Let’s be honest, we’ve all sat through long, boring presentations — the kind of presentations where we start to count ceiling tiles to pass the time. Whether in the office, in a training session, or even in a classroom, an ineffective presentation can deaden the brain buzz of even the most curious learners.
So what sets a good presentation apart? Sure, an entertaining or intelligent presenter can take a presentation a long way. But an outstanding presentation? That actually has nothing to do with the presenter and everything to do with the learners.
When you’re crafting a presentation, how do you shift the spotlight from you onto the audience? You engage them. An outstanding presentation feels outstanding because learners feel engaged. And no, an hour-long PowerPoint lecture isn’t going to engage ‘em.
An outstanding presentation? That actually has nothing to do with the presenter and everything to do with the learners.
In this article, I’m going to teach you all about how to use a learning model (Kolb’s learning cycle, to be specific) to create presentations that deliver those magical ah-ha moments your audience loves.
What’s a Learning Model Anyway?
Okay, for all my non-education people out there, let’s start here: what’s a learning model?
There are heaps and buckets of learning models out there, and they help define and describe how we absorb, utilize, and deploy information. Some models are grounded in research, others in experience, and others in neuroscience.
Bottom line, though: these models help trainers and teachers construct learning experiences that are (hopefully) meaningful and impactful.
When it comes to creating presentations, one of my favorite learning models to use is Kolb’s Learning Cycle.
Breaking Apart Kolb’s Learning Cycle
Dr. David Kolb is the founder and chairman of Experience Based Learning Systems. In the education world, he’s *pretty famous* for his research on experiential learning and learning styles, with one of his more renowned works being his book Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development.
Kolb’s learning cycle shows a process learners might go through when absorbing and using new information. The cycle builds in opportunities for learners to practice, play with, and experience learning — not just sit through endless lectures.
You can visualize the learning cycle like a circle centered around two axes. (Yeah, I recognize “axes” is a math term and may freak some people out. Bear with me! This is good stuff!)
The two axes describe the “hows” of learning. The horizontal axis describes how we process information, from watching to doing. And the vertical axis describes how we perceive information, from feeling it to thinking about it.
The circle represents the learner’s journey, and the key here is to move around both axes and touch on all areas of learning.
- First learners gain concrete experiences by feeling connected and engaged with the information.
- Then, learners watch themselves work through the topic with reflective observations.
- Once they’ve played with the topic and reflected on their experience, then we can dig into details. This is where abstract conceptualism comes into play, and the learner dives into thinking.
- Once we’ve felt, watched, and thought, then, we do! The key to an engaging learning experience is to conclude with active experimentation, to encourage learners to try, and try, and try again because learning is an iterative and hands-on adventure.
So how would we use this when putting together a presentation?
Using Kolb’s Learning Cycle to Amp Your Presentations
The first step towards structuring an outstanding presentation is this: allow yourself to do it differently. Yes, the mold for most presentations is to use PowerPoint and talk. For like, an hour or more.
Break the mold. Your learners deserve it.
So now that you’ve decided to do it differently, how do you approach creating content?
Remember, let’s step into Kolb’s learning cycle right at the top of the cycle. You want to first lead with an experience, then build in reflection, then deliver details, then go back to an experience.
Break the mold. Your learners deserve it.
To help you work through this, I’ve created a series of questions you can ask yourself when building each section.
Questions to Ask Yourself to Lead with an Experience
- How could I lead this presentation with an activity, rather than with words?
- What pre-work could I provide that would get learners’ feet wet before the workshop or class? Could I start with activity that then uses the pre-work in some way?
- Are there any videos I could find so learners could engage with an example? Could I build in an activity based on that example?
Questions to Ask Yourself to Build in Reflective Observation
- Could the participants journal their feedback on what they just experienced?
- Could I ask the learners to write 2-3 questions they have about their experiences? Perhaps them share their questions with a nearby classmate or in small groups?
- Could I ask participants to critique what they just observed? Or perhaps describe 2-3 metrics that they’d use to critique the observation?
Questions to Ask to Yourself When Diving into Details
- Could I structure a short lecture to teach learners the theory behind the topic?
- Could participants build a model or diagram to define “how” the topic works?
- Could learners structure an outline showing the key concepts? Or a mind map to show the interrelatedness of ideas in the topic?
Questions to Ask to Reinforce Experiences
- Could learners dive into practicing the topic through hands-on learning? What activities could learners do to demonstrate their skills?
- What about a case study? Could I provide examples or cases for learners to work through, perhaps in a collaborative setting? Could they then present to the room to showcase their experience?
- Could I structure role-plays or simulations that allow learners to practice the topic?
Working with All Learning Styles
There’s a hidden bonus when working through Kolb’s learning cycle. By incorporating all these different ways of learning, we’re also playing to different learners’ strengths. And it’s true, we all learn differently.
Some of us learn to build IKEA furniture by playing with the pieces kinda willy nilly (me) while others actually learn by working through the instructions (my husband). There’s value in our differences, and we want to offer something to everyone.
Kolb defined four learning styles — diverging, assimilating, converging, and accommodating — based on what quadrant of the cycle fits each learner. I like to think about these four learning styles as brainstormers, logicians, problem solvers, and experimenters. You can learn more about each learning style here and even take a quiz to identify your own style.
There’s value in our differences, and we want to offer something to everyone.
It’s important to know how you learn so that when you’re structuring a presentation for others, you make sure to check yourself. Am I creating the perfect presentation for me? Or for other people?
Being open to building in new experiences allows us to create a presentation that resonates with the whole audience.
Conclusion
Okay, let’s wrap this up. You and I both know that when it comes to delivering presentations, in general, we can do better. Rather than lean on that tired stack of content-rich PowerPoint slides, I encourage you to play.
- Play with incorporating activities that allow learners to engage with the topic differently.
- Play with guiding your learners through a learning process that may feel new and weird … but will also be meaningful and incredibly impactful.
- Play with allowing the process of learning to take the presentation’s spotlight. I promise you’ll have more fun presenting this way!
- Play with creating activities that resonate with everyone, knowing that we all like to learn differently.
Play… and keep me posted. I want to know how it goes! You can find me on LinkedIn right over here. And remember, you’re only one presentation away from the next big ah-ha!
Additional Reading and Sources
- Kolb, D. A. (1976). The Learning Style Inventory: Technical Manual. McBer & Co, Boston, MA.
- Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Kolb’s Learning Styles. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.businessballs.com/self-awareness/kolbs-learning-styles/#learning-styles
- Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle. (2018, August 23). Retrieved from https://wit.edu/lit/engage/kolb-cycle
- Mcleod, S. (2017, February 05). Kolb’s Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html
- Svinicki, M. D. and Dixon, N. M. (1987). The Kolb model modified for classroom activities. College Teaching, 35(4), 141-146.