At a concert this week, I watched my favorite band walk out with a big piece of paper they laid in front of them before the show. Even many rows back, I knew immediately this paper contained the setlist and I impatiently wanted to know what it said. Setlists are an interesting art, and bands have different approaches to their creation. While varied in approach, it is hard to miss that most bands are using this list to balance the energy of the audience. Continue reading
A Khan Academy example that corporate L&D professionals who work with elearning should take to heart.
Recently I’ve spoken with several colleagues and a few colleagues who are looking for some help in how to organize their online content.
Khan Academy’s Pixar in a Box (online) course is a perfect example of a well-organized bundle of content. Here are four elements from this course that corporate L&D professionals may want to borrow: Continue reading
Why Do We Structure Training?
Last weekend, I attended a get together for a friend. As most of us in attendance were strangers, our host kicked things off with an icebreaker. After our icebreaker, the host gave a short speech, we then participated in a few activities at our own pace, and wrapped up by opening gifts and bidding farewell to our friend. When I returned home I thought about what activities I would have built into that party when it dawned on me that the host structured her party almost exactly how I structure a training in the Anchor, Content, Application, Future use model. Continue reading
Tool Review: Screencast-O-Matic
When I have down time, I like to play around with some different tools to see if there’s anything I should be adding to my own catalog of technologies I can incorporate into my work flow.
Jane Hart’s list of Top 200 Tools for Learning is my go-to place for inspiration.
This past week I spent a lot of time talking with colleagues and potential clients about software training, specifically the importance of short, on-demand tutorials to help casual system users remember how to perform certain functions. With this in mind, I started to browse the Top 200 Tools list and came across Screencast-O-Matic. I took it for a spin and this is what I learned: Continue reading
Training Team Experts
I have been expanding my project management skills for learning projects and I find it staggering the number of people it takes to put out a great presentation. Last week, we asked how many people it takes to put together a great presentation where you work. The majority of people responded with 6 people or more to accomplish this task!
Let’s dig in on the roles that came up during this conversation. Continue reading
Why does it matter if people in your organization don’t like to lead training sessions?
There are a lot of reasons why someone may not like being asked to train others in your organization.
Perhaps they’re busy and don’t have time for “one more thing.” Maybe they have anxiety around speaking in front of others, especially their peers. Perhaps they feel like they’re not an expert, or worse, they suffer from a touch of “Imposter Syndrome“.
Whether or not they like to do presentations at work, it is essential that high performers have an opportunity to share their expertise. In his book The Leadership Engine, Noel Tichy writes, “Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. all… had strong ideas, values, energy, and edge, but without disciples to spread their mission, both during their lifetimes and after their deaths, their legacies would have been short-lived.”
Organizations need disciples to buy in to their mission and carry out the myriad tasks that keep the organization running. To do this, organizations need people who will embrace training others. How can we set people up for success every time they present, and perhaps help people across the organization embrace the opportunity when they’re called upon to train others? Continue reading
How Many Experts Does It Take?
Training teams vary in size and skill depth. Large teams likely have individuals that focus primarily on one aspect of the training lifecycle, while small teams tend to have people that assume various job roles. As a trainer, I fall into the latter category. I enjoy being involved in various stages of a training, and as a dedicated learner, I love exploring more about how each task in L&D is completed. No matter what the team size, it takes a lot of expertise to build a presentation. Continue reading
Why does it matter how long it takes to design a presentation?
When it comes to designing an effective presentation or training program, there are some fundamental questions that need to be asked.
- What will success look like? (Specifically, what will success from the participants’ perspective look like?)
- How much time will it take to put together the presentation?
- Will investing more time to put together the presentation mean that it will be a better presentation?
A recent ATD study suggested that it takes between 28-38 hours (on average) to develop one hour of training. The amount of time spent on presentation design matters for several very important reasons. Continue reading
Set Presentations Up for Success
This week, I stumbled upon Seth Godin’s blog post on Five Ways to Make Your Presentations Better. In this post, he advises presenters to
- Keep it short
- Make it clear
- Avoid reading slides
- Keep is straightforward
- Be yourself
What I assume Seth is doing in this post is helping people move past their fear of public speaking and presenting. Continue reading
“What is the BEST training experience you’ve ever had?”
JD Dillon asked this question on LinkedIn last week.
It’s a question I’ve asked often during my Train the Trainer sessions, but I’ve rarely answered this question myself. My answer was immediate. As I reflected on what made it so good, I think there are three fundamental things my experience shared with most memorable, impactful learning experiences. Continue reading