Repetition and Practice

Consider a skill you’ve developed or task you’ve learned to perform. Did you gain proficiency solely through reading a manual or watching a video, or was it equally, or perhaps more so, frequent exposure and application that really helped you reach your level of proficiency?

For most learners, it's the latter — frequent exposure and application — that really helped them develop their skills and learn to competently perform new tasks, and the same theory holds true in the learning and development we pursue in professional areas: learners often need lots of repetition and practice to truly master new proficiencies; just having them read, listen to or watch something might not get them to where you want or need them to be.

That’s why, for so many of our training and other L&D efforts, we recommend active engagement approaches that combine learning new things with repeated opportunities to practice and apply what is being learned. Explore the Retention page for more guidance related to ensuring that learners are able to do what you need them to do, when you need them to do it.