Have you ever had cotton candy? Sure, it’s fun, super-sweet, and cloudlike, but it’s not exactly appropriate if nutrition is your top priority. If most corporate training were a food, it would bear a striking resemblance to the bright, entertaining weightlessness of cotton candy. It’s whimsical and exciting, but each bite evaporates into nothing but empty calories. Everyone’s delighted for a while, but no one leaves nourished. In a recent webinar Five Costly Training Mistakes and How to Avoid Them,” Danielle Wallace, CEO and chief learning strategist at Beyond the Sky and Beyond Role Plays, showed how to stop dishing up empty calories and start designing learning that sticks to the bone.
Mistake #1: Confusing Flash with Fuel
It’s easy to equate engagement with effectiveness. Learning and development (L&D) professionals often chase clicks, animations, and interactive elements (also known as vanity metrics) that look exciting but demand no real thinking. This kind of learning may taste sweet, but it won’t last beyond the next Monday morning meeting. Real engagement requires cognitive effort. The learner must make choices, weigh outcomes, and wrestle with consequences.
Mistake #2: Feeding Content Instead of Capability
So often, L&D professionals assume that information equals impact. But adding slides, facts, and frameworks doesn’t build skill—it’s just empty calories. Effective learning starts with behavior: what do we need people to do differently on the job? With that in mind, you work backward, adding only the content that supports that action.
Mistake #3: Making It Fun (Only), Not Functional
Don’t get me wrong, games can be effective, but you have to be intentional to ensure they don’t distract from the established goal. When the “fun” becomes the focus, learning turns into dessert with no actual dinner. The best kind of enjoyment comes from meaningful challenges—the satisfaction you get from solving a realistic problem, not just earning digital confetti. When learning demands effort and reflection, it becomes deeply satisfying, not superficially sweet.
Mistake #4: Checking Knowledge Instead of Building It
The most common pitfall is the teach-then-test model. It’s a very common formula: learners sit through content, then take a quiz that tests what they remember rather than what they can do. In nutrient-dense training, questions are woven into the experience, prompting learners to make decisions, take action, and discover the consequences. Every choice becomes a learning moment, and learning happens by doing, not just knowing.
Mistake #5: Cutting Reflection to Save Time
When time starts to run out, the debrief is usually the first thing to slide off the agenda. But reflection is your mind’s way of digesting new information. It’s how learners absorb the nutrients they’ve consumed and convert them into usable energy. Without it, even the most engaging experience can be quickly forgotten. Protect the time designated for reflection, whether it’s a brief journal prompt, a quick discussion, or a commitment to next steps. That pause transforms information into insight, which later matures into performance.
Cooking Up Nutrient-Dense Learning
To replace vanity metrics with substance, every learning program should start with one question: What behavior should this change? Craft experiences that make learners think, decide, and act. Use scenarios instead of lectures, feedback instead of grades, and reflection instead of summary slides. The goal is not to entertain—it’s to strengthen. Like a balanced meal, effective learning satisfies in the moment and sustains long after the event ends.
Performance-driven learning isn’t always flashy, but it fuels long-term growth. It challenges, stretches, and sticks. At ELB Learning, our learning strategy services help organizations design programs that deliver this kind of nutrition—transforming soft skills, compliance, and leadership training into experiences that drive real-world results. If your learning feels more sugary than sustaining, it’s time for healthier ingredients.
Watch the full webinar below and check out our learning strategy services to start creating nutrient-dense learning that truly fuels performance.
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Disclaimer: The ideas, perspectives, and strategies shared in this article reflect the expertise of our featured speaker, Danielle Wallace. Be sure to follow her on LinkedIn to explore more of her insights.