National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 

Division or office name in this space

CS210158A

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Division of Violence Prevention

Training Professionals in the 

Primary Prevention of 

Sexual and Intimate 

Partner Violence

A Planning Guide
Training Professionals in the Primary Prevention 

of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence: 

A Planning Guide 

is a publication of the 

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Director

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Robin Ikeda, MD, MPH, Acting Director

Division of Violence Prevention

W. Rodney Hammond, PhD, Director

Authors

Deborah Fisher, MA

Karen S. Lang, MSW

Jocelyn Wheaton, MPH

Suggested citation: 

Fisher D, Lang KS, Wheaton J. Training Professionals in the Primary Prevention of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence: A Planning Guide. 

Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2010.

CS210158-A

1
Acknowledgements

The authors would like to give warm thanks to all of the external and internal reviewers who provided helpful suggestions and 

comments on previous drafts of this document: Margaret Brome, Sandra Cashman, Rebecca Cline, Corinne Graffunder, Jennifer 

Grove, Alida Knuth, Karen Lane, Sally Laskey, Tammy Lemmer, Kaili McCray, Jennifer Middlebrooks, Judith Ottoson, Neil Rainford, 

Jennifer Rauhouse, Eileen Recktenwald, Gina Scaramella, Tom Simon and Renee Wright.

We would also like to acknowledge the following National Center for Injury Prevention and Control staff for their contribution to 

some part of the process that resulted in this document: LaTanya Butler, Pam Cox, Linda Dahlberg, Jihan Hurse and 

Rebecca Lee-Pethel.

Additional appreciation to all the prevention practitioners who provided real-life program examples: Susan Lewis, Brad Perry, 

Jennifer Rauhouse and Gina Scaramella. Thank you to Alice Dames and Sally Deval of Banyan Communications for assisting in the 

development of the real-life program examples and the fictional case study. 

We would also like to express our deep appreciation to our expert panel members for sharing their knowledge, experience and 

wisdom. The panel’s contributions were invaluable in shaping the content of this planning guide.

Nancy Koester

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Sally J. Laskey

National Sexual Violence Resource Center

Binnie LeHew

Iowa Department of Public Health

Anne Liske

New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Judith Ottoson

San Francisco, California

Jennifer Rauhouse

Peer Solutions

Eileen Recktenwald

Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs

Gina Scaramella

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center

2
Table of Contents

Executive Summary 

Highlights of the Planning Guide’s Content .

What is in the Guide 

Introduction: Why Train? . 

Definitions of sexual violence and intimate partner violence .

What training means   

Who should use the Guide .

What is in the Guide .

Fictional Case Study: The Center for Community Peace .

The Center .

Mission  .

Key values   

Staff and services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Key demographics .

Community partnerships .

(Continued)

3
Start a Training Plan: The Basic Elements .

Identify the needs or problems to be addressed  .

Decide whom to train .

Involve participants in training development . 

Identify core topics for trainings   

Consider organizational context  .

Consider individual readiness and knowledge . 

Select trainers .

Summarize what you have learned so far .

Refine and Tailor Your Training Plans .

Tailor training content for your audience   

Train with cultural competence  .

Consider diverse perspectives and influences  .

Strategies for training with cultural competence  .

Complete your plan and prepare to deliver trainings . 

Prepare for Evaluation and Follow-up .

Plan process evaluation to determine if trainings went as planned .

Plan outcome evaluation to determine if training goals and outcomes were achieved .

Determine appropriate follow-up activities  .

Think about how to sustain learning   

Training tips to help build sustainability  .

Review progress and put the results to work  .

4
Conclusion: Train, Learn, and Train Again  .

Appendix .

Tip sheet: Suggested Professionals to Train for Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Prevention .

Whom to Train: Youth-serving agencies  .

Whom to Train: Childcare/daycare agencies .

Whom to Train: Faith-based organizations .

Whom to Train: Agencies focused on working with men and boys  .

Whom to Train: Violence prevention organizations and coalitions .

Whom to Train: School and higher education personnel   

Whom to Train: Health care providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Tip sheet: Nine Principles of Effective Prevention Programs At a Glance   

Worksheet: Criteria for Selecting Trainers .

Worksheet: Background Information for Training Plan Development .

Case Study: The Center for Community Peace .

Worksheet: Background Information for Training Plan Development .

Worksheet: Use a Logic Model to Map Plan Details .

Case Study: The Center for Community Peace (Completed Training Logic Model)   

Tip Sheet: Overview of Training Approaches and Methods .

Worksheet: Summary Checklist for Training Delivery .

Tip Sheet: Process Evaluation Questions and Activities .

Worksheet: Plan a Process Evaluation  .

Tip Sheet: Sample Outcome Evaluation Questions .

Tip Sheet: Expert Solutions to the 12 Most Common Training Delivery Problems of Novice Trainers .

References .

5
6
Executive Summary

Sexual violence and intimate partner violence are complex, 

multifaceted issues that affect all sectors of our communities. 

Preventing sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence 

requires a comprehensive approach involving many individuals, 

organizations, and sectors. We know from our experience with 

other public health issues that primary prevention strategies that 

take place before violence occurs can work (CDC, 2004).

An effective, comprehensive program to prevent sexual violence 

and/or intimate partner violence takes a multitude of approaches, 

one of which is training professionals to engage in sexual violence 

prevention and/or intimate partner prevention. This Guide 

describes how to develop, implement, and evaluate a training 

process, taking into account your available level of resources. 

Additionally, this training process emphasizes turning awareness 

and knowledge into mastered skills and practices to prevent sexual 

violence and/or intimate partner violence by:

1. Teaching based on organizational context. 

2. Providing opportunities for skill development through 

participatory learning.

3. Following up to assess progress and determine 

level of mastery.

The Guide is intended for use by state-level entities providing 

training to community based organizations (CBOs) or to other statelevel entities as well as for CBOs providing training within their 

own organizations or to other professionals in their communities. 

The Guide can help plan, deliver, and evaluate trainings whether 

you initiate the trainings yourself or are asked by others to provide 

trainings. 

Highlights of the Planning 

Guide’s Content

The Guide’s content is divided into three stages:

z Start A Training Plan: The Basic Elements 

z Refine and Tailor Your Training Plans

z Prepare for Evaluation and Follow-up

When you start developing your training plan, the first step is 

to state clearly why you want or need to do training in the first 

place and then develop and tailor trainings in partnership with 

the professionals you plan to train to address the identified needs 

or problems. The issues, needs, or problems you wish to address 

will shape the goals and desired outcomes of your training plan. 

Your goals and outcomes will describe the changes you expect to 

see in the professionals being trained as you try to increase both 

knowledge and skills in order to prevent sexual violence and/or 

intimate partner violence. 

Ideally, everyone has a role in preventing sexual and/or intimate 

partner violence, but training takes a significant investment of 

time and resources. The best use of your resources will be to start 

by training those who seem ready or with whom you already have 

relationships. You may also strategically want to train those you 

believe can be change agents or who show existing organizational 

support for your primary prevention efforts. 

Once you have decided whom you want to train, invite some of 

those professionals to help you shape the content and delivery 

of your trainings. This early involvement by a small group can 

help ensure your plans are relevant for all your participants. 

Invite professionals from different cultures, organizations, 

and communities, as well as from different generations, when 

appropriate. Participants can help you develop and deliver trainings 

that are culturally competent.

To make trainings relevant, you will need to consider both the 

organizational context in which professionals work as well as 

their individual readiness and level of knowledge. Understanding 

organizational context will help you address ways professionals 

can better apply their new skills. Factoring in their readiness 

helps address learning needs, beliefs about challenges and 

barriers related to sexual violence and/or intimate partner 

violence, and professionals’ reasons for participating in trainings. 

Regardless of individual and organizational issues, your trainings 

will be grounded in the same core content, which will include 

understanding what constitutes sexual and intimate partner 

violence, strategies and skills that support preventing sexual 

and intimate partner violence from occurring in the first place 

(primary prevention), and what increases risk and protects against 

perpetration and victimization. It is also important to include in 

your trainings how to respond to disclosures of abuse. 

Tailoring trainings to the needs of your professionals also means 

being realistic about kinds of resources you have available to 

develop and deliver the trainings as well as publicize and market 

them. Whether you select trainers from inside or outside your 

organization, you need individuals who understand the issues at 

7

Executive Summary
hand and reflect the diversity of your participants in experience, 

profession, position, and cultural backgrounds. You will also need 

resources to conduct some level of evaluation of your trainings to 

ensure your effectiveness as well as follow-up to provide ongoing 

support for those you train. 

As you move into refining and tailoring your training plans

before actually delivering them, use what you have learned about 

different groups of professionals to tailor the core content to match 

their unique needs. You can use what you know about different 

groups of professionals and their constituencies to help tailor 

trainings in culturally relevant ways. This validates and uses the 

expertise of the participants while helping them see how they can 

apply what they know in ways that are meaningful for their clients.

To increase the effectiveness of your trainings, you will need to 

first understand how adults learn best and incorporate some of 

these strategies into your work. Adults have special needs and 

requirements as learners that differ from those of children and 

teens (Lieb, 1991). Adults retain more when they can learn through 

a combination of seeing, hearing, saying, and doing. They need to 

feel autonomous and self-directed in learning situations, preferring 

educational environments that deliver practical, goal-oriented 

knowledge that seems immediately relevant to their experience 

(Knowles, 1998). 

To be effective and relevant to diverse groups of participants, 

training design, content, and delivery all need to be done with 

cultural competency. This is different than talking to groups about 

cultural competency. This Guide describes an approach to help you 

move beyond simply trying to increase awareness of cultural issues; 

rather, you want demonstrate your organization’s full engagement 

and integration of diverse perspectives. Working with cultural 

competence involves changing your behavior and is an ongoing, 

daily, evolving process. Training with cultural competence assumes 

you will actively engage participants in learning how to change 

their behavior as well.

Once you have completed your plans and prepare to deliver your 

trainings, you want to:

z Review and finalize the training curriculum in consultation with 

the workgroup of professionals you invited to advise you.

z Verify the availability of projected resources and that they will 

be sufficient to implement your training plans.

z Finalize your logic model if you are using one. 

z Prepare and package curriculum and materials, including 

a training agenda with adequate breaks, Powerpoint® 

presentations, and printed handouts collated into binders.

z Schedule trainings.

z Book and prepare training locations.

z Communicate information to participants.

Once the trainings have been delivered, you can prepare for 

evaluation and follow-up. This involves trying to determine, as 

your resources will allow, whether your training efforts are making 

a difference as well as following up with participants to help them 

keep their efforts going. 

Conduct both a process evaluation to determine the delivery quality 

of your trainings and an outcome evaluation to measure the impact 

of your training including whether there have been actual changes 

in behaviors. Overall, you will want to measure changes in the 

following key areas:

z Knowledge: how well participants understand the 

concepts presented. 

z Attitude: how participants think or feel or 

what they believe. 

z Skills: participants’ ability to behave in certain ways. 

z Organizational change: how the original context assessed 

earlier on in this process has changed to pave the way for 

needed changes in the workplace. 

As professionals go back to their workplaces and start to implement 

the new skills you taught them, they will inevitably encounter 

barriers and distractions. Research has shown that follow-up 

activities or “boosters” are important for increasing the likelihood 

that new knowledge and skills will be put into practice. 

Although there is no formula for follow-up activities, we 

recommend you develop follow-up plans, as resources allow, that 

do the following:

z Provide technical assistance after training

z Assess and support organizational integration

z Consider mentoring, coaching, trainer “on call,” and/or 

practicum

z Use ongoing training for incremental learning and to reinforce 

material

z Encourage participants to go back and share the impact of the 

training on their work

z Use follow-up to inform training evaluation 

8
Incorporating follow-up activities appropriate for the groups being 

trained will help you continue to guide professionals toward more 

meaningful sexual and/or intimate partner violence prevention 

work as well as allow you to maintain important relationships 

within the community to help strengthen your work. Finally, 

thinking about ways to sustain your prevention work and the 

work of your community partners early on in your training plan 

development will help you wisely use the resources you have now 

and develop ways of supporting your training plans in the future. 

What is in the Guide

The Planning Guide describes important concepts and strategies for 

developing, implementing, and evaluating your prevention training 

efforts. The Guide’s content is designed to help you quickly assess 

what you may need to tailor individual trainings to different groups 

of professionals. It provides definitions of sexual violence and 

intimate partner violence on which the Guide’s contents are based. 

The Guide also includes a fictional case study as well as real-life 

examples to illustrate theory put into practice. 

In addition to providing step-by-step guidance on all the tasks 

necessary to your work, the Guide includes:

z Tip sheets: Ideas and additional information to expand your 

knowledge. 

z Worksheets: Blank worksheets to help you build the details of 

your plans. Filled-in samples of some worksheets using the case 

study are also provided to illustrate the work. 

z Checklists: A few simple checklists to help you stay on top of 

recommended tasks. 

z Resources: Where to find additional, useful resources to learn 

more about topics.

Unless otherwise noted throughout the guide, the tools and 

resources listed above are gathered together in an Appendix that 

can be found at the end of the Guide.

9

Executive Summary
10
Introduction: Why Train?

Sexual violence and intimate partner violence are complex, 

multifaceted issues that affect all sectors of our communities. 

Preventing sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence 

requires a broad-based, multi-system, comprehensive approach 

involving a wide array of individuals, groups, and agencies 

representing many disciplines and areas of expertise (Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2004). 

Primary prevention efforts are approaches that take place before 

violence occurs to prevent initial perpetration or victimization. 

We know from our experience with other public health issues that 

primary prevention strategies work (CDC, 2004). 

An effective, comprehensive program to prevent sexual violence 

and/or intimate partner violence takes a multitude of approaches 

including mobilizing communities around sexual violence and/

or intimate partner violence prevention and building and/or 

joining well-organized, broad-based coalitions that can more 

effectively create change in communities. Other essential activities 

are implementing strategies that promote positive social norms 

among youth, families, adults, and community institutions, and 

developing and implementing public and organizational policies 

aimed at preventing sexual violence or intimate partner violence.

Another key approach is training professionals to engage in 

sexual violence prevention and/or intimate partner prevention. 

Practitioners doing sexual violence prevention or intimate partner 

violence prevention work do not have enough resources, time, or 

avenues to reach everyone. However, professionals in other fields 

can influence risk and protective factors for sexual violence and/

or intimate partner violence within their own spheres of influence. 

Training those professionals to incorporate intimate partner 

violence and/or sexual violence prevention into their existing work 

can dramatically increase the breadth of your impact. 

Training may also provide opportunities to help expand community 

efforts and collective responsibility for preventing sexual violence 

and/or intimate partner violence. Training also allows you and 

the professionals with whom you will work ways to identify 

methods and opportunities for integrating and institutionalizing 

sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence prevention as 

organizational priorities.

There are numerous examples throughout this guide of how 

incorporating sexual violence and intimate partner violence 

prevention into the existing work of a wide range of professionals 

in your community can help increase your collective impact. 

Definitions of sexual violence and 

intimate partner violence

For this training guide, the concise definitions of sexual violence 

and intimate partner violence are as follows:

Sexual violence (SV) includes nonconsensual completed or 

attempted penetration, nonconsensual non-penetrative sexual 

contact, or non-contact acts such as verbal sexual harassment, by 

any perpetrator. This definition includes incidents when the victim 

is unable to consent (e.g., due to age or illness) or unable to refuse 

(e.g. due to physical violence or threats) (Basile & Saltzman, 2002). 

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is abuse that occurs between two 

people in a close relationship. The term “intimate partner” includes 

current and former spouses and dating partners. IPV exists along a 

continuum from a single episode of violence to ongoing battering. 

IPV includes four types of behavior: 

z Physical violence is when a person hurts or tries to hurt a 

partner by hitting, kicking, burning, or other physical force 

z Sexual violence is forcing a partner to take part in a sex act 

when the partner does not consent 

z Threats of physical or sexual violence include the use of words, 

gestures, weapons, or other means to communicate the intent 

to cause harm 

z Emotional abuse is threatening a partner or his or her 

possessions or loved ones, or harming a partner’s sense of selfworth. Examples are stalking, name-calling, intimidation, or 

not letting a partner see friends and family (Saltzman, Fanslow, 

McMahon and Shelly, 2002). 

Training professionals 

in other fields to incorporate 

sexual violence and intimate 

partner violence prevention 

into their existing work can 

dramatically increase the breadth 

of your impact.

11

Introduction: Why Train?
Integrate training into your ongoing work instead of viewing it as an “add-on.” 

12
What training means

We define training as a process for turning awareness and 

knowledge into mastered skills and practices to prevent sexual 

violence and/or intimate partner violence by:

1. Teaching based on organizational context. 

2. Providing opportunities for skill development through 

 participatory learning.

3. Following up to assess progress and determine level of mastery.

Training involves more than simply imparting knowledge. It 

should also help practitioners develop skills and shift the way they 

work. To develop useful training, you must first understand adult 

learning principles and learning styles. We believe teaching based 

on organizational context is key because it provides the support 

necessary to help people more easily and effectively put to use 

what they learn from you. By understanding the daily contexts 

in which your trainees work, you can then demonstrate how 

professionals can practically implement the skills and strategies 

you teach. Follow-up activities after the training is completed will 

also help your trainees sustain what they have learned and will 

increase the likelihood your training will strengthen communitywide sexual violence prevention efforts. We think that the training 

you provide, coupled with organizational support as well as follow 

up from you once the training is completed, will all combine to 

increase the chances your trainings will successfully strengthen 

community-wide intimate partner violence and/or sexual violence 

prevention efforts.

Who should use the Guide

 The intended audiences for this Guide are:

z State-level entities (e.g. state domestic violence and sexual 

assault coalitions, state health departments) providing training 

to community based organizations (CBOs) or to other statelevel entities.

z Community Based Organizations or CBOs (e.g. rape crisis 

centers, domestic violence programs) providing training within 

their own organizations or to other professionals in their 

communities. 

This document can help you plan, deliver, and evaluate trainings 

whether you initiate the trainings yourself or are asked by others 

to provide trainings. We recommend your trainings link to your 

organization’s prevention goals and/or state and local prevention 

plans. You may also want to look for logical ways to link your training 

efforts to other comprehensive prevention efforts in your community. 

We are not asking you to develop an entire community-based plan, 

nor do you need to have a training activity for every goal in your 

prevention plan if you have one. We encourage you to look for a 

few key, logical links between your prevention and training plans. 

Integrate training into your ongoing work, rather than viewing 

training as an “add-on” to everything else you are trying to do. 

What is in the Guide

This Planning Guide describes important concepts and strategies 

for developing, implementing, and evaluating your prevention 

training efforts. It also provides tip sheets, worksheets, and 

checklists to help you quickly assess what you may need to tailor 

individual trainings to different groups of professionals. Most of 

these materials are found in the Appendix (starting on page 51). 

