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Gray Training Tip: C is for colour

Colour has the power to highlight, reinforce and link information writes Karen Gray.

by Karen Gray

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Gray is the founder of Gray Training. She can be reached at Karen.mailto:Karen.gray@gray-matters.com.

This tip continues with our set of tips focused upon the letters of the alphabet. We all know the power of colour to highlight, reinforce and link information in the classroom. Here are a few tips for using colour more overtly.

• As a  tool  to reinforce  the steps in a process: before you run your next process workshop, take a few moments to think about the content, and ask yourself whether the content could be meaningfully linked to colour.
• Consider colour coding each step.
• Use colours that link to the step in some meaningful way, for example choose the colour of a product, machine or document used in a step
• Drag those colours through into your slides, flashcards and flip-charts
• Print the manuals in colour. Insert a coloured border around each page that refers to that step so that the content is easy to find and refer to afterwards.
• As a memory jogger for the parts of a diagram: Complex diagrams can be difficult to teach and impossible to remember. Colour-code each part of the diagram, using colours that make sense in the context.
• Create a set of colour-coded flash cards to build the diagram on the whiteboard.
• As a closing activity, mix up all the flashcards from the course and task learners to build a big diagram that integrates the diagram and all the content linked to it.  The result will be a giant, colourful, but logical picture.
• As a reinforcement of soft skill clusters: colour-code each key skill.
• Print role play instructions onto colour-coded cards that link back to the skill.
• Develop a mind map summary of the content covered on the workshop and use your colour codes to draw attention to the application of the different skills.

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