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Member You - Public Speaking: Apply Adult Learning Principles for More Effective Training
You can attract more people to your event by giving your prospects a 100% money-back guarantee.The Right Guarantee Will Attract More RegistrantsMake signing up for your event risk-free. Prospects will have nothing to lose from signing up for your event if they can get their money back. Show prospects the high-level of confidence that you have in your event. Make them think "This must be good if they risk refunding my money." Show prospects that you are intent on serving them well. Your prospects will place more value on everything you say if you back it up.What is the Risk of Offering a Guarantee?In our experience, the increased attendance far outweighs the few individuals who might ask for refunds. It also provides you with valuable feedback to know what could be better at your event; and enables you to cut short any negative word-of-mouth that a dissatisfied attendee could cause. In total, it will decrease risk for future events.How do I Publicize My Guarantee?Put your unconditional money-back guarantee everywhere that you mention the price of your event. Put it in your marketing materials and thro
As it is important to understand what motivates your participants to learn, it's also important to understand what might be barriers to their learning:
* worry about finances
* time constraints
* childcare issues
* relationship issues (one partner feels threatened by advancement of the other)
* lack of confidence in ability to learn (some people grew to believe they were not good in school, and they carry that with them forever)
* insecurity about intelligence
* concern about practicality and relevance
. . . and the list goes on!
Understanding the motivations and barriers your participants face can help you as an instructor pinpoint how best to serve them, by increasing their motivation for learning.
5. Adult learners have sensitive egos
Many of us, over the course of a lifetime, have developed a fear of appearing stupid or incompetent. As children, we were encouraged to explore, ask questions and learn about the world, but somewhere along the way, that was taken away from us. Many adults have mixed feelings about teachers, school, and structured learning.
Some people go to great lengths to hide their inability to read, for example, or their lack of understanding of the duties of their job.
An instructor/speaker must be aware of these issues and build trust by treating learners respectfully, sensitively, and without judgment.
* Allow participants to
I've come to the conclusion that to be successful - really successful - you've got to love what you do.Not like it okay. Not do it because you know how. Not do it because you've invested so much time and energy into it. I mean LOVE it! The kind of love that makes you want to get up in the morning and get going. Because your work has meaning, significance, and fulfillment. If these aren't words that describe what you do day-in and day-out, then perhaps this year is the time to make a change, to step up to your big, bodacious moment - or BoMo as I call it.How satisfied are you with your career on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being extremely satisfied?That's the question I kept asking myself during my ten and a half years at AOL during the 1990s. Year after year my answer was a 7, 8, or higher. The vast majority of time I felt passionate about what I was doing; I believed my contribution truly mattered. When my score dipped I asked myself serious questions as to why. Was my current role not longer interesting? Did I like the people I worked with everyday? Did I feel I was being fairly compensated?Several times this process helped me pinpoint cha
When we were kids, we went to school, and we sat through class every day, and our teachers taught everyone pretty much the same way. It didn't really matter if you were a visual learner, an auditory learner, or a kinesthetic learner. The teacher pretty much did whatever s/he felt most comfortable doing. Times have changed, and teachers are more aware of learning styles now, and other issues that affect children's learning.
But the principles of adult learning are still pretty new to most people. If you're a speaker, and you're doing any kind of education or training with the groups you're speaking to, this applies to you.
First, a little history.
Malcolm Knowles is considered the "father of adult learning", although the topic had been discussed and researched over a century earlier.
Knowles' assumptions were that adults:
1) move from dependency to self-directedness;
2) draw upon their reservoir of experience for learning;
3) are ready to learn when they assume new roles; and
4) want to solve problems and apply new knowledge immediately.
In his book, "The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy," Knowles opposes the view that adults are unable to learn: "...the rapidly accelerating pace of change in our society has proved this doctrine to be no longer valued. Facts learned in youth have become insufficient and in many instances actually untrue; and skills learned in youth have become outmoded by new technologies."
The term "andragogy" has come to mean self-directed learning for people of all ages, as opposed to the term "pedagogy" which defines teacher-directed learning. In practical terms, it means that when educating or training adults, process comes before content.
Knowles may not have invented these terms or concepts, but he was the first to put them together into an organized theory. Additional theories of adult learning have been developed since Knowles' time, as well. Here is an overview of adult learning principles that will greatly improve your understanding of how and why adults learn. This will allow you to tailor your presentations and training more effectively to the groups you serve.
1. Adults are autonomous and self-directed
Adults want to decide for themselves what, when, how and why to learn. Speakers/instructors should allow adults to direct some of their own learning. Here are some ways to facilitate this:
* Ask your participants what they already know about your topic and what they're interested in learning. Find out what their goals are for being there.
