School is coming to a close in Northern New York, so children are getting excited for summer vacation (even those that like my two daughters love school, because really, who doesn’t love summer vacation?!). When you are in elementary school, your teachers often recognize the learning styles of their students and they support those individual learning styles as best they can. Yet, we as individuals aren’t always able to articulate what our learning preferences and styles are until we are further along in our education or perhaps even until we are adults.

I have always known that sitting in a large lecture hall was my *least* favorite way to learn new information. It wasn’t just the subject matter for Econ 101 back at Cornell University that taught me that, but it certainly highlighted the points. Class lectures have always been a reinforcement or initial framework for what I would learn by reading and highlighting in books or exploring hands-on by myself.

Now that I spend so much time each week, as an Approved Trainer for the Grant Professionals Association, teaching and reinforcing best practices each week, I am also intrigued to hear about the learning preferences of a new client I am coaching or a new small group that I am creating a custom training for so that I can ensure the training approach is well matched to their preference(s).

We all have different preferences for the ways in which we learn and best absorb new information. Perhaps your preferred method has shifted with the different seasons or careers of your life. Or perhaps as technology has shifted, your preferences have followed accordingly.

Are you unsure what your preferred learning style is? EducationPlanner.org has a short and free 20 question quiz to help you learn or confirm your learning type: https://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml

As no surprise, I am a tactile learner. I loved the tips that the quiz provided as tips that can help me remember new information, especially the fact that it reinforced why having my treadmill desk in the office is such a good approach for my work and own professional development:

• Do lots of hands-on activities like completing art projects, taking walks, or acting out stories.
• It’s OK to chew gum, walk around, or rock in a chair while reading or studying.
• Use flashcards and arrange them in groups to show relationships between ideas.
• Use a computer to reinforce learning through the sense of touch.

How do you prefer to enhance your own personal learning and improvement of grant writing related best practices? Do you love being on CharityHowTo webinars? Watching short videos on the new DH Leonard Consulting YouTube channel? Reading CharityChannel books?

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Regardless of what your preferred method of professional development is, I hope that you will take a moment and help us know what broad category you are interested in improving your grant-related work in the year ahead by completing the poll below.

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Willing to share a bit more about specifically what you are looking to learn more about? We’d love to hear! Please email diane@dhleonardconsulting.com. If it becomes one of our upcoming webinars you will receive a *FREE* seat to the webinar!