Employee training tip: Get them talking

Meetings and training seminars where one person rattles on and on for an hour are not only boring, they don’t work. If you expect your audience to retain everything you said, think again ...

The human brain retains less than 5% of what you hear in any talk, but talkers retain 90% of what they teach, according to research.

What can you do? Get listeners involved in the conversation. Mix it up at your next meeting and develop speakers out of listeners.

Plan ahead for your next team meeting or training event and look for new ways to get listeners involved. Here are a few tips on how to involve the audience in your next presentation:

• Before the meeting, divide up your presentation and have each team member present a different portion in front of the group.
• Ask questions throughout the presentation. Throw away the traditional format of talking for 45 minutes and taking questions when you’re done. Throughout your presentation, ask questions for the audience to answer.
• Have a conversation with your group. Bring up a main talking point from your presentation and start a conversation. When everyone in the group is involved, everyone’s retention rates will improve.