Holding Onto What You’ve Learned
You’ve just attended a great train-the-trainer class and the excitement there has been replaced by the busyness of your daily life. Here are 5 ways to hold onto what you learned:
1. Make an action plan. If you haven’t already done so, write down one or two changes you plan to make to your next class, presentation or training. Then post your action plan where you will see and be reminded of it daily.
2. Teach someone what you learned. Choose three of the most important concepts you learned from the class and explain them to your spouse, significant other, friend, colleague, child, or even your pet (okay, so maybe not your pet!). Consider writing a blog post about what you learned. The more you teach the material to others, the more you master it yourself.
3. Continue the connections. Stay in contact with other workshop participants via email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, or other social media so that you can give each other helpful feedback and encouragement
4. Keep learning! Plan to do one short, quick, follow-up activity each week after the workshop for at least a month: read a topic-related article, watch a topic-related slide presentation or video, read a book chapter, or browse websites related to the workshop content.
5. Remember to repeat and repeat to remember. In his book Brain Rules, author John Medina reminds his readers how important it is to revisit information over time. You move information into long-term memory when there is spaced practice over a period of days and weeks. So reread your notes, write yourself a summary of what you’ve learned, post reminders of content where you will read them, and use a new instructional activity or concept each time you teach or train. You will master the material faster this way and hold onto what you’ve learned.