Setting the Stage With Pre-Emails

In every learning experience we design, we hope participants continue thinking and applying ideas long after the scheduled time ends. Years ago, I began experimenting with pre-emails as a simple way to extend the learning just a bit. A short message before the session could

take care of logistics, plant a small content seed, and make the most of our precious face-to-face time. A colleague later helped me see another layer when she described how a thoughtful pre-email can reduce anxiety and create a sense of psychological safety before participants even arrive.

In a previous LFTX post about activating learning, I briefly mentioned pre-emails alongside other priming strategies. Today, I want to zoom in on the pre-email practice because it is both powerful and easy to implement. After a recent webinar series, where each session began with a pre-email, several participants shared that they had started adjusting their own email practices after seeing how a well-crafted message could clarify expectations, invite connection, and preview the learning in meaningful ways.

That feedback affirmed something I have believed for a long time. A pre-email is not just a reminder. It is part of the learning design.

In the rest of this post, I will share a simple three-part framework you can use to design pre-emails that support comfort, content, and connections for every professional learning experience.

Three C’s for Designing Powerful Pre-Emails

Over time, the content of my pre-emails has naturally sorted into three categories. Thinking through these three C’s helps me design intentional, human-centered invitations to the learning experience.

Comfort

Most educators already think of comfort when they imagine a pre-email. These are the small logistical details that make people feel grounded before they arrive. A map showing exactly where to park. The correct entrance clearly marked. Technology reminders. A note about the temperature in the room and whether they might want a sweater. Even a quick mention that there will be coffee waiting. These are small touches, yet they reduce uncertainty and free up precious mental space before the learning begins.

I recently presented at a large campus and received an incredibly thoughtful pre-email with aerial diagrams, highlighted entrances, and a parking pass attached. (Thank you, Midlothian iTech team!) Before I even left my house, I felt welcomed, prepared, and able to focus on the facilitation ahead. That moment reinforced something I return to often: learning begins when we help people feel safe and oriented.

Reflection question

What logistical or emotional uncertainties could your next pre-email reduce so participants arrive feeling more at ease?

Content

Content-focused pre-email elements are tiny sparks of learning that prepare participants for what they will experience. This might be a short video clip, a quote that frames the session, a single reflection prompt, or an article related to the content. These are not heavy assignments. They are invitations to begin thinking.

This is where The Art of Gathering offers helpful language. Priya Parker describes priming as the “pregame” strategy and reminds us that the less we prime ahead of time, the more we will have to explain or justify once everyone is in the room. A pre-email can give participants a small interaction with the content so they arrive already aware of the purpose and ready to dig in. Even something as simple as asking them to notice something in their daily work changes the way they perceive the gathering.

I often send a slide image created with the session template: a “See you soon” with the date and title. The visual preview creates familiarity. Participants have already seen a piece of the learning, so the session feels less like a cold start and more like a natural continuation.

Reflection question

What small, purposeful content seed could you plant before your next learning experience that would help participants arrive ready to engage?

Connections

Pre-emails are also a powerful way to begin building connections before the learning experience starts. These touches help participants feel welcomed, known, and part of a community they are about to step into. They also give me a chance to get to know the people I will be learning with.

Connections might include a short welcome, a simple invitation to share something about themselves, a small informational survey, or a chance to contribute to a collaborative space that helps participants feel seen and valued before the session even begins.

These gestures seem small, yet they matter. When people open a pre-email and immediately feel acknowledged, included, and welcomed, it shifts their mindset. They arrive expecting to participate, not just attend. In this way, the pre-email becomes relational, not transactional.

Reflection question

How might your next pre-email invite participants into light connection with you, with one another, or with the learning before the session begins?

A Note on Purposeful Design: The Fourth C

Comfort, content, and connections can each enhance a learning experience, but none of them require long tasks or elaborate preparation. A pre-email works best when it is purposeful, relevant, and respectful of educators’ limited time. Which brings me to an unofficial fourth C: Concise. The goal is not to build a full activity in advance or to ask participants to complete all three types of engagement. Instead, choose one or two intentional elements that align directly with your session goals. A clear detail, a tiny content seed, or a gentle invitation to connect is often all it takes to help participants arrive with readiness and confidence rather than surprise or uncertainty.

But What If I Can’t Send a Pre-Email?

Sometimes circumstances prevent us from sending a pre-email. Maybe registration closes too late, district systems control the communication, or the event is part of a larger conference where you do not have access to participants ahead of time. In these moments, we can rely on another powerful idea from The Art of Gathering: ushering.

Priya Parker describes ushering as helping people transition into the space and “manag[ing] your guests’ transition into the gathering you have bothered to create.” She reminds us that there is often an unfilled space between arrival and the official start. That space is an opportunity.

You can use those early minutes to welcome participants, set the tone, and preview the learning:

• Display a slide deck with key ideas or visuals

• Play music that sets the tone

• Offer a simple warm-up prompt or check-in

• Greet people individually as they enter

• Invite informal conversation or mingling

These small touches help participants shift out of whatever they were doing before and step into your learning environment with clarity and readiness. When a pre-email is not possible, ushering becomes the bridge. 

And once you have ushered participants into the space with intention, you are ready to launch into the learning itself. If you want support for those first five minutes, this LFTX post, Choreographing the Start of Your Session, offers practical ideas for shaping a purposeful beginning.

Bringing It All Together

Pre-emails are a small practice with outsized impact. When designed with comfort, content, and connections in mind, and kept concise to respect educators’ time, they help participants arrive feeling oriented, welcomed, and genuinely ready to learn. Whether sent ahead of time or embedded in the opening moments of a session, these intentional touches signal care, purpose, and thoughtful design. They set a tone that supports meaningful engagement and helps participants step into the learning experience with clarity and confidence. 

Resource

Parker, Priya. The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. Riverhead Books, 2018.

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Kathryn Laster brings over 30 years of education expertise as a math teacher, instructional coach, and digital learning consultant. Now, as an independent consultant, Kathryn creates and facilitates transformative learning experiences through intentional, human-centered, tech-infused design.

Connect with Kathryn here and at Refined Learning Design.