Join us on the latest episode of the Lessons from Learning Leaders podcast as we welcome back the master facilitator himself, Sardek Love! Sardek, author of Presentation Essentials and Speak for a Living, sits down to discuss the fascinating intersection of neuroscience and effective training.
Sardek is presenting a standalone session at the Training Magazine conference and expo called “The science of designing ridiculously engaging learning experiences,” which is also known as “The science of engagement”. His recent focus has pivoted to looking at the neuroscience and psychology behind the things trainers do, noting that while many training techniques have roots in these fields, most trainers are unaware of it. He highlights that many techniques taught by Bob Pike, which he and the host use, are backed by deep data from a neuroscience perspective.
In this conversation, Sardek dives deep into techniques that leverage brain science for better engagement and learning:
The Engagement Loop: Sardek’s framework, created based on neuroscience, has three phases:
Grab people’s attention by doing something novel.
Create connection or allow participants to connect with each other, building trust. The neuroscience suggests allowing participants to connect with each other first before moving to large group discussion.
Create interaction, which is essentially experiential learning or training activities.
Overcoming Silence with Escalating Mutual Disclosure: Sardek discusses how most trainers are met with “bone crushing, mind numbing silence” when they ask a question because participants are cautious and fearful of being judged. The solution, a neuroscience technique called escalating mutual disclosure , involves repeatedly asking questions and having participants respond at the table group level (pair shares, triads, quads) in the beginning of a course. The questions should gradually increase the amount of vulnerability demonstrated.
The Benjamin Franklin Effect: Sardek explains that when participants share their tips or “edify each other” at the table group level, it creates the Benjamin Franklin effect. This means doing a favor for someone actually makes a person neurologically like the recipient, reducing cognitive dissonance and automatically building trust.
The Peak-End Theory in Experiential Learning: Sardek uses Daniel Kahneman’s peak-end theory to design impactful experiential activities. People judge an experience based on the most intense moment and the very end of that experience. Sardek’s approach involves agitating a known problem, putting people into an experiential activity that simulates the problem and its emotions, and then providing the solution at the end. He uses his “taste of change” activity with Warheads candy as an example, where the intense sourness represents the fear and resistance of change, and the eventual sweetness represents the metaphor for change.
He also touches on the fact that current instructional design principles may be outdated, and as we learn more about the brain and how habits are changing (especially after the pandemic), refinement of adult learning principles will be necessary. He suggests focusing on the three most relevant of Gagne’s nine events of instruction rather than covering all nine in live instruction.
Key Takeaways
Neuroscience is the foundation for effective engagement: Many successful training techniques are rooted in brain science, even if the trainer is unaware of it.
Build trust before large group discussion: Start with activities that allow participants to connect and build trust in small groups (pair shares, triads) to overcome the fear of being judged and the resulting “mind numbing silence”.
Use Escalating Mutual Disclosure: Gradually increase the vulnerability of questions asked in small groups to build trust and connection.
Leverage the Peak-End Theory in Design: Make the experiential learning’s most intense moment and its conclusion memorable to shape how people judge the entire experience.
