Starting Strong

Designing the Beginnings of Learning Experiences

Reflection is a regular part of my work as a professional learning designer. The start of a new year creates a natural pause for deeper reflection. Right now, I’m paying particular attention to how I begin my professional learning sessions, webinars, events, and meetings.

I used to think the most important part of a session was the content in the middle. The opening mattered, of course, but mostly as a way to get everyone settled and ready to begin.

Reading The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker challenged that assumption. One chapter in particular prompted me to reconsider the role of beginnings and how much they shape the learning experience that follows.

What I eventually realized is that beginnings do not all happen at once. Some begin before the agenda officially starts, while others unfold in the first few minutes together.

In this post, I’m sharing three ideas from Chapter 5 that have reshaped how I think about starting learning experiences.

The Moment of Discovery

Priya Parker reminds us that “Your gathering begins at the moment your guests first learn of it,” not when they walk through the door. She calls this the moment of discovery.

This idea fundamentally shifted how I think about promotion and communication. I began asking myself: How do participants first encounter a learning opportunity? Is it through social media, a newsletter, a forwarded email, word of mouth, or a quick scroll through a website?

If that first interaction matters, and Parker argues that it does, then it deserves intentional design.

That realization pushed me to think more carefully about session descriptions, landing pages, and registration workflows. Is everything ready for participants to explore? Do descriptions and sites clearly communicate the purpose, audience, and outcomes? Do they preview the tone and design of the experience itself?

With some backward design, I also began paying closer attention to aesthetics. Could I use brand colors, session graphics, or even slide previews to signal what the experience would feel like? If there are multiple registration steps, are they intuitive and accessible? Even if a workshop is not fully built yet, I now aim to have many of these elements in place early.

I’ve also noticed creative approaches to this moment of discovery in the field:

• Well-designed event websites with cohesive themes and visuals

• Short preview videos or “commercial-style” clips shared on social media to give participants a feel for the experience

• Participant testimonials or brief quotes that highlight what made a learning experience meaningful

• Conference traditions, like the Learning Forward Texas Conference take-home gift to save-the-date for next year’s event

• Playful physical artifacts, such as Tony Vincent’s 3D-printed cap used to promote a future online course

Each of these treats the first encounter with a learning experience as something worth designing, not just announcing.

Reflection:

As you plan for upcoming spring and summer learning, consider how participants will first encounter your sessions or events. What will they see, read, or hear in that moment of discovery? What could you refine to make that first interaction clearer, more inviting, and more aligned to the experience you are designing?

Naming as Priming

One of the most influential elements of that first encounter is often the session name itself. Long before participants read a description or click a registration link, the title begins shaping expectations about who the session is for and what the experience might require of them.

While designing for the moment of discovery, I also began rethinking how I name my sessions. For years, I admired facilitators who used creative, theme-based, or playful titles, but I rarely invested that same energy into my own.

Priya Parker helped change my thinking.

“The most important part of your invitation,” she writes, “is what it signals to your guests about your gathering and what it asks of them.” One of the clearest signals we send is the name itself.

She goes on to explain that “Names help guests decide whether and how they fit into the world you’re creating.” That insight stuck with me.

Session titles need to strike a balance. They should communicate essential information about content and audience without becoming overly vague or generic. A title doesn’t have to be as literal as “Creating a Google Site” or “Analyzing the New TEKS.” With a bit more intention, it can also signal how participants will engage.

Words like lab, studio, or playground suggest experimentation and hands-on learning. A think tank signals deeper thinking and discussion. These small choices shape expectations long before participants arrive.

Finding that balance between intriguing and clear can be tricky. I’ve found that generative AI tools can be helpful thought partners here, offering variations that preserve clarity while adding interest. The goal isn’t cleverness for its own sake, but alignment between the title, the audience, and the experience you’re designing.

Reflection

As you review the names of your upcoming sessions or events, what signals are they sending? What do participants learn about the purpose, audience, or level of engagement before they ever read the description? Where might a small refinement in naming better align expectations with the experience you intend to create?

How to Begin (Not With Logistics!)

A well-chosen name does a great deal of work before participants arrive. But once the session officially begins, the facilitator’s first moves matter just as much. How we open the experience in the room can either reinforce the expectations we’ve set or unintentionally undermine them.

In a previous post about the first five minutes of a session, I shared ideas from Kendall Zoller’s Choreography of Presenting. Zoller’s work aligns closely with Priya Parker’s guidance to never begin with logistics.

Zoller outlines five intentional moves for the opening moments:

1. Get the group’s attention

2. Establish rapport

3. Clarify your role

4. Identify a clear purpose

5. Connect the topic to the attendees

Notice what’s missing: housekeeping, norms, and procedural details.

Parker urges us to design the opening minutes with particular care because emotions are heightened, energy is fresh, and participants are most open to connection. Starting with logistics can flatten that energy almost immediately.

I’ve become especially motivated to eliminate one phrase from my vocabulary: “But first, let’s start with some housekeeping.” It’s a reliable buzzkill. Whenever possible, those details belong in a pre-email.

Restructuring the beginning of my sessions was the first Art of Gathering move I tried. The shift was simple but powerful. I reordered my slides so that logistics came later, after we had time to connect and clarify the purpose. This structure mirrors the guidance from both Parker and Zoller and is now the model I use consistently.

After we’ve connected and clarified why we’re together, I move into norms, timelines, standards alignment, or other operational details. This order reinforces the tone I want to set and consistently leads to a more grounded and engaged start.

Reflection

Think about how your most recent session began. What were the very first moves you made once participants were together? How might shifting logistics later in the experience create more space for connection, clarity, and engagement at the start?

Starting Strong

When we pay attention to how participants first encounter an event, how it is named, and how the opening moments unfold, we begin to see just how much of a learning experience is shaped before the content ever takes center stage.

Priya Parker believes that “90 percent of what makes a gathering successful is put in place beforehand.” In practice, that means attending to the many small details that shape a participant’s experience from the very beginning.

Elena Aguilar echoes this idea in The PD Book:

“Details matter to learning. Attending to details is key to creating the conditions for adults to feel welcome, affirmed, valued, and psychologically safe.”

When we attend to those details, especially at the very beginning, we communicate respect for participants and create space for learning to unfold.

As the year begins, consider taking a closer look at how your sessions, meetings, and events start. What sets the tone before participants arrive? What are the very first words they hear? What signals are you sending, intentionally or not?

As Chip Heath and Dan Heath remind us in The Power of Moments:

“We can be the designers of moments that deliver elevation and insight and pride and connection.”

Those moments are ours to design, starting right at the beginning.

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.