The Technical Trainer's Playbook · 130 pages
Crack the secret to a successful VILT session.
The 130-page practical guide to designing and delivering Virtual Instructor-Led Training that actually sticks — for engineers, dev advocates, technical trainers, and consultants who teach live.
One-time payment · Instant PDF download · No subscription · Free updates
Why this matters
Account Executives sell contracts. Trainers help renew, save, and consolidate them.
Done well, technical training drives adoption, prevents churn, and saves million-dollar accounts. Done poorly, it's two hours of slides nobody remembers — and a customer who silently disengages.
This guide is the playbook of a senior trainer who's helped renew major contracts and shaped technical enablement at global SaaS companies. No fluff, no AI-generated filler. Just real stories, real templates, and the lessons learned the hard way over two decades on stage.
“The perfect presentation is not one where the presenter reads off of their screen and only leaves 5 minutes for the live demo.”
What's inside
Eight chapters of practical playbook, not theory.
Includes ready-to-use email and Slack templates you can put to work this week. Every chapter ends in something you can do, not just something you've read.
The mindset that separates seasoned trainers from PowerPoint readers
Why curiosity is the single most underrated trait in technical enablement, and how to keep it alive after years in the role.
A pre-session POC playbook
Email templates that warm up your champion before the kickoff, plus a discovery-call framework that surfaces what the audience actually cares about.
Audience design that holds attention
Why 20–30 beats 100, and the gamification levers that turn first-cohort attendees into product ambassadors.
Flipped-classroom and blended-learning patterns
How to handle dense technical topics without losing the room, including pre-work formats that lift show-up rates.
Invite, agenda, and pre-work that earn attendance
The exact structure of a meeting invite that survives the inbox, with clear expectations and resources baked in.
Follow-up templates that drive adoption
Ready-to-use email and Slack messages to close the loop after the session, including how to handle the “take it offline” questions.
The classical-rhetoric backbone
Ethos, logos, pathos — Cicero’s De Oratore applied to product training, plus the science of how new memory builds on existing knowledge (Bartlett, Sweller).
The trusted-advisor career arc
How great technical training opens the door to Sales Engineer, Solutions Architect, and Customer Success Architect roles — and what it takes to make the jump.
Table of contents
A clear arc, from mindset to follow-up.
- 01
What good looks like
Real CSAT excerpts and the bar to aim for.
- 02
Have the right attitude
Curiosity, the trainer's most underrated trait.
- 03
Know your audience
How to study the room before you ever join the call.
- 04
Time to prep
POC outreach, discovery calls, invite structure, pre-work.
- 05
Delivering the content
Storytelling, ethos / logos / pathos, handling questions live.
- 06
Follow-up
Email and Slack templates that turn a session into adoption.
- 07
Conclusions
What to remember when the cameras are off.
- 08
Acknowledgements
Two years of writing, a wife, and customers who endured my training.
Get the guide
One book. One purchase. Use it for the rest of your career.
VAT handled at checkout · payable in your local currency
- 130-page PDF guide, instant download
- 8 chapters from mindset to follow-up
- Ready-to-use email & Slack templates
- POC discovery-call framework
- Audience design and engagement playbook
- Free updates to future revisions
- One-time payment — no subscription
Powered by Lemon Squeezy — tax and invoices handled for you.
FAQ
Questions before you buy.
Is this only for VILT, or does it cover in-person training too?
The guide is written from the lens of Virtual Instructor-Led Training because that's the dominant format in B2B Tech today, but most of the material — discovery calls, audience design, storytelling, follow-up — applies equally to in-person workshops and conference talks.
I'm new to technical training — is this for me?
Yes. The guide is explicitly written for engineers, dev advocates, and consultants moving into training delivery, as well as trainers who want to lift their CSAT. Nothing is gatekept behind years of experience.
I'm a seasoned trainer. Will I learn anything new?
Probably. The author has been training tech audiences since 2014 and the guide reflects that depth — the angle on schema theory, the trusted-advisor career arc, and the specific templates are designed to give experienced trainers something to take away, not to teach the basics again.
What format do I get?
An instant PDF download (130 pages). Readable on any device. Free updates to future revisions of this edition.
Can I expense it through my company?
Yes — Lemon Squeezy handles invoicing automatically and supports adding your company name and VAT/GST number at checkout. The receipt is generated immediately and emailed to you.
What if it's not what I expected?
The guide is delivered as an immediate digital download, so all sales are final once the file is delivered. The table of contents, chapter excerpts, and author bio on this page are there so you can decide whether the content fits before you buy — please read them carefully. If something is technically wrong — broken link, corrupt file, double charge — email [email protected] and I'll fix it.
Do you offer team licences?
Not yet, but it's on the roadmap. If you need bulk access for an enablement team, email [email protected] and we'll work something out.