3. Delivery Format

You’re reading an excerpt of Great Founders Write, by Ben Putano, writer, entrepreneur, and book publisher. He’s the founder of Damn Gravity Media, a publishing house that inspires and educates tomorrow’s great founders. Purchase now for lifetime access to the book and on-demand video course.

I was never very good or interested in science. But in the seventh grade I learned a lesson I’ll never forget:

The Scientific Classifications of Living Things:

• Kingdom

• Phylum

• Class

• Order

• Family

• Genus

• Species

I still remember this completely useless list some twenty-plus years after learning it. Why? Because my science teacher, Mrs. F., had us recite the list in a dozen different silly voices. First we said it like a mouse. Then like a lion. Then we said it like we were sipping tea with the Queen of England. Then we sang it like rockstars. With each silly voice, the list was further lodged into my brain. It will stick with me forever.

You probably had similar experiences in school with unique learning methods. It goes to show that how you teach something is just as important as what you teach.

Effective training programs combine the right material with the right delivery format. Choosing the right format goes back to your building blocks: resources, tools, and experts at your disposal. Will your training be primarily written or video-based? Will lessons be self-paced and online, or live and in-person? Will you prioritize group training or individual learning?

Generally speaking, the more complex the learning material, the more hands-on the training should be. Trainees should have access to experts who can answer nuanced questions and a cohort of peers with whom to collaborate on work. If your trainees are still learning the basics, you can use self-paced, online training. This is HubSpot Academy’s approach.

The best training programs use a variety of delivery formats to appeal to every type of learner. This is called a “blended” approach—incorporating visual, audio, written, hands-on, and collaborative learning styles into one lesson. Even the most basic training materials can be improved with multimedia content.

The tone of your training is also important. Think back to my science teacher’s unique approach—it wasn’t just the delivery format that made it so effective (call and response), but the fun and silly tone.

Do you want your training material to feel formal or informal? Collaborative or instructional? Authoritative or explanatory? Your tone should fit your culture and seriousness of the lesson. Reciting lessons in silly voices probably won’t work in a room full of investment bankers (but it might in a marketing agency).

Delivery is everything in teaching. Choose wisely.