The content of the programme will depend on who you are involving and how much time you have but you should always aim for a mix of approaches even in a short session.  Make sure people are not just being talked at - that's a presentation not a training session.  Learning involves active participation.

Our example has a good balance of presentation, activity and discussion.

Session one (10-15 minutes)

A general introduction to Loud and Proud, its background and the practicalities - timescale, position of display bins, books.

Session two (10-15 minutes)

Participants were asked two weeks in advance to have a look at the books in the Loud and Proud promotion. They were asked to choose two books each and to look at the blurbs and, if they could, to read the first chapter. Most of the staff did take this opportunity to get to know the books and enjoyed talking about them in the session. This exercise helped to generate a great deal of enthusiasm amongst staff for the Loud and Proud promotion and demystified a previously unfamiliar genre.

Session three (10-15 minutes)

This session looked at building confidence in handling negative responses to promotions.  Working in pairs, participants had to think about the kind of remarks that members of the public might make about a gay and lesbian fiction promotion. When a list of negative comments was compiled, participants were then asked to think about the responses which would answer the criticisms and explain the reasons behind the promotion.