As a public speaker, facilitator and instructional designer, I am constantly tweaking my presentations and designs, on-the-fly to enhance my learners experience. I read John Medina’s book Brain Rules several years ago and recently found his blog. His most recent blog Brain Rules for Presenters contains great reminders and insights on how to capture your audience (and their brains) attention.

His writing is clear, light-hearted and gets to the point quickly. He talks about how our brain assesses new incoming information with 6 questions. The last two being: Have I seen it before? Or, have I never seen it before? This is important because the brain is a master at pattern matching. As an instructional designer, knowing that your learners are looking for patterns aligns with adult learning principles – especially in how adults want to link what they are learning to previous experience.

If you haven’t read John Medina’s book, Brain Rules, I highly recommend it. His blog touches on some of his newer work and illustrates the main rules of how to get the most out of your brain. Here is a quote from his blog – Brain Rules for Meetings that sums up his style and his work:

Not that Brain Rules will tell you how the brain operates. “We don’t know squat about how the brain works,” said Medina, who has focused on brain research for nearly three decades. He added: “I don’t know how you know how to pick up a glass of water and drink it. But we do know the conditions that [the brain] operates best in, even if we don’t know all the ins and outs of that operation.”

Another resource I find interesting is the article, “What You Should Know About Your Brain“, by Judy Willis. I love this article because it clearly covers the science of the brain and what each area is responsible for and then it dives into what the learner should do to enhance awareness and improve the performance of their brain. Here’s an example she covers in her section titled, What You Can Do in regard to The Amygdala:

“Another technique that helps you choose what to do with your emotions—something only humans can do— is to imagine you’re directing yourself in a play. You are the director sitting in a balcony seat watching an actor (the emotional you) on stage below. What advice would you give the emotion-filled actor on the stage if he or she had been pushed by a classmate and wanted to hit back, for example? This technique helps you move away from using your reactive brain and tap your thinking brain, where memories that might help you are stored”.

I am a fan of practical advice linked to scientific research. Even though this is written for younger students, this work easily can be translated to adult learners. I have seen many adult learners triggered by their Amygdala during a workshop in a business setting. The challenge for the instructional designer is incorporating some of these tips into the design to facilitate the best possible learning environment.

“How to Teach Students About the Brain,” by Judy Willis, Educational Leadership, 67(4). Copyright © 2009 ASCD.