The 3 Learning Styles and What They Should Mean to You

Have you ever sat in a meeting, lecture, or class, and think to yourself, "I have NO idea what anyone is talking about, or what I'm reading about"? We've probably all been there at least once in your life. The worst part about that is how stupid we feel in that situation. You can't help but think "everyone is getting this but me." It's a horrible feeling, no doubt about it. But what if it's not all you?

The truth is everyone has a learning style. Recognizing that learning style is also critical to your professional success as well as how you function as an individual. There is no "right" or "wrong" learning style, nor does one mean you are smarter over the other. It's just how you learn. The different types of learners include visual, auditory, and tactical. What kind of learner are you?

Visual Learners. Visual learners rely on visual aids, such as charts, graphs, concept maps, or even prefer reading material at their own pace in order to learn and intake information. So the team members in a meeting, training presentation, or class that may seem like they aren’t paying attention, probably really are, but will most likely read up on meeting notes, review the presentation slides or hand outs, or study on their own time and at their own pace.

Auditory Learners. Auditory learners prefer listening and participating in lectures, class discussions, meetings, and other group projects by asking questions as opposed to reading material. Some leaders or lecturers may find that the “talkers” in the group are often the people that wait until a minute before the close of a meeting to ask 100 questions. Be patient…those are just the auditory learners that are speaking up and feeding their own learning style and habits.

Tactical Learners. Tactical learners, also known as kinesthetic learners, are doers. They are the fidgety, hands-on, “I need to just DO this” kind of people. These are the individuals that might doodle or fidget in meetings or class that others might find annoying or distracting. They are in fact listening and taking in the information, but they prefer to do it and get their hands on it rather than listen to it.

By recognizingand understanding each learning style, we just learned a whole lot more about ourselves, and maybe even our class mates or coworkers, didn't we? Now that we understand each learning style a little bit better, how does this knowledge make us better students, employees, leaders, entrepreneurs, or even parents? It allows us to tailor how we teach, speak to, or support another, be it a class mate, a friend, a child, a coworker, or a team member.

For example, you are a manager and one of your team members is Joe. Joe is a visual learner. He visits your office or calls you up and asks a question that may require some training or in-depth explanation, how do you show Joe what to do? If Joe is standing in your office or is on the phone, you can verbally explain to him what to do, and then you might follow up with an email with those same instructions after your conversation. You can also email him charts or slides from a training presentation for his review. This way, Joe, who may not have taken in every single word you said when you spoke to him, but that doesn't necessarily mean he didn’t listen, but now he has an email from you to read on his own once he tackles his task.

Those of you who are managers or entrepreneurs who might be reading this might think this is borderline micromanagement. It isn’t. It’s not about doing team members’ jobs for them, or breathing down their necks to get it done, it’s rather about recognizing individual learning styles. Just like any manager would recognize a team member’s strengths and weaknesses, this is taking it one step further and reaching a team member in the way that they learn best.

So let's go back to the meeting or class and the moment you realize you feel stupid. What was it about that environment or how the content was presented that you feel like really didn't do it for you? Maybe it was too boring to sit and listen to someone blab? Or maybe the presentation itself was too hard to see from where you were sitting. Or maybe the subject material itself just doesn't hold your interest. Regardless of the reason, just because you don't understand something or having a hard time following doesn't necessarily mean it's a reflection on your intelligence or intellectual level. It's just your learning style.

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Written content: © 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2012 J. H. Language Solutions