Music can be used in many ways throughout the course of a training. Here is a mix of ideas and exercises about the matter: Search song
I love playing upbeat, cheerful music to welcome trainees to the classroom.
When the training is complete I prefer to play relaxing classical music on an unintentional level to create the feeling of relaxation.
It’s great to have a selection of music that is upbeat for breaks. Oldies from the fifties, sixties , and seventies usually get people’s feet tapping regardless of age. The aim is to play the music enough to alter the mood in the room but not so loud that the participants can’t be in a dialogue.
They play this tune regularly during breaks to ensure that the participants understand what they are hearing.
Just before and just after lunch, and also the final hour prior to the closing of the session I use energetic classical music at the subliminal level to keep the level of energy up.
It’s fun to play music in games and other physical exercises. You can buy music for games.
To help students learn faster it’s always fun to listen to music that reinforces the main topics. For instance, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” is perfect for any of a range of topics in interpersonal communication. Simon and Garfunkle’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is perfect for workshops focused on bridging the gap between different cultures.
The holidays can be celebrated by non-denominational musical music. For instance big ensemble renditions of Christmas holiday songs.
New age music is great in the background to aid in visualization exercises.
If you want to move away from recordings There are a myriad of ways for musicians to capture the attention of your audience: bell chimes, kazoos railway whistles and plastic clappers gongs, or even hand clapping. These are all superior than straining your voice to be heard in the roar of a crowd!
After having used music for a long time A room with no music appears cold, unfriendly and dead. Actually, I realize it is I require music, regardless of whether my trainees do! When I notice my energy level dropping I will turn to music to boost my energy levels.
It’s a fantastic legacy left by my parents, who were always playing classical music. I have found that classical music brings me peace of mind when I plan my training and prepare the room for training while I read reviews after a session and then pack it up to go home.
The poet George Eliot wrote: “I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.”
Perhaps Plato wrote it the best way: “Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and life to everything.” I’m not sure how I could imagine learning without music.
Deborah Spring Laurel has been a trainer and consultant in the fields of learning in the workplace and performance enhancement for over thirty years. She has 20 decades of expertise as President of Laurel and Associates, Ltd an international training and consulting company which specializes in improving interactions within organisations. She has created and led hundreds of different skills-building workshop for participants and accelerated learning on a variety of subjects that have been designed to suit the needs of her clients. demands.
Deborah taught supervisory and management subjects in The Executive Management Institute and the Small Business Development Center in the School of Business at the University of Wisconsin- Madison for over 30 years.