I’ve recently made a conscious decision to swap out my handouts to notebooks in my training sessions!
In the past I have created handouts for my learners for the models and key points of each topic... printed these out and had these available on the day.
Going forward I plan to email these handouts AFTER the session. (I still have a process in place that enables people to request notes prior to session for various reasons - Dyslexia, Anxiety, Overwhelm, simply wanting to be prepared etc.)
Instead of these pre-printed handouts, learners will now get a notebook, pen and set of stickers. We'll spend some time at the beginning of the programme talking about 'creating your own handout' via the notebook, with key headings, stickers, reflection notes and Continued Personal Development etc.
The sticker titles I choose to create where:
🩷 SHARE THIS: Sharing learning with colleagues and peers
❤️ TRY THIS OUT: Creating momentum to give new learning a go
💛 KEY POINT: Takeaways from the session
🩵UNRELATED (But still important): Highlighting that when something pops into a learners head mid-session, it should still be captured for later... or it will remain a distraction
💙 MAKE A PLAN: More actions required
🧡 I HAVE AN IDEA: Ways to make the learning a reality
(Of course, my learners can choose to associate any meaning with the stickers, but these are the ones we'll talk about at the beginning of the session to help get them in the right frame of mind.)
My hope is they create a personal and more memorable account of the programme, and it continues to be used well after the programme has ended.
(Plus the colourful notebooks will stand out when things get 'filed' in draws etc.)
I'll let you know how it goes!
*UPDATE*
So, I’ve been using the notebooks and sticker now for just under a month in my workshops, and I have to say they’ve gone down very well!
I’ve made a point at the beginning of workshops of talking through the notebooks and stickers and how to use them. I’ve also built in extra time during the workshops for my learners to capture their ideas and thoughts.
For workshops that run over several days, we’ve spent some time recapping on notes at the beginning of the workshops and drawing out the key learning points.
I’ve had comments abouts:
Feeling more in control of the knowledge being taken away
Being able to access key points more easily because of the indexing page and stickers
Loving the stickers which makes people think more about capturing specific ideas
So, will I continue to use my notebooks instead of workbooks?
You bet ya!
(Want to find out more about the type of training I offer? The check this out: https://www.curiouslighthouse.co.uk