* Share your agenda and ask for input. This might lead to switching around the order of your workshop to better serve the group's needs. You might find you spend more time on certain subjects than you had planned, and less on others. Be flexible.
* Act as a facilitator, guiding the group and encouraging them to reach their own conclusions, rather than force-feeding information in a lecture format. Allow them to be responsible for their own learning.
* Do your research on the group and organizational needs beforehand, so you can provide a combination of information that meets their perceived needs and their actual needs.
2. Adults have a lifetime of knowledge and experience that informs their learning
Adult learners can be a valuable resource for you as an instructor/speaker. It's also important for them to connect learning to those previous life experiences. Here's how to make the most of your audience's experience and knowledge.
* Don't assume that your participants are "blank slates" and know nothing about your topic. Nothing is more insulting than a speaker who launches into a lecture without first finding out the needs and knowledge level of the audience. Do your research and ask first to find out what they already know.
* When appropriate, ask your audience to share their experiences, and create activities that call on them to use their experiences, for example, in small group discussions.
* Prepare activities that involve choice, so the learning process can better fit the individual levels of your participants.
3. Adults need relevancy in learning
It's important to adults that they are learning something relevant and applicable to real life, whether it's work-related or personal. Here's how to make learning relevant to your audience.
* Identify learning objectives and ask participants to share their goals.
* Discuss and ask for sharing of real-world applications of your topic.
* Avoid giving a workshop or presentation that's too theoretical.
In the book "Teacher", Sylvia Ashton-Warner discusses relevancy in her work as a teacher with Maori children. She recalls trying to teach them to read out of European textbooks with images and language that mean nothing to them. When she starts working within their own language, culture and experiences to teach them reading, they blossom. Relevancy is one of the major keys to learning for people of all ages.
4. Adults are motivated to learn by both external and internal factors
When we were kids, many of us were not motivated to learn by anything other than our parents' and teachers' rewards and punishments.
As adults, we have many reasons for pursuing learning:
* it's a requirement of a job
* we want to make new friends and connections
* for professional development and to advance our careers
* to relieve boredom
* because we're interested in a particular topic and want to learn for fun
* to create a better environment for our children and families
. . . and the list goes on.
As an instructor/speaker, it's important to understand the many reasons why your attendees are in your seminar. They may not be there by choice, for example. Ask them why they've come and what they hope to gain from the experience.
As it is important to understand what motivates your participants to learn, it's also important to understand what might be barriers to their learning:
* worry about finances
* time constraints
* childcare issues
* relationship issues (one partner feels threatened by advancement of the other)
* lack of confidence in ability to learn (some people grew to believe they were not good in school, and they carry that with them forever)
* insecurity about intelligence
* concern about practicality and relevance
. . . and the list goes on!
Understanding the motivations and barriers your participants face can help you as an instructor pinpoint how best to serve them, by increasing their motivation for learning.
5. Adult learners have sensitive egos
Many of us, over the course of a lifetime, have developed a fear of appearing stupid or incompetent. As children, we were encouraged to explore, ask questions and learn about the world, but somewhere along the way, that was taken away from us. Many adults have mixed feelings about teachers, school, and structured learning.
Some people go to great lengths to hide their inability to read, for example, or their lack of understanding of the duties of their job.
An instructor/speaker must be aware of these issues and build trust by treating learners respectfully, sensitively, and without judgment.
* Allow participants to b
I've just watched, again, an episode in the Back to the Floor television series, which aired on the BBC (United Kingdom) and PBS (United States). Once more, communication turned out to be a key issue, as it often does in business stories.If you're not familiar with the series, it features real-life CEOs who leave their comfortable offices (well sort of comfortable, these days) and go work on the front lines of their organizations for a week. Cameras follow the CEOs and record their interactions with staff, and their responses to those interactions.In this episode, the managing director of London's Heathrow Airport took the plunge and worked in customer service for five days. That meant facing customers and dealing with their problems, including problems created by the airport.Once more, we saw a CEO suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, so to speak. This CEO was rebuked by employees on the front lines, as well as customers. Employees tried to convey to him the difficulties they experience because no one at head office listens to them.And, that's a fairly constant refrain in all episodes, as one CEO after another finds out he or she doesn't
The term "andragogy" has come to mean self-directed learning for people of all ages, as opposed to the term "pedagogy" which defines teacher-directed learning. In practical terms, it means that when educating or training adults, process comes before content.
