"Make the training super fun and exciting"

Uh oh. There it is! The phrase every instructional designer dreads. Your customer wants their training to be super fun and cool! 

Is it possible? Yes! Certainly! However, it relies heavily on the content. Imagine you're an instructional designer creating software training for an implementation.  No matter how hard you try, it's nearly impossible to make boring softwares exciting. You are better off designing the training with real world application so people see the benefit. 

There is something else to consider. "Fun," "cool," and "entertaining" are entirely subjective. What I view as fun may be boring to someone else and vice versa. Your trainings will always have a diverse audience. You will have some people who love it and some who hate it. 

Here is my advice. Develop your training with many audiences  in consideration. Include a few games but also include case studies and real world examples for your other students. It is all about compromise and balance. 

Just always remember that you're working with adult learners. Everything in your class should emphasize why it's important, how it helps them in their jobs, real world examples and more. 

Don't include games an activities in your training unless it's applicable to the material. Everything you do in the class should feed back into the course objectives. That is your focus. 

Happy Fourth of July everyone!