All resources may be copied as needed as you tailor individual 

trainings. 

Within the instructive sections of the guide, we have included reallife examples, as well as a fictional case study, to illustrate theory 

put into practice. You will also find tips on where to find additional, 

useful resources if you want to learn more about various topics. 

We designed this Guide to be as comprehensive as is practical. We 

recognize, however, that some organizations lack the resources or 

capacity to carry out all of the steps recommended. Avoid taking 

an “all or nothing” approach; rather, do as many steps as possible. 

Read through the Guide to realistically determine what you can 

and cannot do, then develop your training plans accordingly. Keep 

in mind that once you identify certain fundamental aspects of 

your plans, such as core content, they will inform everything you 

do no matter who you train. Except for periodic fine-tuning, once 

you have developed those parts of your plan, you will not need to 

address them again. 

Learn more: We did not intend this guide to be a primer on sexual 

violence, intimate partner violence, public health, or the primary 

prevention of violence against women. Take a look at the following 

resources if you need more information:

z Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for 

Injury Prevention and Control—www.cdc.gov/ncipc

z National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women 

–www.vawnet.org

z National Sexual Violence Resource Center—www.nsvrc.org

z Prevention Institute—www.preventioninstitute.org

z Violence Against Women Prevention Partnership—www.

preventconnect.org

13

Introduction: Why Train?
14
Fictional Case Study: 

The Center for Community Peace

To illustrate how the instructions and suggestions in this guide 

might be implemented, we have created a fictional case study of 

the Center for Community Peace. Throughout the Guide, we use 

the center’s story to illustrate examples of how an organization 

moves through the steps of planning, delivering, and evaluating 

its training plan. 

While the center is fictional—as are all persons, businesses, and 

agencies named—we believe it is representative of the myriad 

agencies and organizations working to better their communities. 

Before moving forward, take a few minutes to get to know the 

center, its staff, its values, and the people it serves. Perhaps you 

will see some similarities with your own organization. 

The Center

The Center for Community Peace is a community center in a 

suburb of a metropolitan area in the United States. The center 

receives a variety of funding to cover its operating expenses, 

including federal, state, and local grants, as well as private and 

in-kind donations.

Mission

The center offers programs and services that empower and 

inspire all generations and institutions in the community to 

work together to promote and practice peace. 

It facilitates positive changes in individuals, families, and 

communities by providing:

z Comprehensive education

z Counseling services for social, emergency, and financial 

problems

z Referrals to agency partners when appropriate

Key values

The center:

z Values client diversity by delivering expert, innovative 

approaches to life’s challenges within the context of each 

client’s cultural experience.

z Ensures no one is refused services because of financial 

hardship or inability to pay. 

Staff and services

The center has nine paid staff members: 

z Reynaldo Torres, PhD—Executive Director and CEO

z Lorinda Hobart—Vice President, Human Resources, Finance, 

and Administration

z Lois Philips, MD—Vice President, Clinical and Health 

Services

z Bobby Ming, LCSW—Director, Youth Programs

z Odette Harrison, RN—Senior Clinical Advisor and 

Practitioner

z Hani Littlefoot, LCSW—Certified Sexual Assault Counselor 

and Mental Health Services Practitioner

z Vivian Bosley, BSW, LPC—Community Outreach and 

Volunteer Coordinator

z Shivany Singh, MS—Head Start and Early Childhood 

Coordinator

z Audrey McMaster, BA—Development Manager and Office 

Assistant

z Josiah Stevens, PhD—Director of Program Evaluation and 

Improvement 

The center provides community services and educational 

programs through a variety of local youth-serving organizations 

(e.g., Big Brothers Big Sisters), as part of existing programs (e.g., 

after-school tutoring and sports, alcohol-free teen nights, and 

related parties), and through partner programs. Such services 

include:

z Emergency shelter and low-income housing

z Parenting and nutrition classes

z Food assistance

z Meals on Wheels

z Drug abuse counseling

z GED preparation

z Job training

z Credit counseling, financial literacy, and budget training

z Sexual assault crisis counseling 

z Pregnancy counseling 

z Child sexual abuse, sexual assault, and dating violence 

prevention

15

Fictional Case Study: The Center for Community Peace
Key demographics

The center is located in a suburban area of a major metropolitan 

region with the following demographics:

z Sex: males 46.5%, females 53.5%

z Median age: 30 (local), 33.4 (state)

z Estimated median household income: $37,300 (local), 

$45,604 (state)

z Racial composite statistics:

◊ Black 38.2%

◊ White, non-Hispanic 28.8% 

◊ Hispanic 14.6% 

◊ Two or more races 7.4%

◊ Asian Indian 4.5%

◊ Other Asian 2.7%

◊ American Indian 2.3%

◊ Other race 1.5% 

Community partnerships

In addition to its regular service offerings, the center participates 

in a local positive youth development coalition. Members of the 

coalition include:

z Youth from middle and high school teen center 

governing boards

z Center staff

z Dachel Coleman, Executive Director, The Urban League

z Stephanie Pearson, MA, PCC, Program Director, ARTScape 

z Herman Witherspoon, Outreach Director, YMCA

z Linda Smithers, MD, CEO, YWCA

z Salvatore Sandroni, PC, Director, County Court-Appointed 

Special Advocates (CASA)

z Aisha Taylor, Director, Families First

z Lorinda Hernandes, RN, LCSW, Regional Director, 

Planned Parenthood 

z Amy Zadek, Coordinator, 

Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)

z Reverend Jane Evans, President of community 

interfaith coalition 

z Law-enforcement officials:

◊ Detective Anna Warren, Special Victims Unit

◊ Officer Curtis Wilson, Drug Abuse Resistance Education 

(DARE) officer

z Local parents and guardians:

◊ Arlena and Alvin Foster

◊ Maybelle Young

◊ Jorge Chavez 

z Mark Karakas, Board Member, Chamber of Commerce

z Maria Ruiz, staff writer, Daily Reporter 

16
17

Fictional Case Study: The Center for Community Peace
18
Start a Training Plan: The Basic Elements

The planning steps in this document should look a lot like other 

planning processes with which you are already familiar. Taking time 

to develop the basic elements of a training plan will increase the 

likelihood of success in helping people learn new skills, change the 

way they work, and, ultimately, institutionalize practice changes. It 

will also help you prioritize where you want to focus your resources, 

including staff, money, and time. 

In the next section of the Guide, we will go over the basic 

elements we think are important to consider as you start your 

training plan, including:

z Clearly identifying the needs or problems you want to address 

to help focus your efforts

z Using that focus to shape training goals and outcomes

z Deciding whom to train

z Involving participants in developing your training and how to 

do so meaningfully 

z Understanding the core topics that should form the foundation 

of your training

z How to consider important organizational contexts in shaping 

your content

z Recognizing individual readiness and levels of knowledge 

before you train

z Determining the resources you need to support your trainings

z How to select the right trainers

Upcoming sections of the Guide will help you further refine and 

deliver your trainings once you have developed some of these 

details. 

Identify the needs or problems 

to be addressed

The first step in developing your training plan is to state clearly why 

you want or need to do training in the first place. Are there issues, 

problems, observations, or data that tell you training is necessary? 

How did you determine that training is the best way to address a 

need or problem? Perhaps other kinds of approaches (e.g. a policy 

change) would be more appropriate to address identified needs. 

Important reasons for training may include opportunities to:

z Saturate community efforts by expanding the responsibility 

and expertise needed to prevent sexual violence and/or 

intimate partner violence 

z Implement or reinforce prevention messages with populations 

you do not currently work with (e.g. training Latino health 

workers to promote healthy relationships in their work 

with Latino families)

z Identify methods and opportunities for integrating and 

institutionalizing sexual and/or intimate partner violence 

prevention as organizational priorities

Another reason for training is the occurrence of an incident that 

suddenly increases public awareness of sexual violence. Such an 

event may require both an immediate response and longer-term 

training efforts. The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC), for 

instance, dealt with such a situation when a popular teacher 

was accused of sexually assaulting several students. The event 

traumatized school staff and students. 

BARCC staff realized that students, parents, and school staff needed 

a variety of supports to cope with the situation and resulting 

emotional issues, especially for individuals who had suffered past 

abuse. After defining more specifically the needs of the school and 

community, BARCC staff decided to offer trainings to educate staff 

and students about sexual violence. It was believed training would 

help teachers respond to questions from parents and empower 

both teachers and students to strengthen future prevention efforts. 

It will be important to ensure you are not duplicating efforts. 

Determine what others in your area are already doing about 

sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence prevention 

training, perhaps by doing a short resource assessment to find 

out. For example, YWCA’s often offer a variety of sexual violence 

and/or domestic violence education and prevention trainings 

for professionals and the public. Knowing what other groups are 

doing will save your time and resources as well as reveal potential 

training partners. 

19

Start A Training Plan: The Basic Elements
Develop goals and outcomes

The issues, needs, or problems you wish to address will shape the 

goals and desired outcomes of your training plan. 

Goals reflect ambitious change that you believe you can actually 

accomplish. An example of a strong, change-based goal statement 

would be “to increase bystander intervention behavior among high 

school males in response to sexist comments made by peers.” Avoid 

simply describing a program or activity, a common mistake when 

writing goal statements.

Outcomes—sometimes called objectives—are specific, 

measurable statements that let you know when you have reached 

your goals. Outcome statements describe the specific changes in 

knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors you expect to occur as a 

result of your actions. 

Remember, we are defining training as the process of turning 

awareness and knowledge into mastered skills and practices to 

prevent sexual and/or intimate partner violence. Your goals 

and outcomes will describe these changes and ideally will reflect 

your aim to increase both knowledge and skills. But, depending 

on where you start with a particular group, your goals and 

outcomes could be different, reflecting the need to change 

knowledge or skills. 

The following examples show the difference in goals for knowledge 

vs. skills training for youth workers in a youth diversion program.

If you are training to increase knowledge, your training goals 

could be to:

z Increase knowledge about sexual violence and dating violence 

perpetration and victimization

z Increase knowledge of the overlapping risk factors for sexual 

and dating violence perpetration and youth violence

z Identify appropriate opportunities to address issues related to 

sexual violence and dating violence in current program efforts

If you are training to increase knowledge and also skills, your 

training goals could include all those shown above as well as to:

z Increase skills to interrupt language and behaviors that 

objectify and demean women and to promote respectful 

language and dating behavior 

Good outcome statements are specific, measurable, and realistic. 

Think carefully about what you can realistically accomplish in your 

trainings given the groups you want to reach and the scope of your 

resources. 

Develop short, intermediate, and long-term outcomes as follows:

z Short-term outcomes should describe what you want to 

happen within a relatively brief period (e.g., during the course 

of one or several trainings, depending on how many sessions 

you conduct). Focus your short-term outcomes on what you 

want people to learn. An example of a short-term outcome 

would be that coaches learn about the risk and protective 

factors for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence. 

z Intermediate outcomes describe what you want to 

happen after your trainings are completed. Focus your 

intermediate outcomes on what you want people to do 

when they go back to their workplaces and apply what they 

have learned. An example of an intermediate outcome 

would be that coaches demonstrate interrupting sexual 

harassment and teaching respect.

Case study: 

The Center for Community Peace identifies the problems to address

In addition to its regular program offerings, the center participates in a local positive youth-development coalition. As an outgrowth 

of the coalition’s effort, the center discovers that students at the local alternative high school have been experiencing high rates of 

sexualized bullying and sexual assault. Members of the local positive youth-development coalition would like to work with the center 

to develop a plan for preventing sexualized bullying and assault in their community.

Increasing knowledge alone is 

insufficient to change practice or 

behaviors. The point of training is 

to turn knowledge into mastered 

skills and practices.

20
z Long-term outcomes describe the impact you hope to have 

on the primary prevention of sexual violence and/or intimate 

partner violence after the trainings are completed, but farther 

out into the future. Describe what you hope will change as a 

result of your trainings. An example of a long-term outcome 

would be that incidents of sexual harassment decrease in 

schools. 

Well-written and complete outcome statements will usually define 

the following five elements (Fisher, Imm, Chinman & Wandersman, 

2006) as you describe:

z Who will change—the professionals you are training.

z What will change—the knowledge, attitudes, and skills you 

expect to change.

z By how much—how much change you think you can 

realistically achieve.

z By when—the timeframe within which you hope to see 

change.

z How the change will be measured—the surveys, tests, 

interviews, or other methods you will use to measure the 

different changes specified. 

A useful way to remember these elements is the ABCDE Method 

of Writing Outcome Statements (Atkinson, Deaton, Travis 

& Wessel, 1999):

A—Audience (who will change?)

B—Behavior (what will change?)

C—Condition (by when?)

D—Degree (by how much?)

E—Evidence (how will the change be measured?)

Address as many of the five elements as possible when you are 

writing outcome statements, but keep in mind that you may not 

be able to address them all. Such gaps may indicate areas where 

you need to gather more information to complete your outcome 

statement.

Remember to link your training goals back to your organization’s 

plan for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence 

prevention goals or state and local plans when it makes sense. 

However, you need not have a training goal for every goal in your 

prevention plan. 

As you move ahead, you may find it helpful to summarize your 

plans in a logic model. We have provided a blank Logic Model 

Template for you to use starting on page 71 in the Appendix. We 

have also provided a filled-in example of the logic model on page 

72 based on the case study as an illustration.

21

Start A Training Plan: The Basic Elements
Case study:

The Center for Community Peace 

identifies training goals and outcomes

To help prepare for the trainings, center staff discuss and 

identify key goals for the training, which include those they 

consider generally important based on their knowledge in the 

subject area, as well as those they anticipate will be specifically 

important to the issues and problems that need to be addressed 

in the school. Goals for training are:

z Increasing knowledge of the importance of primary 

prevention

z Increasing knowledge of how youth display sexualized 

bullying and harassing behaviors 

z Increasing knowledge about factors that put students at risk 

for sexual violence and those that reduce students’ chances 

of experiencing or perpetrating sexual violence 

z Increasing skills among students, faculty, and staff to address 

sexualized bullying and harassment through policies, 

practices, conduct, and positive school climate 

The center drafted the following outcomes: 

z In the short-term, all participants will be able to— 

◊ Compare and contrast the differences between primary 

prevention and other strategies such as intervention 

(i.e., providing services after an incident has occurred) 

and explain how primary prevention complements 

intervention strategies and activities

◊ List the behaviors considered sexualized bullying or 

sexually harassing

◊ Compare and contrast the differences between healthy 

(i.e., positive relationships) and unhealthy (i.e., sexually 

violent) behavior

◊ List and describe risk and protective factors

z In the intermediate term, participants will be able to—

◊ List and describe effective practices for stopping existing 

sexualized bullying and harassing behaviors as well as 

preventing sexual assault

◊ Describe and display, through role plays and other 

methods, how to model healthy and respectful behaviors

◊ Review existing school policies and codes of conduct 

to identify existing rules that can be used to promote a 

culture that does not tolerate sexual violence

Identify, where needed, new school policies and codes of conduct 

that promote a positive school climate emphasizing positive 

social behaviors and healthy relationships. 

z In the long term, participants will be able to:

◊ Report measurable progress in emphasizing the use of 

existing rules to promote respect

◊ Report measurable progress in putting new policies and 

codes of conduct into place both to promote respect and 

to increase positive school climate

◊ Demonstrate a decrease in incidents of sexualized 

bullying and harassment within the school

◊ Demonstrate an increase in safety, equality, and respect

As part of its training plans, the center will soon involve 

participants from the school to help further define and tailor the 

goals and outcomes using the ABCDE method. 

A detailed table titled Whom to Train starting on page 52 in 

the Appendix summarizes the different kinds of organizations 

you should consider training. Included in the table are example 

outcomes for those organizations.

Decide whom to train

Ideally, everyone has a role in preventing sexual and/or intimate 

partner violence, but it is not realistic or feasible for prevention 

practitioners to train all the professionals in their communities. 

Training takes a significant investment of time and resources. The 

best use of your resources will be to start by training those whom 

you believe exhibit readiness. What we mean by readiness in this 

context includes groups (Biech, 2008):

z Already connected to your prevention goals 

z Already motivated to learn and develop new skills 

z Who have support and resources within their organizations to 

apply what they learn 

For example, if one of the activities associated with your state 

prevention plan is to partner with your state’s Safe and Drug 

Free Schools program, then you might consider developing 

ongoing prevention training for school administrators associated 

with such efforts. 

22
You have probably already assessed readiness when you have 

worked with community partners on first responses to sexual 

and/or intimate partner violence. You identified gaps and other 

issues in the system’s responses to victims. You identified who in 

the system needed training and worked with them on developing 

organizational supports and developing and implementing new 

policies and procedures. For example, when training police in 

responding to sexual violence, you typically thought “up the chain” 

about whom you needed buy-in from before training responding 

officers. Apply this same strategic thinking to planning 

primary prevention training.

Note: The prompt to consider readiness at this stage is meant to 

be from a high-level view of the professionals you hope to train. 

Later in this guide, we will discuss more about organizational and 

individual readiness to help you develop content tailored to the 

needs of your trainees. 

To help you begin prioritizing your choices about whom to train, 

consider these questions:

With whom do you already have relationships? It makes 

the most sense to start with professionals or organizations that 

are already aligned with the mission of your organization or have 

identified violence prevention as a part of their mission. 

Consider training exchanges with other programs or organizations 

as an efficient way to use your resources and build relationships. For 

example, you could offer training on sexual and/or intimate partner 

violence prevention to a community network that could, in turn, 

train your organization on youth development. 

Tip: Remember to consider starting with staff, volunteers, and 

board of directors in your own agency or organization. 

One successful example of this approach comes out of the merger 

of two different coalitions in Virginia in 2004, resulting in the 

Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. The need 

to prioritize prevention while also emphasizing intervention and, 

at the same time, bridging domestic and sexual violence, called 

Use resources strategically by 

starting with those professionals 

who exhibit readiness.

for cross-training of staff to be done with care. Leadership decided 

to leverage the successful approaches from each area, including 

the prevention focus of sexual violence and work in domestic or 

intimate partner violence with advocates and other professionals, 

into a series of trainings that included:

z An initial training for internal staff on primary prevention

z Additional explanations of basic prevention principles such 

as public health approaches, defining elements of primary 

prevention and the social-ecological model provided during 

three hours of regularly-scheduled bi-monthly 

staff meetings

z Later in the first year, another four hours was spent with staff 

viewing the film Kinsey and discussing some of the basic tenets 

of healthy sexuality

z A year after the merger, leadership encouraged all coalition 

staff to attend a 1 1⁄2 day-long training on “Promoting 

Protective Factors to Prevent Sexual and Domestic Violence: 

Applying the Search Institute’s Developmental Assets 

Framework.” This training not only provided valuable content, 

but also helped professionals meet their annual development 

requirements. 

z The coalition has also developed its own Guidelines for the 

Prevention of Sexual Violence and Intimate Partner Violence to 

assist Virginia sexual and domestic intimate partner violence 

agencies in developing effective primary prevention initiatives.

