Aas the new year rolls ahead, and graduate programs get under way, here are 5 simple best practices to consider in designing the content and delivery of graduate workshops and sessions.
Use these when you need to deliver sessions yourself or when you are reviewing sessions being run by your team or by external providers to make sure you are always striving for best practice.
And remember: getting good at communicating and training Generation Y will help to get good at commnicating and training anyone, from any generation.
1. Authenticity is king
Being ‘real’ is the first step to establishing credibility, rapport and an environment conducive to learning and growth. The greatest communicators on the planet are so because they’re authentic. Open up, be yourself and show your true colours. Yes you are representing your company, but you are also representing yourself. Grads want to know who you are, so relax and show them who you are using personal stories, experiences and your own authentic style.
2. Keep it moving
Attention spans are shrinking because finger-tip access to multiple information and stimulus points is normal. For exmple, over 100,000,000 videos are watched on Youtube every day and the average length is just 2 ½ minutes! That’s a lot of short videos being watched. Where possible, design your session in small blocks of time that are an average of 10-12 mins. This will help you keep their attention and keep it moving.
3. Learn from Facebook
People of all generations spend an enormous amount of time on Facebook. 45% of users are dominated by Generation X and Baby Boomers and 100,000,000people log in every single day. Why? Because the people behind Facebook realise that to engage people of all ages they must provide multiple delivery methods, and they do it really well ... photo’s, games, videos, live chat, profiles, links, articles, events, groups, the list goes on. Engaging grads in a workshop is similar ... music, videos, games, discussions, stories, activities, the possibilities go on. Create an environment that engages your grads by using multiple delivery methods.
4. WIIFM?#@!
Be deliberate about communicating the WIIFM factor (What’s In It For Me) early in your session and throughout. With this generation’s reputation for disregarding authority, your grads may not assume that just because you are training them on a subject that it is actually important. Crazy, I know, as if you have time to be doing anything that isn’t important (!). Directly link whatever you are delivering to what they think is important to them. Sell it up. Make it clear and make it obvious. Not only will they listen more but it will increase their chances of putting it in to action.
5. Don’t disengage the other 75%
There is a 25% chance you will disengage 75% of your audience if you design your content and delivery through your own personality style only. It’s widely recognised in many personality tools that there are 4 broad personality groups and this impacts how people process information. So, when you have designed your session, go back through it and ensure your content and delivery will speak to all 4 broad personality styles. For example, some grads will want clear results, outcomes and actions from your session above anything else. Others will need interaction, fun and a chance to talk in order to participate. Some grads will want process, stability and predictability in order to learn. While other grads will want statistics, expertise and logic in your session in order to trust. Ensure you build your content and delivery to engage everyone.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment