Jolts, Exercises and Frame Games - When and How to Use Interactive Learning Techniques

We use improv and story a lot in workshops designed to do everything from enhance leadership potential to increase sales skills to build teams to facilitate strategic planning to solve problems and increase innovation.

What is the difference between a training (teaching) session and other forms of communication? Not as much as you might think, we believe. We would offer that in any human interaction, what one party is doing is in some way attempting to influence or inform (or teach) the others (and vice-versa). Put another way, whenever we are communicating in any forum, we are trying to "change" our partner.

Perhaps we want them to be changed by knowing a new piece of information (knowledge): "Turn right at the second light."

Or to affect how they feel (attitude/belief): "What a lovely dress!" "You heartless cad!"

Or to change their ability to do something (skill): "Hold the violin like this. Move your bow thusly."

There are a few ways that training situations may be different from general communication:

- When we are training others, we are more consciously trying to change them - especially in ways related to performance outcomes
- When we are training, we have been given explicit permission to try to change others, either by the participants or their bosses or both.
- When we train, we are presenting ourselves as experts - more than normally able to change others in the ways they wish to be changed.

As trainers, then, what differentiates our workshop environments from everyday communication is simply that we have special opportunity and power to influence, and that we are held especially responsible for what we communicate.

Therefore, we contend, we have a special responsibility to be clear about our desired outcomes.

Duh, you say? Fair enough. But bear with me for just a moment. Let's look at those categories again:

Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes: When you are designing a session, are you always clear which of those you are aiming to affect? Do the activities you choose align with your learning objectives? Exercises are great; fun is fun; but if you are not clear on what the POINT of your story or activity is - in what way you are trying to change a participant - you are squandering that special influence you have been granted.

Here is a way to think about activities and link them to Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes:

"Jolts" are activities that affect peoples attitudes and beliefs. The produce "aha" moments.

"Exercises" are activities that work skills and provide practice. They can be done over and over again, like machines at the gym. Or role-plays.

"Frame Games" are templates or shells into any content. They are useful for imparting knowledge and assessing retention and understanding.

Some activities can be used in variation as more than one of the above category, of course. The point is to know the point.

In this context, let me offer an exercise (which might also help with knowledge retention, and affect or attitude toward training.)

Think about something you teach. Figure out whether you are addressing a knowledge, skill or attitude gap in the learner. Design (or choose) an activity that is the aligned jolt, exercise or frame game to best meet that need.

And feel free to be in touch if you'd like help of feedback. We'd love to hear from you.