The coalition also holds an annual 2 1⁄2 day-long training retreat 

at a local women’s college open to staff and volunteers from any 

local member program. The retreat involves coalition staff and 

plays a crucial role in sustaining and refreshing learning on primary 

prevention. 

With whom do you have natural alliances? Groups that 

naturally share your concerns and constituencies are more likely to 

be ready and open to incorporating sexual violence and/or intimate 

partner violence prevention into their practices. Think about the 

following groups: 

◊ Youth-serving organizations 

◊ Childcare and daycare workers 

◊ Faith-based organizations 

◊ Organizations working with men and boys 

◊ Violence prevention organizations and coalitions 

◊ School and higher-education personnel 

◊ Health care providers 

A good example of tapping a natural alliance comes from the South 

Bay 0-5 Coalition in Chula Vista, California. As part of its work with 

the coalition, the staff of South Bay Community Services routinely 

offers the Incredible Years training to its coalition partners. The 23

Start A Training Plan: The Basic Elements
Incredible Years curriculum is aimed at teaching children 0-5 and 

their parents a variety of social skills and competencies that may 

help reduce the likelihood of intimate partner violence perpetration 

or victimization later in life. South Bay Community Services 

decided to offer the training to local preschool and childcare 

providers to expand its prevention outreach as well. It was hoped 

that the training would boost the capacity of more providers who 

have direct contact with children to help reduce intimate partner 

violence. 

A detailed table titled Whom to Train, starting on page 52 in the 

Appendix, summarizes the different kinds of organizations you 

should consider training. The table also includes information on the 

rationale for training each group as well as suggested content and 

example outcomes. 

What other health or social issues overlap with sexual 

and/or intimate partner violence? Sexual and/or intimate 

partner violence share many risk and protective factors with 

other health and social issues and are themselves considered risk 

factors for adverse health behaviors. For example, sexual violence 

victimization increases risk for substance abuse and impacts 

academic achievement. Schools that are invested in lowering youth 

substance abuse and improving academic success may be open to 

sexual violence prevention as one avenue to achieve this goal.

Who can be levers for change or impact? Certain individuals, 

groups of professionals, or entire organizations can be catalysts for 

broader change in your community. Youth workers, for example, 

have powerful opportunities to model positive relationships and 

promote healthy youth development. Training a diverse group of 

youth workers from a variety of organizations has the potential 

for wide-ranging influence. Training managers or the board of 

directors of a key organization could influence organizational 

practices and promote a culture of respect. In rural and frontier 

areas professionals often wear multiple hats and therefore may 

have wide ranging impact.

Another tactic to try is piggybacking your training with others who 

are already training professionals, such as medical schools. You 

could also encourage policy makers and others who set guidelines 

and professional standards not only to participate in trainings, but 

also to change policies and procedures to support sexual violence 

and/or intimate partner violence prevention.

The Migrant Clinician Network, for example, an organization that 

serves as a “force for justice in health care for the mobile poor” 

often trains peer health educators called “promotores” who already 

successfully address health issues with migrant workers to also 

deliver a five-session healthy relationship curriculum with male 

migrant workers.

Where is there organizational support for individual 

practice change? In some cases, training must include those with 

the power to make changes in plans, policies, and procedures. You 

may know of individuals such as teachers or youth workers who 

support your work, but you also want to know how much their 

agencies and organizations support your work. You may not be as 

effective in training a group of teachers, for example, to implement 

a primary prevention curriculum in their classrooms if the school 

administration does not fully support the teachers in doing so. 

Some dimensions of organizational support include (Johnson, 

Fisher, Wandersman, Collins & White, in press):

Awareness. How aware are organizations of efforts to prevent 

sexual and/or intimate partner violence? 

Skills. If organizations are aware and supportive, do they have the 

necessary skills needed to implement primary prevention?

Commitment. If awareness and skills are present, is there 

also a level of commitment to the important tasks necessary to 

prevent sexual and/or intimate partner violence? How likely is the 

organization to commit its own resources to engage in preventionrelated activities? 

From your experience, you may be able to come to some 

conclusions very quickly about which organizations have the basic 

levels of awareness, skills, and commitment needed to serve as a 

good springboard for effective training. Answering these questions 

for other organizations may require time, staff, and resources.

What to do with a group that is only willing to let you do a 

single training when you know multiple training sessions 

are necessary for skills mastery? You may need to say no to 

organizations with such limitations so you can focus your finite 

resources on organizations that will have better payoffs for your 

prevention plans. On the other hand, if you have been trying to get 

a foot in the door with a particular organization for a long time, 

delivering a single training could help further your efforts. Take 

time to discuss your stance on this issue. 

One key to your success will be to continually invite people to 

partner and collaborate with you. You might have to really pursue 

a group you think is important to engage. Or, you might find 

that because of your expertise, you have groups pursuing you for 

training. Deciding whom to train and how much time you spend 

on assessing readiness, engaging organizations, or helping to build 

organizational support are all important parts of your planning. 24
Case study: The Center for Community Peace decides whom to train

After talking with other members of the positive youth development coalition and interviewing administrators of the alternative high 

school, the center decides to provide training for administrators and faculty at the school so they can learn how to address and prevent 

harmful sexualized bullying behaviors and assault among students. Based on student focus groups, the center also realizes that other 

school personnel such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers also play a role in influencing school climate. Given this information, the 

center decides to include all school personnel in training but administrators want to discuss if all personnel need the same content 

and dosage. 

Involve participants in 

training development 

 Once you have decided whom you want to train, invite several of 

those professionals to help you shape the content and delivery of 

your trainings. This early involvement by a small work group is the 

best way to ensure your plans are relevant for your participants. 

Inclusion of training participants can be helpful in developing 

almost every area of your training plans, including:

z Understanding the context and practices of their home 

organizations

z Selecting trainers 

z Assisting with organizational and individual readiness 

assessments ahead of time to understand levels of motivation 

and engagement 

z Understanding the constituents your professionals work with

z Understanding the community context

z Helping develop training agendas and to help shape training 

content with an emphasis on preparing participants for 

learning and change (Biech, 2008)

z Determining training activities and the resources needed to 

implement them

z Improving the cultural competence of your trainings

z Determining appropriate follow-up to support training 

application

z Determining appropriate ways to assess effectiveness 

Involving participants up front will take time and effort, but it is 

worth it. Here are some ways to involve participants in planning: 

Involve a diverse group of participants. Invite professionals 

from different cultures, organizations, and communities, as well as 

from different generations, when appropriate. Participants can help 

you develop and deliver trainings that are culturally competent. For 

instance, they can offer guidance on how to address the different 

ways professional communities think and talk about sexual and/or 

intimate partner violence, rather than simply translating materials 

into a different language.

Make it easy for people to participate. Plan meetings at times 

and in places that are convenient for participants. Would providing 

a light meal increase participation? While you may not be able to 

use federal dollars to provide food, you may be able to get local 

business to donate these resources as in-kind, tax-deductible 

contributions. Consider going to the participants’ organizations.

Gather the information you need in a variety of ways.

Convene some small groups first to help you map out what 

your plans need to look like. Gather some information through 

telephone interviews. Do a short paper survey at some of your 

professionals’ regularly scheduled meetings or ask participants to 

complete a short, web-based survey. 

Involving participants in training development can increase impact, enhance cultural 

competence, and boost sustainability.

25

Start A Training Plan: The Basic Elements
Learn more: Free or low-cost web-based survey software 

can help you design short, easy-to-use surveys participants 

can complete online 

◊ Survey Monkey (free)—www.surveymonkey.com

◊ Zoomerang (basic package is free)—www.zoomerang.com 

In the case of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) cited 

earlier, staff sought input from the school district’s superintendent, 

principals, and school nurses from two middle schools and one 

high school to determine who should be included in educational 

Case study:

The Center for Community Peace involves participants in training development

Two coalition members, Jorge Chavez, a parent, and Anna Warren, a detective from the Special Victims Unit of the local police 

department, agree to facilitate a discussion with school administrators. Their goal is to determine how receptive school officials are 

about helping to address and correct the problem. 

During their meetings with school personnel, center staff hears from teachers and guidance counselors about their perceptions of 

sexually harmful behavior at the school. Several school employees disagree about what constitutes sexually harmful behavior and the 

roles they play in addressing and preventing these problems. 

Nonetheless, they discover some critical information and find several key advocates:

z Rita Lincoln, a guidance counselor, is particularly articulate. She shares with the group that several students had asked her for help 

regarding sexualized bullying and assault. Lincoln feels the problem is growing rapidly and agrees to lead the effort to further 

explore and address this issue at the school. 

z Buck Frost, a physical education teacher and sports coach, states that sexualized bullying seems to be an erroneous “rite of 

passage” for some participants on his teams. He stresses the need for strong male mentors and agrees to work on solving the 

problem.

z Lou Ventura, the technology coordinator at the school, mentions that he has seen an increase in sexually explicit instant messages 

and e-mails from some students over the school’s network. He agrees to help in any way he can.

As the center develops its training plans, staff invites these individuals to help shape the trainings. Lincoln, Frost, and Ventura are 

especially helpful in reviewing training plans and materials. Center staff uses their feedback to refine the training goals and outcomes, 

which helps increase the training’s relevance. These advocates are also enlisted to help build consensus with other school staff 

members and to help deliver training sessions.

Center staff members Bobby Ming and Hani Littlefoot also identify two young people in the course of their conversations at the 

alternative school whom they want to include. They believe these students can provide valuable, real-world experience and help boost 

credibility for the trainings. After clearing the idea with the school, the center, and families of the young people, the youth are invited 

to become part of the training team. 

trainings following the accusation of sexual assault by a beloved 

teacher. The decision was made to train the entire staff and student 

body at the affected school. By including youth and adults, BARCC 

was better able to empower these two groups to work together to 

build a positive, healthy, and safe school environment. Educators 

and parents eventually reported being better able to identify risky 

situations and possible perpetrators; teachers and staff reported 

being able to respond more knowledgably to parents. 

26
Identify core topics for trainings

The more meaningful the information you teach, the more likely 

people will take what they learn back to their workplaces and use 

it in their everyday practice. At this early planning stage, consider 

the core topics you want to cover. Although training sessions will 

be tailored to specific participants’ needs as you gather more 

information during the planning process, these topics will form the 

foundation of any training you do.

We suggest including the following core topics in 

all of your trainings:

Understanding what constitutes sexual and intimate 

partner violence. Sexual violence and sexual health are not 

commonly discussed in our society, and many children, adolescents, 

and adults do not know what constitutes sexually harmful 

behavior. Cordelia Anderson (2002) developed a helpful Sexual 

Behavior Continuum that may be a useful teaching tool. It describes 

a continuum of sexual behaviors from positive (healthy/helpful, 

appropriate, respectful, safe) to playful (teasing and flirting) to 

mutually inappropriate to harmful (sexual bullying) to harassment 

and violence. 

Learn more: The Sexual Behavior Continuum—

www.cordeliaanderson.com/cordeliaanderson.com_files/

Page1275.htm .

Likewise, intimate partner violence is also not commonly discussed, 

but is commonly experienced in homes and communities, leaving 

professionals with their own opinions and biases about why it 

happens. Providing context about the occurrence of intimate 

partner violence, from a single episode to ongoing battering, and 

an understanding of the four types of behaviors that constitute 

intimate partner violence -- physical violence, sexual violence, 

threats, and emotional abuse -- will help professionals start to see 

their role in prevention.

Understanding primary prevention. Obviously, if you are 

training other professionals to implement strategies or policies to 

prevent sexual and/or intimate partner violence from occurring in 

the first place, they need to both understand and promote primary 

prevention. Core topics to explore include: 

z What is included in primary prevention such as working 

with men and boys to promote positive social norms; 

building bystander skills; and promoting healthy respectful 

relationships. 

z What is not included in primary prevention such as just 

raising awareness of sexual violence and/or intimate partner 

violence; knowing what services are available to survivors; 

learning how to help a friend who has been abused

Note: While raising awareness can be one important task 

when working to prevent sexual violence and/or intimate 

partner violence, remember that raising awareness by itself is 

insufficient to prevent sexual violence and/or intimate partner 

violence. 

z How primary prevention complements intervention

such as being part of an overall response to sexual and/or 

intimate partner violence

z Skills the professionals you are training need to have in order 

to be successful in their prevention activities (e.g. using nonviolent language) 

You should also discuss the characteristics of effective prevention 

programs (Nation et al., 2003). Such programs are appropriately 

timed, comprehensive, theory-based, and socio-culturally relevant. 

Well-trained staff conducts the programs, varying the teaching 

methods, and presenting information in sufficient dosage. Such 

programs also build positive relationships. 

Learn more: We have included a tip sheet in the Appendix on 

page 62that summarizes the characteristics of effective prevention 

programs.

Understanding what increases risk and protects against 

sexual and/or intimate partner violence perpetration and 

victimization. Individual, relationship, community, and societal 

factors can increase risk for or protect against sexual and intimate 

partner violence perpetration and victimization. It is important for 

the professionals you are training to understand those factors and 

to identify their role in modifying them among the individuals, 

families, and communities with whom they work. Training 

materials should include information about risk and protective 

factors, state or local data about the incidence and prevalence 

of sexual or intimate partner violence, along with the social and 

political issues that can foster or inhibit change.

Responding to disclosures of abuse. When training 

professionals about sexual and intimate partner violence 

prevention, you should also consider including some skill building 

for responding to disclosures of abuse. While this is not an activity 

of primary prevention, invariably, as the professionals you are 

training begin implementing what they have learned (e.g., talking 

with youth about healthy relationships, interrupting sexually 

harassing behaviors), they will have survivors of sexual violence 

and/or intimate partner violence disclose their experiences. These 

professionals need to know how to respond appropriately and 

27

Start A Training Plan: The Basic Elements
supportively, what the mandatory reporting requirements are, if 

any, and what resources exist in the community to help survivors. 

Learn more: Resources for more information on primary 

prevention of sexual and intimate partner violence:

z Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for 

Injury Prevention and Control—www.cdc.gov/ncipc

z National Sexual Violence Resource Center—www.nsvrc.org

z Prevention Connection—www.preventconnect.org

z VAWnet, National Online Resource Center on Violence Against 

Women—www.vawnet.org

Consider organizational context 

Training does not occur in a vacuum. You are asking professionals to 

learn new skills, then take those skills back to their workplaces to 

use them. Worksites, professional requirements, and practice norms 

all need to support application of these new skills to help achieve 

sexual and intimate partner violence prevention. You may have 

to do some research and preparation before the actual training to 

make it easier for training participants to apply what they learn 

when back in their work environment. 

For example, before training teachers and coaches how to recognize 

and interrupt sexual harassment or other abusive behaviors, you 

may need to better understand existing administrative policies 

and how the skills you will teach fit with those policies. You may 

discover that supportive policies do not exist or current policies 

need to be modified to enable effective school climate change. 

Trainings will need to address how trainees can meet these 

challenges. 

The organizational assessment need not be an enormous job, but 

it is important to look at potential barriers that could hinder the 

incorporation of new skills and to identify facilitators that may help 

promote new practices. Chances are you already know a lot about 

the organizations from the work you are already doing and can 

easily summarize what you know as you proceed with your plans. 

If you have already involved potential participants in your planning 

process, they can also be an excellent source of information on 

these issues. 

Addressing organizational context in trainings will better help professionals 

apply their new skills.

z World Report on Violence and Health from the World Health 

Organization—www.who.int

z Your state sexual assault coalition—see www.nsvrc.org

for a listing

z Your state Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) Coordinator—

see www.cdc.gov/ncipc for a listing

z Your state DELTA Coordinator—see www.cdc.gov/ncipc

for a listing

Consider the following:

z Who the organization serves. It may be useful for you to 

know about the organization itself and who is served to help 

tailor training content in meaningful ways. For example, if 

training will be provided to the staff of a inpatient, substance 

abuse treatment center that serves women with children 

under 16 living with them, knowing more about the families 

being served could reveal important points to address. Are 

there incidents of prior victimization? What are the risk 

and protective factors present among the organization’s 

clients? Seeking this kind of information also reinforces the 

engagement of your potential training participants as experts 

on their own constituencies. 

z Professional requirements. Do the professionals you plan 

to train need to meet any continuing education, regulatory, or 

other requirements? By incorporating these elements into your 

curriculum, you increase the relevancy and accessibility of the 

training. 

For example, many states require that social workers obtain 

a certain number of continuing education credits each year. 

State licensing boards and organizations such as the National 

Association of Social Workers have standards for providers 

of continuing professional education (CPE). If you want your 

training on sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence 

prevention to be useful for continuing education, you’ll need to 

consult with relevant organizations to be sure coursework and 

activities qualify for CPE credits. 

28
z Workplace policies and practices. Familiarize yourself 

with relevant policies, procedures, and goals of trainees’ 

agencies and organizations. Talk with potential trainees about 

their practice community and work environmental norms to 

glean important information about existing practices you can 

highlight in your training sessions. In doing so, you may also 

learn what training styles will work best and what kinds of 

information groups have already received. 

z Organizational and leadership priorities. The more you 

know about existing priorities and concerns, the more you can 

connect your trainings to them. Many schools, for example, are 

very concerned about bullying. Offering training on sexualized 

bullying or teen dating violence could appeal to schools, 

especially those with concerns but limited resources to address 

the issues. Providing trainings that are logically linked in this 

way could also help establish or strengthen partnerships. 

z Community context. Examine and understand community 

norms (i.e., local politics, economics, and social contexts) 

and how they can influence trainees’ implementation of 

newly acquired prevention skills for sexual violence and/or 

intimate partner violence. For example, you might train youth 

diversion workers in two adjoining counties, one of which is 

more conservative. The more conservative county may have 

to implement strategies to promote healthy sexuality or teen 

dating violence strategies differently than the less-conservative 

county. While these two groups have the same job descriptions 

and work with similar populations, you will need to help 

them tailor their approaches to the unique needs of their 

communities.

Note: Later in this guide, we will discuss how organizational 

context may also influence whom you choose as a trainer. 

