Welcome …

… to our 4th EMU Ezine – The Power of Visuals – distributed to ALL who seek to ensure information and learning is – Enjoyable, Memorable, Useful!

It’s been an exciting time since our last ezine; we’ve re-branded and simplified the website; we’ve partnered with our good friend and colleague Stella Collins of Stellar Learning, to create a new joint venture – Brain in Business™ - www.braininbusiness.com; and now we’re both busily designing a whole host of FREE resources and new products to give our wider international audience access to sharing information and learning the brain friendly way.

At a recent event, I was talking to an ACPI colleague (Association of Career Professionals International). We were discussing the disruption to group workshops when some participants arrive late, talk excessively and dominate the group. This set off 2 trains of thoughts for me.

	As you may know, I spent 10 years honing my knowledge of group facilitation, through training jobseekers to develop their personal / jobsearching skills, to return to work. Through trial and error, I learnt the importance of agreeing an approach with the group. Today, our typical approach includes – asking questions, honesty, confidentiality, sharing, participation without domination, giving our ideas a go, domestics, and above all – having FUN (whatever the subject!). A variation of this approach is also used in 1-2-1 work.
	This suggested approach is demonstrated with flashcards, using humour and visuals at an early point – both of which are important memory triggers. By handling individuals’ (usually unspoken) fears and questions early on, participants are less likely to be disruptive, and more able to enjoy their learning. And I’ve found it important, when people are late, to still catch them up with the approach; flashcards help us to do that non-judgementally.
	By having the approach on flashcards, participants are much more likely to remember it; as they say - ‘a picture tells a 1000 words’. By using humour, we are activating the limbic system in the brain, which also helps to fix strong memories. As the facilitator, I have found having flashcards a useful aid for myself; if I need to remind the group of the ‘approach’ without becoming ‘critical parent’, I simply put the flashcard up – and the picture says it all!
	The effectiveness of the visuals we constantly model is often the first learning our learners take away and use; how to bring impact to information and learning simply and effectively – without the use of words!

How could these EMU ideas inspire you to develop
and deliver information and learning differently?
I will return to the theme of ‘disruption’ next month.

Whether you’re new to brain-based methods, and keen to know the benefits, or an existing practitioner hungry for more hints and tips, we invite you to join Stella and I in our first ever FREE teleseminar ‘Using the Brain in Business – What’s in it for Me?’ on 30th January. Click here to get all the details or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.braininbusiness.com/whatsinitforme.shtml

We’re kicking off this year’s ‘Maximising Impact™ – 52 Ways to Present Information Powerfully’ in Peterborough on 26th February. If this location is good for you, call me now on +44 (0)1494 876 390 and you might get the last couple of places at a very special price!

And do look out for the publicity for our nationwide ‘tour’ dates coming soon:

Winchester – 31st March.
North - end June.
Midlands - end September.

Places are always strictly limited to ensure maximum learning for all – so register your interest in this master class of brain-based knowledge, to be sure of your place in a venue that suits you.

Stuck for ideas? If you need inspiration to Embed an EMU in the information and learning you present, just call Ann on +44 (0)1494 876 390.

Ann Grindrod