Knowles may not have invented these terms or concepts, but he was the first to put them together into an organized theory. Additional theories of adult learning have been developed since Knowles' time, as well. Here is an overview of adult learning principles that will greatly improve your understanding of how and why adults learn. This will allow you to tailor your presentations and training more effectively to the groups you serve.
1. Adults are autonomous and self-directed
Adults want to decide for themselves what, when, how and why to learn. Speakers/instructors should allow adults to direct some of their own learning. Here are some ways to facilitate this:
* Ask your participants what they already know about your topic and what they're interested in learning. Find out what their goals are for being there.
* Share your agenda and ask for input. This might lead to switching around the order of your workshop to better serve the group's needs. You might find you spend more time on certain subjects than you had planned, and less on others. Be flexible.
* Act as a facilitator, guiding the group and encouraging them to reach their own conclusions, rather than force-feeding information in a lecture format. Allow them to be responsible for their own learning.
* Do your research on the group and organizational needs beforehand, so you can provide a combination of information that meets their perceived needs and their actual needs.
2. Adults have a lifetime of knowledge and experience that informs their learning
Adult learners can be a valuable resource for you as an instructor/speaker. It's also important for them to connect learning to those previous life experiences. Here's how to make the most of your audience's experience and knowledge.
* Don't assume that your participants are "blank slates" and know nothing about your topic. Nothing is more insulting than a speaker who launches into a lecture without first finding out the needs and knowledge level of the audience. Do your research and ask first to find out what they already know.
* When appropriate, ask your audience to share their experiences, and create activities that call on them to use their experiences, for example, in small group discussions.
* Prepare activities that involve choice, so the learning process can better fit the individual levels of your participants.
3. Adults need relevancy in learning
It's important to adults that they are learning something relevant and applicable to real life, whether it's work-related or personal. Here's how to make learning relevant to your audience.
* Identify learning objectives and ask participants to share their goals.
* Discuss and ask for sharing of real-world applications of your topic.
* Avoid giving a workshop or presentation that's too theoretical.
In the book "Teacher", Sylvia Ashton-Warner discusses relevancy in her work as a teacher with Maori children. She recalls trying to teach them to read out of European textbooks with images and language that mean nothing to them. When she starts working within their own language, culture and experiences to teach them reading, they blossom. Relevancy is one of the major keys to learning for people of all ages.
4. Adults are motivated to learn by both external and internal factors
When we were kids, many of us were not motivated to learn by anything other than our parents' and teachers' rewards and punishments.
As adults, we have many reasons for pursuing learning:
* it's a requirement of a job
* we want to make new friends and connections
* for professional development and to advance our careers
* to relieve boredom
* because we're interested in a particular topic and want to learn for fun
* to create a better environment for our children and families
. . . and the list goes on.
As an instructor/speaker, it's important to understand the many reasons why your attendees are in your seminar. They may not be there by choice, for example. Ask them why they've come and what they hope to gain from the experience.
As it is important to understand what motivates your participants to learn, it's also important to understand what might be barriers to their learning:
* worry about finances
* time constraints
* childcare issues
* relationship issues (one partner feels threatened by advancement of the other)
* lack of confidence in ability to learn (some people grew to believe they were not good in school, and they carry that with them forever)
* insecurity about intelligence
* concern about practicality and relevance
. . . and the list goes on!
Understanding the motivations and barriers your participants face can help you as an instructor pinpoint how best to serve them, by increasing their motivation for learning.
5. Adult learners have sensitive egos
Many of us, over the course of a lifetime, have developed a fear of appearing stupid or incompetent. As children, we were encouraged to explore, ask questions and learn about the world, but somewhere along the way, that was taken away from us. Many adults have mixed feelings about teachers, school, and structured learning.
Some people go to great lengths to hide their inability to read, for example, or their lack of understanding of the duties of their job.
An instructor/speaker must be aware of these issues and build trust by treating learners respectfully, sensitively, and without judgment.
* Allow participants to
Textile exhibitions are good to show forth the current textile products and new ones to be launched. Many companies get to know each other through such meets and may even develop into good partnerships. Now consider this. Textile Industry is one of the biggest, oldest and the most branched industries by numbers. In today’s world, most of the Asian, Middle Eastern and European countries are in competition to get the most benefit out of the business. Being a highly and a globally competitive industry, textile companies need exposure in order to capture potential markets, as well as other industries which require competition.Textile industry is one of the oldest industries, because of the need of protection of human body. However, the introduction of artificial fibers goes back to the beginning of 20th Century, around 1920’s. The demand for exposure in the market has been so high for especially the last decade that organizing an exhibition itself has become a sector. If we come to the history of textile exhibition, it goes again back to the early 20th century, with only a few businessmen in Paris Exhibition. Today, however, organizing an exhibition is a sector itself. To
* Do your research on the group and organizational needs beforehand, so you can provide a combination of information that meets their perceived needs and their actual needs.
