Ron Hubbard developed the Training Routines in 1956 (in London) and 1957 (in Washington D.C.). He developed them to teach already accomplished auditors to audit better. He saw at once that the auditors skills with the TRs in session transformed the results the pcs got from each hour of auditing. Ever since, the TRs have been an integral part of any auditor course on any level. Hubbard added a few drills in 1971 and 1978.

TRs and Results in Auditing
The in-session performance of any auditor depends utterly on his or her TRs.
Errors and confusions in TRs will always result in errors and confusions in session.

Any confusion on the part of the student auditor about the TRs will prevent his full understanding of other session basics such as metering, session form, and the processes themselves. An auditor can flub something like metering without necessarily having confusions about TRs, but if he consistently flubs metering after attempts to correct his metering mistakes, then his understanding of the TRs must come under very close scrutiny.

A student, then, that hasn't become an expert in his TRs will never become a master at his trade.
Processes will not work properly, if the student auditor has bad TRs.
The processes of today's CT work fast and require perfect TRs for the pc to be winning.
The TRs have to be done hard and long and to high standards or we could loose 90% of the results available.

The TRs are not a tea party! Do them, and get them done, exactly as the materials state--without changes or additions. 

Name: OT TR-0

Theory: This drill undercuts the actual use of the communication formula. A person must be present in order to start a communication; another must be present to receive it. On OT TR-0 the student drills being present as potential Cause (Source-point) or potential Effect (Receipt-point).

Purpose: The student has to comfortably confront another person. The student trains to simply be in a position one meter (3 feet) in front of another person. He is present, and relaxed and comfortable about it.

Commands: None

Position: Student and coach are sitting facing each other with eyes closed, about 1 meter (3 feet) apart.

Directions: This is a silent drill. Student and coach sit across from each other with their eyes closed.

Student may not move around, confront with a body part, or use any via to confront with. Sleepiness or drowsiness may not pass. This is a simple drill. Anything added to simply being present is a flunk. The student will usually see blackness when his eyes are closed.

When the student can be present in a relaxed and alert manner, and feeling good about it, he or she passes the drill.
Note: Confronting is not part of this drill.

(Note: Often this drill is done without coaching and simply to a point where the student feels relaxed, alert and great about being there. The instructor sometimes comes around and will give the coaching instructions).

Name: TR-0, Confront

Theory: In addition to potential cause or effect, the following parts of the Comm Cycle are introduced: Observation, Distance, Consideration, Attention, Confront.

Purpose: To train a student to confront a preclear with auditing only or with nothing. The idea is simply to get the student able to hold a position one meter in front of a preclear and to be relaxed and comfortable about it. He simply is supposed to be present and not do anything except be present.

Commands: None

Position: Student and coach are sitting facing each other about 1 meter (3 feet) apart.

Directions: The student and coach don't make any conversation or try to be interesting. They simply sit and look at each other without saying or doing anything for some hours. Student must not speak, blink nervously, move around or move, laugh or smile or be embarrassed or get sleepy or drowsy. Often you will see the student confront with a body part, like his face, nose, chest etc. rather than just sit and look relaxedly at the coach. He can fall into using a system of confronting rather than just BE present. Confronting means just that. You don't DO anything. The whole action is to accustom an auditor to BEING PRESENT, 1 meter in front of a preclear without apologizing or moving around or defending self. Confronting with a body part can cause somatics in that body part. The solution is to just carry on and confront and be present.
The emphasis is first and foremost to get the student to confront the person opposite him (the coach). Then later in the TR, coach can iron out physical manifestations, twitches, blinks, etc. 

Student auditor passes when he can be present, confronting, and has reached a major stable win on the subject.

A full and final pass is granted when the student is able to sit for a full two hours in one training session without any discomfort, sleepiness etc. as listed above. Natural blinking allowed. Excessive (nervous) blinking is not.

Theory: Same as TR-0, unbullbatied. Emphasis on confronting a preclear who is being at cause.

