We’ve all heard the term “Death by PowerPoint” and the majority of us have been scarred by poor presentations and classroom learning techniques, at some point in our life.

But what can you do to engage people in your training, workplace communications and your business presentations?

The answer – use more pictures.

According to Dr John Medina, the author of Brain Rules, reading is inefficient as we have to identify certain features in the letters to be able to read them.  Your brain interprets every letter as a picture.  This takes take time to read.  It also means that lots of words shown on say, a PowerPoint slide, chokes your brain.

Researchers have found that ideas that are best remembered are displayed as pictures or paired with words rather than just a single word.

Called the Picture Superiority Effect (PSE), people will only remember 10% of what you say 72 hours later.  However, if you add a picture it goes up to 35% and if you add both a picture and word together it increases to a very high 65%.

There are two rules that he talks about that are worth highlighting.

Rule #4 We don’t pay attention to boring things

If we are given too much information,without enough time devoted to understanding it, it leads to boredom (and confusion).  So reading lots of text off a PowerPoint slide, without the time to digest it, actually inhibits learning.

Rule #10 Vision trumps all other senses.

We are more likely to recall visual information and we are amazing at remembering pictures.  This is possibly because in the olden days it was important to know whether we could eat something or whether we needed to look around to see if something wanted to eat us.

Recognition soars with pictures.  In fact, recognition doubles for a picture compared to text.

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Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV) is a self-funding statutory authority which is responsible for the registration of architects, the approval of architectural companies/partnerships, the investigation of complaints against architects and the provision of  of a tribunal inquiry into professional conduct and accreditation of architecture courses.

There are around 1600 members of the ARBV.  And unlike member associations where members join voluntarily, architects must register with the ARBV in order to be a practising architect.

Alison Ivey is the Registrar at the Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV).  Having previously worked as a secondary school teacher, Alison brings an interesting perspective to training adult staff.  We chat to Alison to find out some of the challenges that the ARBV needs to consider when training a large group of professional architects.

1.      What are the challenges when running a registration board?  What are the implications of those challenges?

Alison: For the ARBV, even though registration is mandatory, we do try to keep architects informed of things that they need to know, and act as quickly and professionally as we can in response to enquiries, aiming to make all of our processes easy and efficient. In other words, we aim to be less bureaucratic and more customer relations focused.

A voluntary association always has to address the issue of whether members continue to find the benefits of membership outweigh the cost and time involved. Ensuring this requires vigilance and good customer management systems.

2.      What are the challenges when training members?

Alison: Training for adults is usually tied to incentives and motivation. A culture of valuing learning and up skilling is of vital importance both within an association and in the workplaces of members which is set and modelled by managers.  If managers don’t want to learn, no one else will want to either.

If training programs are mandatory, implying that the organization regards them as essential, attention should be paid to how well the programs are delivered and the retention rates of the information or skill taught. Follow up surveys and tests provide good information, and also reinforce the importance of the training to the association in the members’ minds.

If the training is voluntary, but recommended, the managers of the association should make it as easy as possible to do, ensure it is interesting, worthwhile, and well delivered, and above all is seen as value for money/time taken.

All of this is common sense. The most important step in adult learning to my mind though is the pretest, and this is often overlooked entirely.

A pretest establishes what is already known, enabling the trainer to determine where the learning is most needed. In addition, the pretest has the huge benefit of engaging the learner from the outset, and increasing the understanding and retention of the material covered.

3.      What training projects have you found to be the most successful in reaching out to members?  What worked/what didn’t?

Alison: People will always want to learn useful, relevant things. Changes in technology, best practice, regulations, and legal decisions will attract good interest as long as the delivery is thought through.  Is on-line delivery appropriate and engaging? Is face to face better?   If so, date, day and time are crucial issues.

What projects get the best recognition from employers/the public/colleagues? What projects coincide with current developments and demand? What projects will sell the service the best and improve profitability?

4.      What tips would you recommend to other associations when it comes to engaging members with training?

Alison: Employ trainers with a sense of humor, who are polished and entertaining presenters.  There is nothing worse than being bored, in fact, boredom is counterproductive to learning. Adults get very resentful of time wasting, can become entrenched in a cynical approach to work place training, and can even develop learning “sulks” where their minds are completely closed to new material as a result of previous, negative experiences.  School students manage this in many different ways, but adults are out of the school habit.  Trainers cannot take their audience’s interest for granted.

Learning is a human activity usually reliant on a relationship. The fastest way of establishing a rapport with an audience is to make them laugh.