Consider individual readiness 

and knowledge

Biech (2008) describes two important ways to help training 

participants learn. One is to energize their motivations to learn 

and two is to take advantage of whatever existing motivations 

they already have. Taking some time up front to determine the 

motivations as well as knowledge and skill levels of your trainees 

will help you tailor your trainings to build on existing knowledge 

and skills, fill in gaps, and use or build readiness as needed. You do 

not want to waste time going over issues and skills they already 

understand, nor do you want to cover topics for which they lack 

requisite background knowledge or are unmotivated to learn.

Assessing individual readiness may reveal the need to conduct 

a simple, basic training to ease participants’ concerns and make 

them feel comfortable talking about sexual violence and/or 

intimate partner violence prevention issues. Follow-up with 

groups of this type could include more advanced, skill-building 

trainings. Conversely, your assessment may lead you to develop 

more advanced, comprehensive training to meet the needs of 

professionals such as those called to immediate action because 

of an agency or community imperative to prevent sexual violence 

and/or intimate partner violence. 

Gathering information about individual readiness can also become 

an important part of your evaluations later on. Short, pretest 

surveys, for example, determine participant knowledge about 

specific topics before your training. After the training, the same 

survey, given as a posttest, will reveal if participants learned what 

you intended.

Questions aimed at assessing individual readiness will be highly 

dependent on exactly what you plan to cover in specific trainings 

and should be specific, rather than overly broad. Ask individuals to 

identify:

z Learning needs and preferred training approaches (e.g. 

I understand information best when it is presented in lecture, 

visual, and auditory formats)

z Current knowledge about the planned training topics

z Beliefs about challenges or barriers related to sexual violence 

and/or intimate partner violence prevention

z Their reason or goal for training, (e.g., I value the 

information because it will benefit me in my work) which may 

help reveal how motivated they are to learn new knowledge 

and/or skills

The professionals you invited to help you develop your trainings—

or even a key individual from among them—can provide useful 

information about the group you are training. Information might 

include background on education, experience, and skill level within 

the group as well as details about an organization’s history, work, 

and relationships in the community. 

What if you find variance in levels of knowledge and/or motivation 

among individuals within a group? You and those helping 

develop your trainings can incorporate activities to engage all the 

participants so they will want to learn including compelling stories, 

skill building that directly addresses what individuals say they want 

to learn, and asking learners to make plans for how they will apply 

what they learn (Biech, 2008). 

Note: We talk more about how to build and tailor your training 

content in the next section of the Guide starting on page 33. 29

Start A Training Plan: The Basic Elements
Case study:

The Center for Community Peace 

examines organizational context 

and prepares to explore 

individual readiness

In a series of meetings with school administrators, personnel, 

and student groups, center staff learns how different groups 

perceive the problem of sexual violence. This information 

provides a gauge of both the school climate and level of support 

for change. Center staff also discovers what the school has done 

to address the problem—and what they have not done—and 

determines if there are any relevant policies in place to help 

address the issue of sexual bullying and harassment. School 

administrators in particular show a great deal of support. 

They pledge to attend the training and take an active role in 

addressing and preventing sexualized bullying and assault. 

The center receives permission to do small focus groups and 

a limited, school-climate survey with teachers, guidance 

counselors, and students involved in school clubs to further 

determine individual readiness. The center particularly wants 

to know what challenges the school faces in making students, 

educators, and staff aware of what constitutes sexual assault and 

why it should not be tolerated.

Determine resource needs

You will need a variety of resources to support and deliver trainings 

including supplies, money, space, and marketing materials, as 

well as other human and technical resources. As you develop your 

training plans, you will obviously have to make decisions about 

how much you can do based on the resources you have. Some 

important areas to consider:

z Human resources. Do you have the staff capacity needed 

to plan, deliver, and follow up on all the trainings you plan to 

offer? You will need to either prepare your own staff or find the 

right trainers to conduct the trainings.

Note: We provide guidance on how to select trainers in the 

next section of the guide.

z Technical resources. You may need computers and software 

to produce training materials and to coordinate schedules 

and track your progress, including your evaluations. You may 

also need a laptop and audio/visual equipment to deliver the 

trainings. Do not forget the staff needed to manage these 

resources, too. 

z Fiscal resources. You will need to ensure your existing funding 

can cover staff time devoted to your training plans, pay trainers 

(if hired from outside your staff), buy food, and rent facilities 

or seek new sources of funding. You may be able to get some 

of these items covered through matching or in-kind donations 

from other participating organizations. 

One other resource area to consider is how you plan to publicize 

and market the availability of your trainings. Do you have a 

website that can be used or will you need to create one? Do you 

need mailers, newsletters, or other materials designed, printed, 

and sent out? 

Just as training needs among professionals will probably differ 

between urban and rural areas, available resources—and 

needs—will probably vary as well. North Dakota DELTA/EMPOWER 

state coordinators found, for example, that several local urban and 

rural coalitions focused on different ways to engage participants in 

prevention. Rural coalitions worked with community leaders; urban 

coalitions decided to expand existing prevention partnerships. 

Available resources to accomplish these tasks varied. While the 

urban coalitions often had more people or could combine some 

existing funds to move their work forward, rural communities often 

found creative new ways of pulling teams together from those 

working in existing efforts. 

As you talk with policy makers, funders, and other potential 

partners to gather support and resources to improve your training 

efforts, be sure to describe your training goals and outcomes and 

your progress so far. If you have not been able to achieve goals and 

outcomes because of a lack of resources, give policy makers and 

funders clear ideas about the resources needed to institutionalize 

and successfully implement effective sexual violence and/or 

intimate partner violence prevention efforts.

Select trainers

Communications research shows that the messenger can be more 

important than the message in getting the attention and buy-in 

of an audience. Whether you use trainers from within your own 

organization, or work with trainers outside your organization, 

select people who demonstrate: 

z Firm grounding in primary prevention 

30
z Knowledge of, experience in, and commitment to the specific 

content to be presented 

z Credibility with the professionals you are training, which 

includes experience, profession, position, and language similar 

to your participants

z Experience delivering content with cultural competence

z Experience dealing with possible disclosures of abuse from 

training participants

Develop a solid training team of people in your agency or 

community from which you can select individuals to do specific 

trainings. Ask the professionals who are helping you develop 

your trainings for input about the make-up of the team and the 

selection criteria for building the team. 

Consider these ideas as you start building your training team:

z Match trainers with participants. When it makes sense, 

match trainers with learners by experience, profession, 

position, and cultural backgrounds. For example, training 

religious leaders to promote healthy, equitable relationships 

would be perceived as more credible and relevant when 

delivered by a leader from the same or a similar denomination. 

Diverse groups of learners will also benefit from seeing people 

from their own community on the training team.

z Develop a diverse training team. A multidisciplinary 

team approach can be very effective in bringing a broader 

complement of skills and expertise to your training. Combining 

different professions such as public health nurses teamed with 

advocate trainers can also model cross-discipline collaboration 

for your learners. A multicultural and/or multigenerational 

training team also models cooperation and sharing among 

cultures. Consider pairing young people with adults or 

including trusted leaders from a particular community or 

cultural group as part of your team. 

z Find other training resources. If your organization does not 

have the internal staff resources for training, consider hiring 

consultants. You may also be able to find trainers you can 

partner with in local colleges or business training centers. 

Note: This Guide can be used to help prepare trainers for the 

tasks described, whether you are using someone within your 

organization or a professional trainer or consultant. You may need 

to take some additional time to work more closely with an outside 

trainer or consultant to develop the content and materials you plan 

to deliver. 

Learn more: If you need more information about how to develop 

trainer and participant materials, the online Trainer’s Guide for 

Cancer Education developed by the National Cancer Institute 

could be useful. It can be found at: <http://www.cancer.gov/

clinicaltrials/resources/trainers-guide-cancer-education/allpages> 

In the Appendix, refer to the worksheet Criteria for Selecting 

Trainers on page 63 to help you choose trainers who will be a good 

fit for each of the groups or organizations you train. 

Summarize what you have learned so far

Now is a good time to start summarizing the information and ideas 

you have developed thus far. To help you, we have provided the 

following resources and worksheets in the Appendix to use as 

needed:

z Worksheet: Background Information for Training Plan 

Developmenton page 64. 

z A completed sample background worksheet on page 66

using the Center for Community Peace case study 

z Worksheet: Use a Logic Model to Map Plan Details on page 70.

z A completed sample logic model on page 72 using the 

Center for Community Peace case study

31

Start A Training Plan: The Basic Elements
32
Refine and Tailor Your Training Plans

Now that you know who you want to train, who will do the 

training, what resources you have to work with, and what you hope 

to achieve, it is time to plan for exactly what you will teach and 

how you will do that. In this next section, we will cover how to:

z Tailor or enhance core training content to meet the specific 

needs of the professionals you will train 

z Determine sufficient dosage for your trainings

z Determine the best training approaches for your selected 

groups

z Train with cultural competence

Note: If you are using the logic model, by the time you reach the 

end of this section of the Guide, you will be able to fill in many of 

the remaining sections of it.

Tailor training content for your audience

Earlier in the Guide, we discussed core topics to consider for 

inclusion in your trainings (i.e., elements of primary prevention, 

risk and protective factors, definition of sexual violence and/or 

intimate partner violence, response to disclosures of abuse). Use 

what you have learned about different groups of professionals to 

tailor the core content to match their unique needs. Doing so will 

ensure that everyone you train is exposed to the core topics while 

also addressing what they need to know to do their jobs. 

You can use what you learn from different groups of professionals 

about what they describe and understand about their organizations 

and their constituencies to help tailor trainings in culturally 

relevant ways. This validates and uses the expertise of the 

participants while helping them see how they can apply what they 

know in ways that are meaningful for their clients. For example, 

different racial or ethnic groups may have different norms or 

language to describe healthy relationships. Professionals who work 

with these populations may be more knowledgeable about such 

norms and language and can bring that knowledge to the table. 

You can help them figure out how to apply their new training skills 

in ways that best fit with these communities.

In addition to providing the professionals you are training with 

these important core topics, you also want to teach them the 

knowledge, skills, and practices they will need to conduct primary 

prevention of sexual and/or intimate partner violence in their jobs. 

Although the exact content will depend on whom you are training 

and what your goals are for those groups, you will want to consider 

these basic elements:

z Roles professionals play in preventing sexual violence and/

or intimate partner violence

z Specific skills and competencies needed to implement

prevention strategies for sexual and/or intimate partner 

violence, including teen dating violence (e.g., helping youth 

workers model empathy and respect) 

z How to identify teachable moments in professional 

practice and everyday life

z Modeling and teaching concepts that influence 

behavior changes (e.g., interrupting sexist attitudes and 

behaviors or promoting positive youth development practices 

into everyday work)

Find logical ways to link core 

content and skills to what 

people already do.

Find logical ways to link the content of your training with what 

people already do. For example, a youth-serving agency that 

regularly addresses teen drinking could use newly acquired skill 

in articulating risk and protective factors to explain the strong 

association between alcohol use and perpetration, particularly as 

staff frame the concepts of consent and coercion and use specific 

examples in their mentoring sessions. 

How you present and sequence activities within the training may 

help make it easier for participants to learn, retain, and ultimately 

use new knowledge and skills. As mentioned earlier, Biech (2008) 

notes that participants are more likely to attend trainings and 

use new skills if they feel their time will be well spent developing 

abilities that have obvious benefit to then. Among Biech’s 

suggestions for developing more motivational trainings:

z Develop up-front learning activities that intrigue, excite and 

captivate participants’ attention before launching into detailed 

skill development

z Instead of just listing objectives and expected outcomes, look 

for opportunities to develop compelling stories to convey 

content; testimonials from previous participants could be used 

to help boost motivation for example 

33

Refine and Tailor Your Training Plans
z Assist participants in thinking through whether learning new 

skills will be worth the effort and then help them devise a plan 

for making the changes they will need to make to put those 

skills into practice

Note: Later on in the Guide, we will talk about using training 

follow-up to help move learning into practice.

Sprinkling vs. saturation

One-time trainings are not sufficient to change behavior. Multiple 

training sessions are more effective not only for changing 

behavior, but also for gaining better buy-in and working toward 

sustainability of those changed behaviors. 

How do you determine sufficient dosage? Consider the value of 

sprinkling vs. saturation. Rather than spreading yourself thin doing 

six, three-hour trainings to six different groups (i.e., sprinkling), 

your trainings might be more effective if you deliver two, day-long 

trainings to two different groups and offer six months of followup technical assistance (i.e., saturation). While the second option 

takes more effort for the trainer, and requires a greater degree of 

commitment from the professionals you are training, the likelihood 

of practice change is greater. 

One frame of reference to consider -- Many volunteer advocate or 

crisis line trainings require at least 40 hours before participants 

can answer the hotline or do first response advocacy. We are not 

suggesting all of your professional trainings have to be 40 hours 

long, but you will need to provide more than just a few hours of 

training if you want to achieve skill changes in the workplace. 

Keeping your training goals in mind can help you decide what 

sufficient dosage means. If you are trying to increase knowledge, 

you can probably do that effectively with fewer training sessions. 

Changing behavior—your ultimate goal—will require more time. 

You must also consider your own resources when determining 

appropriate dosage. What level of staff time will be needed to 

develop, market, and deliver your planned trainings? What sorts 

of resources will you need to deliver multiple trainings to multiple 

groups? Does your organization have those resources? If not, you 

may need to hold less training or look elsewhere for partners who 

could assist and support your efforts.

You may find some groups want you to train them, but only once. 

The group making the request may be one that you have been 

trying to develop a relationship with for a long time or one to 

which you would like to be more closely connected. While you are 

trying to avoid short, single-session trainings, such an event may 

be necessary to nurture a future relationship. 

Although single events may help you get your feet in some 

important doors, once you have accomplished more of your training 

goals, you will want to be clear about how to make best use of 

your limited resources and concentrate on saturation. Depending 

on your community and some of the political considerations you 

Case study: 

The Center for Community Peace 

tailors training content 

Center staff members are familiar with many of the 

alternative high school’s students because about 40% of them 

participate in various programs at the center. Bobby Ming, 

director of youth programs, and Hani Littlefoot, a certified 

sexual assault counselor, have talked informally with several 

students about their experiences with sexualized bullying and 

assault. 

Given these discussions, Ming and Littlefoot research the 

problem further by conducting focus groups with other 

students, including those who have not yet come forward to 

discuss this problem. They obtain a wider student perspective 

about the sources of the problem. They also gather ideas 

about how the center could help motivate school personnel to 

address—and prevent—sexualized bullying and assault. 

Some of the topics the center decides to include in the 

training:

z Discussions about sexual violence stories as reported in 

the news compared with what youth report is happening 

in their communities

z Discussions about the special needs of some students 

in the alternative high school context, including what 

may put them at potentially greater risk for any type of 

violence

z Role-play and modeling activities to demonstrate 

positive, respectful behavior

z Creation of a plan by youth and adults to make the school 

safer

Note: As you work to tailor content for specific groups, look again 

at the Whom to Train table starting on page 52 in the Appendix,

and consider the information about suggested training content and 

example outcomes. 34
Adult education principle Implications for training plans

Adults learn best when they perceive learning 

as relevant to their needs.

z Identify learners’ needs and what is important to them.

z Provide real-life situations and emphasize the application of 

learning to real problems.

Adults learn by doing and by being actively involved 

in the learning process.

z Provide activities that require active participation of learners.

z Provide activities that involve the learners as whole people: their 

ideas, attitudes, feelings, and physical being.

Adult learners are unique. Each learns in a different way, 

at a different rate, and from different experiences.

z Establish an atmosphere of respect and understanding.

z Use a variety of training techniques.

Participants bring relevant and important knowledge and 

experiences to the training setting. 

z Provide opportunities for sharing information.

z Discuss and analyze participants’ experiences.

z Use participants as a resource and encourage them to participate 

and share their experiences.

Used with permission from the Guide to Participatory Training for Trainers of Primary Health Care Workers, Reproductive Health Response 

in Conflict Consortium. (2007).

face, you might need to say no to some groups. That is okay. You 

probably want to spend some time discussing how to negotiate 

these situations as you develop your training plans. 

Identify the best training 

approaches and methods 

The educational strategies used to deliver the content are often as 

important as the content itself and the person who delivers it. The 

more your trainings include strategies that reinforce the way your 

participants naturally learn, retain, and use information, the more 

effective your trainings will be. 

Adults have special needs and requirements as learners that differ 

from those of children and teens. To increase the effectiveness of your 

trainings, you will need to first understand how adults learn best and 

incorporate some of these strategies into your work (Lieb, 1991). 

Adults retain more when they can learn through a combination of 

seeing, hearing, saying, and doing. They need to feel autonomous 

and self-directed in learning situations, preferring educational 

environments that deliver practical, goal-oriented knowledge that 

seems immediately relevant to their experience (Knowles, 1998). 

The following table highlights principles of adult learning, along 

with their implications for training. 

Taking time to assess and match the best learning strategies to the 

training group improves your chances of accomplishing what you 

set out to do. 

There is more information available about adult learning than 

we can realistically cover within the scope of these guidelines. 

However, the tip sheet Overview of Training Approaches and 

Methods on page 73 in the Appendix summarizes information on 

adult learning styles as well as training approaches and methods.

Learn more: If you want more information on learning styles 

or training techniques, you may be able to tap some expertise 

at your local college or university. State and/or county health 

departments may have education specialists that can help you. You 

might also speak with other learning experts within local business 

training centers (which might also be a good way to develop more 

community partnerships). 

35

Refine and Tailor Your Training Plans
Train with cultural competence

Just as prevention strategies cannot have a one-size-fits-all 

approach, neither can training. Trainers must be aware of the 

many issues that could influence the learning environment. To be 

effective and relevant to diverse groups of participants, training 

design, content, and delivery all need to be done with cultural 

competency. This is different than talking to groups about cultural 

competency. We recommend moving beyond simply trying 

to increase awareness of cultural issues; rather, demonstrate 

your organization’s full engagement and integration of diverse 

perspectives. Working with cultural competence involves changing 

your behavior and is an ongoing, daily, evolving process. Training 

with cultural competence assumes you will actively engage 

participants in learning how to change their behavior as well. 

The Trainer’s Guide for Cancer Education (National Cancer Institute, 

2007) notes that culture influences people’s values, attitudes, 

beliefs, and behavior. Those factors, in turn, influence how they 

learn, communicate, make decisions, and interact in groups. But 

culture does not just mean race or ethnicity. Thinking broadly, 

culture can also include:

z Gender

z Sexual orientation

z Age

z Physical abilities

z Language

z Extent of acculturation

z Regional differences

z Level of education

z Profession or job

z Spiritual beliefs and practices

In The Spirit of Culture: Applying Cultural Competency to Strengthbased Youth Development (Guajardo Lucero, 2000), cultural 

competency is described as a change process that occurs personally 

and professionally as people are exposed to various cultural 

strengths and traditions, learning to do things differently as a 

result. This change process embraces diversity, using an inclusive 

process that involves, reaches, and empowers all members and 

segments of a community. 

