If you do training, whether one-on-one, or in a classroom setting, here's a tip that will increase the learning retention of your students. When you are walking them through a new process (e.g., selling a product in the database) follow these three steps:
- Demonstrate the entire process without interruption, simply stating each step as you do it.
- Demonstrate the same example again, explaining each step as you go.
- Demonstrate the entire process again, answering questions as needed.
So you actually demonstrate the process three times (at least). What I see in training too often is the process is demonstrated once, with questions and interruptions. So the user never gets a sense of what it "feels like" when the process is done without interruption.
Walking through an exmample three times may increase the time needed for training (and may require more prep on your part) but will vastly increase the users' retention, which is, after all, our goal.