Emotional Building Blocks

Think about the best learning experience you have had - what words would you use to describe it?

Happy? Safe? Excited?

Now think of the worst learning experience you have had - what worlds would you use to describe it?

Discouraged? Scared? Nervous?

Emotions are the building blocks of learning. We focus on content and facilitation instead of focussing on emotions. Here are 4 emotions that can make your learning experience more engaging -

🤔 Confusion

From a jigsaw puzzle to a crime novel to the latest action movie on Netflix - all use confusion to their advantage!

Confusion is not bad. Confusion in the right doses can peak interest and attention of our learners.

Here is how you can design for confusion:

• Start with action instead of theory. Let people do first, get confused and then focus on building clarity

• Give different peers parts of a puzzle and get them to build the larger picture together

😱 Surprise

From a magician to birthdays - surprises add delight to our lives like nothing else.

In the learning context, surprises give that dopamine hit that helps learners associate positive emotions with learning.

Here is how you can surprise your learners:

• Rewards positive behaviours. Reward doesn’t mean a gift, it could just mean a shoutout or putting the learners in the spotlight for something. Recognition foes a long way

• Reveal discreetly. Like any good story, the best part is to see it unravel and not revealing everything upfront is key to it.

🤣 Humour

From memes to reels - humour is increasingly becoming a part of how we communicate today.

Humour does not mean a lack of seriousness - quite the opposite actually. Humour is a great way to talk about serious topics and make them more memorable.

Here is how you can add humour in you learning experiences:

• Use memes, reels, TikToks in your content. It helps in communicating so much more than words ever can - plus your learners will never forget it

🥺 Vulnerability

Vulnerability is a slightly tricky one. We are made to believe that vulnerability is a weakness.

Now you might be wondering what role does vulnerability play in learning but it can be a really powerful tool to internalise learning.

Here is how you can make your learning experiences more vulnerable:

• Build in moments to pause, reflect and share.

• Create spaces to express gratitude

Remember - vulnerability has to start from you!

What other emotions can you think of that we don’t use very often? Tell me, I’d love to hear from you!