Paying attention to everyone’s cultural strengths and traditions 

moves participants from cultural awareness, sensitivity, and 

valuing, to incorporating this newly appreciated information into 

one’s individual, family, and community experiences, actions, and 

philosophies. “It acknowledges, not ignores, our differences,” writes 

Guajardo Lucero (2000, p. 10). “It goes beyond celebrating culture, 

which is often short-term and time limited, to promoting a new 

way of thinking that fully embraces diversity. Embracing means 

getting to know someone, developing a relationship with them, 

and engaging in a process of sharing with them.” 

Consider diverse perspectives 

and influences

As much as people from diverse backgrounds have things 

in common, they are all individuals and present themselves 

differently. When designing and delivering your trainings, keep in 

mind ways that abilities and cultural perspectives can influence 

how people engage and learn. You may need to increase your 

knowledge base about some of these different perspectives to help 

shape your training plans. 

Cultural competence is a topic of special interest and study to many. 

Here, we offer highlights from a variety of sources to help you 

get started in shaping your trainings. We believe the information 

provided on cultural competence will be useful in all aspects of 

your trainings including selecting trainers, tailoring content for 

specific groups to be trained, and determining appropriate training 

approaches as you assess the readiness of individuals within those 

groups. 

Note: The professionals you selected earlier in this process to help 

you develop your training plans will be important resources for also 

helping you shape the cultural competence of your work. 

What training with cultural competence means

Training with cultural competence means trainings are conducted 

within the context of the unique aspects of various populations 

and communities. 

Training with cultural competence 

is different than talking to groups 

“about” cultural competency.

It means promoting a new 

way of thinking that fully 

embraces diversity.

36
Here are a few ideas about the range of different cultural 

perspectives to consider from Communicating for Cultural 

Competence, by James W. Leigh (1998):

z Time frames. Some groups like to start work on time; others 

need time at the beginning of a gathering to socialize first. 

z Space. Culture can influence comfort levels with space 

between bodies. Physical touching, closeness, distance, and eye 

contact can all be space issues.

z Language. This can be more subtle than just different people 

speaking different languages; even similar words in two 

cultures can have different meanings. Take time to understand 

language ahead of time and keep an open mind throughout 

training so you can learn as you go.

z Roles. The range of roles that people occupy can vary between 

cultural groups. For example, family may be nuclear, extended, 

matriarchal, patriarchal; it may be determined by blood 

lineage or include members not necessarily related by blood 

or marriage. Sex roles can be culturally determined with malefemale interactions differing between groups. 

z Groups or individuals. Some cultures may place more stock 

in decisions made by individuals; others may elevate group 

decisions. 

z Rituals. Rituals serve as social communications (such as 

shaking hands or bowing), as a way to invoke power (calling 

upon God, a Higher Power, or Great Spirit), or as a statement of 

belief (such as gospel singing). Rituals represent relationships 

or connection with groups. 

An important note about rituals: The rituals people choose to 

use must be rituals of their own culture that they decide to 

share with others. For example, it would be inappropriate for 

anyone other than a Native American to perform a smudging 

ritual. It may be desirable and important for a group to create 

new rituals common to and meaningful to all within the group. 

z Class and status. Class can be related to family, occupation, 

residence, economic status, or value structures. The status 

attributed to the trainer and participants can vary according to 

different cultural perspectives. 

z Values. People use values to evaluate or judge their world. 

We all learn values as part of the socialization to our culture. 

Values reflect a culture’s view toward politics, economics, 

religion, aesthetics, personal relationships, morality, and the 

environment. 

You may already know some of the cultural perspectives and 

influences of your training participants because of the work you’re 

already doing with organizations and in your communities. You 

can apply what you already know to your training plan, while 

identifying any gaps in your knowledge that need filling in. 37

Refine and Tailor Your Training Plans
Strategies for training 

with cultural competence

The following tips are compiled from The Trainer’s Guide to Cancer 

Education (National Cancer Institute, 2007), The Spirit of Culture: 

Applying Cultural Competency to Strength-based Youth Development, 

Communicating for Cultural Competence (Guajardo Lucero, 2000), 

and interviews with practitioners.

Involve diverse learners in training development. Enlisting 

some of the professionals you will train to help you develop 

and implement your training plans will increase your cultural 

competence. You may need to spend some time forming trusted 

relationships with key members of different community groups, 

working with them first to ensure that members of their groups will 

feel safe, welcomed, and accepted in your training.

Ensure physical and language accessibility. All aspects of a 

training space must be accessible to diverse participants. Make 

sure facilities in which trainings are held have ramps and elevators; 

doors that open easily, preferably with buttons for automatic entry 

(including restrooms); and adequate lighting.

With regard to language, it will be your responsibility (or the 

responsibility of a partnering agency) to make interpreters 

available for both deaf and non-English-speaking participants as 

resources will allow. Some particular points to consider:

z Position deaf participants and sign language interpreters so 

they have an unobstructed view of one another and so the deaf 

participants can also see hearing participants. Deaf participants 

often learn about the tone of a conversation by seeing 

everyone’s facial expression.

z Encourage other participants in the training to speak one at 

a time during discussions and brainstorming sessions. It is 

difficult for sign language and English interpreters to translate 

a free-for-all conversation. 

z Encourage other participants to use Standard English to make it 

easier for language interpreters to translate the conversation. If 

idioms, slang, or oblique references must be used, take time to 

clarify meanings. 

Be inclusive. Inclusiveness means involving, reaching, and 

empowering all participants. It can influence how decisions are 

made, who is asked to lead and train, where trainings are held, 

and how resources are distributed. For example, some people feel 

alienated by a democratic model for decision-making, perceiving 

that it leads to “winners and losers.” They may prefer using a 

consensus model that takes more time and patience. 

38
Take time. Not all cultures engage the same way in group 

settings. In some cultures, for example, it may be important for 

you to invite everyone to share his or her perspective and then wait 

until each person has spoken before moving onto the next point. 

Be sensitive to the timing and tempo of the group you are working 

with, watching for clues about when individuals are ready to accept 

new ideas and when they are not. 

Go beyond literal translations of materials. Simple, literal 

translations of materials do not necessarily capture nuances or 

concepts in a way that works for other cultures. If you find it 

necessary to use translated materials or have training materials 

translated (and have adequate resources to do so), ensure that 

they are grounded in the appropriate cultural contexts and include 

culturally relevant examples that allow groups to relate to the 

information from their own perspectives. You may be able to work 

with groups helping develop your training plans to also help you 

translate the materials you need.

Avoid jargon and generalizations. Some groups, such as health 

or law enforcement professionals, may share common language 

and views of issues within their professions. When you are training 

diverse groups, avoid acronyms, jargon, or other abstract concepts. 

If you do use them, be sure to explain them well. If you use 

generalizations, clearly label them as such and modify them with 

relevant terms such as “many” or “some.”

Respond to individuals. Remember that people within a 

group might share some common traits, but each member of 

the group is unique. Each person has his or her own personal 

experiences, personality traits, values, and belief system. Respond 

to participants individually, instead of making assumptions based 

on how they look or present themselves. Such open-minded 

interactions help trainers and learners alike engage more positively.

Be self-aware. Recognize your own cultural influences on how 

you think and act. Share appropriate personal experiences from 

your own culture, but do not try to be an expert on other groups. Be 

aware of your own power within a group and use it appropriately.

Finally, it may be useful to develop a set of ground rules to use in 

all of your trainings that incorporates the strategies outlined above. 

Exercising common sense and judgment when considering how 

to address issues within trainings and demonstrating respect for 

participants will also be crucial to creating a positive atmosphere in 

your trainings. 

Learn more: Training with cultural competence:

z Advocates for Youth has a section on its website listing 

many good resources to learn about cultural competency 

and working with youth—www.advocatesforyouth.org/

culturalcompetency.htm

z The Spirit of Culture, published by Assets for Colorado Youth—

www.buildassets.org

z “Advanced Cultural Competency for Prevention Organizations” 

an address delivered to WESTCAPT by Eduardo HernándezAlarcón, PhD, National Community Anti-Drug Coalition 

Institute—www.coalitioninstitute.org/SPF_Elements/

Capacity/CulturalCompetence-2004.ppt

z Communicating for Cultural Competence, James W. Leigh 

(Waveland Press, Inc.)—www.waveland.com/Titles/Leigh.htm

z The Community Toolbox includes guidance on how to conduct a 

cultural audit of your organization and how to build a culturally 

competent organization—http://ctb.ku.edu/en/dothework/

tools_tk_9.htm

Complete your plan and prepare to 

deliver trainings

With most of the development work behind you, it is time to 

finalize your plan and work out the nuts-and-bolts details for 

delivering your trainings. Among the last tasks: 

z Review and finalize the training curriculum in consultation with 

the workgroup of professionals you invited to advise you.

z Verify the availability of projected resources and that they will 

be sufficient to implement your training plans.

z Finalize your logic model if you are using one. 

z Prepare and package curriculum and materials, including 

a training agenda with adequate breaks, Powerpoint® 

presentations, and printed handouts collated into binders.

z Schedule trainings.

z Book and prepare training locations.

z Communicate information to participants.

To help finalize the delivery details your plans, use the Summary 

Checklist for Training Deliveryin the Appendix on page 76. 

39

Refine and Tailor Your Training Plans
40
Prepare for Evaluation and Follow-up

How will you know if your training efforts make a difference? How 

will you sustain your efforts in the community and help those you 

train to sustain their efforts as well? The answers are evaluation 

and follow-up. We cannot cover in these guidelines the depth and 

breadth of information available about evaluation and follow-up. 

However, we can provide a few key strategies to help you prepare 

to conduct some simple evaluations and guide your follow-up 

activities.

Overall, you will want to measure changes in the 

following key areas:

z Knowledge—how well participants understand the concepts 

presented. An example might be participants’ understanding of 

how to articulate the scope of sexual and/or intimate partner 

violence in their own community.

z Attitude—how participants think or feel or what they 

believe. An example might be participants’ views on myths 

about sexual and/or intimate partner violence, such as the 

belief that someone’s style of dress contributes to sexual and/or 

intimate partner violence.

z Skills—participants’ ability to behave in certain ways. 

An example might be participants’ ability to address sexist 

comments made by youth with whom they interact.

z Organizational change—how the original context assessed 

earlier on in this process has changed to pave the way for 

needed changes in the workplace. An example might be new 

policies put into place that detail unacceptable behaviors 

along with a clear process for employees to file harassment 

complaints. 

Two kinds of evaluation, when used hand-in-hand, will help 

you understand and articulate the value of your work in the key 

areas described above. One is process evaluation and the other is 

outcome evaluation. 

Note: If you are using the logic model, by the time you reach 

the end of this section of the Guide, you will be able to fill in the 

remaining sections of it.

Plan process evaluation to determine if 

trainings went as planned

Process evaluation examines the quality of your training delivery, 

and identifies gaps between what you intended and what actually 

happened. If training does not produce the results you had hoped 

for, it may be because of flaws in implementation or audience 

selection, not because the training itself is ineffective. The results 

of process evaluation can help you fix these issues before you 

deliver the training again. Conversely, if you are achieving your 

outcomes, you want to know what you did well so you can repeat 

your successes. 

Process evaluation (Valle et al., 2007) can help you:

z Document your work

z Monitor and improve delivery

z Identify barriers and challenges

z Ensure adherence to your implementation plan

z Maintain accountability and quality control

z Provide a context for understanding outcome evaluation results

z Provide timely feedback during the training, not just after it is 

completed

At a minimum, you will want to use process evaluation to 

determine the quality of your trainings and improve delivery where 

you can. This can be done fairly simply by asking questions about 

whether participants liked the training, whether they learned what 

they hoped to learn (and also what you hoped they would learn), if 

the facilities and tools such as handouts or presentation materials 

were conducive to learning, and whether the trainer did a good job. 

For each of your trainings, prepare to conduct a simple process 

evaluation by answering, where appropriate, the following 

questions (Fisher et al., 2006):

z What organizational characteristics, identified in your initial 

assessments, were addressed in your training?

z What characteristics of the individual participants, identified in 

your initial assessments, were addressed in your training?

z What was the participants’ satisfaction with the training? 

z What was the staff’s perception of the training?

z What amount of content (i.e. dosage) did the participants 

receive?

z Did the training follow the basic plan for delivery?

Because some aspects of process evaluation need to be done before 

you deliver the training, such as your organizational and individual 

assessments, and others need to be done during the training, you 

should plan your process evaluation before you actually conduct 

your trainings.

41

Prepare for Evaluation and Follow-up 
Case study: 

The Center for Community Peace plans a process evaluation

before and after training so you can assess how individuals’ 

knowledge, skills, or attitudes changed. This comparison requires 

matching the pre-and posttests through a unique identifier. A 

unique code might be made up of the first four letters of the city/

town in which participants were born and the first four letters of 

the first elementary school they attended. One tip: Pre-and posttest 

questionnaires can also include process evaluation questions.

As part of your post-training follow-up, you can also plan to have 

participants complete a questionnaire to assess how they have 

used what they learned and what successes and barriers they have 

experienced back at the workplace. Follow-up evaluation can also 

include discussions by phone or even site visits to observe changed 

behaviors in the workplace. 

Your ability to conduct outcome evaluation may very well depend 

on available resources. Consider prioritizing resources for outcome 

evaluation initially for those trainings that involve more intense 

skill building rather than one-time, “foot-in-the-door” trainings. 

In the Appendix, the Process Evaluation Questions and 

Activities tip sheet and the Process Evaluation Plan 

Worksheeton pages 77 and 78, respectively, will help you plan 

this part of your evaluation.

Plan outcome evaluation to 

determine if training goals and 

outcomes were achieved

The focus of outcome evaluation is to determine if your training 

made the difference you intended. You are measuring the progress 

and impact of your goals and outcomes including whether there 

have been actual changes in behaviors. 

A retrospective post test is the least time and resource intensive 

of the various outcome evaluation models you could use, but you 

may also elect to conduct a pretest/posttest design for determining 

if you met your goals and outcomes. This typically involves 

administering the same, simple questionnaire to participants 

To help determine if trainings are implemented as planned 

and with high quality, the center plans to conduct a process 

evaluation of its trainings. Before the trainings, the center’s 

director of program evaluation and improvement, Josiah 

Stevens, works with staff, the participant work group from 

the alternative high school, and the selected trainer to decide 

on key process evaluation activities that will maximize 

time and resources. 

Given the organizational assessment done earlier, the center 

understands the kinds of practices and policies that need to 

be examined during the training to increase the high school’s 

effectiveness in reducing negative incidents and increasing 

positive school climate. The center plans to use short surveys 

and interviews to determine how well training participants 

feel the organizational context is addressed. 

The center also plans to adapt a participant satisfaction survey 

used in other programs. The trainer will use sign-in sheets to 

record how many people attend the planned training sessions. 

This information will help the center determine if enough 

participants received sufficient dosage of the trainings offered.

Finally, Stevens will debrief the trainer, selected staff involved 

in the trainings, and the participant work group to assess the 

quality of the training process. He will also look for ideas that 

may help focus follow-up activities. 

42
Case study: 

The Center for Community Peace 

plans an outcome evaluation 

While planning its process evaluation, the center also 

takes some time to outline its outcome evaluation, 

including plans for:

z Conducting a pretest/posttest survey to determine 

changes in participants’ awareness and knowledge of 

the identified topics. The survey will also assess whether 

participants learned new skills. 

z Follow-up written and/or telephone surveys ideally at 

3-, 6-, and 9-month intervals to determine if learned 

skills are being used in the organizational context and 

measuring whether the goals and outcomes of the 

training are being achieved. 

Center staff plans to talk with school administrative staff 

about the resources needed to conduct process evaluation 

at varying intervals. While acknowledging that follow-up 

is often key to addressing barriers and potential problems 

while also helping to ensure new skills are put into practice, 

the center may not have enough resources of its own to do all 

the process evaluation activities. Center staff plans to ask the 

school’s administration for help completing these tasks.

In the Appendix on page 79, you will find a Tip sheet of Sample 

Outcome Evaluation Questions.

Learn more: The following resources discuss how to develop and 

implement training evaluation, including information on ethics and 

confidentiality considerations in data collection.

z Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Programs 

Evaluation Guide—www.cdc.gov/pubs/ncipc.aspx

z W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook—www.wkkf.

org/Pubs/Tools/Evaluation/Pub770.pdf

Determine appropriate 

follow-up activities 

As professionals go back to their workplaces and start to implement 

the new skills you taught them, they will inevitably encounter 

barriers and distractions. Research has shown that follow-up 

activities or “boosters” are important for increasing the likelihood 

that new knowledge and skills will be put into practice. 

Although there is no formula for follow-up activities, we 

recommend you develop follow-up plans that do the following 

as resources allow:

z Provide technical assistance after training

z Assess and support organizational integration

z Consider mentoring, coaching, trainer “on call,” and/or 

practicum

z Use ongoing training for incremental learning and to reinforce 

material

z Encourage participants to go back and share the impact of the 

training on their work

z Use follow-up to inform training evaluation 

Another kind of follow-up is facilitating the establishment of a 

collaborative learning environment among the participants after 

the training. Participants meet regularly to discuss how they are 

using their new knowledge and skills, meeting challenges, and 

problem solving. 

When determining the right level of follow-up, consider how much 

change the knowledge or skills you teach represent for participants. 

The newer or less familiar the skills, the more follow-up may 

be needed. You will also need to assess the trainer’s capacity for 

follow-up and participants’ willingness to engage after the training.

43

Prepare for Evaluation and Follow-up 
Case study:

The Center for Community Peace 

works on follow-up plans

When developing its evaluation plans, the center decided to 

follow up with participants using written or telephone surveys 

at 3-, 6-, and 9-month intervals to find out if learned skills 

are being applied and what kind of impacts they are having. 

The center is most interested in finding out whether school 

staff are more effectively interrupting and even preventing 

sexualized bullying and harassment, describing more 

activities and events related to modeling positive interactions, 

and enforcing existing policies and practices. 

Through telephone interviews with key participants including 

administrators, staff, and youth, Josiah Stevens, evaluation 

director, discovers that several young people have been 

working to identify factors that students feel increase positive 

school climate and are promoting those factors within the 

school through existing clubs. Staff report that enforcing 

existing policies and practices has been more easily supported 

by administrators than enactment of new rules perceived as 

needed by staff. It is determined that administrators are not 

unwilling to move ahead; rather, they are unsure of how to do 

so. The center is asked to do an in-service workshop to help 

develop a plan. 

