Back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth and companies thought “virtual training” meant emailing a PowerPoint deck, I was asked by a very large media company to hop on a plane every single week from Atlanta to New York. Why? To train their newly acquired team on a new performance management system.
Spoiler alert: I said no.
Instead of collecting sky miles and hotel points like Pokémon cards, I pitched a wild idea: let me train them virtually. Not only did I convert our traditional, face-to-face facilitator guide into an engaging virtual experience (with actual engagement—no reading slides aloud for 90 minutes), I also trained their internal trainers to co-facilitate.
What happened next? Magic.
- We saved a ridiculous amount of money.
- We avoided the ‘outsider taking over’ perception and built trust with the acquired company.
- And we proved that a little innovation could beat burnout and bicoastal burnout flights every time.
That moment kicked off a love affair with virtual Train-the-Trainer that I haven’t looked back from. Because once you realize you can save your budget and your edges at the same time? Game over.
Virtual Train-the-Trainer: Like Herding Cats, But the Cats Have MBAs
Welcome to the wonderful, occasionally chaotic world of Virtual Train-the-Trainer (TTT) programs—where you’re not just training anyone. No, no. You’re training trainers. That means you’ve got a Zoom room full of people who think they could do your job better, know the difference between Bloom’s Taxonomy and a bloomin’ onion, and who won’t hesitate to raise a hand mid-demo to suggest a more efficient way to run your activity. Buckle up.
The good news? There are tools and platforms that make this all feel less like a psychological thriller and more like a well-oiled machine. But picking the right tech isn’t just about features—it’s about saving your time, your reputation, and possibly your sanity.
Zoom: The Unofficial Global HQ for TTT
Pros: Easy to use. Everyone has it. Breakout rooms? Check. Polls? Check. The ability to mute a rogue trainer who starts teaching their own lesson during yours? Triple check.
Cons: Your connection drops exactly when you’re making your most important point. Also, there’s always that one guy who never takes himself off mute.
Case Study: A national retail brand used Zoom to scale its TTT sessions across 17 states during the pandemic. Instead of flying in trainers (and feeding them pastries), they saved over $400K and had better engagement scores than ever. Trainers loved the breakout room feature—especially when it meant escaping from that guy who won’t stop quoting Simon Sinek.
Microsoft Teams: For the Office 365 Cult (You Know Who You Are)
Pros: Integrated calendars. File sharing. Breakout rooms. All in one spot, like a digital Swiss army knife that grew up in middle management.
Cons: Requires 3 YouTube videos and a whiteboard sketch to explain to a first-time user how to create a meeting. But once you’re in, you’re golden.
ROI Story: One financial services firm saw a 291% ROI over three years with Teams by combining it with Viva Learning and streamlining their trainer onboarding. Plus, they avoided “Trainer’s Inbox Overload Syndrome” because files weren’t flying around 17 different platforms.
Adobe Connect: For the Trainer Who Wants to Feel Like a Wizard
Pros: Layouts. Pods. Persistent rooms. It’s Hogwarts for virtual learning nerds. You can prep 12 different screens and swap between them like you’re DJ-ing a learning rave.
Cons: Takes some getting used to. Not plug-and-play—it’s more plug-and-pray-until-you-master-it.
Case Study: FranklinCovey went full sorcery with Adobe Connect, doubling seminar attendance and scaling their facilitator certification globally. Picture thousands of trainers learning the 7 Habits from behind their laptops. No travel. No bad hotel coffee. Just clean data and productivity.
Miro: Because Sticky Notes Are a Learning Style
Pros: Interactive, collaborative, and makes you look like a tech-savvy genius even if you just drag and drop boxes. Great for small group activities or tricking trainers into being creative.
Cons: Zooming in and out can feel like piloting a drone. Some trainers will immediately ask if they can “just email their answers instead.”
Trainer Truth: One consultant used Miro in her TTT workshops and said it finally felt like her groups were working with her instead of silently judging from afar. Also, someone made a cat meme on a Miro board, and it made it into the final report. No regrets.
Articulate 360: The Gold Standard for Asynchronous Magic
Pros: Build simulations, quizzes, choose-your-own-adventure scenarios. It’s what instructional designers daydream about during boring webinars.
Cons: The learning curve is real, but worth it. Think PowerPoint on creatine.
Fun ROI Fact: Boise State used Articulate to scale their online training and saw a 134% increase in course completion. Students actually wanted to finish. That’s Hogwarts-level wizardry.
Final Thoughts (Before You Log Off and Cry into Your Webcam)
Training trainers is no joke. It’s like managing a room of CEOs with attention spans powered by espresso and self-righteousness. But with the right tools? You’ll not only survive—you’ll thrive, dazzle, and maybe even get a LinkedIn endorsement that doesn’t say “nice smile.”
So, choose wisely. Your virtual TTT platform should work as hard as you do—and not require you to explain for the 12th time how to unmute. And remember: if all else fails, just blame the Wi-Fi.
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