Many a times one question arises – What is more important for a successful training? Content developers are proud to say it’s CONTENT, while trainers are proud to say its DELIVERY. It’s an unending debate and argument of Content vs. Delivery. When you look into a training program in detail, you realise it’s actually both. A successful training is a deadly combination of content and delivery. Both the components have its own significance and contribution towards successful training program. 

Content is like a brain for a training program and delivery is a heart of the training program. Like humans, a successful training program is incomplete without proper functioning of both these organs. 

Content of the program should be in alignment with the needs and objectives of the training program. Content should be relevant with the strategic needs of the organisation. Content does not only need to be interactive but engaging and experiential. As it is rightly said “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand. Content should give enough exposure to the participants on a topic. The content should be blend of learning and doing. At the same time, it should be contemporary and specific. Effective content follows the instructional design concepts and take care that it has inculcated all the three types of learning: Cognitive, Affective and Motor skills that is Knowledge, Attitude and Skills. 

Delivery of the training program needs to be learning with a pinch of fun. You cannot make it monotonous or dull. Training delivery has a very powerful impact on participants. It might happen that the content is extremely relevant and an appropriate mix of learning and doing but if it is not delivered properly the content alone cannot create a learning. The objective of training should not be teaching but making participants learn and retain the concepts. The delivery of the training should relate with the life and experiences of the participants. They should connect with the content. Delivery is a channel through which participants connect with the content.

Apart from methodology and approach, there are other factors that make a perfect recipe of Training. The need identification and analysis, planning the training, executing and implementing the training also plays a major role in creating a successful training. Not only this, organisations need to create a learning environment to encourage the participants to learn and implement the same at workplace. The training should target the competency listed by the organisation. 

The objective of training should not be learning but to nurture the people of the organisation and transforming their dysfunctional behaviour into functional behaviour that promotes learning climate in an organisation. Content and delivery play equal role in contributing towards a successful training. Both brain and heart is the lifeline of a training program. So without further debates, let’s make brain and heart work towards making a perfect recipe for a training program that will have a huge impact on the participants.