Tag: adult learning strategies


Speakers: Covering Content Actually Obscures Understanding

Education is one way to improve ourselves personally and professionally. Whenever we find ourselves lacking knowledge, understanding or skills for a specific job task, we take a class. Or attend a conference. Or participate in a webinar. Or read a book. Sounds really simple. Right? Well, it’s not. The challenge with most education is our … [Read more…]

Your Conference Needs To Offer Transformational Learning Not Informational Learning

Which word describes the type of conference education sessions you prefer to attend? Pick one. Informed or transformed? The Best Learning At Conferences For me, I want to be more than just informed. I can be informed by reading information online. I don’t need to travel to a conference to become informed. I prefer a … [Read more…]

You Must Recruit The Powerhouse Of Your Attendees’ Brains For Real Engagement

Have you ever had a slap-your-forehead-duh-moment? Without realizing it, you have literally tapped, one of the most important regions of your brain: the prefrontal cortex (PFC). It’s the area directly behind your forehead. The PFC is a powerhouse region of your brain. It controls whether your attendees are engaged at your event. You need to … [Read more…]

Confusion And Brain Strain Are Freakish Factors Required To Learn

Whenever possible the brain operates on autopilot. That’s why for example you can fold laundry while having a conversation. Your brain goes on autopilot to fold clothes so you can focus your thinking on the conversation. When you do something over and over again, your brain picks up the pattern and reverts to autopilot. This … [Read more…]

Boost Your Strategic Thinking While Improving Your Memory Of Minutia

How strategic is your thinking? Do you crave information? Do you believe that more is actually better? Do you desire data, data and more data? If you hunger after more and better ideas at all cost, your info-craving habits actually zap your brain’s energy. The persistent pace of focusing on details makes it more difficult … [Read more…]

Increase Your Conference Attendee Engagement By Increasing Relevance

“How can I increase engagement at my conference?” It’s a question I hear a lot. “How can I help my attendees increase their engagement?” What’s my answer? Increase the relevance. Increase the relevance of the content. Increase the relevance of the learning experience. Oh and by the way, what type of engagement are you talking … [Read more…]

Snack Bite-Size Learning Rules The Roost At Conferences

Blogger Karla Gutierrez gives five reasons why bite-size learning works at Shift’s eLearning blog. Here’s one key point all conference organizers and speakers should know and implement: Chunk Content In 10 Min Sections Bite-size learning as well as bite-size instruction improves an attendee’s psychological engagement. It prevents cognitive overload and mental burnout. It also encourages … [Read more…]

How To Choose Education Content That Leads to a Treasure of Learners

Pirates are treasure hunters that don’t always play by the rules. As an association education professional, you too can buck tradition by searching for hidden treasures of content and delivering them to your members. The Pirate Spirit Many of us have negative images of pirates as shipmates that pillage and rob other vessels. Some of … [Read more…]

Six Tips To Create The Conference Introvert Advantage

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? If you’re an introvert, you’re trendy right now. There is a lot of media buzz about introversion and their inner strengths in a primarily extrovert world. One In Four… At least one in four people tends to listen more than they speak, often feels alone in large groups, … [Read more…]

The Art Of Changing The Attendees’ Brain: Conference Style

Usually our view of conference education is an expert at the front of the room doling out their knowledge through witty repartee. The speaker stands on a stage, behind a podium, towering above the audience as if dispensing expertise from on high. Conference organizers and speakers view the audience as those that need the expert’s … [Read more…]