Creating microlearning

Us humans are easily distracted. We’re interrupted as frequently as every five minutes. It’s no surprise that the average human attention span is now less than a goldfish. In this age of distraction, you have a much better chance of getting your message across to your audience if your content is bite-sized.

Yet while marketers and online course providers have been quick to jump on the bite-sized bandwagon, much of the content we serve up to employees is still too long to consume in one go. Perhaps it’s a reason why two-thirds of workers say they don’t have enough time to do their jobs.

There’s a bunch of benefits to going bite-sized: 

• It increases your chances of being understood – if you can get your message across before your audience is interrupted again, you’ve got a better chance of it landing.
• It respects your audience’s time – keeping things simple and short allows your employees to quickly consume a message before getting back to their most important work.
• It’s what your audience wants – our social media feeds are full of short videos and other media; while 94% of L&D teams say their learners prefer microlearning to longer courses.
• It’s cheaper and more environmentally friendly – making content available online removes travel costs and avoids taking people away from their jobs. 

We’ve helped organisations such as Heathrow, Kantar and Capita to engage their employees with bespoke, bite-sized communications and training content. Here are our top tips for creating your own bite-sized content. 

Keep microlearning short

In fact, the shorter the better. Video research shows there’s a significant drop in attention after two minutes.  If you have a lot of information to share, break it into short chunks based around a key message or concept. You’ll have a better chance of getting your idea across before your viewer is distracted. 

Focus on the need-to-know

Think carefully about what you want your audience to take away from your content. Then work out what information is essential for them to be able to do that (the ‘need-to-know’). The rest of the information (the ‘nice-to-know’) can either be provided as links to find out more or weaved into visuals. 

Make microlearning visual

Not only do we process visuals faster than text, but they also help our brains retain information better. Using illustrations, infographics, videos and other visual communication methods help your audience to quickly understand complex messages – while also catching and keeping their attention. Tools like Canva, Piktochart and PowToon are a great place to start. 

Write for online

We behave very differently when reading online compared to print. Make it easier for your audience by ensuring text is scannable. That means front-loading content; keeping sentences and paragraphs short; and making good use of white space, subheadings and lists (you can find more tips here). 

Keep microlearning relevant

Use stories and real-life scenarios to bring your messages to life in a way that your audience can quickly relate to. And if certain groups of employees need more information than others, then target messages to ensure the main message remains as relevant as possible. 

Make it easily accessible

Ensuring your content can be viewed on mobile devices allows your audience to access it at their own pace and place. These days, most content and learning management systems support responsive design. If yours doesn’t, consider using an authoring tool like Qwilr or Rise (the results can be shared as a link or exported into your existing system). 

At Bundle, we’re experts at breaking big ideas into beautiful, bite-sized chunks. Whether you’re looking to transform your training or communicate clearly to employees, get in touch and find out how we can help you achieve your goals.