Tag Archives: instructional design

Less Teaching…More Learning, via trainingmag.com

18 Jul

It’s no secret, I’m an experiential learning junkie.  Luckily, it falls in line with how adults learn best… through action and reflection. 

Via Training magazine, here’s their 4-pronged approach to Learning and Development – an approach that reminds us (lest we forget!).. it’s all about the participant.

  1. Limit the amount of frontal lecture. Facilitators have many great ideas that we want to share with our audience. We’ve been conditioned by the preponderance of lecture-based workshops to think we’re expected to fill the time by talking—and that the more information we bring, the better. But we know from our own first-hand experience as participants in other workshops that lecture is not the path to engagement. When it comes to lecture, less is more, as long as you make sure to present impactful material. Skip the appetizers. Go straight to the main course. Deliver your content in bite-sized portions. Let the audience chew on them and digest them before serving more.
  2. Include lots of subject-focused action. Note that action for action’s sake alone is not valuable. Ice-breaker exercises such as tossing a ball to fellow participants in order to learn their names has its place, but it does not constitute action related to the subject material. Instead, design exercises that help the nuggets presented in your lectures come alive. For example, if you’re teaching negotiation skills, it’s more important that you have exercises on negotiation than on ice breaking.
  3. Relate the subject matter to the audience’s particular needs. Demonstrate how the workshop will improve their professional lives the moment they leave the classroom.
  4. Teach what the audience wants to learn. Often, facilitators establish an agenda of what we think we should teach. Instead, we should create an environment that allows participants to guide us about what they want to learn and what would be most valuable to them. Ideally, you will have the breadth and depth of knowledge—and flexible disposition—to take the conversation wherever the participants want to take it, so long as it stays on topic. This takes the guesswork out of what to say, and helps ensure that your audience is engaged and walks away with skills they will apply back at their desks.

Last Word: Less Teaching…More Learning | trainingmag.com.

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5 Things Great Presenters Know About People (Video)

9 Jul

Great presenters know how to inform, inspire, and motivate – they know how to reach an audience because they focus on their audience during all steps of the presentation process.

What makes a presentation resonate with you?

Here’s what we know:

  1. Research shows an audience enjoys, learns more and retains more of your presentation when it’s bite-sized. Keep your presentation to 20 minutes or less (TED talks, anyone?!) – or if it’s longer, be sure to change it up every 20 minutes.
  2. Take away the sensory channel  competition – an audience is learning and listening with their eyes and ears. A presentation with text-heavy slides distracts from your talk.  If the audience is reading they aren’t listening. A trick – prepare your presentation first without the help of slides – if you still need visuals, then opt for some power point back up. Slides should complement your talk, not replace it or mimic it.
  3. What you say is only part of your message – we unconsciously make 1 second or less decisions about others. Beware of your body language and tone. Non-verbal communication matters.
  4. You’ve motivated, inspired, and informed your audience to do … what again? Don’t forget a call to action. Get specific about what you want your audience to do next.
  5. Monkey see, monkey do – audiences imitate emotions and feel what you feel – so, lead with passion! Your body language will be a big give-away if you’re not feeling your topic.

For more tips, in fun-to-watch illustrated form, check out this video!

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How to make learning relevant and personal in the emerging workplace

1 Jun

I have a confession that might shock you.  This toolkit that I have here, well, it’s not all online and virtual.

In fact, here’s a picture of my real toolkit….er, toolkits.

It’s filled with articles, book chapters, my curriculum, notes, ideas. Truthfully, it sits in my house taking up space, until I need it. But I feel comfortable knowing it’s there because I created it.

It was a way for me to take a more active, reflective and personal role in my learning journey.  True it’s a lot of information, but to compile it I had to sift through and find what resonated, applied – what mattered to me.

Shouldn’t that be what all learning is about?

In this age of information overload – learning at work needs to be more relevant, personal and applicable than ever – otherwise how can we retain it all?

I often come across professional development opportunities where participants leave with a pre-made binder filled with articles chosen for them, answers filled out, and way too many case studies.

Companies seeking compliance may sleep better knowing the “tools” have been handed off.

But we can do more than just check learning off a list.

We can make learning relevant, personal, and applicable.

Make it easy to digest, give learners the opportunity to control their learning – even ask them to compile their own toolkits.

Information that sticks with you is information you seek out and have a general interest in.

Build the toolkit, feel safe knowing it’s always there to come back to, and give learners the opportunity for autonomy and mastery in order to help them be more engaged.

 

 

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Give & Take – Training the art of negotiation

10 Apr

A negotiation is rarely a winner-take-all event. Instead it is often a give-and-take. Therefore, our ability to perform and achieve negotiation prowess is determined by listening, trust, empathy and observation skills.

These teachable skills allow individuals to focus on the other person, and allow them to build rapport with their negotiation partner. It is a delicate process of finding and building connections instead of barriers.

Companies all over the world are employing training techniques (many derived from the Improvisation world) to teach the art of negotiation.

This article from Training Magazine  highlights many of these efforts, including the work being done at BATS Improv in San Francisco.

