I caught up with some safety colleagues last week about what we’ve been working on. Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of training for one client. Some of the days have been a hodgepodge of topics in 8 hours, while other days have been focused on one single topic for 8 hours. My colleagues were genuinely impressed that I teach one topic for 8 hours. It got me thinking, isn’t that something we should be able to do?
There’s an Einstein quote, maybe, that states if you can’t explain something simply, you don’t know the topic well enough. I think there’s a corollary to that – if you can’t go on for 8 hours in an engaging manner about one topic, you don’t know it well enough!
I know other safety professionals have to speak on a topic for a full work day, what is your advice? I like to mix up my classes with lecture, group work, problem solving, and some storytelling. Here’s a resource for adult learning activities that helped me come up with some new ideas like the “pair & share.” The resource link is great because it breaks up activity ideas into individual, small group, and large group (full classroom).
Another great resource for learning activities is Safety Fundamentals. If you get on her mailing list, she sends a free e-book a couple times each year. Her books always challenge my thinking and how I plan delivery of my classes!