15 Engaging Instructor Led Training Activities to Elevate Your Training Sessions

Recently updated on April 17th, 2025

If you’re not afraid to get creative there are lots of instructor led training activities you can use within your ILT sessions to make them more engaging and enjoyable for participants.

In this quick guide we’ve compiled 15 examples you can easily implement.

Let’s get started ⬇️

1. Group Discussions

One of the easiest activities you can use is group discussions. You’ll want to think about the size of the groups.

Typically aiming for smaller groups of 3-5 participants is best. Small group sessions help learners get to know one another, work together to better understand material, challenge each others opinions and much more.

In our recent webinar ‘Think You’ve Nailed Online Delivery? Think Again!’, training instructors Tammy Banks, Becky Dawson and Noel Moran

• Utilize break out rooms if delivering training virtually
• Give the group some action items to consider, and have them report back to the wider group on those points
• Allocate a specific time frame for the group discussion

Check out the webinar below for more tips 👇

2. Training Games

There are lots of training games you can intertwine into your sessions. Some of the most popular include:

Jeopardy! Style Quiz Game: Create a Jeopardy-like quiz board with categories related to your training material. Divide participants into teams, and have them compete by answering questions from different categories for points. This competitive and interactive game encourages active participation.

Scavenger Hunt: Organize a scavenger hunt where participants need to find specific information or items related to the training topic. You can do this in person or virtually by having participants search for resources or clues online.

Pictionary or Charades: In this fun and creative game, participants either draw or act out terms, concepts, or scenarios related to the training material while their teammates guess. It encourages teamwork and helps reinforce learning in a light-hearted way.

Related Read: 12 Virtual Training Activities and Ideas to Liven Up Your Virtual Training

3. Role-Playing

Role-playing can help add all important practicality to a training session. Its one thing for learners to be engulfed in theory, and another for that theory to translate into meaningful learning.

Some things to keep in mind if you’re thinking of integrating role-playing into your training include:

Create Realistic Scenarios: Design role-playing scenarios that closely mirror situations participants might encounter in their work. For example, in a retail training session, one learner could play a dissatisfied customer, while the other plays a sales associate tasked with resolving the issue, mimicking the types of interactions employees may face on the job.

Provide Clear Objectives: Ensure participants understand the learning goals and expected outcomes of the role-playing activity. An example objective (using the retail example again) could be: the goal of this exercise is to practice managing difficult conversations, specifically focusing on maintaining calm and professionalism while addressing a customer’s concerns.

Offer Specific Roles: Assign distinct roles to participants, giving them clear responsibilities and perspectives to embody.

E.g. in a workshop on negotiation one learner could play the role of a supplier, while the other plays a buyer, each having distinct interests to represent and negotiate for.

Provide Constructive Feedback: Offer specific and actionable feedback to participants on their performance and areas for improvement.

Using the retail example again, some feedback from instructor to learner could be: “You handled the conflict well, but next time, try summarizing the other person’s points before offering your solution. This shows empathy and helps to defuse tension.”

Adapt to Different Learning Styles: Role-playing can cater to kinesthetic learners who learn best by doing.

4. Problem-Solving Exercises

Problem solving exercises can be a great way to get participants working constructively with one another.

You don’t need to spend hours devising them either. All you need to is present a problem or scenario, and get participants to work in small groups to come up with a solution.

An example of this could be during a leadership training session, you present a case study of a team facing communication breakdowns between one another.

You then ask participants to work in small groups to identify the issues, propose solutions to the issues and present their strategies to the rest of the class.

Including problem solving exercises with your training sessions will help improve participants critical thinking skills, collaboration, reinforce their learning and much more.

5. Interactive Presentations

In a virtual instructor led training environment interactive presentations help keep participants engaged, and give them a better chance of retaining key information. Common interactive elements you can include are quizzes, polls, and checklists.

There are plenty of ways to use these elements:

Quizzes – at the end of a training module you can give participants a short quiz to test their understanding. Or you can use micro quizzes throughout the session, such as after you explain a key concept.

For example, say you were teaching a group a session on communication styles, you could present a scenario and ask participants which response best reflects a particular communication style you’ve covered in the session.

Polls – polls can be used to gauge learner understanding quickly and easily. E.g. if you were teaching a class on time management, and wanted to see if the class were already using any time management techniques, you could simply run a poll at the beginning of the session asking “Do you currently use any of the following time management techniques?” and then list some common options

Checklists – one way to use checklists effectively is to get participants to complete them as they go. For example, using the time management skills example again, you might want to use a checklist that participants can use to categorize daily tasks, and mark depending on their urgency to complete.

E.g. you could present daily tasks like “respond to emails”, “prepare reports” “attend meetings”, and have participants categorize them into urgent, important, or non-essential categories.

You can then use the results to help participants prioritize which tasks they need to get done and which can wait.

(P.S if you want a quick and easy way to create interactive features for your training courses, check out Arlo’s new elearning authoring and delivery features)

6. On-the-Job Training

On-the-job training is a technique or activity which gives learners the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in a real-world setting, which is ideally closely related to their work or role.

For example, after a session on operating machinery you could arrange for participants to practice using the equipment under the supervision of an experienced operator.

7. Case Study Analysis

Another way of helping participants bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and real-life situations is to have them an analyze relevant case studies.

