We have all been in this meeting — the bad version of this meeting. It’s usually categorized as a Lunch and Learn. A coworker who is a subject matter master clicks through 40 slides. People politely nod as they eat their sandwich. They return to their desk and change nothing about how they work.
The content is not the problem; the format is. We mistake subject matter mastery for teaching acumen — knowing how to do something is not the same as teaching a room full of people how to do it in 45 minutes. The goal of this type of meeting should be capability transfer, not exposure, to move participants from passive listening to active doing.
This type of meeting is probably already happening in your newsroom — it just needs a makeover. Without a structure that facilitates active learning, we are wasting the expert’s prep time and the team’s attention span. It’s time to stop presenting and start workshopping.
I’ve seen the results when the meeting format changes. I once observed a session in a newsroom where a veteran reporter was asked to train everyone on Freedom of Information Act filing. The first version of the session was familiar: slides that explained the law and showed examples of past wins, a good set of questions from the audience and very few requests filed afterward.
The second session had a more specific goal: everyone left the meeting with a real public records request drafted and submitted. The presenter pulled up an agency website, showed how to identify the records officer and wrote a live request on the screen. Then the entire group workshopped language together to tighten and clarify it. For the final 15 minutes, each person in the room drafted a request based on a looming story. Several of those requests were answered with documents weeks later. Not because the training made reporters care more about FOIA, but because it helped them do the hard work right away.
How to prepare
The biggest mistake when setting up a staff-led training often happens long before the calendar invite. The organizer usually starts by asking, “What do you want to say?” Invert that question. Ask instead, “What should this team be able to do after they leave?”
- If you’re organizing the training, vet the material for utility before approving it. Ask the presenter to define the learning outcome in a single sentence. If they can’t do that, don’t send the calendar invite until they can. This protects the team’s time and signals this is not a hangout, it’s work.
- If you are the presenter, treat this as product design. Your coworkers are your users. What is the user need?
- Do not build a slide deck. Build an exercise. If you are training a new CMS feature, create a dummy article for people to manipulate. If you are training interview techniques, write a script for a roleplay.
Who should be included
Upskilling works best with a coalition of the willing. Do not mandate this for the entire newsroom unless it is an HR requirement. Mandated training breeds resentment.
When people see a small group actually learning and using a new tool, fear of missing out will do the recruitment work for you next time. You want participants who are hungry to learn, and those who have expressed curiosity or need the skill for an upcoming project.
Running a successful meeting
You can borrow a classic teaching framework here: I Do, We Do, You Do. The format keeps the energy high and prevents an hourlong lecture.
- I Do (10 minutes): The presenter demonstrates the skill in real time. No slides. Show the messy reality of doing the work. If you are teaching how to verify a video, verify one on the screen in real time.
- We Do (20 minutes): The group works through a version of the task together. Hybrid structures work well here. Open a shared Google Doc or Miro board. Have the entire group contribute to solving a problem simultaneously. Remote participants have equal footing because the whiteboard is digital.
- You Do (15 minutes): Give everyone a small individual prompt. They have to apply the skill immediately.
This structure forces participation. It is impossible to lurk on Zoom with the camera off. Everyone has to put something on the whiteboard.
Effective follow-up and activation
Training usually dies the moment everyone goes back to their desks or the Zoom window closes. To prevent that, you need low-friction reinforcement.
- The presenter must provide a cheat sheet. This should be a one-pager with steps, shortcuts and key takeaways. Do not send the recording — nobody watches it. Give people a checklist they can tape to their monitor.
- Assign a use case within the week. Leaders should ask participants to name one story or project in the next five days where they will use the new skill.
- To lock it in even further, set up a buddy system. Pair someone who is fluent with a novice coworker for a 15-minute coffee chat two weeks later. That time is for troubleshooting the skill, not re-teaching it.
