Sunday, September 30, 2012

Learning Can Be Fun

Having fun is the best way to learn :)
Did a couple of coaching sessions over the past weeks, and a common feedback given is that they never expected the sessions to be this fun!

I started training, teaching and mentoring since I was 18 years old. And right from my very first session, I strove to make it enjoyable regardless of how 'dry' the topic might be or who the audience might be. Students, educators, parents, professionals, bankers, home makers... it does not make a difference.

This probably stem from the fact that as a student, I often fell asleep during lessons. Auditory learning is my least preferred choice and coupled with the hot stuffy classroom (we did not have air conditioned rooms back then) plus non interactive mode of teaching, falling asleep was the most natural result. And what naturally transpired next is a chalk smacking into my face. Yup, the age of non whyteboards. 

So when I became a 'teacher'/ trainer, I decided that I will: 
  • make my sessions enjoyable and relevant for the participants
  • incorporate useful learnings and activities; no silly exercises or activities
  • respect the participants' time so no fillers activities just to waste time
  • use a blend of methods so that all learning preferences is included
One of the great things about starting my own practice is that I can decide the direction of Dream Catalyst and the projects that I am involved with. So I can be choosy about who I work with. As such, it gives me immense delight to work with organisations both non profit and businesses that serve to make a difference in the lives of others. These organisations genuinely incorporate training programme as part of it's mission to better the lives of their members or employees. Increased productivity and efficiency is the bonus of happy team members. 

Yup, learning can be fun! Why not? :)

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