The Following is by Jeff Watson a lawyer in Ohio
By Jeff Watson on Jun 30, 2015 in Uncategorized | 0 comments
I had the opportunity recently to learn from a man who challenged much of what I knew about how adults learn. Mr. Jeff Hurt was a speaker at the Mid-Year Convention hosted by National REIA in Minneapolis two weeks ago. He is a gentlemen who has studied andragogy (the method and practice of teaching adult learners; adult education) for a number of years. When Jeff was presenting, he got my complete attention with a very simple question: “If you are asking yourself if you or your organization are relevant, then you probably already know the answer, and it’s that you are not.”
One of my goals is to be relevant, whether in the things I write and share with you, or how I practice law, raise my family, or do investing. I want to make a difference and improve things, not make them worse. That’s why his question got my full attention. A better question I should be asking myself (and you should be asking yourself) regarding my business, outreach, marketing and interaction with customers, friends and family is, “How can I become more relevant?”
What does “becoming more relevant” mean to you? When I think of the word “relevant,” I think of the legal definition given under the Rules of Evidence regarding whether something is relevant and admissible in a court of law: “Evidence is relevant if: (a) it has a tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence, and (b) the fact is of consequence in determining the action.”
As you can tell by reading the foregoing definition of “relevant,” it’s really not that socially relevant! Our society has changed in the way adolescents and adults process information. While a particular fact might be relevant in a courtroom, it may also bore the jury to sleep. The evidence may be relevant, but the manner in which it is introduced and admitted may be even more relevant as to the outcome.
Allow me to share with you three takeaways that I received regarding becoming more relevant:
Understand how your audience learns. How do you think your audience learns?
Package the information in a way that allows them to accept it and process it. What does “processing information” mean to you?
Remember that it is not merely giving the information, but it’s allowing the audience to experience the information, thereby learning it better. How can your audience experience the information you are sharing?
If you have some thoughts you wish to share with me regarding what becoming more relevant means to you, please do so by replying to this email.