effective tool to reward and motivate students throughout the school year.

Seeing all the awesome recognition lapel pins available from PaperDirect will give you ideas about how to best utilize them for motivating and rewarding students.

Being a school teacher is one of the toughest, most admirable professions one can choose. It’s an often thankless job that requires hours and hours of work after the school day is over, evening meetings, event chaperoning, and sometimes even weekend work grading papers and preparing for the following week’s lessons.

If you are a teacher, were a teacher or know a teacher, you understand that teaching is not easy. You have lives in your hands each and every day, and everything you say and do somehow impacts the students in your classroom. If you’re not a teacher but appreciate the work they do, or if your child has told you how much a teacher has meant to them, there are many ways you can show your appreciation for their hard work and dedication. Let’s take a look at some teacher appreciation ideas that are thoughtful and affordable.

• Handwritten thank you notes
• Custom designed and printed certificates of appreciation
• Plaques
• Trophies
• Paperweights
• Pen sets
• Gift cards
• Books
• Coffee mugs
• Tote bags
• Key chains
• Day planners

Feel free to come up with your own teacher appreciation ideas or use any of these. Teachers will be so thankful that their work has not gone unnoticed. Shop online at PaperDirect for teacher appreciation gifts today!

Who doesn’t remember your school’s “field day” toward the end of the school year–the day the whole school competed in a variety of outdoor competitions like the egg toss, three-legged race and relay races? If your principal were cool enough, you may have even gotten to have a dunking booth with your teachers in the hot seat. Field day is a day that both students and teachers look forward to because it’s a way to celebrate the end of a great year, teach sportsmanshipand just have fun outside of the classroom.

If you’re getting ready for your field day, you will need sports certificates to award the winners and for those who participated but may have fallen short of first, second or third place. PaperDirect is your online shopping source for award certificates to fit just about any occasion and any age group.

PaperDirect has certificates for just about every accomplishment, so the only problem you may have is choosing which design you like best. Want to design and print your own? We can teach you how to make do-it-yourself award certificates for all occasions. All you need to provide is the computer! If you want to create your own professional-looking sports certificates, PaperDirect has award certificate templates to help you design and print certificates, and you will be amazed at how easy it is. Our free desktop printable templates format your certificate automatically, with preset margins, borders and tabs. We also offer a certificate template CD with a variety of certificate headings so you can make as many certificates as you like whenever you like.

If you would like a pre-designed desktop printable certificate, we offer free individual certificate templates. Simply find the certificate design you wish to purchase and click “Choose a Template” on the product page of our website. Then select either a Word or Publisher template. PaperDirect will email a certificate template right to you at no charge.

Award certificates are fun, and with added features like certificate seals and certificate jackets and folders, they can last forever.