Take a look at these two photos.

Which one looks like the more engaging learning experience? Given a choice between the two, where would you rather be?

Your answer may depend on how your brain works.

Your brain isn’t one thing

In the 1960’s, psychobiologist and Nobel Prize winner Roger W. Sperry proposed that the brain’s left and right hemispheres operate differently. The left side is more analytical and linear; the right side is more visual and intuitive.

Although the two hemispheres function differently, they work together and complement each other. While some research suggests that individuals tend to favor one hemisphere – you’ve probably heard the phrase, “I’m a right-brain thinker” – you use both sides of your brain at the same time.

Our brain wiring presents both a challenge and an opportunity for teachers and trainers. How can you create a “full-brain” learning experience for participants?

Why do trainers focus on the left brain?

Many professional workshops and seminars emphasize left-brain learning: facts, logic, linear thinking, and thinking in words. For some content – and some learners – this is a solid choice.

This is also the go-to model for most trainers: words on slides, bulleted check-lists, writing exercises, planning templates, etc.

However, if you’re only engaging one side of the brain, you may leave some learners behind. Furthermore, you may be missing opportunities embed your content more deeply and create a stronger peer network among participants through shared experience.

How you can engage the right brain 

The photo at the beginning of this post – look for people working on the floor – illustrates our final session in the Marlboro College Training, Facilitation, and Consulting Program.

Using markers and paper, we asked each participant to draw a picture of their six-month journey through the program. As a trainer, I noticed a different kind of energy – in some cases, a bit of struggle – as people worked to visually represent their experience. The debriefing conversation that followed explored people’s pleasure and discomfort, and what they learned by pushing through that discomfort.

Other examples of engaging the right brain:

• A workshop on how to read body language and nonverbal cues, with lots of practice.
• Create drawings of what energizes you and what burns you out – a classic self-care exercise.
• During workshop breaks, turn on music and encourage people to dance (yes, I’ve done this).
• A strategic planning activity: Draw a postcard picture of what you want your community to look like in 25 years, then mail it to someone (maybe yourself).
• Any kind of role play exercise; include debriefing questions about feelings experienced during the role play.

When you introduce these types of activities – drawing pictures, participating in role plays – expect some resistance. One way to manage this resistance is to briefly explain the relevant brain science. Gently but firmly encourage people to give it a try, then debrief the exercise carefully and seek constructive feedback once it ends.

Visualizing what you love in a place you don’t

I spend far too many hours in windowless hotel meeting rooms. Yuck!

Years ago, at the beginning of one workshop, we handed out markers and flip chart paper, and encouraged everyone to draw a pictures of a window with their favorite view.

We posted these drawings on the wall. This added a homey, whimsical flavor to a very sterile room — and also helped us warm up our right brains.

Design for both hemispheres

As you create any sort of learning experience, remember this basic principle: people remember what they do, not what you say.

Give them work to do – and make sure that work involves both sides of the brain.