SimSimple Top Tips - Anticipating the Cues that Bring the Scenario to Life

In this image, the VEMS facilitator is doing something subtle but powerful.
Before the participant even asks for more information, she says:

“The patient is taking shallow resps and has gurgling sounds.”

That one cue transforms the simulation.

With Visually Enhanced Mental Simulation (VEMS) and SimSimple Kits, realism doesn’t come from technology—it comes from the facilitator. The best facilitators anticipate what participants are about to look for and deliver it just in time.

Rather than waiting for a question like, “What’s the patient’s breathing doing?”, proactive cueing gives the team exactly what they need to think, act, and communicate like they would in real life.

Why this matters:

• Keeps momentum: Anticipatory cues help maintain flow and prevent simulation “stalls.”

• Builds shared understanding: Teams stay focused on clinical reasoning, not logistics.

• Fosters collaboration: Facilitator and participants feel like they’re on the same side—solving the problem together.

• Enhances immersion: Thoughtful, timely details create psychological realism, even in a tabletop format.

This is one of the key facilitation skills in SimSimple and VEMS sessions—being an active participant in the simulation. Your goal isn’t to challenge learners by withholding information; it’s to provide just enough to keep them fully engaged in the scenario.

By staying one step ahead and offering the cues that matter, you turn a static tabletop exercise into a dynamic, collaborative simulation experience.

To get started, explore SimSimple Kits here.