A recent speech by Madagascar’s president has gone viral in recent weeks. In it, he referred to the animated movie “Madagascar” where the song “I like to move it” by Erick Morillo was played.
But this blog is not about politics…
The human being is made to move. Sitting on a chair, just taking notes and watching, doesn’t help him stay focused. Of course, no human being can just stay focused for a long period of time. According to the literature, the average ability to concentrate ranges from 30 minutes for the majority to 1.5 hours for the masters of concentration.
During training sessions, a good instructor should keep an eye on the attention of his audience and help them to stay focused and receptive. Concentration drops particularly quickly during long explanations, in the afternoon when it is very hot or after a meal. Besides practical exercises and role plays, which are part of the training, animation is a good method to keep the attention of the course participants.
For an introvert like me, animation is a big challenge. If it was already difficult for me to dance in front of my family, it is even more difficult for me to make different, even “ridiculous” gestures in front of other people. My fear was “what if they make fun of my movements?” or “what if no one joins in?”. Fortunately, as a trainer you have a certain prestige/authority.
First, I imitated what my colleagues were doing. Then I adapted the animations to me, to my individual style. Now I try to improvise, to come up with my own ideas. And it works!
Although it was difficult for me at the beginning, I can now say that this part of my work helped me personally a lot to open up to others and to discover myself. Moreover, it is an opportunity to see people having fun, forgetting their worries for a short moment and give them strength to go on.
I’m not saying I’m the best at animation on the team now, but I can say, “I like to move it!”
Mirindra Rajoelison,
Medical team leader