Improvisers learn how to:

  • Listen and react
  • watch for body language cues
  • pay attention to tone and inflection
  • use and be comfortable with silence
  • build trust by finding shared connections
  • become more aware of intent vs. interpretation
  • learn how “status” (dominance vs. submission) is a performance choice we are constantly making
  • create collaborative conversations
  • embrace failure
  • use role-plays and practice scenarios in a safe environment

Read the full article here: Give & Take | trainingmag.com.

 

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How to design training with introverts in mind

5 Mar

Designing training programs and initiatives to help bring out the best in your employees and help them collaborate and communicate better is hardly a one-size-fits all approach. Just ask Susan Cain. 

Not only must we consider the different ways we all learn, but it’s equally, if not more important to design training that allows both introverts and extroverts to succeed.

Roughly 40% of us (including myself) are introverts, meaning our energy comes from solitude, as opposed to other people. At work and at home, introverts need quiet time and solitude to arrange our thoughts and process information.

Often times, brainstorming sessions or meetings favor extroverts – it is often a scenario where being the best or loudest talker is more important than having the best idea.

So how can we design training programs, Improv classes, and brainstorming sessions that truly allow room for all of us to succeed and where we all feel welcome?

Most importantly, how should we design classes that allow introverts to feel more comfortable expressing their ideas? In a room full of extroverts, it can be difficult to feel heard. Here are some suggestions:

1. Add in some alone time

  • Timeouts fuel introverts thinking, creativity and decision-making. In order for introverts to do their best work, this must be acknowledged. Extroverts can benefit from some solitude as well, to develop insights and learn to rely more on their own thoughts and ideas.
  • alone time also allows introverts to process information
2. Adjust full-group discussions 
  • Debriefs are such a crucial part of Applied Improv and many professional development classes. For introverts, adjust some full-group debrief to small groups or one-on-one’s where more authentic discussions can be had
  • Encourage participants to write down thoughts as opposed to sharing them out loud – self-reflection is still taking place
  • Encourage in-depth questioning of games and activities to allow more time to process each segment and its lessons

3. Celebrate our differences, remember our similarities

  • Acknowledging the differences between extroverts and introverts is important. The more we can get to know our colleagues and our different working styles, the better we can communicate and collaborate
  • Learn “how to make your partner look good”, develop empathy and connection
  • Always circle-back to your overall purpose and mission as a team. Truly make an effort to allow both introverts and extroverts to shine. Pushing people out of their comfort zone is important, but having a home-base to return to and re-charge will make the journey easier for many.

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What’s the drill – February 23: Can you name the 7 types of intelligence?

23 Feb

Did you know that humans have seven different types of intelligence? According to the theory set-forth by Professor Howard Gardner of Harvard University, we each have (at least) seven types of intelligence:

  1. linguistic intelligence (thinking in words and using language)
  2. logical-mathematical intelligence (quantifying and working with hypotheses)
  3. kinesthetic intelligence (acquiring physical skills)
  4. spatial intelligence (three-dimensional thinking)
  5. musical intelligence (working with pitch, rhythm, timbre, and tone)
  6. interpersonal intelligence (interacting with others)
  7. intrapersonal intelligence (understanding one’s self)

What’s the drill for today reminds us we use more than linguistic and logical intelligence at work, yet training initiatives typically only focus on these first two types.

We need to be exposed to training that involves and engages all of our intelligences so that we are better equipped to navigate our every day lives.  Luckily, experiential training accomplishes this task!

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TOOL: Be obvious

2 Feb

I’d like to dispel a common myth about Improv. The very presence of this myth keeps many people from thinking they can improvise. Here it is…

Improv is not about attempting to be funny. Instead, one of the most important tools in the Improviser’s toolbox is the ability to be obvious, instead of clever.

Trying too hard to be clever or funny takes us away from the principles which make teams successful – the ability to make each other look good, embrace failure, accept each others offers and say, “yes, and”. If we’re trying too hard to be clever, we’re not really listening and focusing on the ideas of our teammates. Similarly, if we are censoring ourselves from the ideas that seem too obvious to us, we are assuming our simplest ideas are of no use, when in fact they can point us in a delightful direction on stage or off.

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To acquire the tools, hire a carpenter

2 Feb

Over the past month, this blog has introduced many of the tools for navigating business without a script, as well as practical applications, research, and anecdotes surrounding staff development, adult education and Applied Improvisation.

Hopefully it’s got your wheels turning, the conversation starting and has also piqued your curiosity. But, a word of caution:

The tools for change and growth are all around you, but it takes a skilled carpenter to make your improvement project a reality.

Enter, the facilitator…otherwise known as your project architect, contractor, carpenter, and inspector.

As mentioned earlier, Applied Improvisation is not a one-size-fits-all kind of tool. A facilitator will show you how to use the tools to make the most efficient use of your time, money, and energy as a company.

(My corporate sponsorship from Toolboxes of America requires I mention my toolbox metaphor at least once a day, in case you were wondering).

Students from my 1.5 year long class at DreamWorks know that on our last day together, I gave them all toolboxes filled with the tools they had acquired during our over 60 sessions. They have the motivation to add to their toolbox, and open it whenever they need inspiration. My hope is that they will share what they’ve learned with others and pass on the skills and lessons they were taught.

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