In Telling Ain’t Training, the learning and development bible written by Harold Stolovitch and Erica Keeps, the authors share the following analogy to illustrate how people learn:
“Imagine the following scene. In one hand I have a pitcher filled with water. In the other I have a glass with a lid. What happens when I try to pour water into the glass? Obviously it spills over the glass and my hand because the inside is closed off.”
The authors then explain that this physical example is analogous to trying to pour your ideas into the closed minds of your learners. In other words, your audience shows up for any learning situation with a “lid” as well. Their “lid” includes their self-limiting beliefs, their objections, their fears, their past/current challenges, and so on.
Your first goal during any training initiative (regardless of the format) must be to “remove the lid.” If you don’t, your content will never make its way into the minds of those you want to influence.
So, the obvious next question is: “How do you remove the lid?” Let me give you an analogy to illustrate one of the best ways.
One of the most popular TV shows in the U.S. over the last decade is The Biggest Loser on NBC. The show features obese contestants who compete in grueling competitions to see who can lose the most weight the fastest.
Before we discuss why the show is so popular, consider this stat: over 70% of the U.S. is overweight or obese.
Clearly, most Americans are not pumped up to learn about fitness and nutrition, even though they should be (just like your audience might not be excited to learn about whatever you want to teach them). Nonetheless, The Biggest Loser is one of the most popular TV shows in the U.S. over the last decade.
Why do so many people tune in to watch this show?
People watch because of the inspiring success stories. The Biggest Loser features real people who are battling a challenge most Americans can relate to. If you are watching the show, and you see someone even more overweight than you who is dropping major pounds, it’s motivating. It gets you to believe, “Hey, if that person can do it, so can I.”
The Biggest Loser is engaging and effective because it “removes the lid” for people who previously didn’t think they could change their bodies. On the other hand, how engaging/effective do you think The Biggest Loser would be if the show just featured fitness and nutrition advice from muscle-bound personal trainers who gave you tip after tip after tip?
No one would watch! Or, viewers would think, “Well, thanks for all the tips, but that won’t work for me.”
If you want to motivate your audience, you need to “remove the lid” before you try to teach any subject, regardless of the format for your training (i.e. live, online, synchronous, asynchronous, written, audio, video, and so on). Always ask yourself this question, “What false, self-limiting beliefs does my audience have about this topic, and what success stories can I use as evidence to help them change these false beliefs?”
P.S. Always make sure that your stories are relevant to your audience. If you are dealing with an extremely confident audience and/or an audience that is very talented/experienced, it would not make sense to share stories of people with low confidence, limited ability, or little experience. For example, the success stories from The Biggest Loser would not be effective for motivating a group of elite athletes since these athletes would not be able to relate to the weight loss struggles of typical Americans.