Training In The Age of COVID (13-min Podcast)

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What does training look like in a COVID-19 or even post-COVID-19 world?  A lot of people are talking about how their jobs are changing. Whether it be working from home, adapting to new norms, or changing their skill set as an essential worker, these changes are impacting the way we work and how we approach and embrace technology.

In this week’s podcast, we sit down with Brent Schlenker of dominKnow and the Instructional Designers In Offices Drinking Coffee Crowdcast (better known as IDIODC) to gather some of his thoughts on workplace change as a result of the pandemic. Brent took some time with us to point out some interesting trends we didn’t expect, share some wisdom about how to up-skill as we move forward, and gives us advice on how to be successful in our own careers.

You can join Brent every Wednesday morning on the IDIODC Crowdcast to learn more about his colleagues’ and his perspective on learning and development. If you can’t make it on Wednesday mornings, all Crowdcasts are recorded and available on the dominKnow Crowdcast page.

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Engaging People Virtually: Advice from 11 Really Successful L&D Folks

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In a world under lockdown and quarantine, organizations are still needing to train their workforce. Virtual sessions have been adopted almost universally as companies (and school districts) find creative ways to make sure learning continues to happen, skills continue to improve and knowledge is shared.

I’ve talked with a lot of people over the past month, and most of them agree that even when restrictions are lifted and people can safely return to their offices, working remotely is here to stay. Several weeks ago we polled Train Like A Champion readers with the following question: When we can go back to our offices, I anticipate my team will…

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How to Approach Training Like a Marketer (podcast)

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Do you ever find yourself putting on your marketing hat and trying to “sell” a new process or implementation in your training? In this week’s podcast, we sit down with Mike Taylor of MikeTaylor.org and discuss what instructional designers can learn from the advertising and marketing approach and apply it to training.

If you are a training professional, we suggest you follow Mike on social media. He regularly puts out a wealth of information on training and design. During this podcast you can hear how he lifts inspiration from the advertising industry, a few best practices on things as simple as naming your training, and his recommendations on how to begin thinking like a marketer.

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5 Job Aids to Help with Your Next Virtual Session

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Over the past month, our Endurance Learning team has offered several free webinars on basic ways to put together an engaging virtual session and the importance of the “producer” role. If you missed either session, you can access a recording with the following links:

During each session, we shared some data and several job aids, which I also shared on LinkedIn and received a lot of positive feedback. Instead of having to search through the webinars or my old LinkedIn posts, I thought I’d collect all of those job aids and put them in one place.

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Keys to Successful Training with an International Audience (Podcast)

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Good instructional design may be universal, but are there considerations we need to take into account when training an international audience? This week on our Train Like You Listen podcast, Mary Cropp, Director of Learning and Development at Bluetooth SIG,  joins us again to talk about her experiences working with international audiences and how that can change your approach to training design.

Mary has spent the past several years presenting to participants from various cultures, countries and continents. During this podcast she discusses some lessons learned, how to approach designing for a culture with which you are not familiar, and some things you’re really going to want to avoid in your approach.

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When technology attacks (Virtual Training Edition)

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What happens if there’s some sort of technological glitch (or worse, a catastrophic freezing up of your computer) when you’re delivering a virtual session?

This week, my colleague Lauren Wescott offered a series of virtual sessions focused on the role of a producer (there’s one more session tomorrow in case you’re interested in signing up!). A producer exists to ensure your presenter can focus wholeheartedly on presenting information and engaging the participants.

One important way a producer can do this is by helping troubleshoot issues with the technology while the facilitator focuses on delivering a high quality session. Below is a guide that may help you identify some potential issues your participants are having specifically with Zoom (we’re working on a similar job aid for other platforms).

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Keys to being an effective “producer” in your next virtual training

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How many people does it take to put on a successful webinar? A facilitator is obviously necessary to present the content and facilitate activities. If you want to present information while using polls, having participants white board on the screen and getting people into small groups using the breakout rooms feature all while responding to private messages in chat – both about your content and about technical difficulties – then you’re going to want a “producer”.

Unlike in-person sessions, this role isn’t the same as “co-facilitator”. An effective producer can make the difference between top notch virtual training and a well-intentioned virtual train wreck.

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We need time to stare blankly at our screens.

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Do you ever have one of those really annoying days? You know the kind – the days where you have a meeting, then you have 15 minutes before your next meeting, then 20 minutes before another meeting. What are we supposed to do with those little pockets of time in between meetings?

Sometimes I’ll take those 15 or 20 minutes between meetings and I’ll browse TED.com to see if there’s a TED Talk that might offer me some inspiration or insight. Earlier this week I found one entitled: How boredom can lead to your most brilliant ideas (by Manoush Zomorodi).

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