Last week Nicole Engard posted about going green for conferences by not printing slides and handouts. I can’t agree more with everything she said and I’m glad to see that the comments were mostly in agreement with her ideas. Lately I’ve been tossing around the idea of the “un-handout” but for different reasons.

For years staff at my library has made elaborate handouts for each and every technology class we offer. We provide step-by-step instructions on basic functions in Windows, Word, Excel, and so on. It takes hours upon hours to create these handouts. The handouts can be up to 20 pages long for a 2-hour class, and we go through thousands of these handouts in a year.

For the most part the handouts are great. Especially for basic Office products or basic computer skills. But now that we are doing more and more training on Web 2.0 tools such as blogging, Flickr, wikis, and so on the handouts seem to be overkill. First of all by the time we complete the handout the interface is probably going to change. Second I am beginning to see that having such detailed instruction laid out for people prohibits them from exploring and using intuition to navigate new products. Our we doing a disservice to our staff and public by not giving them the opportunity to learn and explore on their own?

I’m working on a needs assessment for staff training on the social networking sites MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I’ve been wanting to offer this for the past six months but have not had time to create a handout. Without a handbook I could probably put this together in a week or less. A handout would take at least an extra month. I think I might just try it and see what happens.

In defense of handouts

Anyone who has ever taken a class with me can tell you about the assortment of highlighters and pens I use to color code my notes and handouts. I always thought I was a visual learner and needed to have the colors to make associations. Recently through a more in-depth assessment I learned that I am actually a kinesthetic learner. If I am not actively participating I’m not learning. So my technique of coloring and highlighting every word in a book is actually my way of processing the information by keeping my hands busy. I’ve gone to training or presentations and actually been distracted by not having a handout to write on.

Alternatives to handouts

A great alternative to reach out to your kinesthetic learners like me is to have toys available. Anything that keeps their hands occupied. Play-dough, simple puzzles, pipe cleaners, stress balls all make great learning toys. Check out the dollar store for some inexpensive ideas or Trainers Warehouse. If you are on a very tight budget, who isn’t these days, don’t be afraid to have a box at the back of the room and ask the participants to drop the toys off on the way out. If you’re not into toys just put out some paper and markers. This small step will go a long way to reaching your kinesthetic learners.

I’m adding a new series to Library Trainer, Trainer’s Toolbox. Trainer’s Toolbox will feature activities that you can incorporate into training sessions.

Here’s a simple activity that you can do to get more participation from a group. Best of all it costs nothing!

I saw this activity done very well tonight at my local ASTD chapter meeting. The speaker began by stating that he would be giving out gifts during the session. The premise was simple. Ask a question or contribute to the discussion and you receive a gift. During the session you can keep the gift, pass it on, or share it with everyone. After the first person receives the first gift and unfolds this mysterious piece of paper everyone else wants to know what it is so they start contributing to the discussion. By the time all the gifts are passed out, the participants are so engaged in the discussion they forget about the gifts.

Since I said this activity costs nothing you’re probably wondering what the gifts are. The gifts were cleverly folded pieces of paper that had motivational quotes on them. So you get an additional chance for audience contribution when someone speaks up to share a quote with everyone. It’s interesting to see how people will make the quotes apply to their lives. It’s kind of like reading a horoscope–when it’s generic enough it will fit.

I ended up with three gifts tonight (I’m an ENFJ after all–heavy emphasis on the E). I’ll share them now with you.

For knowledge itself is power. -Francis Bacon

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. -Thomas Stearns Eliot (widely attributed to Emerson, possibly anonymous)

Summary

Time Needed to Prepare: 30 minutes

Cost: None

Materials Needed: Quotes that apply to the training session, paper, creative paper folding technique

Instructions:

1. Print each quote on a separate sheet of paper.
2. Fold into a creative design - paper hat, paper boat, origami.
3. At the beginning of session say, “I’m going to be giving out x number of gifts today. You can keep the gifts, pass them on, or share them with the group at any time.” The less you say the better. You want them to wonder what the gifts are.
4. During the session hand out a gift each time someone participates or adds to the discussion.
5. At the end of the session bring the exercise to a close by by asking, “What gift have you received today?” There is no right or wrong answer.