How to get and retain employee attention during training

Transcription:

Hi, my name is Don. If you think your employees have dwindling attention spans, you are probably right. Since 2000 attention spans have dropped by almost four seconds. Did you know that humans have shorter attention than goldfish? Research conducted in 2009 by Diane Duka and David Cornish showed that you only get 20 minutes of sustained attention from the average adult. In terms of short-term response to a stimulus, you only get eight seconds. If you can’t gunner the initial attention in eight seconds, your audience is likely lost. Present information that lasts more than 20 minutes, and you are fighting a losing battle. So how do you grab the attention of your employees? Well, one, try new things. You see, the human brain is automatically attracted to something that feels new. So carefully consider things like module titles and headlines and your e-learning training, and use these areas to introduce things that your employees have not heard about or seen before.

One way to do this is to incorporate newly uncovered data and current events into your e-learning and training. Two, keep your contents snazzy. Your employees are going to make snap decisions and judgments anyways. So if they look at the screen and it looks cluttered, clunky, and confusing, they more than likely are already made up their own judgments. Three, invoke emotion and a sense of surprise. This is tricky, we know, but if you can create suspense and trigger an emotional response right out of the gate, your employees are likely to give more attention and be engaged with your e-learning. Here are some ideas that you can try.

Effective micro-learning:

You see, once you have the attention of your employees, it’s up to you to keep it for as long as possible. Remember, you only have 20 minutes. So here’s a quick tip. Break up big chunks of content into small, digestible chunks.

This is what microlearning is all about, and it is one of the biggest trends in the e-learning and training industry right now. To create microlearning, here’s what you simply do. Go through your training content and cut out all unnecessary information. Next, try to break up long courses into smaller segments. You can create modules that last about eight to 10 minutes, and that’s what impact your learners positively. Also, don’t forget to put the most important information first. You see, no matter what you do, your learners are probably gonna lose steam as they approach the end of a course. So make it a point to put the most important salient points listed as close to the start of your course as possible.

Insert micro assessments after every few screens and let employees know that they’re expected to participate in quizzes and assessments. If your employees know ahead of time that they’re gonna be tested on the information while they, they have all the inform, uh, the incentive to stay focused and interested. It is also a good idea generally, to let employees and your trainees know upfront how long a course is expected to take and what they will be learning. This is important because it helps to maintain focus, it helps maintain attention, and they won’t be left wondering what this course is about, how long it’s gonna take and what it’s supposed to gain from it.

There are a number of ways that you can also keep things interesting. For example, you can include contrasting text, and graphics. You can include videos and narration, and when you diversify your information that you present to your learners, they’re likely to remain more engaged and excited about it. Finally, and this is a quick and easy one. If something can be effectively said with images or videos instead of text, please go ahead and use those. Thank you very much for watching. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our number is 877-624-7226. You can visit us www.eleapsoftware.com.