Have you ever attended a class, workshop, break out session and heard the speaker go from start to finish without any breaks, no interaction, and limited discussion? That speaker may know their content well, developed an elaborate PowerPoint, and spoke smoothly throughout the presentation. Most of the audience will be satisfied and give great reviews. A small group might say it was fine but they did not get anything out of the class. Why is this? Educators who do not involve the audience in some type of role play or class exercise may not be able to connect with kinesthetic learners.
Connect instead of present
Kinesthetic learners sit at their tables or desks and play with their phones, write aggressive notes, or need to be doing something to retain the and act on the information presented. They want to be involved in developing the solution instead of being told the answer.
Here are just a few techniques you can add to your presentation to meet the needs of kinesthetic learners using technology as an example.
Case study. Write a paragraph or two that states a fact or fictitious example of when some event occurred and what were the possible outcomes from the actions that were taken. Ask these questions:
- What would the result from…?
- Was someone penalized or rewarded if…?
- What could have happened if…?
- Create the question from these set of facts…
Example. Bobbi Jo was thinking about sending out emails to all of her clients, prospects and anyone who she can find their email address. Her broker has encouraged her to send out emails to stay in touch with the people she knows but isn’t really sure about the best way to send them out.
Questions
- Should Bobbi Jo buy an email list and send emails to people who she does not know?
- What steps should Bobbi Jo take in creating an effective email marketing campaign?
- What could happen if Bobbi Jo abused email as a source of marketing and advertising?
Open ended questions encourage kinesthetic learners to think pro-actively about the decisions, questions, and example to see how their lives may be effected if they ever had to make the decisions presented.
Panel discussions. Host a workshop, invite industry experts, and give the audience a list of the questions that they can ask the panel members about their expertise. Members can write down the answers to each of the questions on a piece of paper that way they assume the control of the learning environment.
Example. Invite the best local bloggers to a social media class and inform them that other real estate professionals in the area will be attending. Ask the panelists to provide a short bio, list of 10 possible questions, and to prepare answers to the questions ahead of time. Send out a survey using Google Docs to create the list of questions.
Questions
- What is the best blogging software that you use? Each person will give their own opinion on what has worked best for them.
- If you could start over and do something differently what would that thing be? This helps novices learn from valuable mistakes the pros made.
- What was the best thing that you did to get you to be where you are today? This demonstrates a proven track record and how to get there.
Task groups. Set an objective or task for the entire group to be able to complete within a specified time frame and hold them accountable for the results. Once they completed their strategy for how they will perform ask one group member to present the information to the entire class. This sharing makes each group member feel like they have participated in creating the result. Remind students to take active notes during the development of the strategy and presentation of other groups.
Example. Ask the room to split up into groups of 4-5 and ask them to develop a technology plan of action for new agents entering into the business. Each group will write down 10 things that every real estate agent needs in using technology and to prioritize the order of when they should make the investment and how much each will cost.
Role plays. Ask a group of attendees to come to the front of the room and assign them a position, status, and script to read in front of the class. The scripts should
Example. Heather is a listing agent and Tom is the buyer’s agent. Tom wants to make an offer on Heather’s listing but Tom relies on email for communication and Heather does not have an email address.
Tom: “Hi, Heather! How are you today? I showed your property today at 123 Main Street today and my clients loved it. We wrote an offer and I wanted to email it to you. Would that be okay?”
Heather: “Tom. That is wonderful. Thank you so much for showing the property and taking the time to write the offer. My clients are going to be thrilled… but, Tom… I don’t have an email address. Can you fax it to me instead?”
Tom: Long pause… “Heather, I don’t have a fax machine but I have a scanner. I always scan documents and email them to everyone. That way I have a record of everything incoming and outgoing.”
Heather: “Well, Tom, I don’t have an email address and I have never needed one, AND, I am not going to change now just for one contract.”
Question to ask the class
What options to Tom and Heather have in order to communicate with one another during the negotiation and escrow of th e transaction?
Please add any thoughts you may have about using these methods for kinesthetic learners.
Doug Devitre
Doug Devitre Delivers! 