By

Mary Blakely

When I go into companies to assist them in evaluating and
creating more effective employee training programs, one of the most
common groups of employees whose needs are not being addressed are those of the Kinesthetic Processors. Kinesthetics are
people who require large and small muscle movement in order to imprint what they hear and see. They are “doers” or experiential
learners who learn best by experiencing their environment using physical manipulation or movement to process and recall visual and
auditory information.

KVA’s (Kinesthetic - Visual - Auditory) are the mover’s who have difficulty recalling what they hear. They
may struggle with lectures or training techniques that include too much verbal direction. KAV’s ( Kinesthetic- Auditory- Visual) are
your movers and touchers who can’t recall what they see. They struggle with retaining the information in written directions. The following true case study included in my book, Why Not You?, illustrates how a Kinesthetic employee was trained using an
ineffective technique that cost the company time and money.

Geno, a Kinesthetic - Visual – Auditory Processor (KVA), had been promoted and was being trained to operate some new
machinery. His foreman, knowing the importance of training someone correctly in the operation of such expensive machinery, took his job very seriously. He made sure that he spoke slowly and didn’t go too fast as he demonstrated the order of the various
operations for Geno to learn. He even summarized what he’d demonstrated to Geno before asking Geno if he understood what to do. Feeling pretty certain that he’d learned what he needed to know, Geno assured him that he understood.

The next morning when Geno went to work, he became confused when he looked at the machinery. He just couldn’t recall how to
operate the machine. Although he had an excellent wo k record, Geno was afraid he’d look stupid and lose the job if he let anyone
know. Just imagine the outcome. If Geno operated the machine without knowing the correct procedure, he could jam - up the system, hold up the entire assembly line, and cost the company a lot of time and money. On the other hand, if he waited to ask someone with authority how to run the machine, he would have had to be retrained on company time, which would still hold up the assembly line. Either way, the company would lose money.

What neither Geno nor his foreman realized was that Geno, not his foreman, needed to touch each part of the machinery along side
his foreman while he listened to the instructions. This wou ld have imprinted the information he was learning for long term recall through his strongest sense, his kinesthetic sense. Next, Geno needed to verbally repeat and physically demonstrate the nformation back to his foreman. By doing this, he would have used his kinesthetic, visual, and auditory senses to support and lock the
information into his mind. In order for Geno to have a visual memory of his trainin g experience, he needed to experience the
information through his body. By just telling Geno how to operate the machinery, his foreman was forcing Geno to process the information through his weaker sense, his auditory sense. Without including his kinesthetic sense involving touch and movement,
Geno was unable to access his visual memory for operating the machinery the next morning.

Unless kinesthetic learners use their bodies to process and imprint auditory or visual information, they do not have a visual memory to draw upon. As a result, they have less recall. However, if they use their bodies to act out what they hear, they can recall the directions because they are combining their strongest sense, their kinesthetic sense, with their visual and auditory senses. Whenever individuals are forced to learn through their weaker sense, they require a lot of repetition to imprint the information for long-term recall. Repetition in the workplace can be costly!

By incorporating both small and large muscle movements to help your kinesthetic employees increase their auditory and visual recall, you will save your company’s time and money. To learn more about the six different ways individuals process information, to identify which of the six process patterns applies to each employee’s learning style, and to read about more techniques to effectively train your employees, you may wish to refer to: www.azuray.com to order the book, Why Not You?

Mary Blakely is the president and CEO of Azuray Learning, Inc., a corporation that creates and develops multi-sensory materials and programs for educators and businesses. She is a learning and behavioral specialist, published author, professional speaker, national radio talk-show guest, personal performance coach, and master clinical hypnoth erapist. Mary’s expertise has taken her into numerous schools and businesses, where she offers training seminars, classes, lectures and individual and group consultations. She specializes in multi-sensory learning and training techniques, conflict resolution, interpersonal communications, and the enhancement of personal and group potential. You can e-mail Mary at maryblakely@sbcglobal.net or call 616-323-9280.

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