Do you have see, feel or hear preferences?
VAK profiles indicate which senses individuals like to use when learning, i.e. do they like to be talked to, do they like to see images, or do they like to learn by doing?
While it is important to understand someone’s learning preferences, I believe it is also important to understand how they prefer to receive information or how they prefer someone to communicate information to them. Once you know if someone prefers material to be delivered using visual, audio or kinaesthetic methods, it will allow you to adapt your training, language and presentation style to match their requirements.
This is really useful when building rapport. There is nothing worse that asking a visual person a hearing question; you instantly lose rapport. For example, for a visually-led person, rather than asking, “How does that sound to you?”, ask “How does that look to you?” I have a natural preference for both visual and kinaesthetic learning, but I’ve developed the habit of asking, “So, what will you see? What will you hear? What will you feel?” so that all the key sensory preferences are included.
So, how do you know whether you – or your team – has a preference for visual, audio or kinaesthetic learning?
Surprise, surprise! There is a questionnaire that you can complete to find out. It consists of 30 statements with multiple choice answers. Depending on whether you choose mostly A, B or C depends on whether you are visual, audio or kinaesthetic.
To complete this questionnaire, go online to www.businessballs.com, where you can download it for free.
Below is a detailed description of what each learning style involves and how you can allow for it when you pass on training, information and project details to your team.
Visual
Someone with a visual learning preference likes to see or observe things such as pictures, diagrams, practical demonstrations, displays, handouts, films, flipcharts etc. These people will use phrases such as “show me” “let’s have a look at that” and will be best able to perform a new task after reading the instructions or watching someone else do it first. These are the people who will work from lists, written direction and instructions. Within a team environment, you are likely to have a lot of visual displays highlighting successes, challenges and opportunities. Providing a vision board to someone who is visual is a great way to encourage them to capture their goals using both words and images. When working with a visually-led member of staff, you should use questions like, “What does success look like to you?”, “Describe what you will see when your goal is achieved” and “Show me your vision board”. In a meeting, you may find that they draw diagrams or doodles representing their ideas or have lists of actions they will be working on when they get back to their desk.
Auditory
Someone with a preference for learning by listening is auditory. They have a preference to get information by listening to others speak, hearing themselves speak or listening to other sounds and noises. These people will use phrases such as “tell me” “let’s talk it over” and will be best able to perform a new task after listening to instructions from an expert. These are the people who are happy being given spoken instructions over the telephone and can remember all the words to songs they hear. Within a team environment, they might have music on in the background, or they may have headphones on as they listen while they work. They would prefer to talk things over and speak their thoughts out loud. Giving them technology so they can record themselves or others speaking would be great for them. They could then listen to their own voice recordings or recordings of what others have said while travelling into work, for example. When coaching someone with an auditory preference, you need to use questions like, “What does that sound like?”, “What will you be hearing people say when you have achieved your goal?”, “What does success sound like?” In a meeting, they would be equally happy talking to the audience or listening to a presentation.
Kinaesthetic
Someone with a kinaesthetic learning style has a preference for learning through physical experience such as touching, feeling, holding and doing; in other words, practical hands-on experiences. These people will use phrases such as “let me try” “how do you feel?” and will be best able to perform a new task by going ahead, trying it out and learning as they go. These are the people who like to experiment and take a hands-on approach. They will probably not want to look at written instructions first. It’s important when coaching a kinaesthetic learner that you ask them questions like, “What does success feel like?”, “How does that make you feel?” and “What will it feel like when you have achieved your goal?” In a meeting, make sure they have something that they can play with that won’t distract others. Stress balls are a great tool for a kinaesthetic learner because they can play with it while listening and talking.