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Connection Point is the daily news source written by ATD staff for the ATD Virtual Conference, relaying news, session coverage, and other updates. td.org/connection-point

Connection Point

Talent development professionals help others. Ben Nemtin, star of The Buried Life, called attention to that in his keynote address closing out the Association for Talent Development’s Virtual Conference: Unleash Potential. And he noted that attendees could likely relate to his bucket list pursuits that entailed not only going after the big things he wanted to do before he died but also involved helping others.The Roots of The Buried LifeAs he began his session “Impossible to Possible,” Nemtin spoke about falling into depression after seemingly being on top of the world as he graduated high school in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He had a spot on the national under-19s rugby team and a college scholarship.But that joy soon turned to anxiety, trouble sleeping, and then depression. He became a shut-in in his family’s home, not understanding why he was feeling the way he was. A summer in a new town, securing a job that brought him confidence, and talking with others about his feelings led Nemtin to start turning the corner. From there, he decided to only surround himself with people who inspired him. He found three individuals who fit that definition: Jonnie, Duncan, and Dave.Sketchnotes provided by See In ColorsWhat followed was their decision to make a film. The quartet were inspired by the Matthew Arnold poem The Buried Life, in which the poet described how we all too often leave our dreams and aspirations buried with day-to-day life getting in the way.To avoid dying without living their dreams, the young men created a bucket list—the stipulations being that they would act as if they had $10 million in the bank and that the goals had to be crazy big. They also knew they wouldn’t be able to accomplish their goals by themselves. They decided that every time they crossed off an item on their list, they would help a stranger do the same.The list that Ben and his friends crafted included such things as helping deliver a baby, having a beer with Prince Harry, and playing basketball with President Barack Obama. That last one required all the grit and persistence they could muster, including dealing with a number of rejections before it finally happened.“Doing what you love actually inspires others to do what they love,” said Nemtin. There’s a ripple effect. The same ripple effect occurs when you help others: They, in turn, have a propensity to help those around them.Your Resiliency Tool KitTo be able to help others, you need to take care of yourself, emphasized Nemtin. Here are some tips to do so, and these comprise what he calls his resiliency tool kit.Gratitude. Think of one thing each night before you go to bed and one thing in the morning when you get up that you are grateful for. They can be as minor as a meal with a loved one, a walk, or the sun being out.Exercise. You don’t have to go for 60 minutes, Nemtin pointed out. Five minutes of push-ups or a 15-minute walk will help you release negative emotions.Mindfulness. This can take the form of the Headspace or other app, a walk, meditation, or being cognizant to breathe deeply from your abdomen.Detox. This may mean staying off social media for 24 hours or avoiding the news for the same period. When you return, only use the tools that bring you joy—come back in control of how you spend your time.Connect. To ease anxiety and stress, talk with friends or a therapist, continued Nemtin.Purpose. This is what the bucket list is all about: doing the things that are most important to you and that bring you joy.Help others. You can’t feel bad when you’re helping others.Nature. If you’re unable to actually go outside for 15 minutes right now because of the pandemic, bring nature inside by getting a plant or two.Fulfilling Personal GoalsThough this belief is hopefully shifting, it’s long been the pervasive mindset that pursuing our personal dreams is selfish. Nemtin refuted that, noting that pursing our dreams is actually a service. Prioritizing your goals, he says, is beneficial to you, your friends and family, your career, and your organization. And if organizations and leaders create an environment that encourages people to go after what they want, those individuals are far more likely to stick around.Psychologist Tom Gilovich reported in his research “The Ideal Road Not Taken” that 76 percent of people identified on their death beds that their greatest regret was not fulfilling their ideal self. What leads people to stop short of that goal? Nemtin identified two reasons. One is that—unlike work goals and duties—our personal goals have no deadlines. The second is that we often lack the inspiration to move forward. To that, Nemtin suggested that we create our own inspiration through small steps and think of “dreams as projects.”Here are five steps he outlined to accomplish your personal goals:Write them down. Putting them down on paper makes them real.Share them. As Nemtim showed with his bucket list, you need others’ help. All too often, we don’t share our goals due to fear—either because we’re afraid of what others may think or because we fear falling short of accomplishing them.Persist. Sometimes we fail because we give up too quickly. Nemtin showcased his persistence in his and his friends’ efforts to play basketball with President Obama.Go for moonshots. Nemtin, smiling, noted that the level of competition for reachable goals is much higher than the competition for ambitious moonshot goals, which few people strive for.Give. Nemtin briefly recalled speaking at ATD TechKnowledge 2019, where he shared the stage with Tiago, a brain stem tumor sufferer who, through the Make a Wish Foundation, expressed his desire to go bobsledding. As a result of Nemtin and the conference attendees, Tiago realized his dream.Ripple effects happen not only from big things—for example, a smile causes a ripple, as does a compliment—Nemtin pointed out. And we don’t necessarily see those reactions happening, and that includes training and development results. But know that as talent development professionals, said Nemtin, you create a positive difference in others.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