Because the center’s evaluation and the alternative high 

school’s own internal tracking show that incidents of 

sexualized bullying and harassment have gone down since the 

trainings, school district administrators have invited center 

and school representatives—both staff and youth—to give 

a presentation at an upcoming meeting about successful 

strategies that could be generalized throughout the entire 

district. 

Think about how to sustain learning

While many professionals working in prevention agree that 

sustainability is important, not everyone agrees on what 

sustainability means or exactly how to accomplish it. A 

Sustainability Toolkit for Prevention Using Getting to Outcomes

(Johnson et al., 2009) summarizes some of the key findings 

gleaned from research that provide insight into what sustainable 

organizations are doing well. 

First, as with many other aspects of prevention work, successful 

sustainability involves deliberate planning. It is important to start 

thinking about sustainability at the beginning of your planning 

process. Planning for sustainability means considering some of the 

strategies suggested in this guide, including how to: 

z Connect prevention goals with your training efforts

z Maximize your existing resources and target your efforts in 

meaningful ways

z Increase the relevance of your work by involving diverse groups 

from your communities

z Identify and build training capacity in your organization so you 

can conduct more trainings and improve your existing trainings 

as you learn more from process and outcome evaluations

z Develop and strengthen relationships and partnerships vital to 

your success

Think about key leverage points to maximize your efforts to sustain 

your work. One example comes from the National Sexual Violence 

Resource Center (NSVRC), the nation’s principle information and 

resource center for all aspects of sexual violence. NSVRC noticed 

prevention advocates were often at odds with the media. Without 

fully understanding sexual violence and under tight deadlines, 

journalists frequently misrepresented or sensationalized issues 

in ways that perpetuated destructive myths, such as blaming the 

victim or stereotyping survivors and perpetrators. 

To begin addressing communications issues, the NSVRC initially 

partnered with the Poynter Institute, a training center for 

Think early in your planning 

process about how to sustain 

your efforts instead of waiting 

until the end.

44
45

Prepare for Evaluation and Follow-up 
journalists, to try and create better, on-going communications 

between advocates and journalists by developing a series of 

seminars on sexual violence beginning with a series of three-day 

training seminars. The only requirement was that advocates and 

journalists had to participate in pairs. An advocate who wanted to 

attend had to find a local journalist who would also attend. The 

seminars focused on addressing inaccuracies and destructive myths 

about sexual violence while also building important, longer-term 

professional relationships and social bonds between advocates and 

reporters that led to better communications and reporting. 

To sustain what was learned and built within the trainings, all 

participants were given tools to use after the trainings, such as 

a listserv, to maintain communications and continued learning. 

The trainings, ongoing communications, and tools helped both 

advocates and journalists continue to use their new relationships to 

do fact checking or share perspectives when stories emerged. The 

continued demand for the trainings also fosters ongoing positive 

communications. 

Training tips to help build sustainability

Sustainability must be addressed on two levels: 1) ensuring the 

sustainability of your training plans, and 2) ensuring that trainees 

can sustain what they learn once they return to their workplaces. 

Consider your capacities first. What can you do to ensure 

your continued capacity to provide high-quality trainings to your 

constituencies? Think about the following:

z Including potential learners in the early stages of your 

training plan development will help focus your resources and 

goals, leading to more effective trainings. This will also help 

strengthen your existing relationships or help start new ones.

z Making cultural competency a consistent priority in how and 

what you are teaching will also increase the relevance—and 

potential sustainability—of your work. Participants will feel 

more invested in your process, plans, and activities if you are 

working with them in culturally sensitive ways. 

z Being realistic about the resources you have to devote to 

training will help prioritize your decisions about what you do. 

z Routinely evaluating your results—and asking participants for 

candid feedback—will provide the information you need to 

continually improve your trainings and help determine which 

efforts are worth sustaining. 

z Periodically taking time to update your plans and reexamine 

community needs and priorities can guide you in making 

necessary changes that will help keep your plans relevant.

Remember to do periodic refreshers for your own staff to make 

sure everyone is still on the same page about your organization’s 

prevention and training goals. 

Now consider the professionals you are training. How can you help 

them sustain what they take with them from your trainings? One 

of the most important strategies is to go beyond training at the 

individual level. If the people you train leave their organizations, 

they take their new knowledge and skills with them. Make it a 

priority to train multiple levels of staff (e.g., management and line 

staff). This will help build organizational capacity to support the 

sustainability of primary prevention efforts. 

Other factors to consider:

z Readiness. Make it your business to know where 

organization’s stand in their readiness to engage in prevention 

efforts. Perhaps part of the preparation for or follow-up to your 

trainings is to determine what sort of policies and procedures 

need to change to support change in the workplace. Work 

with organization leaders to address these needed changes, 

empower trainees to identify and push for them, then followup to help bring about the changes.

z Redundancy. Think of ways to repeat key pieces of 

information for participants on how prevention can be 

accomplished in a variety of activities as setting priorities, 

allocating resources, building partnerships, or doing cost/

benefit analyses. Hearing the same message over and over 

-- in different ways, in different contexts and using different 

ideas appropriate to various activities -- will help participants 

remember important information and also demonstrate how 

repeated messaging is necessary to help sustain their own 

prevention efforts. 

z Resources. Suggest meaningful ways for organizations to 

build their own capacities for prevention, including sharing 

resources and creating new partnerships. One strategy to 

try is cross-training several different organizations at once. 

It conserves your resources while facilitating connections 

between organizations that might not have connected before. 

Another strategy is to conduct training-of-trainers to help 

extend your training capacities.

One strategy that will help you and the organizations you are 

working with is to focus. As we have said before, you cannot train 

everyone. Prioritize your list of potential trainees and start with 

a few key organizations first. Build in some review and reflection 

time to assess how your first few trainings went, then make 

changes to improve your work before moving ahead. 

46
Also, encourage the professionals you are training to prioritize. In 

your trainings, make concrete suggestions about where to start 

their change efforts when they go back to their organizations. 

Encourage them to stop and notice their successes so they can 

repeat them. They will build credibility and confidence as they 

move forward, which will help build sustainability, too. 

Review progress and 

put the results to work

Once you have implemented your training plan a few times, you 

will have gathered some very useful information that can help you 

improve your work. Process evaluation should reveal how to deliver 

trainings more effectively; outcome evaluation should reveal 

whether your trainings are having the intended impacts in both the 

short and long term. 

Incorporating follow-up activities appropriate for the groups being 

trained will help you continue to guide professionals toward more 

meaningful sexual and/or intimate partner violence prevention 

work as well as allow you to maintain important relationships 

within the community to help strengthen your work. Finally, 

thinking about ways to sustain your prevention work and the 

work of your community partners early on in your training plan 

development will help you wisely use the resources you have now 

and develop ways of supporting your training plans in the future. 

47

Prepare for Evaluation and Follow-up 
48
Conclusion: Train, Learn, and Train Again

Congratulations! You have made it to the end of the Training 

Guide. If all of the steps presented seem overwhelming or beyond 

the scope of your organization’s resources or capacity right now, 

remember -- it is not necessary to incorporate every step right 

away. Start with the steps you can do and build in additional steps 

as your training plan evolves.

As you develop, deliver, and evaluate your organization’s training 

plan, keep this Guide handy. Take advantage of the tools found 

in the Appendix, and check out the additional resources noted 

throughout the Guide. The Guide and tools should help you plan, 

deliver, then fine-tune your trainings, learning about ways to 

improve your work as you move ahead. 

We wish you success in your training efforts!

49

Conclusion: Train, Learn, and Train Again
50
Appendix

This Appendix contains additional resources and tools to help you develop, deliver, and evaluate your training plan. 

Each work sheet can be tailored to fit the needs of your planning process.

Tip sheet: Suggested Professionals to Train for Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Prevention .

Whom to Train: Youth-serving agencies .

Whom to Train: Childcare/daycare agencies   

Whom to Train: Faith-based organizations .

Whom to Train: Agencies focused on working with men and boys .

Whom to Train: Violence prevention organizations and coalitions   

Whom to Train: School and higher education personnel  .

Whom to Train: Health care providers .

Tip sheet: Nine Principles of Effective Prevention Programs At a Glance .

Worksheet: Criteria for Selecting Trainers .

Worksheet: Background Information for Training Plan Development . 

Case Study: The Center for Community Peace .

Worksheet: Background Information for Training Plan Development . 

Worksheet: Use a Logic Model to Map Plan Details .

Training Logic Model .

Case Study: The Center for Community Peace (Completed Training Logic Model) .

Tip sheet: Overview of Training Approaches and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Worksheet: Summary Checklist for Training Delivery   

Tip sheet: Process Evaluation Questions and Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Worksheet: Plan a Process Evaluation . 

Tip sheet: Sample Outcome Evaluation Questions .

Tip sheet: Expert Solutions to the 12 Most Common Training Delivery Problems of Novice Trainers   

51

Appendix
Tip sheet:

Suggested Professionals to Train for Sexual and 

Intimate Partner Violence Prevention

Whom to Train: Youth-serving agencies

Examples z Leadership, staff, board members , volunteers

Rationale z Provides access to universal and selected populations

z Infrastructure exists for local collaboration

z Closed environment provides opportunities for testing and closer monitoring of what works and what doesn’t 

work

Suggested 

training 

content

z Risk and protective factors for sexual, intimate partner, and/or teen dating violence

z How to identify, intervene, and address sexualized bullying and other abusive behaviors

z Bystander interventions

z Community responsibility for sexual and intimate partner violence prevention and the promotion of healthy 

relationships.

Example 

outcomes

z Articulate primary prevention principles 

z Articulate risk and protective factors for sexual, intimate, and/or teen dating violence

z Work with selected populations on interventions to minimize risk and increase protective factors

z Develop peer leadership for sexual and teen dating violence prevention

z Develop, implement, and evaluate programs, policies, and practices for increased prevention effectiveness

z Prepare and mobilize communities to embrace and commit to programs, policies, and practices that prevent 

sexual, intimate partner, and or teen dating violence

z Work with parents, families, and communities on building assets and promoting positive youth development 

to prevent risk behaviors from developing

z Promote community responsibility for healthy relationships

z Collect key data on strategy implementation and use data to improve programs, practices, and policies

Suggested resources:

A Place to Start: A Resource Kit for Preventing Sexual Violence by the Sexual Violence Prevention Program of the Minnesota Department of 

Health; see the section on youth development —www.health.state.mn.us/injury/pub/kit/index.cfm

Our Vulnerable Teenagers: Their Victimization, Its Consequences, and Directions for Prevention and Intervention; a review of research on teen 

victimization and its impact on America’s youth as well as information on promising prevention and intervention techniques – www.ncvc.

org/ncvc/AGP.Net/Components/documentViewer/Download.aspxnz?DocumentID=32558

52
Whom to Train: Childcare/daycare agencies

Examples z Leadership, staff, volunteers, liscensing boards

Rationale z Provides access to universal populations 

z Opportunities to focus on activities at the relationship level with parents and/or guardians

z Opportunities to address risk factors before they develop

Suggested 

training 

content

z Understanding risk and protective factors for sexual and intimate partner violence

z Age-appropriate content related to sexual and intimate partner violence prevention that can be added to or 

integrated into existing curriculum (e.g., respect, empathy, safety of others)

z Bystander interventions

z Community responsibility for sexual and intimate partner violence prevention and the promotion of healthy 

relationships.

Example 

outcomes

z Articulate primary prevention principles

z Articulate risk and protective factors for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

z Develop, implement, and evaluate programs, policies, and practices for increased prevention effectiveness

z Prepare and mobilize communities to embrace and commit to programs, policies, and practices that prevent 

sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

z Work with parents, families, and communities on building assets and promoting positive youth development 

to prevent risk behaviors from developing

z Promote community responsibility for healthy relationships

z Collect key data on strategy implementation and use data to improve programs, practices, and policies

Suggested resources:

National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (VAWnet) has a special collection of resources on working with children 

toward a healthy, nonviolent future – http://new.vawnet.org/category/index_pages.php?category_id=808

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Within Youth-serving Organizations: Getting Started on Policies and Procedures – 

www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/PreventingChildAbuse.htm

Reframing Child Abuse and Neglect for Increased Understanding and Engagement from Prevent Child Abuse America – 

www.preventchildabuse.org/about_us/reframing/downloads/reframing%20revised.pdfa

53

Tip sheet: Whom to Train – Suggested Professionals to Train 
Whom to Train: Faith-based organizations

Examples z interfaith coalitions, clergy, youth leaders

Rationale z Provides access to universal and selected populations 

z Unique opportunity to implement comprehensive activities, or activities that impact the same populations, 

across the social ecological framework of individuals, relationships, and communities

Suggested 

training 

content

z Understanding risk and protective factors for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

z Bystander interventions

z Age-appropriate content related to sexual violence, intimate partner violence and/or teen dating violence 

prevention that can be added to or integrated into existing curriculum (e.g., healthy relationships, respect, 

empathy, safety of others)

z Community responsibility for sexual and intimate partner violence prevention and the promotion of healthy 

relationships.

Example 

outcomes

z Articulate primary prevention principles

z Articulate risk and protective factors for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

z Work with selected populations on interventions to minimize risk and increase protective factors

z Develop, implement, and evaluate programs, policies, and practices for increased prevention effectiveness

z Prepare and mobilize communities to embrace and commit to programs, policies, and practices that prevent 

sexual violence

z Work with parents, families, and communities on building assets and promoting positive youth development 

to prevent risk behaviors from developing

z Promote community responsibility for healthy relationships

z Collect key data on strategy implementation and use data to improve programs, practices, and policies

Suggested resources:

FaithTrust Institute is an international, multifaith organization working to end sexual and domestic violence – www.faithtrustinstitute.org

A Place to Start: A Resource Kit for Preventing Sexual Violence by the Sexual Violence Prevention Program of the Minnesota Department of 

Health; see the section for faith-based communities – www.health.state.mn.us/injury/pub/kit/index.cfm

“Speaking Out: Faith Communities & Sexual Assault” in Connections (Spring/SummeAvr 2004) from the Washington Coalition of Sexual 

Assault Programs – www.wcsap.org/pdf/Connections%20Faith.pdf

54
Whom to Train: Agencies focused on working with men and boys

Examples z YMCA, Boy Scouts, fatherhood initiatives

Rationale z Provides access to universal and selected populations 

z Opportunity to focus on prevention of perpetration 

Suggested 

training 

content

z How to identify, intervene, and address sexualized bullying and other abusive behaviors

z Identify and address norms of masculinity

z Bystander interventions

z Age-appropriate content related to sexual and teen dating violence prevention that can be added to or 

integrated into existing curriculum (e.g., healthy relationships, respect, empathy, safety of others)

z Community responsibility for sexual, intimate partner, and teen dating violence prevention and the 

promotion of healthy relationships

Example 

outcomes

z Articulate primary prevention principles

z Articulate risk and protective factors for sexual, intimate partner, and teen dating violence

z Work with selected populations on interventions to minimize risk and increase protective factors

z Develop peer leadership for sexual, intimate partner and/or teen dating violence preventio

z Develop, implement, and evaluate programs, policies, and practices for increased prevention effectiveness

z Prepare and mobilize communities to embrace and commit to programs, policies, and practices that prevent 

sexual violence

z Work with parents, families, and communities on building assets and promoting positive youth development 

to prevent risk behaviors from developing

z Promote community responsibility for healthy relationships

z Collect key data on strategy implementation and use data to improve programs, practices, and policies

Suggested resources:

Family Violence Prevention Fund Toolkit for Working with Men and Boys to Prevent Gender Based Violence – 

http://toolkit.endabuse.org/Home.html

Fact sheet and report: Projects designed to prevention first time male perpetration of sexual violence from the National Sexual Violence 

Resource Center – www.nsvrc.org/_cms/fileUpload/RTI_Report_updated%202008.pdf

55

Tip sheet: Whom to Train – Suggested Professionals to Train 
Whom to Train: Violence prevention organizations and coalitions

Examples Agencies and organizations with a mission to end sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence: 

z Rape crisis centers/women’s shelters

z Women’s health centers

z Men’s groups organized to be allies to prevent violence against women 

z Research centers

z State and community coalitions

z Board members and constituents for any of the above 

Rationale z Mission mandate

z Existing infrastructure

z Increased readiness

Suggested 

training 

content

z Primary prevention principles

z Risk and protective factors for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

z Programs, policies, and practices that address sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence prevention

z Methods for garnering community responsibility and/or support for sexual and/ or intimate partner violence 

prevention and the promotion of healthy relationships

z Goals and benefits of evaluating programs, policies, and practices

z Community responsibility for sexual and intimate partner violence prevention and the promotion of healthy 

relationships.

Example 

outcomes

z Articulate primary prevention principles

z Articulate risk and protective factors for sexual and intimate partner violence

z Develop, implement, and evaluate programs, policies, and practices for increased prevention effectiveness

z Prepare and mobilize communities to embrace and commit to programs, policies, and practices that prevent 

sexual and intimate partner violence

z Promote community responsibility for healthy relationships

z Collect key data on strategy implementation and use data to improve programs, practices, and policies

Suggested resources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control – www.cdc.gov/ncipc

National Sexual Violence Resource Center – www.nsvrc.org

Prevention Connection – www.preventconnect.org

National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (VAWnet) – www.vawnet.org

World Report on Violence and Health from the World Health Organization – 

www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/

Sexual Violence Prevention: Beginning the Dialogue; identifies concepts and strategies that may be used as a foundation for planning, 

implementing, and evaluating sexual violence prevention activities –www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/SVPrevention.html

(Continued next page) 56
Examples Agencies and organizations with a mission to end other types of violence or violence in general:

z SV/IPV advocates

z Youth violence prevention advocates

z Child and elder maltreatment prevention advocates

z Community peace coalitions

z Safe and Drug Free School coalitions

Rationale Related mission

z Ability to address shared risk and protective factors (exposure to family violence, association with delinquent 

peers, and increased community violence and/or tolerance for violence) across different types of violence 

(sexual violence, intimate partner violence, child maltreatment, bullying, youth violence, suicide, etc.)

Suggested 

training 

content

Same as above 

Note: Be open to cross-training on other violence issues to better understand shared risk and protective factors 

and to explore opportunities for collaboration

Example 

outcomes

Same as above and also:

Reporting back to training agency on successes, challenges, and community concerns related to sexual and/or 

intimate violence prevention

Suggested resources:

“Primary prevention of intimate partner violence and sexual violence: Background paper for WHO expert meeting” explores the shared risk 

and protective factors for IPV and SV and looks at crosscutting prevention strategies – 

www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/activities/intimate/en/index.html

Examples Continued next page . . . 

