About Pop Music Part 3

Career planning – “All Star” by Smash Mouth
Change management – “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter
Communication – “Hello, Goodbye” by the Beatles
Conflict management – “Shut Up” by the Black Eye Peas
Customer service – “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers
Diversity – “Short People” by Randy Newman
Finance – “Takin’ Care of Business” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Project Management – “One Little Slip” by the Bare Naked Ladies
Sexual harassment – “Respect” by Aretha Franklin
Time management – “Right Place, Wrong Time” by Dr. John

Once you’ve decided on an appropriate song, placement is simple Considering the Randy Newman song “Short People” for example:

Introduction – Play the song as the learners enter. Once the song is over call attention to the songs lyrics and ask for comments about the meaning conveyed by those lyrics. Use those comments as a transition to your presentation.

Filler – Play the song during breaks to add a subliminal message to your content.

Activity – Divide your learners into groups and instruct them to read and discuss the lyrics. Then lead a general discussion to share each group’s observations.

Conclusion – Conclude your session by stating, “We are all short people in someone’s eyes.” Then ask the rhetorical question, “If none of us were welcome around here, who would be left to complete our work?” Start the song and thank everyone for attending. Your learners will walk out of the classroom with the song and its lyrics firmly implanted in their brains, and you will have closed with a visually powerful learning point.

Given the large number of pop songs available, the options are limited only by your imagination and the musical preferences of your learners. You too can have your learners, in the words of the old song by “M”, “talkin’ ‘bout pop music.”

Please respect song owner rights. Consult your organization before you use another person’s musical composition.

Lenn Millbower, BM, MA, the Learnertainment® Trainer is an expert in applying show biz techniques to learning. He is the author of the ASTD Info-Line, Music as a Training Tool, focused on the practical application of music to learning; Show Biz Training, the definitive book on the application of entertainment industry techniques to training; Cartoons for Trainers, a popular collection of 75 cartoons for learning; Game Show Themes for Trainers, a best-selling CD of original learning game music; and Training with a Beat: The Teaching Power of Music, the foremost book on the application of music to learning. Lenn is an in-demand speaker, with successful presentations at ASTD 1999-2005 and SHRM 2006; a creative and dynamic instructional designer and facilitator formally with the Disney University and Disney Institute; an accomplished arranger-composer skilled in the psychological application of music to learning; a popular comedian, magician and musician; and the president of Offbeat Training®, infusing entertainment-based techniques into learning to keep ‘em awake!