Craig Preedy - PDI / ADI Trainer - Instruct IQ

The KEEP Principle is now on Kindle.
Not another “tips and tricks” book for instructors. Not another framework borrowed from a classroom and bolted onto a car.
22 years in, and I still see it every week: PDIs who can recite theory perfectly and fall apart on Part 3. ADIs who’ve been “teaching” the same way since day one and wonder why some learners just don’t click.
The gap isn’t knowledge. It’s what you do with it, in the moment, when the learner’s hands are on the wheel and the plan you made in the car park stops working.
That’s what KEEP is for.
K – Knowledge
E – Enable the Learner
E – Examine the Outcome
P – Progress or Pivot
Four stages. One question running through all of them: is this moment actually working, or are you just going through the motions?
From Winging It to Working It isn’t theory for theory’s sake. It’s the framework I wish someone had handed me two decades ago, instead of me having to build it lesson by lesson, mistake by mistake.
Available now on Kindle. Paperback too, if you want it on the shelf.
Keep Every Element Purposeful.
Make Every Moment Count.

I’ve spent a lot of this year talking to and observing PDIs. Here’s what I keep hearing and seeing.

They know their stuff. Genuinely. Ask them a question and the answer’s there.

What goes missing is the order. The lesson starts with good intentions, and somewhere in the first ten minutes it loses traction — and default teaching quietly takes over. Not because anything’s been forgotten. Because default is safe. It feels like teaching’s happening. You’re following the plan, ticking through it, and it feels like progress.

Except somewhere in that shift, the lesson stopped being about the pupil and started being about you.

That’s not a knowledge gap. That’s a confidence gap — and they’re not the same thing, even though they get treated like they are.

Confidence doesn’t come from knowing more. It comes from consolidating what you already know until it’s actually usable under pressure. From repetition. From regular feedback that isn’t just “that went well.” From watching other ADIs teach and noticing what they do that you don’t. From recording your own lessons — and actually watching them back, with an honest eye instead of rose-tinted specs, which is genuinely uncomfortable and one of the most useful things you can do.

That’s what PDI School is built for. The consolidation. The repetition. The feedback. The honest mirror.

📍 Free 7-day trial — link below.

Questioning is one of those instructor skills that’s more art than science — knowing when to ask, what to ask, and when a direct instruction beats a prompt.

We’re trialling a tool built to help with exactly that: the Coaching Question Generator. It’s built on our own data, but it’s still AI, so treat it as a thinking aid, not gospel.

Want to try it? Comment “Question” and I’ll send the link. Feedback welcome, good or bad.

(And obviously — not while the engine’s running.)

We’re incredibly proud of what we’re creating inside the PDI School.

But we also get it.

There is so much on offer now that it can be difficult to know where to invest your time, your energy and your money.

When Josh and I created the PDI School, we didn’t want it to become another place promising the “secret” to a Part 3 pass or a Standards Check result.

That’s not really what we’re about.

We believe the qualification process should be treated as genuine development, not just a series of hurdles to clear.

Our focus is on you.

Your thinking.
Your confidence.
Your lessons.
Your development as a future educator.

At the heart of the PDI School is the KEEP Principle — a coaching methodology created specifically for PDIs and ADIs.

Not borrowed from another industry.
Not dressed up to fit driver training.
Created by driving instructors, for driving instructors.

Those already using KEEP have said it has changed the way they approach lessons and helped them feel more confident in what they do.

One reader described it as:

“Brilliant and unique.”

If you want more than test tips, quick fixes and pass promises, the PDI School may be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

Develop the instructor.
Don’t just chase the result.

Come and join us inside the PDI School.

First review for my book the KEEP Principle, from winging it to working it yesterday. I’m grateful when anyone buys a copy of my book and to receive a review like this one makes me feel very proud and grateful.

Are your objectives actually working for you — or just ticking a box?
Tonight at 7pm, exclusively in The PDi School, we’re running a member-requested session on SMART objectives. Free trial members, you’re welcome too.
Grab the link from the school calendar and join us. https://www.skool.com/the-pdi-school-1332/about

The PDI school A home for PDIs (and ADIs) who know there must be more. Brought to you by Instruct IQ, powered by the KEEP principle. Whatever stage - all welcome.

How much do you use AI currently?

We have a new area to the PDI school within the AI Lab...

The AI playground.

This is where you get the chance to try some of the tools we are developing.

Last year we built the IQ GPT Suite and won a bronze award for intelligent instructor product of the year!

No we have updated tools, new tools & more in development.

The latest tool to go up:

Coaching Question Generator.

This isn’t about giving you a list of prompts & questions, it's a simple tool to help you understand what your learner might need and why...

Exclusively for the PDI school members.

Oh and you can access some of these tools on a 7 day FREE trial!

Check it out today 😊

I am fascinated by AI. At Instruct IQ we use it. In fact you will see many trainers using AI for their posters advertising their courses etc, and we do the same. But, we also build AI Tools. Tools that can make life easier for PDIs and ADIs. We aren’t talking about calendars and accounting, or tools that can answer your phone. We have created everyday “agents” that genuinely support your learning. You can ask them questions and get answers you can trust. We know this because we have built these agents from the ground up. No hallucination. Just facts. You can get exclusive access to these agents via the PDI School. You will also be able to see what else we are working on in our AI Playground. Join 👉 https://www.skool.com/the-pdi-school-1332/about

https://youtu.be/aBUniZHgCnE?is=HtHAub6FDMXcXbq1

Understand AI in 14 minutes - with Anthropic's Chloe Lubinski [ARC 2026] At ARC 2026, Anthropic's Chloe Lubinski shared what they have been ...

What does your green badge actually mean?

A big thank you to everyone who attended our Part 3 Q&A session last night.

It was a really valuable discussion with some excellent questions around real Part 3 preparation, lesson planning, learner development, and how to respond when things do not go exactly to plan.

We covered a wide range of topics, including learners who plateau or regress, managing the first few minutes of a lesson, concentration dips during longer sessions, adapting the lesson plan, using pull-overs effectively, managing interventions, and helping learners settle before the assessment begins.

One of the biggest themes of the evening was flexibility. Part 3 is not about delivering a perfect script. It is about recognising what is happening in front of you, responding to the learner’s needs, managing risk, and creating learning.

There was also some great discussion around using visual prompts, knowing your area well, planning suitable stopping places, and making sure the learner has time to settle before the assessment starts.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed. These sessions work because people are willing to ask honest questions, share real challenges, and think carefully about how we develop as instructors.

A great discussion and plenty to build on.

If you’re preparing for Part 3 and want practical support, honest discussion, useful resources, and a community that understands the journey, come and join us inside The PDI School.

👉 Join here:

The PDI school A home for PDIs (and ADIs) who know there must be more. Brought to you by Instruct IQ, powered by the KEEP principle. Whatever stage - all welcome.