Make learning easier with these 6-steps to reducing cognitive load for every learner

When your course feels heavy, overwhelming, or hard to finish, cognitive load may be the culprit.

An illustration of a brain overwhelmed by information and constraints where it because to smoke.

Here’s a quick checklist to help lighten that load so learners stay engaged and actually absorb what you’re teaching.

Listen

Read

✅ Chunk your content

Break big topics into smaller, bite-sized sections. Think “one idea per screen” or “one task at a time.”

✅ Sequence logically

Build a clear path: what should learners understand first, next, and last? Avoid jumping around or assuming learners can connect all the dots on their own.

✅ Optimize prior knowledge

If learners need background info, provide it first — or at least activate what they already know before diving in.

✅ Minimize distractions

Remove unnecessary visuals, animations, or awkward interface elements that pull attention away from core learning.

✅ Use modelling or step-by-step examples

Use demonstrations and worked examples to reduce guesswork and help learners focus on what matters.

✅ Use multimedia wisely

Complement visuals, text, and audio — but avoid overloading.

Don’t just duplicate content across modalities in a way that forces learners to review the material without consideration of how each modality can best be used to support the content; let each format support learning in its own way.

Expand learner flexibility with course narration

Bring automated, learner-focused multi-modality to Articulate Rise with Shine Content.

See (and hear) more

Try the free voice selector to find the ideal voice for your course.

👉 Pro tip

Sometimes as experts, we’re blind to cognitive load — we forget what it’s like to not know.

Step back and ask:

What’s essential here?

Where might someone new to the topic struggle to keep up?

Use this checklist as a quick review anytime you’re preparing or revising a course.

Remember: reducing cognitive load isn’t about simplifying your content — it’s about making the content work for learners rather than making learners work harder to unpack the content.

Dig deeper into cognitive load and dual coding theory

If you’d like to dig deeper into the learning science related to both the cognitive load and dual coding theories, I encourage you to follow Dr Nidhi Sachdeva, who demonstrated these best practices at this year’s Canadian eLearning Conference.

You can also subscribe to the latest learning + technology insights from me, Say Yeah CEO, Lee Dale.

Sign me up