2. Adults have a lifetime of knowledge and experience that informs their learning
Adult learners can be a valuable resource for you as an instructor/speaker. It's also important for them to connect learning to those previous life experiences. Here's how to make the most of your audience's experience and knowledge.
* Don't assume that your participants are "blank slates" and know nothing about your topic. Nothing is more insulting than a speaker who launches into a lecture without first finding out the needs and knowledge level of the audience. Do your research and ask first to find out what they already know.
* When appropriate, ask your audience to share their experiences, and create activities that call on them to use their experiences, for example, in small group discussions.
* Prepare activities that involve choice, so the learning process can better fit the individual levels of your participants.
3. Adults need relevancy in learning
It's important to adults that they are learning something relevant and applicable to real life, whether it's work-related or personal. Here's how to make learning relevant to your audience.
* Identify learning objectives and ask participants to share their goals.
* Discuss and ask for sharing of real-world applications of your topic.
* Avoid giving a workshop or presentation that's too theoretical.
In the book "Teacher", Sylvia Ashton-Warner discusses relevancy in her work as a teacher with Maori children. She recalls trying to teach them to read out of European textbooks with images and language that mean nothing to them. When she starts working within their own language, culture and experiences to teach them reading, they blossom. Relevancy is one of the major keys to learning for people of all ages.
4. Adults are motivated to learn by both external and internal factors
When we were kids, many of us were not motivated to learn by anything other than our parents' and teachers' rewards and punishments.
As adults, we have many reasons for pursuing learning:
* it's a requirement of a job
* we want to make new friends and connections
* for professional development and to advance our careers
* to relieve boredom
* because we're interested in a particular topic and want to learn for fun
* to create a better environment for our children and families
. . . and the list goes on.
As an instructor/speaker, it's important to understand the many reasons why your attendees are in your seminar. They may not be there by choice, for example. Ask them why they've come and what they hope to gain from the experience.
As it is important to understand what motivates your participants to learn, it's also important to understand what might be barriers to their learning:
* worry about finances
* time constraints
* childcare issues
* relationship issues (one partner feels threatened by advancement of the other)
* lack of confidence in ability to learn (some people grew to believe they were not good in school, and they carry that with them forever)
* insecurity about intelligence
* concern about practicality and relevance
. . . and the list goes on!
Understanding the motivations and barriers your participants face can help you as an instructor pinpoint how best to serve them, by increasing their motivation for learning.
5. Adult learners have sensitive egos
Many of us, over the course of a lifetime, have developed a fear of appearing stupid or incompetent. As children, we were encouraged to explore, ask questions and learn about the world, but somewhere along the way, that was taken away from us. Many adults have mixed feelings about teachers, school, and structured learning.
Some people go to great lengths to hide their inability to read, for example, or their lack of understanding of the duties of their job.
An instructor/speaker must be aware of these issues and build trust by treating learners respectfully, sensitively, and without judgment.
* Allow participants to
Many direct sales distributors rely heavily on home shows to market their products. Unfortunately, this method of marketing seems to be a bit more challenging than in previous decades.While many of your friends and family may have good intentions of opening up their homes, the busy lifestyle that has swept the nation prevents many hostesses from following through with their original intent. Sporting events, school breaks, holidays, illnesses and weather conditions are only a few of the factors leading to low party attendance or cancellations.In a world where shopping on the internet has become rather convenient, we seem to have moved away from community entertainment in our homes. This has created a difficult situation for those who have chosen to work from home while relying on home shows as a primary source of income.For those who are motivated by a challenge, I encourage you to take a closer look at your method of hostess coaching. You will find that your contact with your hostess prior to your show will greatly determine the outcome of both attendance and sales. If you are ready to take the reigns of your success, the following steps will prove
* Identify learning objectives and ask participants to share their goals.
* Discuss and ask for sharing of real-world applications of your topic.
* Avoid giving a workshop or presentation that's too theoretical.
In the book "Teacher", Sylvia Ashton-Warner discusses relevancy in her work as a teacher with Maori children. She recalls trying to teach them to read out of European textbooks with images and language that mean nothing to them. When she starts working within their own language, culture and experiences to teach them reading, they blossom. Relevancy is one of the major keys to learning for people of all ages.
4. Adults are motivated to learn by both external and internal factors
When we were kids, many of us were not motivated to learn by anything other than our parents' and teachers' rewards and punishments.
