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Grabbing attention
00 Standfirst Clive Shepherd W
hether you’re teaching in a classroom, developing some e-learning or producing a video, you’ll be concerned about
engaging your learners. Why? Because, if learners aren’t engaged they’ll pay little attention to what you’re offering and they’re very unlikely to retain anything. You can spend a fortune trying to engage learners with glitzy graphics and animations, but the real secrets to engagement do not demand you break the bank. Here are four dos and four don’ts:
DO 1. Make an emotional impact: Too much of what we teach is aimed at the rational, reasoning side of the human psyche, but that’s less than half the battle. If we’re not emotionally engaged we won’t be listening to the facts, figures and scientific evidence. Do what you have to do to up the emotional ante – use humour, shock, pathos, drama.
2. Tell stories: Which brings us to stories, the currency of any great learning experience. We are engaged by stories (often for hours on end), we remember them and we pass them on. You can’t say that for theoretical models, processes and procedures. And don’t forget, learners’ own stories are more important than yours.
3. Be relevant: ‘Relevance drives out reluctance,’ so hook into what is interesting your learners right now. Relate the learning experience to real work issues. And don’t be afraid to play to the learner’s more fundamental needs – self-image, relating to
others, money, status, whatever.
4. Be challenging: We love a challenge, just so long as we feel we have a chance of success. Nothing too easy, nothing too hard. We will spend any amount of time solving an interesting problem (just think how long people spend playing video games). But so this time isn’t wasted, make sure you clearly relate the challenge to the goals of the learning experience and the lives of the learners.
DON’T 1. Overload on glitz: It’s a common misconception that super-high production values will provide that elusive engagement, but there’s no evidence to support this. There’s nothing you can do with video, 3D models, animation or high-speed interactivity that learners won’t have seen before (only done much better) in movies and video games. Overdo the bling and learners are more likely to complain that you’re wasting money.
2. Interact for the sake of it: Interaction is important for learning but only when it’s relevant to the objectives of the learning experience and sufficiently challenging. Questions with obvious answers don’t count. Interactions that simply reveal information don’t count. And don’t forget that questions from learners are far more valuable than questions from you.
3. Cross the line: In the effort to relate to your audience you might be tempted towards the
… mostly we have to deal with learners who have plenty of other things they could be doing, short attention spans and a healthy dose of cynicism. Even if your learners start enthusiastically, you can soon lose them if you’re not hitting the right buttons.
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lowest common denominator. You could argue that there’s a time and a place for everything but a workplace learning experience is definitely not the right place for offensive humour. If you’re not sure where the
line is, test your content with representative learners. 4. Pretend to be what you are not: It is patently obvious when you are trying too hard to
talk the language of your audience, to
be like them. You can be empathetic to your learners without pretending to talk like them or like the things they like. If you’re lucky enough to have people coming to
you just dying to learn from you (or your content) then this might all seem a little academic. But mostly we have to deal with learners who have plenty of other things they could be doing, short attention spans and a healthy dose of cynicism. Even if your learners start enthusiastically, you can soon lose them if you’re not hitting the right buttons. The ability to engage learners is the sign of a
great teacher or a great content designer. It is what separates you from the crowd. It is what makes your sessions and your materials memorable. Anyone with a little subject matter expertise can present information. With skill, confidence and perhaps a little help from media professionals they can present that information professionally. But the ability to engage goes beyond this. Above all it requires an empathy with your audience – the ability to put yourself in your learner’s shoes and view the learning experience through their eyes. It is worth the effort.
Clive Shepherd is an e-learning consultant
@cliveshepherd e.learning age june 2015 Engaging your learner – four dos and four don’ts
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