Which way do you absorb information?
Which way do you absorb information?
We all learn in different ways. I know that I have to Listen to what the trainer/facilitator is saying in order to absorb the information. I have an Auditory preference.
A friend of mine needs to See pictures or diagrams, or any kind of visual representation of what is being taught in order to make sense of it. He has a Visual preference.
Others need to Feel what is going on – touching things, making things writing. They have a Kinaesthetic preference.
Not many people learn through taste or smell.
In order to enable our participants or learners to absorb information in the best possible way, we have to be aware as trainers and facilitators of these preferences.
So how do we do it?
We use different words. Language plays a large part in learning and absorbing information. One person will understand the phrase, “I see what you mean” and another would prefer “ I hear what you say”.
We can have exercises for our participants to do, these combine reading which is Visual as you read and Audio as you listen to the words in your head with Kinaesthetic as you get to do an exercise hands on.
We may draw on a whiteboard or flipchart using different coloured pens, or play music in the background or to welcome our participants.
And to appeal to those who need the smell and taste – we might just provide some chocolate 🙂
What is your learning preference? Which way do you absorb information?
Leave me a comment to let me know. I love to hear from my readers.
The IT Training Surgery provides IT Training which engages all your senses, give us a call on 020 8203 1774 to discuss your organiation’s learning needs. You can also write to us enquireies@theittrainingsurgery.com
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Really interesting and simple to understand! Lots of jobs involve teaching in some way and unless you have been trained how to recognise the different ways people learn, it can be hard to communicate. I love this way of explaining things. Can you share the exercises you use to determine which type of learner each person is?
Hi Jenny
I don’t have any formal exercises, however you can learn about the individual preferences by watching the group. Listen to the words they use – are they visual words, see, look, picture or auditory words, listen, hear, sound. Perhaps they use kineasthetic words – feel, grasp hold.
I tend to use a mixture of auditory and kineasthetic words when I listen to the way I explain things. I have to remember to use words designed for all the senses to explain a topic.
I am not sure what I am. If I’m in a hurry I’d rather watch a video than reading an article… But I love words… And I prefer paper than screen… It’s fascinating that us humans have all these tools available…
Diagrams, video, and doing. Those are the best ways that I learn. Reading is slow and painful.
One must-have tool, for me, is a large whiteboard for making lots of diagrams.
Hi Oz , I love doing and I have to listen when learning if I stop to take notes, I can’t listen. I also love whiteboards and never leave to deliver training without my own set of colourful whiteboard markers. Thanks for joining in 🙂