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Midwest Regional Compliance & Ethics Conference
Adult Learning and Training ProgramsPresented by:
Mike CarderSenior Training Associate
TAMKO Building Products, Inc
It will be from an instructor-led perspective Face-to-face
Virtual / face-to-face
Blended
37 years of teaching at some level Elementary
University
Business
In this setting today
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Quite simple Know how
Know why
Common example is: Know how - trained to fly an air plane
Know why - educated as an aeronautical engineer – why the plane flies
How do you think adults feel about receiving education or training? Some say, “Just tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
Others say, “Why are we supposed to do it that way?”
Employee Asked:
What about the first Amendment? Why can (the company) tell me what I can and can’t say? We have freedom of speech in this country don’t we?
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An answer could be: Because we say so. (we have just told them what they are
suppose to do)
Or we could tell them why:
We do, but the First Amendment only protects us from government interference in free speech. Private property owners like you and (the company) can make their own rules about what speech they will allow on their property.
Adult learners learn best when we engage them. What do we mean by engage them?
Engage their brain with some simple guidelines.
Discussion is better than lecture Engage the audience… How?? Use surveys before session to find hot topics Develop open-ended questions Questions for small groups or large group Have the small groups report out Facilitate and ask more probing questions Testing or knowledge checks
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Repetition is the mother of learning Patrick Lencioni says, “Repeat your message a minimum
of seven times.” He says, “Become the CRO…Chief Reminding Officer.”
Let me tell you about the man that taught me “Repetition is the mother of learning.”
Concise is better than lengthy Short attention span
Break it up…sometimes called “chunk it up” Every 10 to 15 minutes Movement
Breakout discussion
Tell a related story (watch the attention pick up)
1 to 2 minute topic with neighbor
Video
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Motion is better than still Getting the blood pumping improves retention Have the participant find a person across the room
Break out session at the white board or flip chart
Physical experiments (Red Bead Experiment)
Role play
Notes are better than perusing The act of taking notes or highlighting material also helps
retention more so than just reading
After sessions (chunks) give participants time for reflection and even journal key takeaways
Ask if some would share their key takeaways
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Out of the ordinary is better than the usual Hitting some emotional chord helps retention Sense of pride or their relevance to the company
Humor (stay away from jokes)
Feel good
Adults get stuck on center – challenge them
Make them uncomfortable
Conflict can be a good thing
Pictures are better than long list of words/numbers The mind works in pictures or images Pictures / Videos
Charts and graphs
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Less is better than more Too much on a slide causes us to check out Too much text
Excel spreadsheet
Long quotes
Busy backgrounds
Too much lecture
Questions are better than saying smart things Questions that lead to discovery are better than smart
answers…from the teacher
Wait / learn to wait
Rephrase the question
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Curious is better than certain Ask why
If that is not the answer expected, ask them to explain more.
Ask for other perspectives
Interesting is better than wrong I never looked at it that way
Encourages others to participate
Tell stories (test…write your answer to these questions) What is the main person’s first name?
What is his wife’s first name?
What country did they leave?
What year did they leave?
Watch the learners’ reaction when you start a story It is a mini break
Ready to come back and learn
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Finish with revisiting the main points of the material Education is why
Training is how
If you want adults to be engaged and retain Discussion is better than lecture
Motion is better than still
Notes are better than reading
Out of the ordinary is better than the usual
Pictures are better than words or numbers
Less is better than more (Chunk it up)
Smart questions are better than smart answers
Curious is better than certain
Tell Stories
Finish with revisiting the main points