Leqture’s 10 Golden Rules for L&D: Mastering Live Interactive Sessions

Written by Micha Schipper — not by ChatGPT, but by an actual human.

On-demand content is a powerful tool. It’s scalable, accessible, and great for quick, just-in-time learning. But let’s be honest: it will never replace live learning. Live Online learning creates a connection. Not just between the learner and the expert, but also between colleagues—crucial in a time of remote and hybrid work. More importantly, live online learning creates urgency. The session is happening now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. That urgency drives attendance, engagement, and impact.

As an L&D professional, that’s exactly what you want: not just facilitating access to learning, but building a true learning culture. One that goes beyond the “motivated few” and engages the entire organization.

At Leqture, we’ve produced thousands of live online expert sessions for hundreds of organizations around the world—on everything from feedback to resilience, from leadership to AI, and from dealing with change to storytelling. We’ve seen what works—and what definitely doesn’t.

Here are our golden rules for producing high-quality, interactive live learning sessions your people will love:

1. Don’t wing the tech. Ever.

In the early days of the pandemic, L&D teams had to reinvent themselves overnight. Everyone forgave the technical hiccups, awkward intros, and poor connections. That era is over.

Today, nothing kills trust in your learning brand faster than poor production. Imagine going to a concert where the sound system fails several times during the concert. Would you go back? 

Every single day, there are thousands of sessions where the slides don’t show, the host doesn’t know how to mute the audience, or the speaker’s webcam is poorly framed. And if your past events were clumsy or buggy, people remember—and they hesitate to join again.

Remember: your L&D offering is also a brand. People judge it. And even if your content is brilliant, your delivery matters just as much.

Pro Tip: Audio is everything. People will forgive weak visuals, but not bad sound. Test it thoroughly.

2. Make leadership part of the learning.

No matter the topic, leadership involvement is key. Great content matters, but that alone isn’t always enough to drive participation. Employees don’t always see the value of a session right away. If your organisation wants to emphasise certain values or developments—mental health, DEI, innovation, entrepreneurship—there’s no more powerful signal than an executive being visibly involved.

Whether someone from the leadership team sends the calendar invite, writes the intro email, opens the session, or simply shows up—leadership presence has a disproportionately positive effect on attendance, engagement, and how important the session is perceived to be.

Pro Tip: Even a brief appearance or endorsement from leadership can dramatically increase attendance and perceived value.

3. Design for interaction—without making it hard.

Interaction is the foundation of live learning. It’s the reason people show up instead of just watching a recording later (which, let’s be honest, they often won’t).

But interaction doesn’t always mean speaking up. It means the session is designed to engage—whether people choose to participate actively or silently.

Tools like Mentimeter are great—but asking someone to grab their phone, type in a code, and answer a question on a small keyboard? That’s friction. Sometimes, just asking people to drop something in the chat works better.

And don’t underestimate silent engagement. In one of our sessions on team alignment, the expert asks participants to write down their team’s three main goals—then compare answers in the chat. Many don’t share—but they do think. And that moment of reflection can be transformative.

One more thing: be cautious with breakout rooms. In large groups, they often feel intrusive—especially when people are joining from home, on the go, or in less-than-ideal environments. Unless your session is intimate (under 30 people), breakout rooms can cause high drop-off rates. If you plan to use them, prepare your audience early in the session so they’re not caught off guard.

Pro Tip: Interaction can be invisible. Make it easy, intuitive, and respectful of people’s context.

4. Your session title carries weight.

People don’t read anymore—they scan. That means your session title determines whether someone joins or scrolls past. It can be the difference between 30 or 280 participants.

At Leqture, we regularly change titles. One of our most popular sessions used to be called Mindsets for Innovation—a fantastic workshop by Rod Ben Zeev about active listening, building on each other’s ideas, and embracing failure. But clients assumed it was only for R&D or innovation teams. We changed the name to Mindset for Collaboration, kept the exact same description—and session requests and attendance doubled.

Never underestimate the power of a great title.

Pro Tip: The title isn’t just marketing—it’s your session’s front door. Make people want to open it.

5. Know your audience like you know your content.

A great expert/speaker/facilitator/trainer on paper can be a poor fit in practice. It’s not about good or bad—it’s about match.

Some speakers thrive on big stages, others shine in small boardroom sessions. Some resonate with leadership, others with junior staff. Some have global appeal, others are highly culture-specific.

A facilitator discussing allyship might connect brilliantly with Western employees, but not resonate with Eastern colleagues due to cultural nuances.