Ripple Effect of Helping Others

Rock Your Onboarding

Avoid Learner Distractions During Online Training

L&D professionals center many of their efforts on solving problems for organizations. But where do they turn when they get stuck while developing those learning solutions?They now can turn to Troubleshooting for Trainers. Author, coach, and consultant Sophie Oberstein has written this new book as a resource dedicated to helping talent development professionals emerge unscathed from the tight spots they encounter on the job. The book’s thematic sections address issues that can cause L&D pros the most angst:Lack of credibilityTraining that isn’t well regardedLack of resourcesLimited learning design experienceUncertainty around measurementLive training surprisesChallenging participantsMost talent development professionals can identify with one or more of the aforementioned trouble spots. “Like a troubleshooting guide that’s part of the operating manual for a new appliance that has started acting up, this book will provide you with in-the-moment fixes and longer-term solutions for some of the common challenges faced by new trainers at every stage in the L&D process,” Oberstein writes in the introduction. However, she extends her advice to address challenges that are relevant and relatable to training pros at all stages of their careers.The section on lack of credibility, for example, may appeal to those early in their careers. Oberstein speaks to challenges that arise because of a lack of experience and provides advice for those managing their first project. In other sections—such as the one on limited learning design experience—she presents more complex situations, such as how to develop a training course on an unfamiliar topic or how to produce asynchronous e-learning.The book’s methodical layout establishes its intended use as a resource. A typical section begins with possible issues trainers may face on that particular topic. Oberstein often shares her own experience as well, which enables readers to relate to her.Next, in a case study format, Oberstein addresses the challenges. Each is numbered, and the main idea is written in big, bold letters—for example, “I’ve been asked to provide training, but I don’t think it’s going to help.” Oberstein describes the challenge, dives into possible solutions, concludes with a bottom-line statement, and suggests additional resources for readers to delve deeper.In all, Oberstein addresses 45 challenges in the book using what she calls a “problem-solving focus.” Accordingly, the book is not just narrative—it features helpful charts, lists, and practical resources to help trainers. Whether you’re faced with confused learners, complaining participants, or concerns about technology, chances are Troubleshooting for Trainers can point you in the right direction.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

