Toastmasters Learning Styles

I'm curious about people, their mindsets and their behaviors. Everyday I enjoy observing people around me. The Toastmasters provides a great arena for me to observe enthusiastic people with different learning styles.

We were a group of eight Toastmasters of Grand Toastmasters Club. We met to rehearse the Russian Folk Dance Kalinka this evening. When Toastmaster Piao Piao arrived at the Exit 5 of MRT CKS station, she immediatly took out a pad to jot down the position of the group dance at different time slots. She must be a visual learner.

Eight of us were rehearsing at Exit 5 for one hour, till the MRT officer asked us to move. We found a nice place near the theater cafe' to continue our dance. It was a wonderful memory in the rainy winter of 2011, running here and there, jumping ups and downs outside of the National Theater. After our lengthy rehearsal for 3 hours, Toastmaster Victor took out his i-phone 4S to record the dance. Victor might also be a visual learner.

People learn in many ways, seeing, hearing, and experiencing things first hand. Some people remember best materials they've seen. Some remember things they've heard. Others remember things they've experienced.

Visual learners are those who learn through seeing things. Visual aids improve the ability to recall and retain information more completely. Auditory learners are those who learn best through hearing things. Kinesthetic learners are those who learn through experiencing/doing things.

I think I'm more of an auditory learner than a kinesthetic learner. Taking singing for example, I can remember the lyrics easily when I hum along with the melody in the air or in my ears. I remember the dance steps when I know the melody. I learn a foreign language by reading out loud. When the sound is on, my mind is on. I'm on the learning track!

Knowing what types learners we are help us improve our learning. No matter what types we are, life is about having fun. When people have fun, people learn. After a fun rehearsal this evening, I believe Grand Russian Dance will be the most exciting and entertaining program at Division H Christmas Party Saturday evening, December 17th. We shall bring a lot of joy and fun to Toastmasters and friends, and to our selves, too.