Writing for learning needs to have a flavour of excitement about it. When we learn things and how to apply them can cause an adrenalin rush so write for your learners not because you have to write how to do something . . . how will they feel when they have read your writing. Here’s […]
Writing for learning needs to be free flowing, it needs to exercise the mind and have just enough repetition of the good (important) bits to be committed to long term memory. I’m going to share with you over the next few Modletters some of the lessons of 10 years of writing for eLearning. Ideas breed […]
You can sell your ideas without pushing them down learners’ throats. Here are some sales techniques that top sales companies use very successfully. I have converted them to learning situations. Sales Technique #1. Make learners feel special. This weekend I leafed through the early Christmas offers but I started to find examples of how companies […]
Forgetting happens most rapidly soon after learning something and then tapers off after time. Learners will first forget content that does not make sense to them Most people are more likely to forget what they hear than what they read. This is probably because reading is a more focussed activity than listening. Although we may […]
The following is an extract from the documentary “Abstract”, Christoph Niemann, an illustrator and animator writes about being both a creator and an editor: “I need to be in control and I need to have a clear sense of where I am going and why something’s working and not working. On the other hand, I’ve […]
A good opening engages learners and entices them to move on into your Modlette. You do this by fulfilling your first two roles as a trainer: Empathize with your learner . . . tell him or her that you understand their fears and struggles, and you put your virtual arm around their shoulders. When learners […]
Let’s be honest . . . A lot of training content is somewhat blah! It sounds boring. It lacks a human voice. It feels like anyone in any department could have written it. How can you add a touch of personality? Start by nurturing a sense of play. When trainers are having fun, they’ll connect […]
Adult eLearning readers skim read passages of written dialogue. So how can we simplify our writing so we can keep impatient readers captivated? FUZZY THINKING HIDES IN LONG SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS So, to avoid fuzzy writing try this practice: Compose relatively short sentences Write one-sentence paragraphs. It’s not easy . . . Each sentence should […]
I imagined that the doctor really enjoyed this. His face had lit up when he discovered the lump on my shoulder blade the previous week. “We’ll cut it out” he said. The days leading up to the surgery were stressful. Was it cancer? The day came, I couldn’t see what they were doing, only imagined […]
Show and Tell The official advice in creative writing is to show don’t tell. However, in practice, we often show AND tell. Telling populates most training writing, filling it with factual statements that eventually cram up the learner’s brain. Showing means using sensory details and describing actions to direct a mental movie in your learner’s […]