5. What is an example of some training that has worked well for the ARBV?

We needed to explain Compulsory Professional Development to our members, as we have been considering introducing it.  A CPD video was created to simplify quite complex information and present it in a clear and logical way.  It’s a short video, but very comprehensive. Architects are visual learners and, like most of us, tend not to be good at reading large chunks of text.  We introduced the concept of CPD in an innovative video format that no other jurisdiction in Australia had done before.  It resulted in our members more easily accepting the proposed CPD concept and ensured that the meetings were pleasant and ran smoothly.

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According to Wikipedia, advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience  to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services.  Advertising can change the values, attitudes, and actions of those who see or hear the message.

Think television commercials.  Advertising is a billion dollar industry focused on changing consumers’ habits and beliefs.   And while it is true that television might not be as effective as it used to be, this is only because fewer people are watching it now.  Nevertheless, Government organisations like WorkSafe and VicRoads have used television commercials to successfully change our behaviours and attitudes towards workplace safety and road safety respectively.

In order to market safety messages, it’s time that safety professionals started to think like marketers.  And this might be hard, as let’s face it, they are a strange group to more linear thinkers like engineers.  However, let’s put on our marketing caps and find out how they try to get into our brain.

Key advertising tactics to consider for marketing safety are:

• Consistent, clear messaging (includes branding) – Always promote the same standarized safety message and ensure that all departments are aligned with the message and do not send out conflicting information (eg: safety officer tells people to work safely and cautiously, but production manager pushes for speed).

• Consequences of poor safety – One of they key messages is to get employees really understand that poor safety behaviour puts their health and safety at risk, but also other employees, contractors and customers.  Let them know what effect this will have on the personal life and how it will effect their family.

• Multiple message placement – This means you have a consistent safety message or theme and you repeat it in multiple places.  It is like the glue that holds these tactics together and is essential in successful advertising.  In advertising campaigns, it is believed that people need to be exposed to a television ad six times before they will absorb the message.  This is why frequency of message equals success in the advertising campaign.

Most safety training programs fall short when it comes to frequency of message. Yet, there are many simple and cost effective ways to do this.

By getting workers to engage in your safety message in different ways (watching it, hearing it, reading it), supervisors can better ensure that more workers receive it.  Different communication methods include a training video that is supplemented with matching posters, email newsletter campaigns, key rings, employee handbooks and toolbox talks.

But how do you develop workplace safety communication?  Read How to Develop a Workplace Safety Messages Campaign (Part 2)

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Getting Training Messages to stick can be Tricky. This New Report reveals the Key Factors behind Successful Staff Induction Training and how to implement them.

Melbourne, Australia (July 26,2010) – Digicast Productions, a safety and induction training video production house, today released a new white paper “Optimising Induction Training: Reduce Costs, Improve Quality and Talent Retention”.   Around the world, many companies train new starters and contractors ineffectively often finding it difficult to get training messages to stick inside people’s heads.  This paper outlines the impact of poor induction training, the high cost of face to face training and the growing importance of including visuals in training materials.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of human learning occurs visually, yet the majority of companies produce text based induction training materials that have a 10% effectiveness rate on recall levels.

Smart organisations who regularly need to train contractors and new staff are looking for a more streamlined, engaging and cost effective way to ensure staff absorb training messages.

This exclusive white paper addresses the various pitfalls of a poorly designed induction training process and what can be done about it.  The report looks at:
•    What current induction training programs are really costing companies
•    The importance of avoiding a poor safety culture
•    The emerging trend of using more visuals in communication
•    How to make training messages sticky
•    A little mistake that cost a Quarry $20,000 a year

For a complete copy of the whitepaper, download it now.
About Digicast Productions

Established in 1991, Digicast is an Australian vendor of customised safety and induction training videos.  Thousands of people each year worldwide are trained with Digicast training videos. For more information, visit Digicast or The Workplace Improver blog for training tips.

Contact Marie-Claire Ross
Digicast Productions
+ 61 3 9696-4400
mc@digicast.com.au

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When new starters, contractors and even customers are required to start training with you, the interaction they have with your company will determine how long they want to stay and how long they will do business with you.

After all, first impressions aren’t easy to erase.

That’s why it is important with any staff or customer training that the training materials are written in friendly and welcoming language.

Yet, many times we see evidence of induction training manuals written in jargonistic corporate speak that seems keen to scold new starters for possible misdemeanors before they have even begun.

It is important that all training materials exclude negative terms such as ‘no’, ‘can’t’ and ‘don’t’.  Not only is it unfriendly, but negative language can often be hard for the brain to understand.

Take this sign, for example.  This was placed at the back of a cafe that I enjoy going to.  It has very friendly staff, great coffee and a queue to get in (not my favourite part).

While waiting for my table and walking around the neighbourhood, I found it.  My attention was grabbed for the wrong reason -  I really couldn’t understand it.

My first impression was that no deliveries were allowed.  That seemed strange to me, so I read on, only to be amazed that they were allowed but I couldn’t instantly grasp when.