If you deliver training on the same topic regularly, you might have a bank of case studies to pull from, if you need to come up with some, you can ask the organization you’re delivering training to for some topics they want to cover, or any common problems that participants face that are relevant to the topic, and begin to craft case studies based on the answers you get.

For example, during a training session on machine maintenance, you might present a case study where a piece of heavy equipment suddenly breaks down due to poor maintenance.

You can ask participants to analyze the situation: what went wrong, what preventative measures should have been in place, and how would they approach fixing things.

8. Icebreakers and Warm-Up Activities

Icebreakers are often needed at the beginning of a training session. There are endless icebreakers you can use.

One interesting one mentioned by Tammy Banks in the Online Delivery webinar we spoke about earlier, she highlights a fun example of an icebreaker she uses within her own training sessions:

“I ask participants, what were they doing in 1979?”

Of course, some participants won’t have been born at this time. But it gets people talking, and can spark connections and conversations. Tammy also recommends splitting participants into small groups at the beginning of a class, to get them to introduce themselves to one another.

This can help participants develop connections a little more easily, and help participants who might not want to introduce themselves in front of a larger group.

Related Read: How to Make Virtual Training More Engaging: 11 Tips for 2025

9. The Think-Pair-Share Technique

The Think-Pair-Share technique is an easy to implement, yet effective way to participants engaged. It’s a technique where participants think individually about a though-provoking, insightful question related to the training topic.

They then pair with another learner to discuss the question. After the discussion, an instructor can invite pairs to share their thoughts with the wider group for comment and feedback.

The technique is a great way to get participants learning from one another, and can help bring about a sense of community amongst them.

10. Peer to Peer Learning

Peer-to-peer learning is a great to get participants working together, and learning from one another. If you teach or instruct a group regularly and have one or a few learners who have a better understanding of a topic than others, you can pair them up with others who may be new or need some assistance.

For example, during a training session on Excel, an instructor might pair a participant who is comfortable using formulas with another who is still learning the basics. The more experienced participant can help their partner understand how to use formulas, while the instructor provides guidance as needed.

11. Simulations

Simulations can be used to provider learners with realistic, immersive scenarios that closely mimic real-world situations they may face. To make your simulations as relevant as possible take the time to:

Map simulations to real job requirements – focus on designing simulations around tasks that participants will actually face. This can be similar to the way you can weave in case studies, for example, you can ask the client who you’re delivering training to for a list of situations learners are currently facing or would like to tackle.

Encourage active instructor involvement – a training session is that much more engaging when an instructor is directly involved in simulations and practical scenarios. If you’re an instructor yourself, try and design simulations so you’ll have an active role.

For example, if you were running a workshop on conflict management, you might play the role of a mediator, and play the role of stepping in when the situation becomes tense.

Or, you might want to throw curveballs to your learners. E.g. if you’re playing the role of displeased customer, you might want to come up with lines on the spot to see how your learners react to different scenarios thy may face.

12. Guest Speakers

Inviting guest speakers can be an effective way of adding depth, credibility, and value to a training session. The key to remember is to ensure the guest speaker is highly relevant to the topic of the training or the learning objectives you’ve set out.

For example, if the topic for a session is focused on career growth in a particular industry, getting someone who holds the current position the learners are aiming for and having them share the key strategies they used, the challenges they faced, and other insightful information is a great way to make the training session more relevant, and applicable. 

13. Feedback Sessions

Feedback sessions are straightforward to incorporate and give learners the chance to reflect on their learning and provide constructive feedback on the class itself. If you’re running a series of classes on a topic, you might want to have a feedback session at the end of the final class.

Many of our customers at Arlo use post-course surveys to ask learners and clients for feedback on a session or a particular aspect of the training.

Related Read: 8 Best Training Evaluation Tools, Software + Methods to Measure Training Effectiveness

14. Live Demonstrations

Live demonstrations are a key part of any instructor-led session that is teaching an individual or group how to learn a new skill, or a new piece of equipment. For example, in a customer training program ran by a software company they would demonstrate to customers how to use key features of the program or solve a common issue.

You can see an example of this below: project management software provider Monday.com runs instructor-led sessions to users on how to best use their product for specific use cases.

15. Panel Discussions

We recently used this instructor-led training method here at Arlo. As we’ve mentioned a couple of times already, we recently ran a webinar series with training experts and certified instructors Tammy Banks, Noel Moran and Becky Dawson, on what trainers need to do to deliver training that meets the needs of learners in 2025. 

In the final webinar of the series, the panel took questions from attendees on the training challenges they are facing, and provided their expert advice on how to solve the challenges.

Plenty of Instructor-Led Training Activities to Explore

There you have it, 15 different activities you can try in your instructor-led training sessions. At Arlo we help hundreds of instructor-led training businesses automate their manual training management processes, and deliver more great learning. 

If you’d like to learn how we do this, or experience the platform for yourself you can get started with a 14-day trial. Alternatively, if you want to learn more about how to deliver great instructor-led training in 2025, check out the following resources:

Instructor-led training design: How to plan engaging sessions – in this insightful guide, we give you a four-step process you can follow to design engaging ILT training sessions.

Training Management: how a reliance on manual processes can harm a training business – in this guide, we look at the typical problems training businesses face when they are trying to scale, and how training management software solves these problems.