Suggested resources (continued):

Sexual Violence and the Spectrum of Prevention: Towards a Community Solution; explores the Spectrum of Prevention tool, which outlines six 

levels of intervention and focuses on changing conditions and norms that allow sexual violence to occur –

www.nsvrc.org/_cms/fileUpload/spectrum.pdf

“Sexual Violence Prevention” in The Prevention Researcher (April 2007); draws from both the feminist movement and research-based 

approaches to highlight the foundations of effective sexual violence prevention – www.preventconnect.org/articles/lee%202007%20

Sexual%20Violence%20Prevention.pdf

Moving Up Stream, quarterly newsletter on the primary prevention of sexual violence, from the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence 

Action Alliance – www.vsdvalliance.org/secPublications/newsletters.html

Partners in Social Change series from the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs; information and resources on the prevention of 

sexual violence with an emphasis on social change – www.wcsap.org/prevention/index.htm

Guidelines for the Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence and Intimate Partner Violence from the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action 

Alliance – http://www.vsdvalliance.org/secPublications/Prevention%20Guidelines%202009%5B1%5D.pdf

57

Tip sheet: Whom to Train – Suggested Professionals to Train 
Examples Agencies and organizations with a mission to promote protective factors for families and communities and/or to 

reduce risk factors associated with sexual violence

Agencies that address shared protective factors: 

z Head Start programs

z Chambers of Commerce/local business coalitions

z Mayor’s or governor’s task forces

z Local and state government agencies and departments including DFCS workers, legislators, and policy makers

z Healthy family, youth, and/or community coalitions

Agencies that address shared risk factors: 

z Community psychologists

z Family counselors

z Health care providers

z Teen pregnancy prevention providers

z Substance abuse prevention workers

z Harm reduction outreach workers

z MADD/SADD coalitions

z Local and state government agencies and departments including legislators and policy makers

Rationale z Provide access to universal and selected populations

z Many existing infrastructures on which to build potential local collaborations

z Opportunities to address shared protective and risk factors for different behaviors 

and community characteristics

Suggested 

training 

content

Risk and protective factors for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

Programs, policies, and practices that address sexual violence and/or intimate partner prevention 

Methods for garnering community responsibility and/or support for sexual violence and/or intimate partner 

prevention and the promotion of healthy relationships

Note: Be open to cross-training on other issues to better understand shared protective and risk factors and to 

identify opportunities for enhanced collaboration

Example 

outcomes

Same as above

Suggested resources:

Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior – 

www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/sexualhealth/call.htm

58
Whom to Train: School and higher education personnel

Examples Primary and secondary school personnel:

z Administrators

z Faculty/staff

z Cafeteria workers

z Bus drivers

z Custodians

z Safe and Drug Free School liaisons

Rationale z Provides access to youth

z Provides access to universal and selected populations

z Infrastructure exists for local collaboration

z Closed environment provides opportunities for testing and closer monitoring of what works and doesn’t work

Suggested 

training 

content

z Risk and protective factors for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

z How to identify, intervene, and address sexualized bullying and other abuse behaviors

z Bystander interventions

z Content related to sexual violence and/or teen dating violence prevention that can be added to or integrated 

into existing curriculum (e.g., health or sex education, bullying prevention, character education programs, 

healthy relationships and respect, empathy, safety of others)

z Changing school culture

z Community responsibility for sexual, intimate partner, and teen dating violence prevention and the 

promotion of healthy relationships.

Example 

outcomes

z Articulate primary prevention principles

z Articulate risk and protective factors for sexual, intimate partner, and teen dating violence

z Work with selected populations on interventions to minimize risk and increase protective factors

z Develop peer leadership for sexual and teen dating violence prevention

z Develop, implement, and evaluate programs, policies, and practices for increased prevention effectiveness

z Prepare and mobilize communities to embrace and commit to programs, policies, and practices that prevent 

sexual, intimate partner, and teen dating violence

z Work with parents, families, and communities on building assets and promoting positive youth development 

to prevent risk behaviors from developing

z Promote community responsibility for healthy relationships

z Collect key data on strategy implementation and use data to improve programs, practices, and policies

Suggested resources (See next page):

59

Tip sheet: Whom to Train – Suggested Professionals to Train 
Suggested resources (continued):

A Guide to Addressing Teen Dating and Sexual Violence in School Settings – 

http://safestate.org/documents/TDV_A_Guide_to_Addressing_Teen_Dating_Violence_ADAoe.pdf

Harassment-Free Hallways: How to Stop Sexual Harassment in Schools by the American Association of University Women Education 

Foundation – http://new.vawnet.org/category/documents.php?docid=552

A Place to Start: A Resource Kit for Preventing Sexual Violence by the Sexual Violence Prevention Program of the Minnesota Department of 

Health; see the section for schools – www.health.state.mn.us/injury/pub/kit/index.cfm

Creating School-wide Prevention and Intervention Strategies – 

http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20707/n/off/other/1/name/preventionpdf/

Examples College and university personnel:

z Administrators

z Faculty/staff

z Governing boards

Rationale Same as above

Suggested 

training 

content

Same as above

Example 

outcomes

Same as above and also:

z Garner additional support for sexual and dating violence prevention programming via campus programs (e.g., 

fraternities, athletics)

Suggested resources:

American College Health Association Toolkit: Shifting the Paradigm: Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence – 

www.acha.org/SexualViolence

Recommended Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexual Assault Response and Prevention on Campus – 

www.oregonsatf.org/documents/Campus_SA_Guidelines_Final.pdf

60
Whom to Train: Health care providers

Examples z Nurse practitioners

z Physicians assistants

z Local health department staff

z Hospital staff including community liaisons

z Mental health professionals

z Counselors

z Primary care clinics

z Pediatric offices

z Health care and hospital associations

Rationale z Provides access to universal and selected populations

Suggested 

training 

content

z Risk and protective factors for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

z Bystander interventions

z Community resources for persons seeking support when potential perpetration behaviors have been 

identified

Example 

outcomes

z Articulate primary prevention principles

z Articulate risk and protective factors for sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

z Work with selected populations on interventions to minimize risk and increase protective factors

z Develop, implement, and evaluate programs, policies, and practices for increased prevention effectiveness

z Prepare and mobilize communities to embrace and commit to programs, policies, and practices that prevent 

sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence

z Work with parents, families, and communities on building assets and promoting positive youth development 

to prevent risk behaviors from developing

z Promote community responsibility for healthy relationships

z Collect key data on strategy implementation and use data to improve programs, practices, and policies

Suggested resources:

International Association of Forensic Nurses has a project to expand the capacity of forensic nurses to address the primary prevention of 

sexual violence. As part of this project, they have materials on their web site that may be useful for all health care providers – 

www.iafn.org

A Place to Start: A Resource Kit for Preventing Sexual Violence by the Sexual Violence Prevention Program of the Minnesota Department of 

Health; see the section for health care providers – www.health.state.mn.us/injury/pub/kit/index.cfm

61

Tip sheet: Whom to Train – Suggested Professionals to Train 
Tip sheet:

Nine Principles of Effective Prevention Programs At a Glance

The following nine principles are distilled from the review of a large body of literature on effective prevention programs that was 

summarized in an article in the American Psychologist titled “What works in prevention: Principles of Effective Prevention Programs” 

(Nation et al., 2003).

 1. Comprehensive: Strategies should include multiple components and affect multiple settings to address a wide range of risk and 

 protective factors of the target problem.

 2. Varied teaching methods: Strategies should include multiple teaching methods, including some type of active, skills-based component.

 3. Sufficient dosage: Participants need to be exposed to enough of the activity for it to have an effect.

4. Theory-driven: Preventive strategies should have a scientific justification or logical rationale.

5. Positive relationships: Programs should foster strong, stable, positive relationships between children and adults. 

6. Appropriately timed: Program activities should happen at a time (developmentally) that can have maximal 

 impact in a participant’s life. 

7. Socio-culturally relevant: Programs should be tailored to fit within cultural beliefs and practices of specific groups as 

 well as local community norms.

8. Outcome evaluation: A systematic outcome evaluation is necessary to determine whether a program or strategy worked.

9. Well-trained staff: Programs need to be implemented by staff members who are sensitive, competent, and have received 

 sufficient training, support, and supervision.

62
Trainer skills Yes/No Additional comments

Knows subject matter (has studied/experienced 

topic, has given similar trainings)

Knows audience (respects and listens to 

participants, reads verbal and nonverbal 

responses and adapts)

Understands group dynamics and how to teach to 

different learning styles

Culturally sensitive (aware of personal views and 

beliefs shaped by own culture, understands how 

participants’ cultures shape their perspectives)

Respects differences of opinion and lifestyles 

(inclusive, neutral and nonjudgmental)

Knows self (aware, confident, open to 

suggestions, responds easily to audience)

Professional demeanor (lively, enthusiastic, 

flexible, supportive, uses humor appropriately)

Engages an audience (uses varied presentation 

techniques, makes clear and easy-to-remember 

remarks, illustrates subject matter in 

different ways)

Compassionate (understands potential emotional 

impact of material and how to handle reactions)

Adapted from “Trainer Skills Checklist,” Trainer’s Guide for Cancer Education, National Cancer Institute

Worksheet:

Criteria for Selecting Trainers

Training: 

Name(s) of potential trainer(s): 

63

Worksheet: Criteria for Selecting Trainers
Worksheet:

Background Information for Training Plan Development

This training is for: 

The Questions What do we know already? What else do we need to know?

What are the needs and 

problems to address?

Why are we doing 

this training?

Whom are we training? 

Who is helping us develop 

the training?

What are the core topics 

to cover for this group in 

this training?

What additional content 

should be covered in this 

training?

What is important to 

consider about the 

organizational context of 

the group we 

are training?

•	 Potential barriers

•	 Existing strength

What do we know about 

the readiness of individuals 

to participate in this 

training?

What kinds of resources 

do we need?

64
The Questions What do we know already? What else do we need to know?

Using our selection criteria, 

who are the best trainers 

for this specific training 

and why?

What are the best 

approaches for training the 

selected group?

What will ensure this 

training is done with 

cultural competence?

What do we anticipate our 

evaluation needs will be 

for this training?

What do we anticipate our 

follow-up needs will be 

for this training?

65

Worksheet: Background Information for Training Plan Development
Worksheet: Background Information for Training Plan Development

Case Study:

The Center for Community Peace

This training is for: Alternative High School

The Questions What do we know already? What else do we need to know?

What are the needs and 

problems to address?

z Community coalition has discovered 

concerns and incidents among local 

youth in general about sexualized 

bullying and sexual assault.

z As a result of looking into the issue, it 

has been discovered that these issues 

are of particular concern to youth in the 

alternative high school.

z More details including available data and/or reports on 

incidents from the alternative high school.

z What are the exact behaviors students are seeing and/

or experiencing?

z What do students think are the underlying causes of 

the problem? Why is it happening?

z Who are the perpetrators?

z Who are the victims?

z Do students and school officials see any patterns to the 

sexualized bullying and abuse?

z What do students think the school is doing to address 

the problem?

z What do students think is the best way to address the 

situation with school officials and the perpetrators? 

z Does this school admit that there is a problem? 

z If so, what are the exact behaviors school officials are 

seeing?

z What do officials think are the root causes of the 

problem? Why is it happening?

Why are we doing 

this training?

z Students are complaining about 

sexualized bullying and other forms of 

abuse.

z Students and parents want the problem 

resolved. 

z The school district needs to play an 

active role in resolving the problem.

z The coalition has asked us to provide 

training

z What is the school’s level of comfort and openness with 

having us do trainings to address the issues? 

(Continued next page)

66
Whom are we training? z Teachers, coaches, and administrative 

staff are all logical choices.

z What do students think the school is doing to address 

the problem?

z Who do students think should address the problem?

z What does the school say it is doing to address the 

problem? 

z Who does the school think is responsible for addressing 

the problem?

z Are there policies in place and consequences for 

breaking rules?

z Is the school willing to take an active role?

z If so, what do school officials think is the best 

way to address the situation with victims and the 

perpetrators?

Who is helping us develop 

the training?

z Two coalition members, Jorge Chavez 

(parent) and Anna Warren (police 

department detective, Special Victims 

Unit)

z Who among school staff and/or administrators would 

be good resources for helping to shape the trainings?

z Are there students who might have valuable input to 

help make the trainings more relevant and concrete?

What are the core topics 

to cover for this group in 

this training?

What additional content 

should be covered in this 

training?

z Basic Knowledge: What is sexualized 

bullying and abuse?

z Consequences: What happens to 

victims and perpetrators? Why should 

sexualized bullying and abuse be 

considered a problem that needs to be 

addressed at the school level?

z Responsibility: The policies schools 

should put in place.

z Empowerment: The actions students, 

parents, and school staff can take in 

identifying and preventing bullying and 

abuse.

z Statistics: Get concrete examples of how sexualized 

bullying and abuse is affecting students (without 

breaking any confidences). 

z Consequences: Local and state laws – Find out the 

exact responsibilities schools must assume and the 

risks school employees have, personal and professional, 

if they do not implement and enforce an intervention 

and prevention program.

(Continued next page)

67

Worksheet: Background Information for Training Plan Development
The Questions What do we know already? What else do we need to know?

What is important to 

consider about the 

organizational context of 

the group we 

are training?

•	 Potential barriers

•	 Existing strength

z Since the issues emerged late in the 

school year and potential planning 

meetings can’t happen until the spring, 

it probably makes sense to take extra 

time over the summer and plan on 

having the trainings occur in the fall.

z There are some possible concerns that 

a few school staff don’t really believe 

the issues are real. Others disagree 

about what constitutes sexually harmful 

behavior. These issues will need to be 

addressed in the trainings.

z Several staff have stepped forward 

and already volunteered to be part of 

the discussion. They could be potential 

advocates. 

z Prospective dates for trainings in the fall once a slate of 

topics is developed.

z What are the attitudes and knowledge levels among 

staff and administrators?

What do we know about 

the readiness of individuals 

to participate in this 

training?

z Three staff and several administrators 

have stepped forward to participate in 

a focus group to discuss the issues, why 

it’s happening in the school, and what 

the trainings should cover.

z How do we assess the readiness of other staff and 

administrators to participate in the trainings without 

spending too much time and resources just in this one 

area?

What kinds of resources 

do we need?

z The school has offered space, time, use 

of copiers and A/V equipment, etc. for 

the trainings in the fall.

z Still need to work out times for teachers to attend 

trainings.

z Will the district/school/union allow CLE credit for 

teachers who attend to boost incentives?

z Will the school/district make the trainings mandatory?

z How will the school help promote the importance of 

the trainings and encourage teachers to participate?

z How will time for additional staff such as bus drivers, 

cafeteria workers, and other administrative staff be 

budgeted?

z Do all personnel need the same content and dosage? 

Using our selection criteria, 

who are the best trainers 

for this specific training 

and why?

z Center staff will be able to handle these 

trainings.

z What sort of clearances and permissions will we need 

to have two students participate as co-trainers?

z What kind of support will the students need to prepare 

for the trainings?

(Continued next page)

68
What are the best 

approaches for training 

the selected group?

z The center wants to orient the trainings 

toward promoting the positive 

behaviors they want to see adopted 

by both teachers and students, while 

also educating about which negative, 

harmful behaviors need to be stopped.

z Trainings should be as interactive as 

possible and include role plays to help 

participants practice using new skills.

z Need to know more about previous trainings that have 

been done at the school, including level of knowledge 

about positive approaches.

What will ensure this 

training is done with 

cultural competence?

z Inclusion of local coalition members, 

staff, and students from diverse 

communities in planning has already 

begun.

z We need to know more about ethnic and special-needs 

populations within the school community to ensure we 

are addressing their unique needs.

What do we anticipate our 

evaluation needs will be 

for this training?

z Use of existing pre- and post-training 

surveys to find out levels of knowledge, 

skills, and behaviors.

z Use of existing training surveys to probe 

participants’ experience and satisfaction 

with the training content, activities, and 

trainer engagement.

z May need to tailor existing surveys a bit to better fit the 

audience.

z Would like to survey participants at 3-, 6-, and 

9-month intervals to find out what skills they’re 

actually using and whether anecdotal evidence 

indicates that incidents go down.

z Would also like to survey students and parents at the 

same intervals to document perceived changes and 

impact.

What do we anticipate our 

follow-up needs will be 

for this training?

z School staff has already asked 

for follow-ups to talk over how 

implementation of new skills goes and 

to help them address new questions 

and issues that arise.

z Will the school consider repeating the training every 

year to keep the information fresh and make sure new 

staff receives training?

z Will the school also consider releasing specific incident 

data (instead of just anecdotal evidence) to determine 

whether the trainings are having a real impact on 

incidents? 

69

Worksheet: Background Information for Training Plan Development
Worksheet:

Use a Logic Model to Map Plan Details

Like a good road map, a simple logic model can be a very useful tool to show you where you want to go and how to get there. If you choose 

to use this tool, a logic model can provide a way to summarize at a glance the important details of your training plan, from goals and 

outcomes to intended evaluation targets. In addition to helping you keep your key ideas and strategies in focus, logic models can also be 

used to help you clearly communicate your plans to others. 

We have provided a blank Logic Model Template starting on page XX for you to copy and use as needed. You can make copies for taking 

notes and developing a rough draft of your training plan overall or you can make individual copies for training development each time you 

work with a new group. We have also provided a writeable copy of the logic model template on the CD Rom that accompanies this Guide so 

you can tailor it as needed. 

Fill out the logic model

Using the Background Information for Training Plan Development worksheet, Whom To Tr in table, tip sheets, worksheets, and other 

information you have gathered, fill in the following information: 

z This training is for—The name of the group or organization receiving the training. 

z Goal(s)—The main goal you hope to accomplish by training the selected group. This goal answers the question, “Why are we doing 

this training?” It is okay to have more than one goal for a group.

z Participants 

◊ Who will be trained?—Specific information you know about the group and/or individuals to be trained. 

◊ Who does the training?—Name(s) of the trainers you have chosen to work with the selected group.

z Activities 

◊ Inputs—Resources needed for the training such as location, copies, food, audio/visual needs, etc.

◊ Outputs—Specific activities that will occur as part of your training such as the delivery format, such as lecture/discussion, role 

plays, use of web-based activities, etc.

Note: This section will also include details about follow-up activities you decide to use for the group to be trained. We will prompt you later 

in the guide to complete this information when we describe follow-up activities in more detail.

z Outcomes—The outcome statements you have developed, describing the specific changes you want to have happen as a result of 

your training including: 

◊ Short-term—What will people learn?

◊ Intermediate—What will they do?

◊ Long-term—What will change?

As you move through various sections of the Guide, you can also add the following information to the logic model:

z The best training approaches for the participants.

z The process and outcome measures needed to gauge your progress with the participants. 

z The tools you plan to use to evaluate those measures.