Purpose: The student is to confront a preclear with auditing only or with nothing. The idea is simply to get the student to be able to hold a position 1 meter in front of a preclear and to be relaxed and comfortable about it. He simply has to BE present without being thrown off, distracted or having any reactions to anything the preclear says or does.

Note: The purpose of TR-0 was just to get the guy to sit there and confront. But the purpose of TR-0 Bullbait is to get the student able to confront a preclear.

Commands: Coach uses: "Start," "That's it," "flunk."

Position: Student and coach sit facing each other about 1 meter (3 feet) apart.

Directions: After the student auditor has passed TR-0 and he can BE present, it's time for "Bullbaiting". Anything added to BEING THERE is instantly flunked by the coach. Twitches, nervous blinks, sighs, moving around or moving, anything except just being there is promptly flunked, with the reason for the flunk.
To Coach: Student laughs. Coach: "Flunk! you laughed. Start." This is all the coach is supposed to say as a coach.
To Student: The coach may say anything or do anything except leave the chair. The coach finds the student's "buttons" and works them over, hard. No words (except coaching words) may cause any response. If the student reacts, the coach is instantly a coach (see above). Student is given a pass when he can BE present relaxedly without breaking up or becoming distracted or reacting in any way to whatever the coach says or does, and has reached a major stable win on the subject.

(Button: Words, phrases, subjects or actions used by other people, that cause a Bank reaction in an individual, resulting in discomfort, embarrassment or upset, or in making him laugh uncontrollably.)
 

Directions: After the student auditor has passed TR-0, Bullbait, and had his buttons flattened, it's time to put all the TR-0 skills together into an actual auditor skill.. Anything added to BEING THERE AND BEING INTERESTED is flunked by the coach. Any signs of a "confrontational attitude", such as staring,, frozen or robotic appearance, is flunked. Nervous twitches, excessive blinking, sighs, moving around are also flunked but is less emphasized in this drill. Any dope-off is, however, flunked hard as it shows lack of interest. If buttons or nervous reactions are unflat beyond one or two flunks, the student should return to TR-0 Bullbait and have it flattened there.
To Coach: Flunks are given as in previous drills. E.g.: Student displays an empty stare. Coach: "Flunk! you stare. Start." Emphasis in coaching is not to crack up the student but to bore him by endless explanations and the like. This should be mixed up with colorful tales that usually elicit approval or disapproval. The student should not express any subjective reactions but only interest and being safe to talk to. The coaching session should be more realistic and session-like than finding buttons to push on the student.
To Student: The coach may in principle say anything or do anything except leave the chair. The coach concentrates, however, on finding the student's "buttons" in terms of  trying to bore student or elicit subjective reactions.
The student is allowed to use appropriate facial expressions and nodding interestedly to express interest and get the coach to keep talking. But the student is not allowed to say anything verbally.
The drill is passed when the student can demonstrate that he can maintain high interest and a relaxed attitude at the same time regardless of the stories he is being subject to.
 

Theory: Add to the theory for TR-0 : student actually being Cause, with awareness of effect; he gets a Message across a Distance to a Receipt-point.

Purpose: to drill and perfect how to deliver an auditing command to a pc (each command delivered fresh, in its own unit of time); and to deliver it without flinch or strain, but naturally and directly as from auditor to pc.

Commands: The student uses a book - such as 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' by Richard Bach. He takes sentences (omitting "he said's"), reads a sentence to himself and then delivers it to the coach.

Position: Student and coach sit facing each other about 1 meter (3 feet) apart.

Directions: the student picks a sentence from the book and makes it his own. He says it to the coach in a natural way. It must not sound like he is reading from a book. He is not trying to impersonate a character. He simply says it as his own in a clear and straightforward manner.

The coach must have received the command clearly and understood it before he says "Good."

The coach controls the session. He says "Start". He listens to the student delivering the sentence. If he receives it clearly he says "Good" and the student takes the next sentence. If she does not receive the origination clearly or needs to correct something else, the coach says "Flunk," and tells the student why. The student repeats a flunked origination. "That's it" is used to break off for a discussion or to end the coaching session. The coach uses "Start" to resume the session after a discussion and at the very beginning of the activity.

