Make Your Training Fun and Memorable

Are you still stuck in lecture mode? Don’t get me wrong. We all have to convey information. But after seven minutes or so, the brain starts to drift. Lecturing, along with reading, are the most passive and least effective forms of learning.

Make learning active! By involving your audience and getting them moving they'll understand and retain the information better and longer.

If your audience is falling asleep, side-talking, or can’t remember what you just said it’s time to turbo-charge your training seminars.

Here are some alternatives to lecturing and tips to accelerate learning:

Understand how people learn. Learning styles may be either visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or cognitive. People may be global, needing the big picture, or linear, needing a logical, detailed approach. Make your learning active and varied and you will capture all the styles.

Tell stories. Create a skit or story to explain a concept. Try setting it in a fairy tale or in King Arthur’s Court and substitute your business concepts. Once upon a time there was a knight who wanted to get to King Arthur’s castle. So he asked the wizard of communication “What is the secret of leadership?”…. Then he asked the wizard of knowledge….etc. Watch how attention spans improve as they anticipate your ending.

Use props. Bring in toys such as play dough, slinky, crayons, cars, puzzles, casino chips, magic wands. People learn when they are having fun.

Let them teach you. Break into small groups. Assign each group a section of reading material. Have each team write down the major points on a flip chart and do a team presentation to the rest of the class. This exercise really increases energy!

Get physical. Give an interactive multiple choice test. Provide four different colored index cards for each person in the audience. Project a slide with a statement and four choices (a,b,c,d.). Ask learners to raise the pink card for (a), blue for (b), green for (c), or yellow for (d). You get to see instantaneously how the group thinks and they can see how the rest of the group votes.

Play games. Instead of telling them 10 characteristics of professional selling, create a crossword puzzle, a find the hidden word chart, or a version of jeopardy. The team that finishes first wins a prize.

Organize creatively. Take flip charts and put them around the room. One chart is titled Parking Lot (for questions that come up that you do not want to answer immediately). Another is titled Feedback Board (to provide insights and observations during the class). When someone has a question about content or wants to offer feedback, he/she writes it on a post it and places it on the chart. Later, the group can circulate to read the questions and then post their own answers to the numerous questions or requests. Instead of you giving all the answers, the group takes responsibility. This creates real synergy and teamwork.

Pair up. For large audiences, tell people to turn to the person next to them and identify their biggest challenge, greatest sale, biggest disappointment, or worst employee. Give them 30 seconds each. Keep it brief. Talking to a partner will increase the energy in the room and save you from being a talking head.

Get them moving. Ask a series of questions and have people respond by standing up. The mind can absorb only as long as the seat can endure.

Give them aha’s. Learning occurs when people have an experience. Whether it’s a case study, a personal anecdote, a powerful quote, a demonstration, or a quick exercise, touch people where they live. When you engage their minds and emotions you will have a motivated listener who remembers your message. Remember WIIFM-What’s in it for me?

Provide download time. The brain shuts off when it is on data overload. We go into a dreamlike state (known as alpha state). It’s like a computer freezing. After giving new information, give them quiet time to write down, reorganize their notes, recap with a neighbor or reflect on what was said. This will prevent short term memory loss.

Use music. Certain music can enhance creativity and relax the mind. For creative projects choose fast-paced and energizing music such as Haydn’s symphonies Nos. 67, and 68. For information processing, writing, and relaxing the mind, choose more passive music such as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Play upbeat music during breaks to pump up the crowd. Gradually lower the music to bring them back. The music becomes an anchor for start and stop times.

Get visual. Color and pictures stimulate the right brain and can increase retention by 85%. When taking notes, encourage learners to use several different colored highlighters. On a flip chart or slide, represent concepts with brightly-colored graphics, symbols, pictures. Silently flip through the visuals with music playing in the background as a “concert review.”

To make your seminars memorable and accelerate learning, get active!

When people are having fun, they relax, lose their fears and become receptive to learning. Next time you prepare your lecture, don’t fall in love with your own voice. Remember what Confucius said “ I see and I remember, I hear and I forget, I do and I understand.”