Learn more: Although the essential components of most logic models are the same, there are variations. Here are some useful online 

resources to learn more about different logic model styles:

z W.K. Kellogg Foundation Logic Model Development Guide—www.wkkf.org/Pubs/Tools/Evaluation/Pub3669.pdf

z CDC Evaluation Working Group website—www.cdc.gov/eval/resources.htm#logic%20model

z Gauging Progress: A Guidebook for Community Sexual Assault Programs and Community Development Initiatives—

www.wcsap.org/prevention/PDF/gaugingprogressmanual.pdf 70
This training is for: Goal(s):

Participants Activities Outcomes Specific changes we want as a result of our training

1. Who will be trained? Inputs

Resources we need 

to do the training:

Outputs

What will occur during

the training:

Short term

What will people learn?

Intermediate

What will they do?

Long Term

What will change?

2. Who will do the training?Training MethodsBest methods to use for this training?

Process/Outcome Measures and Tools

How we will know we have had an impact and the tools we will use to measure that impact?

Adapted from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2007)

Training Logic Model

71

Worksheet: Use a Logic Model to Map Plan Details
This training is for: Goal(s): 

Participants Activities Outcomes Specific changes we want as a result of our training

1. Who will be trained?

School staff and teachers z

Ancillary staff, such as bus zdrivers and custodians

Inputs

Resources we need 

to do the training:

Center staff & students z

Meeting space at the school zTime where all the school zstaff can meet togetherFood and beverages for zparticipantsHand outs z

Outputs

What will occur during

the training:

Presentation to staff z

and administration with discussion about information gathered from students and staff re: the problemPresentation and discussion zabout sexualized bullying and sexual violenceSmall group discussion zabout opportunities for modeling positive, respective behaviorRole plays of typical zscenarios that present an opportunity to model positive, respectful behaviorBrainstorm ways to create za youth-adult plan to make the school safer

Short term

What will people learn?

Increased understanding of z

the problem of sexualized bullying at the schoolIncreased knowledge zabout risk and protective factors related to sexualized bullyingIncreased ability to model zpositive respectful behaviorSchool resources dedicated zto addressing the issue

Intermediate

What will they do?

Increased modeling of z

positive, respectful behavior by staff in the hallways and classroomsDevelopment of a youth- zadult plan to decrease sexualized bullying in the school

Long Term

What will change?

Decrease in sexualized z

bullying among studentsImproved school climate z

2. Who will do the training?

Center staff z

Two students z

Training MethodsBest methods to use for this training?

Presentation z

Small and large group zdiscussionsInteractive zRole play z

Process/Outcome Measures and Tools

How we will know we have had an impact and the tools we will use to measure that impact?

Pretest/posttest knowledge z

and attitudes surveysSchool climate surveys zTraining and facilitator zsurveys

Follow-up surveys at 3-, 6-, z

and 9-month intervals to measure changeFocus groups with staff, zstudents, and parents

Same as intermediate z

Repeating training zevery year to help build sustainability

Adapted from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2007)

Alternative High School Educate, increase awareness, build skills, reduce incidents

Case Study:The Center for Community Peace (Completed Training Logic Model)

72
Tip Sheet:

Overview of Training Approaches and Methods

Many of the excerpts in this tip sheet come from a useful online source developed by the National Cancer Institute called the Trainer’s Guide 

for Cancer Education. This guide discusses adult learning in detail and outlines how to plan and implement a training, including optimum 

room set-ups, assessment worksheets, icebreakers, training methods, and evaluation. To find out more, check out the full guide at:

www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/resources/trainers-guide-cancer-education/allpages

Use adult learning principles

It will be useful to understand some of the basic principles of adult learning. The following short overview will help you make some highlevel decisions about the best approaches to take to enhance the learning experience of the diverse groups you will be training.

Adult learners retain (Knowles, 1998):

z 20% of what they hear

z 30% of what they see

z 50% of what they see and hear

z 70% of what they see, hear, and say (e.g., discuss, explain to others)

z 90% of what they see, hear, say, and do

Clearly, to help your participants retain more of what they learn in your trainings, they need to hear a lecture or a discussion and see a 

demonstration or visual aides and discuss the material and have a chance to do something with the new information and skills. 

This chart from the Trainer’s Guide for Cancer Education shows the role of the trainer in facilitating optimum participant learning.

Participants learn best when... The role of the trainer is...

They feel valued and respected for the experiences and 

perspectives they bring to the training

Elicit participants’ experiences and perspectives

The learning experience is active Actively engage participants in their learning experience

The learning experience actually fills their immediate needs Identify participants’ needs and tie training concepts to those 

needs

They accept responsibility for their own learning Make sure that training content and skills are directly relevant to 

participants’ experiences so they will want to learn

The learning is self-directed and meaningful to them Involve participants in deciding on the content and skills that will 

be covered during the training

Their learning experience addresses ideas, feelings, and actions Use multiple training methods that address knowledge, attitudes, 

and skills

New material is related to what participants already know Use training methods that enable participants to establish this 

relationship and integration of new material

The learning environment is conducive to learning Take measures to ensure the physical and social environment 

(training space) is safe, comfortable, and enjoyable

Learning is reinforced Use training methods that allow participants to practice new skills 

and ensure prompt, reinforcing feedback

(Continued next page)

73

Tip Sheet: Overview of Training Approaches and Methods
Learning is applied immediately Provide opportunities for participants to apply the new 

information and skills they have learned

Learning occurs in small groups Use training methods that encourage participants to explore 

feelings, attitudes, and skills with other learners

The trainer values their contributions as both a 

learner and a teacher

Encourage participants to share their expertise and experiences 

with others

Continued from previous page . . . 

Use multiple strategies to address diverse learning styles

Different people learn in different ways. Because it is hard to know the individual learning styles of everyone in your trainings, assume all 

learning styles are present when you train. Include a variety of strategies in your trainings to address these different styles. 

Here is a quick snapshot of different styles and training methods to use:

Use the right training methods

Connect training strategies to your goals. You can do this by using specific methods that have been shown to correspond to the changes you 

hope to accomplish. For example, if you are teaching high school coaches about what sexual harassment means, you want to use training 

methods that reinforce increasing knowledge. If you also want them to learn new skills for identifying and interrupting sexual harassment 

in their schools, you want to use training methods designed to teach skills. 

This list from Trainer’s Guide for Cancer Education shows some suggested training methods for accomplishing changes in knowledge, 

attitudes, and skills: 

Knowledge (Concepts, Facts)

z Computer-assisted instruction

z Discussion

z Field trip or tours

z Films, TV, tapes

z Handouts

z Lecture

z Programmed instruction

z Readings

Attitude (Feelings, Opinions)

z Brainstorming

z Case studies

z Creative work

For participants who... Use...

Resonate with abstract concepts and lectures Case studies and discussions about theories and research

Learn best while observing others Demonstrations and videos

Learn best from exercises Role playing and other experiential activities

Learn best through visual means Videos, images, and slides

74
Training method Knowledge Attitude Skill

1. Lecture X

2. Small group discussion X X

3. Brainstorming X X

4. Case study X X X

5. Demonstration X X

6. Role play X X X

7. Creative work X X

z Field trips

z Interview situations

z Open-ended discussions

z Panel presentations of survivors, family members, or health professionals

z Role playing

Skills

z Action plans

z Demonstrations

z Guided practice with feedback

z Practicums

z Role playing

z Simulations

The following table offers a snapshot of training methods that can help achieve changes in participants’ 

knowledge, attitudes and behavior skills:

Note: Add to the Training Methods section of your logic model which of the above methods you will use for the different professional 

groups you will be training. 

Use participatory training

Participatory training works well with adults. It assumes that learners are all part of a communications network that is actively engaged in 

the training. This engagement means learners are sharing experiences, asking questions, using the trainer as a resource, practicing what 

has been taught, and even making mistakes. The more participants are actively involved in the learning process, the more likely they are to 

learn, remember, and use what you have taught them. This is especially important for affecting the kind of behavior change on which we’re 

focusing. 

Participatory training also moves learners through all four phases of the adult learning cycle—experiencing, processing, generalizing, and 

applying—at least once during a 4-hour session.

One caution: Pay attention to professional norms when choosing appropriate educational strategies for some of your learners. Groups may 

vary, for example, in their comfort level for expressing feelings or their desire for interactive training methods.

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Tip Sheet: Overview of Training Approaches and Methods
Worksheet:

Summary Checklist for Training Delivery

This training is for: 

Key activities (fill in details) Who is responsible for getting this done? By when?

Training dates/times confirmed:

Location confirmed:

Supplies and resources needed/

obtained (i.e., paper, pens, 

copies, food):

Presentation materials needed/

obtained (i.e., audiovisual, 

computer, PowerPoint 

presentations, projector):

Presentation materials needed/

obtained (i.e., audiovisual, 

computer, PowerPoint 

presentations, projector):

Participants confirmed:

Transportation confirmed, 

as needed:

Other considerations:

Adapted and reprinted with permission from Getting To Outcomes with Developmental Assets: Ten Steps to Measuring Success in Youth 

Programs and Initiatives. Copyright ©2006 Search Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota; 800-888-7828; www.search-institute.org. 76
Tip Sheet:

Process Evaluation Questions and Activities

Process evaluation questions Evaluation 

activities

When 

conducted

Resource 

requirements

What are the key organizational characteristics, 

identified in the initial assessments, addressed 

in your training?

z Organizational 

assessments

Before z Expertise/time: low

What are the key characteristics of the 

individual participants, identified in the initial 

assessments, addressed in your training?

z Demographics; 

readiness assessments

Before/during z Expertise/time: moderate

What is the participants’ satisfaction 

with the training?

z Focus groups

z Satisfaction surveys

During/after z Expertise/time: high/

moderate

z Expertise/time: low

What is the staff’s perception of the training? z Focus groups

z Interviews

z Debriefing

During/after z Expertise/time: high/

moderate

z Expertise/time: moderate

z Expertise/time: low

What were the participants’ dosages? z Monitoring individual 

participation

During/after z Expertise/time: low

Did the training follow the basic 

plan for delivery?

z Monitoring activities During/after z Expertise/time: low

What was the training components’ 

level of quality?

Monitoring activities by:

z Trainers

z Staff

During/after z Expertise/time: moderate

z Expertise/time: high

Adapted and reprinted with permission from Getting To Outcomes with Developmental Assets: Ten Steps to Measuring Success in Youth 

Programs and Initiatives. Copyright ©2006 Search Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota; 800-888-7828; www.search-institute.org.

77

Tip Sheet: Process Evaluation Questions and Activities
Worksheet:

Plan a Process Evaluation

Process evaluation 

questions

Evaluation 

tools/method

Anticipated schedule 

for completion

Person 

responsible

What are the key 

organizational characteristics, 

identified in the initial 

assessments, addressed in 

your training?

What are the key 

characteristics of the individual 

participants, identified in the 

initial assessments, addressed 

in your training?

What is the participants’ 

satisfaction with the training?

What is the staff’s perception 

of the training?

What were the participants’ 

dosages?

Did the training follow the 

basic plan for delivery?

What was the training 

components’ level of quality?

Adapted and reprinted with permission from Getting To Outcomes with Developmental Assets: Ten Steps to Measuring Success in Youth 

Programs and Initiatives. Copyright ©2006 Search Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota; 800-888-7828; www.search-institute.org.

78
Tip Sheet:

Sample Outcome Evaluation Questions

Questions on a pretest/posttest questionnaire should pertain directly to material presented. For example, do not ask questions about sexual 

assault statistics if such data are not presented.

Questions to assess knowledge change can be true/false or multiple-choice questions. 

A sample question might read, “Is the following statement true or false? Low academic achievement is a risk factor for 

sexual violence perpetration.”

Questions to assess attitude change can also be true/false or multiple-choice questions. They can also be done with a Likert scale. A Likert 

Scale is a 5-, 7-, or 10-level scale that participants use to rate their level of agreement with a statement. Scales typically range from strongly 

disagree to strongly agree or from not at all to very much. A sample question might read, “Using a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being strongly 

disagree and 5 being strongly agree, respond to the following statement: I believe sexual violence can be prevented.” 

Questions to assess skills change can ask about: 

z Willingness or intent to use the skills. A sample question might read, “Using a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being strongly disagree and 7 

being strongly agree, respond to this statement: I will talk with the parents in my program about ways to talk with their children about 

healthy dating relationships.” Or you can ask participants to list three things they will take action on when they get back to their work 

site. To increase the chances of success, include a suggested number of weeks or months within which these actions will take place.

z Level of confidence in using the skills. A sample question might read, “Using a scale of 1 to 5, with one being strongly disagree and 

5 being strong agree, respond to this statement: I feel comfortable talking with the youth in my group about healthy dating behaviors.” 

z Improved ability to do the skill. This type of question is aimed at determining the extent to which the training boosted ability or 

practice. A sample question might read, “Using a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not at all and 10 being very much, respond 

to the following statement: This training has improved my ability to address sexually harmful behavior I see happening in the 

hallways at school.”

z Utilization. For professionals who are already engaged in sexual violence prevention, you might ask about the extent to which the 

training contributed to the use of the particular skills on which you provided training.

These are all proxy measures for actual observation of skill implementation. While you could do skill mastery ratings by observing 

participants back in their work site, this is not practical for most practitioners, and participants may be uncomfortable with this evaluation 

method. 

79

Tip Sheet: Sample Outcome Evaluation Questions
Tip Sheet:

Expert Solutions to the 12 Most Common 

Training Delivery Problems of Novice Trainers

Problem Solutions

1. Fear z Be well prepared. Have a detailed lesson plan, understand the material, and practice your presentation.

z Use icebreakers. Use icebreakers and begin with an activity that relaxes participants and gets them to 

talk and become involved.

z Acknowledge the fear. Understand that fear is normal, confront what makes you afraid, and use positive 

self-talk or relaxation exercises before the presentation

2. Credibility z Don’t apologize. Be honest about the subject matter and explain that you are either an expert or a 

conduit.

z Act like a professional. Be well prepared and well organized. Listen, observe, and apply what you know 

to what the participants know.

z Share personal background. Talk about your areas of expertise and the variety of experiences you’ve 

had. 

3. Personal 

Experiences

z Report personal experiences. Share your personal experiences; ask yourself probing questions to 

uncover them.

z Report experiences of others. Collect pertinent stories and incidents from other people or have 

participants share their experiences. 

z Use analogies, movies, or famous people. Use familiar incidents or situations to relate to the subject. 

4. Difficult learners z Confront problem learners. Use humor. You might also talk to the individual during a break to 

determine the problem. If problem behavior doesn’t stop, ask the person to leave. 

z Circumvent dominating behavior. Use nonverbal cues, such as breaking eye contact or standing with 

your back to the person, and invite others to participate. 

z Use small groups for timid behavior. Quiet people usually feel more comfortable talking in small 

groups or dyads. Structure exercises where a wide range of participation is encouraged.

5. Participation z Ask open-ended questions. Incorporate questions into the lesson plans and provide positive feedback 

when people do participate. 

z Plan small group activities. Use dyads, case studies, and role plays to allow people to feel comfortable, 

to reduce fears, and to increase participation.

z Invite participation. Structure activities that allow people to share early on in the presentation.

6. Timing z Plan well. Plan for too much material and prioritize activities so you can delete parts, if necessary. 

z Practice, practice, practice. Practice the material many times so you know where you should be at 15-

minute intervals. Make sure there’s a clock in the training room. 

80
7. Adjust instruction z Know group needs. Determine the needs of the group early on in the training and structure activities and 

processes based on those needs.

z Request feedback. Watch for signs of boredom and ask participants, either during breaks or periodically 

during the session, how they feel about the training. 

z Redesign during breaks. Have contingency plans and, if necessary, redesign the program during a break. 

Redesigning during delivery is not recommended.

8. Questions Asking questions:

z Ask concise questions. Questions are a great tool. Ask concise, simple questions and give enough time for 

participants to answer. 

Answering questions:

z Anticipate questions. Before the training, put yourself in the participants’ place and write out key 

questions they might ask. Formulate your answers to those questions.

z Paraphrase learners’ questions. Repeat and paraphrase participants’ questions to ensure that everyone 

has heard the questions and understands them.

z Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” Redirect questions you cannot answer back to the group’s 

expertise. Try to locate answers during breaks. 

9. Feedback z Solicit informal feedback. Ask participants, either during class or at the break, if the training is meeting 

their needs and expectations. Also, watch for nonverbal cues. 

z Do summative evaluations. Have participants fill out forms at the conclusion of training to determine if 

the objectives and needs of the group were met. 

10. Media, 

materials, 

facilities

Media: 

z Know equipment. Know how to operate fully every piece of equipment you will use. 

z Have back-ups. Carry a survival kit of extra light bulbs, extension cords, markers, tape, etc. Bring the 

information you are presenting in another medium.

z Enlist assistance. Be honest with the group if there is a breakdown and ask if anyone can be of assistance. 

Material: 

z Be prepared. Have all materials ready and placed at each participant’s workplace or 

stacked for distribution.

Facilities: 

z Visit facility beforehand. Visit a new facility ahead of time, if possible, to see the layout of the room, get 

an idea of where things are located, and decide how to set up. 

z Arrive early. Arrive at least an hour in advance to ensure enough time for setting 

up and handling problems. 

81

Tip Sheet: Expert Solutions to the 12 Most Common Training Problems 
11. Openings and 

closings

Openings: 

z Develop an “openings” file. There are many sources for icebreaker ideas. As you discover which ones 

work well with your trainings, keep them on file. 

z Memorize. Develop a great opening and memorize it.

z Relax trainees. Greet people as they enter, take time for introductions, and create a relaxed atmosphere. 

Closings: 

z Summarize concisely. Simply and concisely summarize the contents of the course, using 

objectives or the initial model.

z Thank participants. Thank participants for their time and their contributions to the course. 

12. Dependence on 

notes

z Use notes. Recognize that no one completely outgrows the need for notes.

z Use cards. Scale down your presentations to an outline or key words, and write those on 

note cards to use as prompts.

z Use visuals. Make notes on frames of transparencies, on PowerPoint® slides, or on your copies of handouts. 

z Practice. Learn your script well so that you can confidently deliver it from the keyword note cards. 

Adapted and reprinted with permission from Getting To Outcomes with Developmental Assets: Ten Steps to Measuring Success in Youth 

Programs and Initiatives. Copyright ©2006 Search Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota; 800-888-7828; www.search-institute.org.

82
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References

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References
84
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 

Division or office name in this space

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Division of Violence Prevention

For more information please contact Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

4770 Buford Highway, MS F-64, Atlanta, GA 30341 

Telephone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636)/TTY: 1-888-232-6348

E-mail: cdcinfo@cdc.gov | Web: www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention

Publication date: 07/2010