"Having sometimes found it difficult to focus in a number of training sessions and conferences across the years, I was determined to create a different kind of learning experience
with jericho.
I remember an instance where around 3,000 middle managers attended a conference at Earl's Court one wintry March. It was freezing! All that I could think about was getting into the warm. On another occasion whilst working for a different company, I was sitting on the front row at a business presentation and it was just after lunch. It was the middle of summer and the room was REALLY hot. Some of the presentations were interesting, however I still found it difficult to keep my eyes open.
Then one day, it happened to me. I was presenting to a room-full of colleagues and a guy standing at the back passed out! You can imagine some of the comments I got from my work mates. Now, I was pretty sure that my presentation was interesting, but that still didn't stop me from getting ribbed.
To be honest, I was a little annoyed with the guy who fainted, as it would have helped if he hadn't been wearing a thick woollen trench coat at the time. It was clearly his fault! Then, it suddenly dawned on me. This wasn't his fault, it was mine. At that point in time, that guy had been my responsibility. The room had obviously been too hot or he had not been given the option to hang his coat somewhere, so how could I have expected him or indeed anyone else in the room to have been concentrating on what I was saying?
I then investigated the concept further. Catering for the most basic needs is fundamental. Are people too hot or cold? Do they need a bathroom break? Have people had refreshments? However that isn't always enough to get people to understand and retain the information.
Learning is all about communication. If you communicate something in the right way, then it will stick."
Personal Philosophy
Who are the best communicators? Which group of people can stand-up in front of a large gathering and get them to hang on every word? Of course, this is the entertainers - singers, actors, comedians & poets. If people are enjoying themselves, then they are going to be far more likely to be paying attention to the next thing that happens.
John Cleese said “If I can make you laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can get you to laugh at a particular point that I make, by laughing at it, you acknowledge it’s truth.” Following this approach, I have developed The
AEGGEN Principle.
Now, some people may be fearful of this approach, believing that humour somehow detracts from the content of the learning. Some may think "I'm here to learn, not be entertained!". With
AEGGEN, however, the point is to make the entertainment part of the process, not a substitute for the content.
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