Training from the BACK of the Room!

Take a moment right now to roll your neck, stretch your arms above your head, lean back in your chair, and take a few deep breaths. I’ll pause writing and do this quick Body Break with you … There now, you probably feel a bit more alert, and perhaps curious, as well.

My husband and I went to see the movie “Focus” the other evening. A segment of the movie gave a vivid example of “priming” – the word brain scientists give to a concept that is really important for human learning.  

Got too much content to teach in too little time? Can’t stop for lengthy learning games because the important information you have to present takes up all the training time? No problem! Read on … 

Brain scientists call them “priming” – getting the human brain ready to learn.  I call them “Warm-Ups” – short, quick, optional activities that will introduce you to some of the concepts from the March 20th Super Session in Sacramento, California. Here are five “Warm-Ups,” the first being the most important one to do:

You walk into the training room and immediately realize that this exciting train-the-trainer event will be dramatically different from other training programs you have attended. What are the clues that lead you to this conclusion? 

In keeping my promise to the Training 2015 Conference and Expo Certificate Program participants that I would post some of the brain research about how digital technology is affecting the human brain, I have collected an assortment of informative and provocative articles.

Just over two years ago my 4th son (Clay Anderson) came up with a brilliant idea. He called it “Friday Resolutions” and it worked like this:

Just about the time I’m thinking that I really need to begin a regular practice schedule – rather than hit or miss –  if I want to get really good at playing the keyboard for the little local band I’m in (and we’re playing a dance gig in March – ack!), I run across this fabulous slide presentation!

“The person doing the most talking – or moving or writing – in a class or training is doing the most learning.” And,if you observe a traditional face-to-face class, it’s immediately obvious who is doing the most talking, moving, and writing: the instructor or trainer, of course!

“Intermittent Reinforcement.” Also called “Spaced Practice” – a gift to give yourself for 2015. Forget New Year’s resolutions. Forget promising yourself that you’ll NEVER do this or ALWAYS do that. And forget about learning a new habit or behavior by repeating it again and again in one “massed practice” – one large chunk of time.

A difficult adult learner: resistant, passive. Thinks activities are a waste of time. Doesn’t really want to be sitting in a classroom with a group of strangers at all. And nothing you try in the class setting works. What do you do?

You already know that learner-to-learner interactions – paired, small groups, or class discussions about content – significantly increase long-term memory of the information being discussed. But the problem most trainers face is how to begin that kind of interaction when learners don’t yet know each other and don’t feel psychologically safe with each other yet.

You’ve just delivered some important content via a lecture to a class of adult learners. You want them to remember the content, so how do you help them do just that? Here are three quick ways to ensure that your adult learners will remember what you’ve taught them.

These questions pop up often from eager trainers: “How do I begin making changes in my training programs? How do I encourage adult learners to participate? Where do I start?” Here are a few suggestions to try – ideas that may help you get past the initial challenge of making the change from traditional training to a more learner-centered approach.

The title of this blog entry came from a friend in the speaking industry – a motivational speaker who was trying to change his own habit of speaking non-stop, without allowing any audience participation.

For those of us who have been doing this “teaching/training” thing for awhile, we often seem to base it on “Well, if learning a certain way works for me, it should work for others.” Maybe that’s the case; but, then again, maybe not.

I must admit that I check email a few times during the day – well, actually, quite a lot, if I count email check-ups on my iPhone, as well as my computer. It goes like this: Do a little work here, check email there. More work, more email. And maybe I throw in a web search or two, for good measure.