Learning and development – What are we doing wrong?

Has it ever happened to you that your audience is not engaged? Or you ask questions and there is no answer? Or you have explained a topic in detailed and the results show that nobody actually got it right?

Well, then there must be something wrong happening. The first step to solving this puzzle is recognizing that it is not them, it is probably us: the trainers. Yeap, I’m sorry to break the news to you.

The second step is to be able to reflect on the experience and try to analyse it with a cold head. Don’t let your emotions and personal ego blind you. If things aren’t working, it doesn’t mean that the audience has something against you. It just simply means that things could be done better, a little readjustment here and there, and you are good to go again.

So, what are the things that could have gone wrong?

1.      Let’s start with the design stage – did you prepare a lovely slide show with a million bullet points, lots of content and nearly a step-by-step detailed account of the process/ topic…. Well, that’s the first mistake.

Presentations are a way to guide and link/debrief content, perhaps illustrate or introduce activities. But they should never become work instructions. Keep in mind the motto: ‘less is more’ and challenge yourself to think outside the box in order to present a topic.

I have recently been delivering an all-day training in which we discuss a massive amount of content. It was a challenge to design it, but I made sure that the PowerPoint presentation was for support, not my main source of knowledge. Here are some ideas I used to introduce and explain content:

·      Hidden cards under their chairs

·      Put pictures in order

·      Read articles about a specific topic

·      Google about a topic and teach- back

·      Puzzles

2.      Let’s talk about delivering – I’m sure you have put a lot of effort in learning and planning this training. And you really want to make sure that everyone appreciates that. So, you stand and talk in detail about the topic… You have just lost your audience. There is only so much a person can pay attention to while someone else talks. For an adult the average is 14 minutes as per research carried out in Britain. However, that number is reduced to 10 minutes when it comes to financial meetings (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/attention-span-average-british-person-tuned-in-concentration-mobile-phone-a8131156.html)

If you have been talking for a long time with no interaction from the audience, then you will probably be faced with the following: mobiles being used, eyes rolling and mouths yawning, people shuffling on the chairs, people talking to each other about their lunch plans… And the list could go on and on. This leads us to the next item…

3.      Step away from lecturing! – lecture is only advisable in very few circumstances and to become a pro in lecturing it’s not easy. Only a few people can lecture while maintaining the interest of the full audience. And that is usually linked to the fact that the audience chose to be there. They are already motivated to learn about the topic. But reality is that when training in the business environment, that is not the case. People are obliged to attend your training sessions if they want to be successful in their job.

As I mentioned before, challenge yourself. Think outside the box. There are so many ways to present and discuss topics. And the internet is your friend. It has your back. Games, activities, dynamics, anything you want in a click.

4.      Make a messy learning environment – you know your training session has been successful when you see the training room made a mess after the session. That means that they have worked hard, they have participated, they were engaged, they were motivated, they were creative. That means that learning has happened.

Just give it a go. Challenge yourself. Make a mess!!