I’ve Heard All This Before

Have you decided against attending a seminar or CE course because you “already know what the course is going to cover?” I’m guilty of this myself… reviewing a program schedule and thinking, “I already know all this stuff”. That is until recently when I learned that most adult learners will likely retain – at best- about 75% of what they’re taught. In fact, if you sat in a class and just listened to a speaker talk, you might only retain about 10%. Take notes during class and you may retain about 50%. Get involved in discussion and actively participate in the course and your learning potential increases.

Recently I attended a course where an attendee told the speaker she liked the analogies he used this time versus the way he explained things in a previous class. The speaker chuckled and said, “I haven’t changed my material. You’ve just changed the way you are listening today.” Experiencing material from a different speaker, presentation format, venue or state of mind allows you to learn something new or different. The one nugget you need to know about business, marketing, leadership or clinical skills could be discovered when you give life-long learning a chance.