Brain Friendly Trainer

Feedback and the X-Factor

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:27:45 +0000

In April, Annabel shared how her experience of restoring an old, WW2 Jeep helped her learners understand the S.M.A.R.T. method of objective setting. We are delighted that she has now given us her thoughts on giving feedback. I don’t know if you’ve watched any of the many shows where a panel of judges pass comment on [...] Related posts:

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Is this the most important and exciting piece of research in years?

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:29:37 +0000

Recently, we discovered a little about the prefrontal cortex, looked at David Rock’s “actors on the stage” metaphor and applied it to the early driving experience of Paul's son. In this post we get down to the nitty gritty of what is going on and how brain friendly trainers can apply it to learning in any situation. Related posts:

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Your brain is a stage with only four actors

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:24:11 +0000

In his book Your Brain At Work David Rock likens the pre-frontal cortex to a theatrical stage. At various times there will be actors on the stage and it is these actors that we are describing when we talk about what we are focussed on. So right now you may have a reading actor on your stage as you read this, you may also have a musical actor on stage if you are playing some background music, you may have your e-mail sorting actor on stage and / or potentially one or more of many. Related posts:

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Learn to drive in a day the Brain Friendly way.

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:08:10 +0000

It’s a big day in our family. My eldest son is 17 and the only thing he has wanted for his birthday since last year has been driving lessons. So this morning, having spent a large proportion of his inheritance on insurance, I drove him to a quiet street in his mother’s car where the learning [...] Related posts:

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Desire, dopamine and successful set ups

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:36:25 +0000

As we discover more and more about neuroscience and how the brain works, I find myself making more and more connections to learning and training. For sometime Ally and I have been talking about the importance of really good set-ups in brain friendly learning; whether it’s the pre-programme invitation or the set up for the day [...] Related posts:

Where the Desire for Change Resides Part of the Scientific American 60 second podcast series,...
Your brain is a stage with only four actors In his book Your Brain At Work David Rock likens...
Is this the most important and exciting piece of research in years? Recently, we discovered a little about the prefrontal cortex, looked...

Take your learners to a concert (or two)

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Sun, 23 May 2010 19:40:30 +0000

The use of background music during lectures, vocabulary decoding, or group readings is a cornerstone of Accelerated Learning techniques. Two methods for using music, designed to create very different but equally effective learning environments, were developed through Lozanov's methods. They are called concerts. Related posts:

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What goes around goes around…

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:00:57 +0000

I sometimes think it’s interesting to take a step back, reflect on progress and to analyse some aspect of our industry. Whenever I do this however I am more often than not struck by one thing – It’s funny how things go around. Many years ago I recall my first inspirational training boss (There have been too [...] Related posts:

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Brain Friendly tips for students

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Mon, 17 May 2010 22:45:30 +0000

For a lot of us, the exam season is upon us; for some it’s mocks, for others it’s the real thing. Whichever is your current situation, all over the land parents can be heard encouraging their loved ones as follows: “Turn off that (delete as needed): laptop x-box playstation ipod TV mobile Wii … and DO SOME REVISION!” So I thought I would share some [...] Related posts:

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Experience or memory – how do you know your learners are happy?

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:13:21 +0000

Last week, I watched a fascinating TED video called ” The Riddle of Experience vs. Memory“. In it, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman revealed how our “experiencing selves” and our “remembering selves” perceive happiness differently. The blurb describing the video content said: This new insight has profound implications for economics, public policy [...] Related posts:

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Take your learners to a concert (or two) The use of background music during lectures, vocabulary decoding, or...

If you use surveys or quizzes this is just for you.

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:49:40 +0000

Whether it is Evaluation Forms (happy sheets?), learning reviews or Needs Analysis surveys – we’ve all used questionnaires at some point in our training. Today we’re sharing a link to a very quick survey every training designer must review. Normally the links we post to other sites point to the latest developments in training delivery and design or preview [...] Related posts:

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A Goal without a Plan is just a Wish

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:51:09 +0000

A while ago, Ally was inspired by a YouTube video and wrote a post about flexible training design. In the comments section, Annabel posted her experience of inspiring her learners through telling a personal story and has agreed to elaborate her thoughts here… Thanks Annabel! A Goal without a Plan is just a wish In the Past I’ve [...] Related posts:

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I’m bugged by beliefs.

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:37:01 +0000

Recently while running a management development programme, Paul was stopped during the break by one of the participants who said they were leaving. They proceeded to give an account of the earlier session that made Paul wonder if they had been in the same room! In this post Paul explores the impact that beliefs and (pre)understanding have when a learner encounters new material that raises an alternative point of view. Related posts:

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Twitter Updates from last week 2010-04-25

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:24:00 +0000

Praise effort to get better response than praising talent http://bit.ly/bRbdcl # @Caroline_Est notice you are tweeting via web – check out http://bit.ly/cxbsQB @tweetdeck it's a great twitter client for desktop in reply to Caroline_Est # @Caroline_Est you are very welcome – Blink is one of my favourite reads, in reply to Caroline_Est # Ally has just spent [...] Related posts:

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Do you praise effort or talent?

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 22:19:54 +0000

In 1998 Carol S Dweck published a paper called “Praise for intelligence can undermine (children’s) motivation and performance” in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Paul put the brackets around the word children because he thinks this applies equally to adults. The study compares the impact on performance of praising effort and praising natural talent. The results may influence our reactions to learner behaviour in the training room (and how we respond to our own children). Related posts:

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A different way of looking at the training cycle

info@brainfriendlytrainer.com — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:39:20 +0000

While reading "The Age of Absurdity: Why Modern Life Makes it Hard to be Happy", Paul recognises the similarities between the concept of the Quest Saga described by Michael Foley and the experience of learners in our training rooms. Beginning with the Wizard of Oz and ending with a child 'drifting' their push bike, discover an alternative 4-step learning process. Related posts:

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