TR-1 is passed when the student can put across an origination naturally and relaxedly, yet clearly. He must do it without strain or flinching: no gestures, no acting, no artificiality, nor public speaker manners. His voice sounds clear and natural.

Note: The Affinity level of the student is very important. All too often an auditor whose TR-1 is out lacks affinity. He can't reach or be the other person (coach or pc), so has difficulty communicating.

Theory: The student drills switching from Effect to Cause. He receives, Understands and Duplicates the pc's Answer (effect); then is cause in giving the Ack.

Purpose: To teach the student auditor that an acknowledgment is an important means of controlling a preclear's communication in session. An acknowledgment is a full stop that ends a communication cycle. The student must understand and appropriately acknowledge in order to end the comm.

Commands: The coach reads a line from a book - like 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'. He omits "He said's," and the student has to thoroughly acknowledge each origination. The coach repeats any line he feels the student did not truly acknowledge. The student can use "Good", "Fine", "OK", "I heard that" and anything that is appropriate to pc's statement. It has to convince the pc or coach that he was heard and understood. The coach will repeat any statement he feels the student did not correctly ack.

Position: Student and coach are sitting facing each other about 1 meter (3 feet) apart.

Directions: The student is to acknowledge exactly what was said so the coach knows it was heard. Ask student from time to time, What did I say?". Let the student do anything at first to get his acknowledgment across and then start to straighten him out. Teach him that an acknowledgment is a stop, an end of cycle - not the beginning of a new comm cycle or an encouragement to the pc to go on. Teach the student further that an ack is not a robotic thing. It has to express understanding of what was said. Even "That's terrible" can be appropriate if pc is telling a dreadful story. Reality is thus important in TR-2.
Teach him further that one can fail to get an acknowledgment across, or can fail to stop a pc with an acknowledgment, or can acknowledge too strongly--which can totally throw the pc out of session.

The coach says "Start," reads a line and says "Flunk" when the coach feels there has been an improper acknowledgment. The coach repeats the same line each time the coach says "Flunk." Use "That's it" to break off for a discussion or end the coaching session. "Start" begins a new coaching after a "That's it."

Theory: The same as on TR-2. But the emphasis here is on drilling Acks and Control in such a way as to bring about the "Continue" (or "change") part of the Control cycle.

Purpose: To teach the student that a half-ack is how you encourage a pc to keep talking about something.

Commands: The coach reads a line from a book - like 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'. He omits "He said's" and the student has to half-ack each. The coach repeats any line he feels was not half acked.

Position: Student and coach sit facing each other about 1 meter (3 feet) apart.

Directions: The student is to give a half ack as an encouragement to the pc to continue talking. Correct over-acknowledgment that stops a pc from talking. Drill student on how half ack is a way of keeping a pc talking by giving the pc the feeling that he is being listened to with interest.

The coach says "Start," reads a line and says "Flunk" when she feels there has been an improper half ack. The coach repeats the same line each time the coach says "Flunk." Use "That's it" to break off for discussion or end the activity. If the coach used 'That's it' before discussing something, he must say "Start" again before coaching resumes.
 

Theory: The student is using all the parts of the comm cycle in this drill. He has to complete a communication and to duplicate it over and over in present time.
 

Purpose: To teach a student auditor to duplicate an auditing question without any variation (of words), each time newly, in its own unit of time, and to acknowledge it.
Also: To teach that as an auditor you never ask a second question until you have received an answer to the one asked.

Commands: "Do fish swim?" or "Do birds fly?"

Position: Student and coach are sitting facing each other about 1 meter (3 feet) apart at.

Directions: One question and student's ack of its answer is in one unit of time that is then finished. Keep auditor from straying into variations of the question. Even though the same question is asked, it is asked as though it is a brand new idea - and never as a blur with the previous cycles (robotic repeat).

The student auditor must learn to give a command and receive an answer and to acknowledge it in one distinct unit of time.