Blue-collar and white-collar learners often need different formats, tones, and styles. So don’t just evaluate expertise—define what your audience needs, and find someone who can truly speak their language.

Pro Tip: Match speaker to audience, not the other way around. Relevance is the highest form of respect.

6. Make it safe for everyone.

You never know who’s in your session. People have different values, cultural backgrounds, political views, and sensitivities.

Make sure your content and speaker make everyone feel safe, seen, and respected.

A month ago, we ran one of our most popular sessions—on reframing your thinking—for an American client. The speaker used a well-known example of Elon Musk as someone who challenged assumptions in the space industry.

In most of the world, it landed well. But in the U.S.—especially right after Musk had taken on a controversial political role—it backfired. The speaker had called Musk “a genius,” and some participants were outraged. For them, it felt like our client was endorsing his political stance.

The lesson: even neutral content can carry unintended signals. Work with your experts/speakers/facilitators/trainers to review examples and language choices in advance, and ensure your session feels welcoming to everyone.

Pro Tip: Inclusivity isn’t just about who’s in the room—it’s about who feels safe speaking up.

7. Vet your speaker like they’re on stage.

Just because someone has worked with big-name companies doesn’t mean they’re the right person. Many facilitators and trainers are great at self-marketing. You’ll see impressive logos on their website—but one gig at a Fortune 500 company doesn’t mean they added value.

The real question: were they invited back?

Repeat clients are the best indicator of quality.

Always ask for a video of the expert/speaker/facilitator/trainer in action. Don’t rely on TEDx talks—they’re carefully rehearsed performances. Watch how the person interacts live. Pay attention to pace, body language, vocabulary, accent, and presence.

Pro Tip: A speaker’s logo list is nice. A recording of their real work is essential.

8. Pick a format—and own it.

If you want your audience to know what to expect and build trust over time, consistency beats variety. It’s tempting to cater to everyone—offer a 45-minute podcast-style talk for the listeners, a 90-minute roundtable for the discussers, a 60-minute webinar for the knowledge-hungry, and a two-hour workshop for skill-building.

But let’s be real: delivering one format well is already a major challenge. Unless you have a massive budget, you can’t do it all at a high standard. Instead, become excellent at one or two formats—and grow from there.

Pro Tip: One great format builds more loyalty than five mediocre ones. Choose, refine, and repeat.

9. Be smart about timing.

Many L&D teams believe in “golden hours” or “golden days” for live learning—Tuesday afternoons, Thursday mornings, etc. But here’s the truth: there’s no magic time slot.

Every company and team has its own rhythms, workloads, and timezone challenges. Some clients avoid Mondays and Fridays entirely. Others think mornings are too busy, and people prefer learning at the end of the day.

But learning requires energy, and our data shows many participants actually prefer morning sessions—because their brains welcome the change of pace. We also consistently see higher energy, more interaction, and stronger engagement in these morning sessions.

There’s no universal answer. What matters is observing your people, running tests, and listening to feedback.

Pro Tip: Don’t assume. Ask. Then experiment and adjust based on what actually works for your teams.

10. Spend your L&D budget with intention.

Let’s face it: most L&D budgets aren’t limitless. Every decision matters.

When you bring in an agency or external advisor, make sure their recommendations are truly independent. Most traditional agencies still work on old-school commission models—they push certain experts/speakers/facilitators/trainers or formats because it benefits them financially.

That’s a problem. You might end up with overpriced speakers who aren’t the right fit. Or even worse, you pay more simply because you have more participants—which makes no sense for an online session where the speaker’s work doesn’t increase with audience size.

Ask tough questions. Understand the pricing model. And make sure whoever advises you wins when you win—not when you overspend.

Pro Tip: Challenge every cost. If it doesn't serve your learners directly, it’s worth questioning.

Live learning isn’t just a format—it’s a signal. A signal that your company takes development seriously. That it invests in connection, urgency, and culture.

At Leqture, we don’t just believe in live learning—we’ve helped hundreds of organizations around the world do it right.

If you’re building a learning culture that’s live, interactive, and truly impactful—we’d love to compare notes.

Best,

Micha Schipper

Micha is the founder of Leqture.com, a company that specializes in producing high-quality live online learning sessions for global organizations. With a background in storytelling and a passion for creating impactful learning experiences, Micha and his team have delivered thousands of interactive sessions on topics ranging from leadership and feedback to AI, resilience, and change—always live, never static.