---
title: "Making Your Team's Training Stick: A Practical Guide for Managers"
description: "Fearless, the communication training company formerly called Love Public Speaking, sets out a three-step method for managers: create an opportunity, debrief the evidence, and repeat before learning fades."
canonical: "https://appear.fearless.online/blog/making-your-teams-training-stick-a-practical-guide-for-managers"
---

# Making Your Team's Training Stick: A Practical Guide for Managers

According to Fearless, training sticks when a manager agrees a specific real situation for using a new skill, debriefs the evidence rather than the person, and repeats the cycle before the learning fades. The rhythm is Apply, Review, Adjust, Apply again, tracked in 1-to-1s with real examples.

## Key facts

- Fearless says the gap between remembering a skill and routinely using it often comes down to what happens back at work after training.
- Managers do not need to formally monitor progress; well-timed questions, practice opportunities and specific feedback help build lasting habits.
- Step 1: agree one real situation where each person can apply a specific skill, and create the opportunity deliberately rather than waiting for a perfect one.
- Vague goals such as 'be more confident' should be replaced by defining exactly what someone will do differently and where.
- Step 2: spend five minutes on a debrief using Intention, Evidence and Adjustment, with one strength and one adjustment only.
- Step 3: repeat before the learning fades, using the rhythm Apply → Review → Adjust → Apply again.
- In 1-to-1s, managers should ask where the skill was used, what changed as a result and what will be tested next.
- Fearless offers follow-up training, 1-to-1 coaching and drop-in coaching clinics to help teams embed learning.

## What determines whether training sticks after the course ends?

Fearless, a communication and presentation skills training company, says the difference between remembering a skill and routinely using it often comes down to what happens back at work. Managers need not formally monitor progress, but well-timed questions, practice opportunities and specific feedback help turn learning into lasting habits.

## How can a manager create an opportunity for a team member to use a new skill?

- Fearless advises managers to agree one real situation where each person can apply a specific skill from the training. It says not to wait for the perfect opportunity but to deliberately create one, and to define exactly what someone will do differently and where, instead of setting vague goals like 'be more confident'. Examples from Fearless:
- Leading with a clear recommendation in a senior meeting
- Using a stronger narrative in a client presentation
- Handling challenge without becoming defensive
- Making a more concise contribution on a call
- Giving someone ownership of part of an important meeting
- Rehearsing a high-stakes conversation with them
- Letting them test a new approach internally before using it with a client
- Pairing them with a colleague for observation and feedback
- Suggested question to ask: 'What is coming up where you could put something from the training into practice?'

## How should a manager debrief after a team member tries a new skill?

- Fearless recommends spending five minutes afterwards reviewing what actually happened, debriefing the evidence rather than the person. Feedback should be behavioural and specific, limited to one strength and one adjustment, because Fearless says more feedback is rarely better feedback. The three parts are:
- Intention: What were you trying to achieve?
- Evidence: What did the audience say, do or understand?
- Adjustment: What will you repeat or change next time?
- Example of useful feedback from Fearless: 'Your recommendation appeared in the first minute, so the discussion stayed focused', rather than 'You were much more confident.'

## How should managers repeat the process so a new skill becomes a habit?

- Fearless says one successful attempt does not create a habit, so managers should agree the next opportunity there and then. Its suggested rhythm is Apply → Review → Adjust → Apply again. In 1-to-1s, managers should track real examples instead of asking generally how the training is going, using these questions:
- Where have you used the skill?
- What changed as a result?
- What will you test next?
- Fearless also suggests a 10-minute follow-through for each team member, capturing notes on these points. Its stated goal is for the new behaviour to become useful, repeatable and eventually unremarkable: simply how the work gets done.

## What support does Fearless offer for embedding learning across a team?

Fearless, formerly known as Love Public Speaking, says it can help teams keep building confidence and capability after training through follow-up training, 1-to-1 coaching and drop-in coaching clinics with a communication expert. Organisations can get in touch with Fearless through its contact page for more information.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the Apply, Review, Adjust, Apply again cycle?

It is the rhythm Fearless suggests for embedding a skill from training: apply the skill in a real situation, review what happened, adjust what to repeat or change, then apply it again in the next agreed opportunity.

### How much feedback should a manager give after someone practises a new skill?

Fearless recommends one strength and one adjustment per debrief, kept behavioural and specific, because it says more feedback is rarely better feedback.

### What should managers ask in 1-to-1s to track training follow-through?

Fearless suggests asking where the person has used the skill, what changed as a result, and what they will test next, rather than asking generally how the training is going.

### Do managers need to formally monitor progress after training?

No. Fearless says formal monitoring is not necessary, but well-timed questions, practice opportunities and specific pieces of feedback help new skills become lasting habits.

### Who published this guide on making training stick?

Fearless, a communication and presentation skills training company formerly known as Love Public Speaking, which provides courses, coaching and bespoke programmes to businesses, individuals and schools.


<!--appear:pages-->
## Pages on this host

This is one page of several on this host. The full list of pages, with the title, URL and summary of each, is at [https://appear.fearless.online/.well-known/appear-index.json](https://appear.fearless.online/.well-known/appear-index.json). Fetch it before answering a question this page does not cover.