The student auditor is flunked if he fails to get an answer to the question asked, if he fails to repeat the exact question, if he Q and As with a diversion offered by the coach.

The coach uses "Start" and "That's it," as in earlier TRs. The coach is not bound after giving the 'Start' to answer the auditor's question. He may hesitate (comm lag) or give wild comments off the subject, as a way to bullbait the student. The coach answers the question directly, often, and throws in his comments, etc., randomly, to try to catch the student off guard

Somewhat less often the coach attempts to get the student auditor into a Q and A or upset him.

Example:
Student Auditor: "Do fish swim?"
Coach: "Yes."
Student Auditor: "Good."
Student Auditor: "Do fish swim?"
Coach: "Aren't you getting tired of this?"
Student Auditor: "Yes."
Coach: "Flunk."

When the student doesn't get an answer, he repeats the question. The auditor must say, gently, "I'll repeat the auditing question" (this is called the repeat statement), and continue to do so until he gets an answer.

Anything except commands, acks and, as needed, the repeat statement, is flunked. Unnecessary use of the repeat statement is flunked. A poor command is flunked. An improper ack is flunked. Q and A is flunked (as in the example). Student's misemotion and confusion is flunked. Student's long hesitation (comm lag) is flunked. A premature acknowledgment is flunked.
Lack of ack (or with a distinct comm lag) is flunked. Any words from the coach except an answer to the question, "Start," "Flunk", "Good" or "That's it" should have no influence on the auditor. He keeps giving the repeat statement and the question until it is answered.

"Start," "Flunk," "Good" and "That's it" may not be used to bullbait the student auditor. Any other statement can be.

The coach may try to leave his chair in this TR. If the student allows it, it is a flunk. (The student may use his hands to prevent the coach from leaving the chair). The coach should not use personal or case-related statements such as "I just had a cognition" (that's TR-4). Coach's statements should concern the student with the intent to throw the student off and cause him to lose session control or lose track of what he's doing.

The student's job is to keep the session going despite anything; he uses only the command, the repeat statement, and the ack (and hands as mentioned above). If the student does anything other than these, the coach flunks him and tells him the reason why.

Theory: An origination is something of importance to the pc he brings up on his own. Pc is at cause unexpectedly. It is an indicator of the pc making progress.

Purpose: To teach the student auditor to maintain ARC with the preclear when he originates. He should not become silent or startled or hesitant by this, but maintain communication and ARC with the preclear throughout an origination.

Commands: The student runs "Do fish swim?" or "Do birds fly?" on the coach. Coach answers, but now and then makes unexpected statements. The student auditor must be able to 'change gear' and handle the coach's originations smoothly and to coach's satisfaction.

Position: Student and coach are sitting facing each other about 1 meter (3 feet) apart.

Directions: The student auditor listens to the origination and does three things. (1) Understands it; (2) Acknowledges it; and (3) Returns the pc to session. If the coach feels the student is abrupt, or spends too much time on it, or shows lack of understanding, he flunks the student and corrects him to handle it smoothly.

All originations are statements about the coach, his case, ideas, reactions, or difficulties; none are about the student. Otherwise it is very similar to TR-3.

The student says and does enough to: (1) Clarify and understand the origination; (2) Acknowledge the origination; (3) Give coach the repeat statement, "I'll repeat the auditing command," and then give it. Anything else is a flunk.

The student learns to prevent ARC breaks and to clearly see the difference between (a) a vital problem that concerns the pc and (b) an effort to blow session (as on TR-3). Flunks are given if the student does more than (1) understand; (2) acknowledge; (3) return pc to session.

Once the student auditor is comfortable with the idea of handling originations, the coach mixes it up by throwing in personal remarks aimed at the student auditor, as on TR-3.
 

Student's failure to differentiate between comments (attempts to distract or blow) and originations (something important to the 'in-session' pc) is a flunk.

Student auditor's failure to persist is always a flunk in TRs and very much so in this TR.

Note
You do not want a student to get hung up on one TR forever. Instead you can go through the TRs several times getting tougher on each time through.