3 Tips for Making Your Messages Stick
Engineer Curiosity | By: The Bob Pike Group
As fun as training can be (when you use Creative Training Techniques®), we don’t just train for the sake of it. Every training program is designed with a desired outcome in mind. But training won’t make a difference in the workplace if participants forget what they learned moments after they leave the room.
To get real results from training, you have to make sure your messages actually stick. The majority of what you can do to make your messages stick happens before you set foot in the classroom. It happens in the planning and design stage, when you're developing your course content.
To get real results from training, you have to make sure your messages actually stick. The majority of what you can do to make your messages stick happens before you set foot in the classroom. It happens in the planning and design stage, when you're developing your course content.
To make messages stick, follow these three guidelines for your course design:
• Categorize Content by Level of Mastery Required
When you’re deciding what content to include in your training program, you should be organizing content into “need to know” and “nice to know” categories.
“Need to know” content should be given more class time and more opportunities for revision, allowing learners to truly master concepts by moving information from short-term to long-term memory. “Nice to know” content that requires only basic familiarity can be given less time.
• Make it Participant-Centered
People learn best when they are active participants in their own learning process. Incorporate plenty of opportunities during training for learners to actively apply and engage with what they’re learning. Create clear connections between each C.O.R.E. activity and real activities learners will perform back on the job. These connections will increase engagement and facilitate retention by providing relevant context for learning.
• Creativity is Key
People learn in different ways and get bored easily. Avoid using tired training activities they’ve been exposed to time and time again. Using a variety of activities to revisit key concepts will engage a wider range of learning styles and give your audience multiple opportunities to review the information.
When you’re deciding what content to include in your training program, you should be organizing content into “need to know” and “nice to know” categories.
“Need to know” content should be given more class time and more opportunities for revision, allowing learners to truly master concepts by moving information from short-term to long-term memory. “Nice to know” content that requires only basic familiarity can be given less time.
• Make it Participant-Centered
People learn best when they are active participants in their own learning process. Incorporate plenty of opportunities during training for learners to actively apply and engage with what they’re learning. Create clear connections between each C.O.R.E. activity and real activities learners will perform back on the job. These connections will increase engagement and facilitate retention by providing relevant context for learning.
• Creativity is Key
People learn in different ways and get bored easily. Avoid using tired training activities they’ve been exposed to time and time again. Using a variety of activities to revisit key concepts will engage a wider range of learning styles and give your audience multiple opportunities to review the information.
We use hundreds of different activities to review and revisit training materialin our workshops. These are three of our favorites that you can apply inyour own training design.
Activities for Reviewing & Revising Content
1) Mindmapping
Participants create their own mind map or fill in a partially completed outline. The map should represent ideas ortasks organized around a central theme related to the course content.
Participants create their own mind map or fill in a partially completed outline. The map should represent ideas ortasks organized around a central theme related to the course content.
2. Top 10 List
Participants create a list of the top 10 best ideas they have learned so far in training, the top 10 questions they have about content, the top 10 most challenges encountered so far, top 10 examples of closers, etc.
Participants create a list of the top 10 best ideas they have learned so far in training, the top 10 questions they have about content, the top 10 most challenges encountered so far, top 10 examples of closers, etc.
3. Action Idea List
Periodically instruct learners to turn to a blank page in their workbooks and create a list of the most important things they have learned so far that they will use on the job. Hint: It’s helpful to make this workbook page a unique color so that it is easy to find and flip to.
Periodically instruct learners to turn to a blank page in their workbooks and create a list of the most important things they have learned so far that they will use on the job. Hint: It’s helpful to make this workbook page a unique color so that it is easy to find and flip to.
Want to bring Creative Training Techniques® to your management team? We offer reduced rates for Onsite Workshops with groups of 6 or more.
Call 800-383-9210 for more information, or visit BobPikeGroup.com/onsite-classes.
Call 800-383-9210 for more information, or visit BobPikeGroup.com/onsite-classes.