Yes — AI can create focused pre-work assignments that prime participants on key concepts, gather context about their situation, and ensure your live session starts with a room full of people who are already thinking about the topic.
Why Pre-Work Changes the Live Session
A live session with no pre-work starts from zero. You spend the first 20 minutes bringing everyone up to the same baseline — explaining concepts they could have read about in advance, collecting context you could have asked for in a form. That’s 20 minutes of your live session time doing something that didn’t require you to be there.
Pre-work flips that. When participants arrive having read a short piece, watched a 5-minute video, or answered two reflection questions, the live session can start at a higher level. You skip the on-ramp and go straight to the interesting part — application, questions, practice, discussion. The quality of the session goes up for everyone, and you get more done in the same time.
What AI Generates for Pre-Work
Ask Claude or ChatGPT for three types of pre-work for your next session. First, a short context primer — a one-page explainer of the core concept participants need to understand before the live teaching begins. Second, a self-assessment — three to five questions participants answer about their current situation, experience level, or biggest challenge related to the topic. Third, a preparation task — one small action they take before the session, like trying something for 5 minutes or writing down a specific question they want answered.
Collecting the self-assessment responses before the session is particularly useful. Paste them into AI and ask for a theme summary: “Here are 25 pre-work responses from workshop participants. What are the three most common challenges and what questions should I prioritize addressing in the live session?” That shapes your facilitation around what the group actually needs, not what you assumed they’d need.
What This Means for Educators
As a trainer or coach, pre-work also increases participant investment. People who have already spent 15 minutes thinking about a topic before a session are more likely to show up, pay attention, and contribute. The pre-work creates a small psychological commitment that turns casual registrants into engaged participants.
What to Do Next
For your next workshop, ask AI to generate a pre-work packet: a one-page primer, a short self-assessment form, and a preparation task. Send it 48 hours before the session. Track completion. The participants who complete the pre-work will be noticeably more engaged in the live session — and that difference will motivate you to make pre-work a standard part of every workshop you run.