Learning Styles: What's the impact on your group programs

As learners, we each learn in different ways. Individuals will have a preferred learning style, either visual, auditory, kinesthetic (by touch). Keep in mind that we often have a preferred mix of different learning styles.

Visual learners are supported in the learning process by sight. They benefit from lots of graphics including color charts, diagrams and pictures to support the presentation.

An auditory learner learns primarily by hearing. They learn best by listening to presentations and explanations, and may really benefit or gravitate to teleseminars or teleclasses.

Kinestheic learners primarily learn more by doing (writing, touching, drawing). These learners thrive on trying it out and discovering for themselves.

As a facilitator of group programs (whether you are a coach, trainer or manager) you need to be sensitive to the different learning styles your group members bring. It is important to tailor your activities and delivery methods to meet the needs of diverse learning styles.

What is your preferred learning style? Think about it for a moment – how do you best learn?

Being aware of your preferred learning style can uncover some of the biases you may hold as a facilitator. For example, if you are an auditory learner your program may be really full of great audio content but not have enough written materials, posters or flipcharts to support the needs of visual learners.

Likewise, if you have a predominance towards kinesthetic learning you may bring a bias towards learning through doing, without providing sufficient “direction” for visual learners or auditory learners.

I speak a lot about learning styles during the Workshop and Retreat Essentials program and will have a focus on this in my upcoming Toronto Group Facilitation Intensive (May 2 and 3). If you are curious about finding out more about your own learning style, or want to bring some discussion of this into your programs for your learners, you may want to check out

Learning Styles Online – Has a great overview of learning styles as well as a free online assessment which you can take. I did this with a group of new small business owners last summer and they really liked the assessment – it is quite comprehensive.

Learnativity.com also used to have a great Learning Sytles Assessment and Motivation Style Assessment.

If you are wondering about what can I do to meet the needs of the different learning styles in my groups, here is a blog post I wrote last summer on Tips for Meeting the Needs of Visual Learners.

Here's a question for you - What do you need to keep in mind when you design or run your next program?

Have a great start to the week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CHRP
Potentials Realized
Group Coaching Essentials