Delivering your first Alteryx session at Data School can feel a little daunting, especially when you're trying to balance theory, demonstrations, and hands-on practice. After running a 1.5-hour session introducing formulas in Alteryx, I wanted to share a few lessons learned that might help future trainers prepare.
1. Start by Reviewing Previous Training Material
Before creating anything from scratch, take some time to explore the Google Drive shared by Data School / The Information Lab.
There are plenty of presentations and training materials from previous years that can provide inspiration for:
- slide structure
- sub-topics to cover
- exercises (not so many)
- ways of explaining concepts
- pacing of the session
There's no need to reinvent the wheel. Reviewing previous sessions will give you a solid starting point, and you can then tailor the content to your own style and topic.
2. Build Your Slides First
Once you've reviewed previous materials, start building your own presentation.
For my 1.5-hour session, I used 28 slides, with around 80% dedicated to explaining concepts and only 20% focused on instructions or exercises. Having a strong conceptual foundation helped participants understand why they were using certain tools, not just how.
Don't worry about having "too many" explanatory slides—as long as they're clear and engaging, they provide valuable context.
3. Prepare Your Alteryx Exercise Workflows
The slides are only half of the preparation—you also need to build the practical exercises in Alteryx.
Plan your exercises so they progress from the simplest concepts to the most challenging, allowing participants to build confidence as they go.
For each exercise:
- prepare the input data in advance
- create the starting workflow where appropriate
- prepare the expected output so participants can compare their results using the Browse tool
- test that every exercise works exactly as intended
I found it useful to complete one exercise together as a follow-along before asking participants to work independently. After that, provide at least three additional step-by-step exercises for participants to complete on their own.
4. Start with an Icebreaker
Begin with a light-hearted icebreaker or even a simple joke.
It immediately relaxes the room, gets people talking, and makes the session feel much more interactive. It also gives you an opportunity to learn a little about the attendees before diving into the technical content.
Since I was the second trainer of the day, I already had some insight into where people worked and their Alteryx experience, which was incredibly useful.
5. Don't Assume They're Beginners
One thing that surprised me was the participants' experience level.
Although the session was introductory, many attendees were already quite knowledgeable and comfortable using Alteryx. Plan your content with the expectation that the audience may have a solid foundation rather than assuming everyone is completely new to the tool.
This also means being prepared to answer more advanced questions along the way.
6. Relate Everything Back to Excel
Most people use Excel extensively in their day-to-day work.
Whenever possible, compare Alteryx concepts with equivalent Excel functionality. These comparisons help participants build on knowledge they already have and make new concepts much easier to understand.
For example:
- Formula tool vs. Excel formulas
- Filter tool vs. Excel filters
- Join tool vs. VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP or Power Query joins
Making these connections significantly speeds up learning.
7. Let Participants Practise Every New Tool
Avoid explaining several tools in a row before letting people use them.
Instead, introduce a concept, demonstrate it, and immediately allow participants to try it themselves before moving on. This reinforces learning and builds confidence before the main exercises begin.
Small, frequent practice opportunities are much more effective than one large exercise at the end.
8. Run One Exercise Together
Before asking participants to complete exercises independently, work through one complete example together.
A follow-along exercise gives everyone confidence and ensures they understand both the business problem and the workflow.
After that, provide at least three additional exercises with step-by-step instructions so participants can practise independently.
This gradual increase in independence worked really well during my session.
9. Show What the Tools Actually Look Like
Don't just mention tool names.
Whenever you introduce a new tool, either:
- include a screenshot of the tool in your slides, or
- point participants to where they can find it in the Alteryx tool palette (ideally keep the screenshot of the tool they need to use for the exercise as picture next to the exercise).
Visual recognition helps people remember tools much faster than simply hearing the name.
10. Prepare Extra Challenges
People progress at different speeds.
Some participants will finish the core exercises quickly, so it's worth preparing one or two optional challenge exercises to keep them engaged.
During my 1.5-hour session, everyone completed the standard exercises and even had time to finish one additional challenge (posted in Alteryx community website), which kept the faster learners engaged without slowing anyone else down.
General Tips
- Practise delivering the session at least two or three times before the actual training.
- If possible, run through the session in front of colleagues first. They'll often spot unclear explanations, confusing instructions, or practical issues that you might otherwise miss.
- Time yourself during your practice sessions to make sure everything fits comfortably into the allocated session.
- Rehearse switching between slides and Alteryx so the session flows naturally.
- Keep demonstrations short and focused.
- Encourage questions throughout rather than saving everything until the end.
- Walk around the room during exercises to identify anyone who might be stuck.
- Expect different experience levels and be ready to adapt on the fly.
- Focus on helping participants understand why they are using a tool, not just which buttons to click.
- Have backup examples or additional challenges ready in case exercises finish earlier than expected.
- Keep the atmosphere relaxed—people learn better when they feel comfortable asking questions.
- Don't be afraid to slow down if needed. It's better for everyone to understand the concepts than to rush through additional material.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the session went better than I expected. The participants were engaged, completed all of the planned exercises, and even had time for an additional challenge.
The biggest takeaway for me was that a successful training session isn't about covering as much content as possible—it's about balancing clear explanations with plenty of opportunities for hands-on practice.
Good luck with your training—you've got this!