Why Is Active Learning More Effective Than Passive Learning?

Imagine you’re trying to learn how to become a better public speaker. Do you think reading textbooks about public speaking will make you a better public speaker? Do you think watching lectures about public speaking (literally watching other people speak in public) will make you a better public speaker? Do you think taking an online public speaking course filled with expert public speakers will make you a better public speaker (even if you watch all 100+ hours of their videos)?

It might help you a little or give you a little more courage to get on stage, but the only way you’re going to get better at public speaking is by … public speaking.

By practicing, by getting feedback from the audience, marketplace, or a mentor, and by improving over time. 

That’s how you build any skill or core competency.

Through action, not consumption.

There’s a famous quote most people think is from Ben Franklin, but it actually dates farther back to Confucius … “Tell me and I’ll forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll never forget.”

You need action to create real change, establish any valuable skill set, and achieve success.

It’s obvious, isn’t it?

So why isn’t all learning active?

Thanks to Google and other free learning resources, information is free and instantly available from your pocket.  You don’t need to take a $2,000 dollar course on american history in college anymore when the PowerPoints are available for free to download. 

Everyone else is stuck in the past, trying to mimic the information-heavy learning that’s always been what we call “education.” The question is no longer, “What do we need to know?” but, “What are we doing to do now that we have all this information?”

You could memorize every textbook, PowerPoint, and passive online courses on the internet, but until you take action in reality, nothing will change.  And that’s when you’ll need help the most. 

That’s the idea behind DOHQ.

Use information to grab attention, engage, and inspire, but use action to teach, train, and leave a lasting impression on the audience that not only retains them but gives them value they can take with them for the rest of their lives. Do that, and you’ll stand out, train your audience much more effectively than any passive approach could ever achieve, and create stronger relationships with your students, employees, or customers. 

Want to see how to do that?