By Bob Pike
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Trainers tend to choose training models that focus on the content that they need to be addressed. However, they also need to know how their target audience learns the best. Understanding learning preferences is the missing link in almost every instructional design model. There are also ways that trainers can design their sessions to create a better learning environment.
Explore how employees from different cultures and generations process training materials and why learning preferences are the missing link.
Before trainers design their training sessions, they should determine what participants actually need to learn. According to Bob Pike, rather than waste time covering material that the audience already knows, trainers should do the groundwork to learn where the critical learning needs are so they can keep their session focused and engaging.
Trainers should make sure they design training that communicates a specific outcome for participants. Learners should be able to understand how gaining new skills or knowledge is tied to their own job success and career path. When audiences can see the training’s benefits, they are more likely to stay interested and motivated to finish it.
Pike has revealed that the foundational principle of the instructor-led, participant-centered training approach is “90-20-10.” This is the key to maximizing learner engagement, and the goal is to keep the total course length under 90 minutes, changing pace every 20 minutes, and promoting participant interaction every 10 minutes.
Trainers should think about their audience and objectives to determine what kind of sequence they should deliver content in to best enhance learning. Also, a tiered content approach works for many audiences. The tiered approach is a hierarchical triangle:
Instructional design is an ongoing and ever-changing process. Even when trainers find a successful session format, they should still keep looking for ways to improve engagement, retention, and on-the-job results.
Bob Pike (1947-2023), CPLP Fellow, CSP, CPAE Speakers Hall of Fame, was known globally as the “trainer’s trainer.” He wrote more than 30 books and created dozens of videos on designing and delivering training. His Master Trainer Handbook remains the bestselling train-the-trainer book ever published, with more than 350,000 copies in print in four editions. He designed more than 600 one-plus day training programs in his lifetime and presented at every ATD International Conference & Exposition since 1977. Bob was a regular keynoter at global training and performance conferences in over 25 countries during his career, and his works have been translated into Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and more. The Bob Pike Group is an industry-leading firm providing training resources worldwide.
Explore how employees from different cultures and generations process training materials and why learning preferences are the missing link.
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Before rolling out your next training initiative, take a moment to think about how your audience prefers to learn. Each person has a unique learning style, even if they aren’t aware of it. This self-assessment will help participants discover their preferred learning style and offer strategies to make the most of their strengths.
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