Question: What can I do to engage my learners with technical, complex, or boring material?

Answer: Use game shows in your training session.

Let’s face it, not all information that workers need to know is riveting. One of the biggest challenges for most trainers is engaging learners. It’s often difficult to present material in a way that people understand, and it’s tough to make sure that people are interacting with the material. More important, it’s a great feat to make sure that learners are using information on the job.

Unfortunately, trainers don’t typically think about using game shows in the classroom. Why? Because training is serious stuff. Many consider their content too serious or complex for a game show format. However, game shows can work with most types of content—and the more important the content, the more critical it is to present it in a way that engages people.

"Many students now enjoy coming to class," says Chris
Thompson, a bio safety officer at Eli Lilly.
"One even thanked me for 'bothering' to make it fun."

What some trainers may not recognize is that while game shows are a fun wrapping—they are powerful training tool. Game shows can be used to

• Who was the first man on the moon?

• How many states are in the United States?

• What qualifies as a biohazard?

• How do you perform source verification?

Did you think about or try to answer these questions in your head, or figure out what the questions meant? If you’re like most people, you did. You see, when a question is asked, the mind automatically searches for answers and for context. A game show, at its most elemental level, is an entertaining question-and-answer framework.

In the format of a game show, trainees WANT to engage with the material. They interact with the questions and seek answers. They want to get it "right." Indeed, game shows are the perfect complement and companion to any training material for several reasons.

Game shows appeal to learners’ sense of competition. Most people love to show off their knowledge and engage in friendly competition. Friendly competition inspires some of the greatest learning—it encourages people to gather more information and, in the case of training, make an effort to retain more information for the purpose of winning the competition.

Game shows have a short learning curve and appeal to persons of all ages. Game shows have been internationally popular for years. In fact, most learners—whether they are 25 years old or 65 years old—have a reference to at least one popular game show. Because game shows are such a part of modern global culture, it’s easy for learners to grasp the rules of basic game shows without a lengthy explanation or tutorial.

Game shows engage multiple senses. Game shows often allow learners to get out of their seats, interact with material, hear questions, review information, ring in, and even cheer. They also provide learners with a significant experience. People tend to remember positive and negative experiences, and game shows create a positive learning environment that cements content retention. "Positive emotions allow the brain to make better perceptual maps," says Eric Jensen in his book, The Learning Brain. "That means that when we are feeling positive, we are better able to sort out our experiences and recall it with clarity."

Game shows are ultimately flexible. Trainers add their own material into a game show, expound upon answers, add additional information, and change the rules to suit their needs. Game shows are tools to deliver an organization's content in an engaging way—but you can customize any game show to work the way you’d like.

Game shows for a learning format increases content retention. LearningWare has talked with hundreds of trainers who use game shows every day. No matter what the age range, material, or technical complexity of the training, learners find game shows to be fun, and trainers love that game shows are effective.

"It's hard, as an instructor, to get up there in front of people that you know are not interested in your information. Since some of these people have been working in the prison for 20 years, and the material doesn't change, it gets very boring," says John Bryant, a trainer for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. "Using game shows gives us a big enhancement in training. People actually give excellent reviews versus previous year's very neutral or negative reviews. Game shows are very interactive and participants love it. Even our trainers love it and we use it for everything. It takes a lot of the pressure off of our instructors."

Trainers can really flex their powers of innovation when creating game shows. Some popular games adapt favorite television standards, such as Jeopardy!, Family Feud, College Bowl, Wheel of Fortune, Tic-Tac-Toe, Concentration, and Beat the Clock, as well as newcomers like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Different games have distinct strengths and weaknesses. While many of the game shows listed above can pull double-duty (having strengths for multiple types of content or questions), the following list offers just one suggestion for each game show.

• Large quantities of fact-based information (e.g,. a product feature quiz) is complimented by a Jeopardy!-style game, in which learners can answer multiple choice or short-answer questions quickly.
• Content with multiple answers or sequences (e.g., laboratory safety procedures) fits well in a Family Feud-style game that asks learners to uncover multiple steps or answers.
• Complex content with additional information fits well into a game modelled after College Bowl. Trainers can even ask a team follow-up bonus questions.
• Wheel of Fortune is a clever game for fact-based information, but it also adds a fun element of chance (the spinning of the wheel) that many learners enjoy.
• Tic-Tac-Toe works well for longer answer or discussion questions because learners have a longer period of time to answer. It also can be used for demonstration and role playing games.
• Matching product features with benefits, interactions, and effects is a perfect match (no pun intended) for a Concentration-style game show.
• Games based on a Beat the Clock model allow learners to act out scenarios and "physical" challenges (e.g., writing an example of a properly modelled medical document on a flip chart).
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire allows developers to structure content from relatively easy-to-answer to more difficult questions. Millionaire also allows learners to answer true/false questions.

Every learning experience is different. On any given day, trainers may have to educate employees on manufacturing standards, lab safety, administration process, product knowledge, FDA standards, or sales skills. It makes sense that game shows have to be modified to fit training needs.

Also keep in mind that training game shows will need to motivate "contestant" in a different manner that their television counterparts.

• Decrease competition by eliminating (or minimizing) prizes. You want the focus to be on the content, not on who’s winning.
  
• Foster team play by assembling learners in groups rather than having them play as individual contestants. People learn best in a collaborative environment, and playing on a team will allow learners to learn from their peers. Team play also takes the pressure off of shy or nervous learners that don’t necessarily want to be in front of a group, but still want to participate in the training or game show.
  
• Modify the rules. Just because something is a certain way on television doesn’t mean that you have to—or that it’s best to play with those rules. For example, Jeopardy! has contestants ring in and answer in the form of a question. Instead, you may want learners to take turns answering questions. Any rule changes that you make should be communicated before the game begins.

Finally, the facilitator can make-or-break the game for many learners. Here are some strategies a trainer can use to increase the effectiveness of the game show.

• Add extra information before and after questions. You’ve got their attention, now is the perfect time to go into more detail about the answer and the content at hand.
  
• Explain incorrect answers. Offer the correct answer, but be sure to tell learners why their answer is incorrect.
  
• Debrief after the game. You may find that your learners didn’t catch a particular concept or group of information. After the game show is a perfect time to reflect on the competition and the information, as well as do a little brush-up review to catch anything that fell through the cracks.
  
• Involve the entire audience. Everyone should either be on a team or cheering for a team. If you have too many people, or want to do a quick game show, divide the group in half and have select members answer a question while the rest cheers them on. If your contestants are stumped by a question, you can also throw it out to the audience.
  
• Have fun. A game show is a great opportunity to do something different and exciting in a learning session. Most trainers enjoy the game shows almost as much—if not more—than the learners because it’s a change of pace. Successful game show users are those that play around with the game show, constantly improve their technique, find out what question-and-answer format works best, and truly enjoy the role of being a host.

Dan Yaman is CEO and Missy Covington is communications director for LearningWare, developers of Gameshow Pro. They are authors of I’ll Take Learning for 500: Using Game Shows to Engage, Motivate and Train.