A creative guide to designing and delivering faster, more effective training programs.

A must read book for anyone that is involved in designing and/or delivering any learning of any kind and want to make the session as effective as possible for the learners,  improve results and make learning enjoyable for everyone involved.

This book is aimed at Training Professionals so primarily at those involved in designing, delivering and evaluating training in a professional role, however the principles of the book stretch further and can be used for those people that aren’t Training Professionals but are involved in helping others to learn e.g. part time tutors,  parents, coaches and more.

The cover of the book is very appealing – a great mixture of colour, text and diagrams showing Dave Meier’s Four Phases of Learning (Preparation, Presentation, Performance, Practice).   I do judge books by their covers so this grabbed me straight away.   Inside the hard bound cover each chapter is laid out with a good mixture of text and visuals such as text boxes, drawings, pictures and more.   I was disappointed that there was no colour on the pages as this would have helped the pictures and images stand out more however it doesn’t distract from the message.

Accelerated Learning handbook

As someone who had several years’ experience of sourcing training solutions yet who had never delivered any training I found the terminology and the book very easy to read and more importantly understand.  Each new point had a good blend of theory and then practical case studies and recommendations.  I know of people who are vastly experienced and who continually refer back to this book so I think any Training or Learning & Development Professional can benefit from reading this.

The content of the book introduces the reader to Accelerated Learning – a brief history and principles, before moving onto the SAVI Approach (Somatic, Auditory, Visual, Intellectual).  Over 50 pages are given to the Four Phases of Learning including a summary and I found that I could easily refer back to these sections.  Finally the last two thirds of the book cover all Accelerated Learning Tools and Techniques including topics such as Music for Learning, Learning Games, Imagery, using Technology (so important in the modern age) and Rapid Instructional Design.

One thing that made this book stand out, and more importantly ensure it is a pure development tool (as opposed to a book which is really selling a service) is the continued presence of ideas, actual real life examples and sections devoted to ideas that the trainer can use.  I loved this and have already used some of the ideas provided.  It also gave me a starting point to expand my mind and start thinking about what else I could do.    The resources section has so much extra information and links to other books and organisations it’s hard to know where to start!

Other books introduce you to theory and nothing else, others spend too much time on the practical elements but not the theory whereas this book helps you bridge the gap between theory and reality and putting things into practice.

A must read for anyone involved in Learning & Development.  I will use this throughout my career and refer back to whenever I will be delivering learning of any kind.

 

Blake Henegan - Optimus Sourcing

 

Dave Meier

The Accelerated Learning Handbook

USA – The McGraw-Hill Companies

2000

265 pages

ISBN 0-07-135547-2

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