The Art of Motivation

The classic film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” contains one of my all-time favorite lines: “Anyone…? Anyone…?” The struggling school teacher searching for the attention of his class states a question and then asks for a response. He was desperately hoping that someone in his class might actually be absorbing his lecture. Unfortunately for him, the students were not paying attention. All too often it is the same in training situations. Students find themselves dreaming about shopping, football or anything else that lets them escape from the pain of learning.

While studying instructional design in graduate school, my favorite professor taught us that most