It is quite amazing how the word ‘no’ at the start of a sentence can really throw you off the true meaning of a message.

So I have decided to  positivise the sign in an attempt to show you, dear reader, how easy it is to make communication messages easier to understand .  And yes, I know that positivise isn’t a real word, but I really like it.

All Deliveries Here

We accept deliveries:

Before 7am and after 6pm Mon-Fri &

Before 9am and after 6pm Saturday

Ah, isn’t that much better?   My brain feels happier now.

Of course, this sign isn’t for staff or even customers.  But as a customer I gathered that they didn’t like their delivery people very much.

However, the point of this example is how negative language can be so much harder for the brain to take in.  While using positive language makes messages so much easier to understand.

Perhaps, it’s time to positivise your training materials?

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Over the years, I have had the pleasure of revising company induction manuals and what I have found is that just about every company makes the same mistakes in its training materials.

Given that the quality of your induction training can actually determine whether a new starter will want to stay or not, it’s imperative to have the best training materials you can.  So which of these common mistakes do you have in your induction training:

1. Provide text based training - This is when training is from training manuals or PowerPoint presentations that contain mostly text.  Studies by educational researchers have found that 83% of human learning occurs visually.  You can actually help people keep their brain active and alert to new information by providing visual information relevant to the training.  Use lots of colours, photos, diagrams and video content to better explain training concepts.

2. Talk in corporate speak - Avoid formal corporate language in your training manuals.  Workers at different site locations will know if corporate has written the training materials and they weren’t consulted.  This can make the training manuals seem less credible.  Make sure it is friendly and conversational – and welcoming!  Keep sentences short (17 words or less), use short words (5 characters or less) and avoid jargon.  And in this day and age of Twitter, keep it short and tweet!

3. Use negative language - Remove rules that focus on “don’t, can’t, forbidden”.  Remember induction training is you most teachable moment with a new staff member/contractor, so use language that is friendly and warm.  Let people know what they can do, rather than tell them about behaviour that you do not want.

4. Forget the How - This is when staff are told what to do but no explanation is given as to why.   Company processes are perpetuated without people ever questioning why they do something.  Over time, staff are taught processes that solve problems that no longer exist.

In order to boost retention rates and improve productivity levels, inducting right is important to any company who wants to improve the bottom line.

By making your induction training visually appealing and easy to learn, you will be able to improve your staff productivity and safety quite remarkably.

Start adding colour, video and pictures to your induction training materials and keep sentences short.  Where can you convert processes into more visually appealing training videos that will get the messages across better than just boring text?

By fixing these common induction mistakes, you will have people commenting positively on the quality of your induction training.

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Research has found that expertly produced training videos provide faster training, high usage, flexibility and more consistently trained staff.

Selecting the correct training video producer is extremely important to the success of your training video.

Video production houses often do a full array of video production services from television ads, filming seminars and live events, producing corporate videos and training videos. They can be separated into three categories – advertising commercial, live corporates or instructional-design producers.

For most training situations, instructional-design producer-writers are best for producing video enhanced training sessions. These producers also possess greater expertise in working with detailed training materials.

The best way to assess whether the training video company is producing training videos from an instructional design perspective is to review their work and ask the following questions:

Script
1. Is the level of information easy to understand? Would a school age student be able to easily grasp the messages?

2. Is the script written in a way that engages? Or do you feel as if you are being told to do something by a bossy teacher rather than being shown in a friendly way?

3. What was the pace like for the video? Was it just right, too slow or quick?

4. Was the content presented in a logical, easy to follow sequence?

5. Was new material introduced before you could absorb the previous information fully?

Production

6. Were the work surroundings relevant? Was it trying to be all things for a range of industries or has it been customized for one company?

7. Were the characters and situations shown realistically?

8. Were the desired behaviours modeled in a way that can be copied by employees?

9. Were there things happening in the background that were distracting you from learning (eg: forklift hitting a pole)?

10. Were elements of a process clearly shown so that you could understand what they were referring to? (eg: when discussing say, a ‘stop’ button on a machine it was shown, so you knew what it looked liked)?

11. Were there too many special effects or graphics that took the attention away from the messages, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the program?

12. Were titles used to reinforce important points to enable staff to remember and absorb important information?

13. If you were an employee of this company how would you feel about them? Excited to be working for them, comfortable about the new process or feeling like they don’t really care about their staff?

14. Were employees tested on their knowledge after watching a video to increase mental effort, therefore improving motivation and comprehension?

By keeping these questions in mind when reviewing training videos, you will be able to quickly evaluate how effective the training video will be as an educational tool.

This will enable you to choose the right video production provider rather than developing an employee training video that will end up gathering dust on your shelf.

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