Do Your Training Sessions Leave Something to be Desired?

By Shawn Bakker

When you conduct training sessions do some attendees struggle to stay awake? At the end of the event are you left with a feeling of dissatisfaction that things did not go as well as you had hoped? Are you faced with questions from attendees such as “What’s the point?” or “Why do I need to know this?”

If so, it could be that people find your sessions uninteresting because it does not match with their learning style and therefore, does not meet their needs. An individual’s learning style is shaped by what and how they prefer to learn. To keep your sessions interesting and useful to people they need to fit with attendees different learning styles.

Personality type influences how an individual learns, and accommodating learning style differences will make the sessions you lead more effective. Below is a brief description of aspects of individuals’ learning styles that are shaped by their type preferences. Think about incorporating different methods in your training programs to engage people with different learning styles. Of course this will require you to mix things up a bit, and use activities that you yourself may not find natural. Yet it may be the way to conduct more satisfying and effective training programs.

Extraverts Prefer active and interactive sessions asking and answering questions learning in group settings

Introverts Prefer working on tasks in a quiet environment reading, listening and observing individual or small group projects

Sensors Prefer hands on learning relevant, concrete facts real world applications

Intuitives Prefer relationships between facts and ideas theories and models exploration and brainstorming

Thinkers Prefer analyzing and evaluating a logical reason for learning considering pros and cons

Feelers Prefer a personal reason for learning relating learning to personal needs and experiences case studies and stories

Judgers Prefer structured learning environments clear learning goals agendas, timelines, objectives

Perceivers Prefer flexible learning environments options and alternatives to explore as their learning progresses gathering information