As adults, we have many reasons for pursuing learning:
* it's a requirement of a job
* we want to make new friends and connections
* for professional development and to advance our careers
* to relieve boredom
* because we're interested in a particular topic and want to learn for fun
* to create a better environment for our children and families
. . . and the list goes on.
As an instructor/speaker, it's important to understand the many reasons why your attendees are in your seminar. They may not be there by choice, for example. Ask them why they've come and what they hope to gain from the experience.
As it is important to understand what motivates your participants to learn, it's also important to understand what might be barriers to their learning:
* worry about finances
* time constraints
* childcare issues
* relationship issues (one partner feels threatened by advancement of the other)
* lack of confidence in ability to learn (some people grew to believe they were not good in school, and they carry that with them forever)
* insecurity about intelligence
* concern about practicality and relevance
. . . and the list goes on!
Understanding the motivations and barriers your participants face can help you as an instructor pinpoint how best to serve them, by increasing their motivation for learning.
5. Adult learners have sensitive egos
Many of us, over the course of a lifetime, have developed a fear of appearing stupid or incompetent. As children, we were encouraged to explore, ask questions and learn about the world, but somewhere along the way, that was taken away from us. Many adults have mixed feelings about teachers, school, and structured learning.
Some people go to great lengths to hide their inability to read, for example, or their lack of understanding of the duties of their job.
An instructor/speaker must be aware of these issues and build trust by treating learners respectfully, sensitively, and without judgment.
* Allow participants to
Before you decide on hiring out someone for a translation project. Try to look from within your own pool of resources from your department or organization to see if there is anything that you can leverage. If you work for a large organization then chances are you have some untapped talent ready to be put into place for your translation project (and others too even).If anything, these individuals can serve as ad hoc editors and reviewers of the final work of a translated project so that you have someone internally that you can trust to provide their insights.Something you can do as a quick check is use a high end software package to put the final result in to be translated. This way you can at least see if the messages are intact, while not necessarily having to know what each word in the target language means. If you want a quick and dirty way to evaluate a translated work feel free to use a free translation service on the internet as a buffer check.The internet makes it easy to also find live translation help, for a cost usually. Sometimes you can evaluate a service free of charge to see if the results turn up to anything like what you are looking for. If you
As it is important to understand what motivates your participants to learn, it's also important to understand what might be barriers to their learning:
* worry about finances
* time constraints
* childcare issues
* relationship issues (one partner feels threatened by advancement of the other)
* lack of confidence in ability to learn (some people grew to believe they were not good in school, and they carry that with them forever)
* insecurity about intelligence
* concern about practicality and relevance
. . . and the list goes on!
Understanding the motivations and barriers your participants face can help you as an instructor pinpoint how best to serve them, by increasing their motivation for learning.
5. Adult learners have sensitive egos
Many of us, over the course of a lifetime, have developed a fear of appearing stupid or incompetent. As children, we were encouraged to explore, ask questions and learn about the world, but somewhere along the way, that was taken away from us. Many adults have mixed feelings about teachers, school, and structured learning.
Some people go to great lengths to hide their inability to read, for example, or their lack of understanding of the duties of their job.
An instructor/speaker must be aware of these issues and build trust by treating learners respectfully, sensitively, and without judgment.
* Allow participants to build confidence by practicing what is learned in small groups before facing the large group
* Use positive reinforcement to encourage participants
* If sensitive issues are to be discussed, create a safe space by enforcing confidentiality and allowing participants to "pass" if there's something they're not comfortable talking about
* Provide activities that are low-risk before moving on to activities featuring higher risk or greater trust
* Acknowledge participants' previous life experience and knowledge and allow them to voice opinions and share in class leadership
A speaker who believes she/he knows more than anyone else in the room is asking for trouble, and creating an environment that will discourage learning.
6. Adults are practical and problem-oriented, and want to apply what they've learned
Probably the most important result for adult learners is to be able to apply their learning to their work or personal life - immediately. Help facilitate this by doing the following:
* Use examples to help them see the connection between classroom theories and practical application
* Use problem-solving activities as part of learning
* Create action items or task lists together with participants
* Help learners transfer learning to daily practice by offering follow-up coaching or mentoring
* Create an experiential learning environment that follows an experiential learning cycle
This has been just a brief overview of adult learning principles. I hope you've found some of the tips in these articles to be helpful.
At its most basic level, adult learning tends to be self-directed and based on the person's individual needs and life experiences. Follow these tips when working with adults, and you will be on your way to creating a truly effective learning experience.
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