Training from the BACK of the Room! (TBR)

Carole Carter-Cleaver and Otsuka America have done it again! Along with the hugely popular “Six Trumps™ Guide,” Carole and team have created a free “Six Trumps™ Bookmark” for anyone who wishes to use these six brain science principles to teach and train.

The Six Trumps™ are the six brain-science principles from my book Using Brain Science to Make Training Stick.

If you’ve already read my blog post titled “Creating Your Own “Six Trumps™ Card Set” with the “Six Trumps™ Guide,”  you know that Carole Carter-Cleaver is the Senior Director of Learning and Development at Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Now the Otsuka team has created a bookmark to go along with the guide. Better yet, the bookmark can be printed double-sided on white card stock from the formatted file, and both sides will line up perfectly. All you need to do is to cut the bookmark out and you’re ready to use it in a variety of ways.

Once you’ve printed it, laminating the little bookmark will probably increase its longevity, but I’ve been using it without lamination, and I just replace it with another when it gets a little worn. It’s a great personal reminder to use the Six Trumps™ every time I teach a class.

Furthermore, I think the bookmarks would be delightful “souvenirs” for learners to take with them, especially if they are attending a train-the-trainer workshop or class.

Here are four ways to use the bookmarks in your next training:

1. Introduce the Six Trumps™. Pass out the bookmarks to learners. Tell them that the “trumps” are six brain science principles that will help them remember the content you’ll be presenting. Give them a minute to read both sides of the bookmark. Then tell the learners that, during the content-delivery segments of the class, you’ll stop talking every now and then and have them revisit key points by using one or more of the brain science principles listed on their bookmarks.

2. You choose two of the Six Trumps™. After about 10 – 20 minutes of content-delivery, pause and tell learners that you are choosing two Trumps to have them revisit content: “Movement Trumps Sitting” and “Talking Trumps Listening.” Direct them to stand, stretch, and tell someone standing near them a short summary of what they have learned about the topic so far. When they finish, they thank their standing partner and sit down.

The next time you choose a Trump, you might have them draw an image (“Images Trump Words”) representing a major concept, or write a question (“Writing Trumps Reading”) about the topic, or explain in one sentence (“Shorter Trumps Longer”) the most important topic-related fact they have learned. Always tell them which Trump you have chosen for them to use to revisit the content. After doing this a few times, they will begin to understand how to apply the six brain science principles to any learning experience.

3. Individuals choose one of the Six Trumps™. Pause after a content-delivery segment and direct learners to form standing pairs, holding their bookmarks. Each takes a turn using one Trump to illustrate a key point or major concept. For example, one person may use a hand motion to represent a concept (“Movement Trumps Sitting”). Another may use a metaphor (“Images Trump Words”). Another might create a short chant (“Different Trumps Same”). You can also post a list of review strategies for them to choose from, and which of the 6 Trumps each strategy uses.

4. Groups choose one of the Six Trumps™. Towards the end of the class, each table group chooses one Trump to use to summarize the learning. For example, one group might do a short verbal presentation about what they learned (“Shorter Trumps Longer”). Another group might create a chart-paper image to represent the learning (“Images Trump Words”). A third group may have everyone in the class write summary statements (“Writing Trumps Reading”). As part of the conclusion segment, each table group presents its “Trump Summary” to the whole class.

Click below to download the “Six Trumps™ Bookmark” (JPG):

Of course, you can also use the activities listed in the blog post: “Creating Your Own “Six Trumps™ Card Set” with “The Six Trumps™ Guide.”   With some minor modifications, these strategies will work with both the guide and the bookmark.

And, again, my deepest thanks to Carole and Otsuka, for their wonderful contributions to this website. 🙂

If you are interested in learning more about the Six Trumps™, be sure to check out the free articles and micro-courses, as well as the training events, on this website. You’ll also find the Six Trumps™ in my popular book Using Brain Science to Make Training Stick and in the global “Training from the BACK of the Room” (TBR) Classes. Click on the Training Calendar page for the list of public classes.