I’ve spent the past 20 years writing learning programs in the corporate world. Before that I spent 10 years in sales and recruiting. All of these roles have taught the importance of not only delivering the right message, but delivering the right message in the right way to the right audience.
One of my fascinations going back to my days as an Education school undergrad has been learning styles. You won’t be surprised that these learning styles are closely related to our senses, especially seeing, hearing, and touching.
Though these have been further sub-divided in some research, there are three primary learning styles and a combination style.
- Visual Learners – about 65 percent of learners are visual. That is they prefer to learn through pictures or the written word.
- Auditory Learners – about 30 percent of the population learns best by listening. They prefer lecture to reading and often will even read information aloud to to themselves.
- Kinesthetic/Tactile Learners – about 5 percent of learners. They prefer learning by being active or hands on. This is the learn by doing person.
Additional research indicates that upwards of 70 percent prefer our preferred style alone. About 20-25 percent prefer a combination of two styles. The rest make use of all three styles to varying degrees.
Add to this research from the field of memory that shows we retain information better when more of our senses were involved in receiving it.
In my use and recording of affirmations over the years, I’ve studied the use of different forms of transmission on myself and others. Affirmations are a form of rote learning that benefits from repetition, emotion, and belief.
Over time, I’ve aligned with the research above. Video is the most powerful tool there is for embedding affirmations in our consciousness.
It’s visual and auditory. That immediately covers 90 plus percent of people in their learning style. It simplifies the power of repetition versus just reading or saying an affirmation (both still good practices). Video can be used passively as background during the day. Whereas reading and speaking affirmations require focus. Both are useful, but for saturating your consciousness with an affirmation, audio is superior.
This all makes sense from a practical point of view as well. When you want to learn how to do something new, where do you go first? Do you Google it and look for a written or flowchart explanation or do you go to YouTube to watch, listen, and learn?
This is why I’ve transitioned most of my work from written and audio affirmations 10 or even five years ago and almost exclusively to video affirmations today.
I create them like this example below and I have my favorite YouTube channels where I go to listen to affirmations and get my mind right.
Just in case no one else has reminded you today, you are awesome!
Ray
The Affirmation Spot Blog 