A Resource for Overcoming Training Trouble Spots

TD's Role in Achieving Better

Ben Nemtin is a New York Times bestselling author and co-founder of The Buried Life movement. Prior to his keynote session, Nemtin spoke with Connection Point about his background and experience and what he’ll share with ATD Virtual Conference: Unleash Potential attendees.When you took a road trip to accomplish your bucket list, you also helped strangers cross something off their lists. What was the impetus behind that decision?We had a list of really audacious goals, and we knew that we’d never be able to accomplish those things on our own—we would need the help of other people. So, it made sense for us to proactively help others try to accomplish their goals as well. What we didn’t realize was that the goals that we helped facilitate ended up meaning more to us than the goals we accomplished on our list, even the big, big goals. It resonated more. It didn’t match the feelings we got from accomplishing our goals. It was unexpected that that resonated as much. We realized over time that that was what mattered most—helping other people.And when you help others, they want to help you more. So, once people heard that we were helping other people, they wanted to help us more; it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s a win-win. You get to fill yourself up, you get to help other people, and ultimately, it helps you in ways you wouldn’t expect.Any other unexpected, yet valuable, lessons you’ve learned from your different experiences?The simple fact is that anyone can do anything. We wrote down these list items that we were convinced were impossible—play basketball with President Obama, sit with Oprah, make a TV show, write a No. 1 New York Times best-seller. We almost wrote them down in jest—they were the biggest moon shots we could ever think of. And we pretended when we wrote the list that we could do anything—that was the rule. You had to pretend you had $10 million in the bank.Over time as these moon shots started to come to fruition, we really had no choice but to believe that we could do anything. It really changes the way that you live your life. This whole journey ended up becoming more than just a bucket list. It became a philosophy of life.After some of those big things came off our list, it changed my DNA. All of a sudden I wasn’t thinking—even when I was faced with a challenge—I wasn’t thinking “Can I do this?” I was thinking “Do I want to do it?” Because I know it is going to take a lot of work, and I know that I’m going to come up against a lot of obstacles, but I can do it if I really, really want it and I want it for the right reasons. So, it is more about are you doing this for you, or are you doing this for other people?You have been candid about living with depression—where do you go for inspiration and hope?I get a lot of inspiration and hope from the people in my life that I surround myself with—my friends, my family. The greatest thing in my life, if I look back, if I can pinpoint one thing, is when I was in my early years in university when I was hit with my first bout of depression and I decided I was going to try and only surround myself with people who inspire me. By inspiring, I mean that they gave me energy versus took energy from me.And that’s how Buried Life began. I found someone in the neighborhood named Johnny and said, “Hey, you make movies. Let’s make a movie.” And we gathered some people together. Actively surrounding myself with people who inspired me really changed my entire life. I’m continuing that practice. When I find someone who is really inspiring, I try and stick around them. That really recharges my battery. It’s about being conscious about the people I’m surrounding myself with.Another aspect is being in tune with what my body needs. When you’re little, you don’t know because you’re still learning. But now, for instance, I know that I need to get eight hours of sleep. I need to exercise.I started a practice of mindfulness—meditation has become huge for me for my mental health and well-being. Giving back also makes me feel better. I don’t think about how crappy I feel—I think about someone else. I’ve learned gratitude and focusing on things I’m grateful for rather than things I’m worried about. All those things have really helped. I call it my mental health toolkit. I reach into it when I see the signs that I’m starting to struggle.I think everyone should have a mental health toolkit for times of need and also know that it’s OK to ask for help. It’s so much harder to do it on your own, and you don’t need to do it on your own. You aren’t alone. Everyone is struggling—humans have ups and downs, and we need to talk about those downs just like we celebrate the ups. The more we normalize the conversation, the more quickly we remove the stigma around mental health and therapy.What’s the latest item you’ve added to your bucket list?The latest item that I’ve added to my bucket list is another book. I’d love to write another book, so I’ve been thinking about that. The original Buried Life list is now at 91 out of 100 for things we’ve accomplished, and the goal is to accomplish #100, which is to go to space.What is one action TD professionals can take right now to unleash potential?You can take 20 or 30 minutes to sit in a quiet space and write your bucket list. This will move you one step closer to your goals and toward your potential. Remember, this is about personal betterment to improve your life and improve your professional journey.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

Believe the Unthinkable Is Possible: A Q&A With Ben Nemtin

The session “Story Design: A Foundationally Human Approach to Instruction” began with video clips of two distinctly different mock training sessions. In one, the facilitator Cindy read presentation slides of learning objectives, which were filled with lots of text, and she asked for questions only to quickly move on. In the second, Cindy polled learners ahead of the course to learn about their experiences. She then made the session interactive by supplying learners with a worksheet, and she followed the chat to chime in on learner responses. With these video clips, Rance Greene clearly made his point about humanizing training courses.Regarding the first training scenario, Greene—author of Instructional Story Design: Develop Stories That Train—pointed out that Cindy didn’t interact with her learners as if they’re human. Yes, she asked whether they had questions, but she didn’t elicit any responses from her uninterested learners. Greene offered an alternate option to that scenario—one in which he showed positive ways to engage learners.He described his story design model that pushes talent development professionals to think about learners as people from the beginning during the analyze phase and then continuously through implementation. Greene continued, “I like to think of story design in terms of instructional design.” And instructional design fills a basic human need, to improve knowledge, skills, and attitudes.Greene compared training with the theater, his previous professional experience: real humans, doing real actions, in front of a live workforce. Unfortunately, corporations are all too often emotion-averse, and that has made its way into our training, he opined.“Stories get us ready to act,” Greene emphasized. During his session, he outlined the first steps of the ADDIE model and how they relate to incorporating story design into a training program.For TD practitioners, one of the first people they’ll interact with is the stakeholder. During that dialogue, they need to determine the root cause of the deficiency in performance, the business outcome, and whether a training program is the answer. If training is the right answer, the TD professionals must connect with a subject matter expert to determine the answers to two questions during the analyze phase: Who is the audience? What do we want them to do?They then need to ask additional questions: What do learners value? What motivates them? What do they fear? How will training benefit them? Each audience is unique, so to create the best training, Greene urged TD professionals to create an audience profile by answering those questions.Further, when designing training, it’s important to drill down to observable actions. It’s not sufficient to say, “do the right thing,” “be customer first,” or “be compliant.” Rather than saying “be customer first,” for example, TD professionals should think about specific actions. What could those actions be? Greene pointed out that the action could entail floor reps smiling at customers, asking whether they can help the customers, walking with the customers to the product they’re looking for, and thanking them for coming into the store.Once TD practitioners know their audience and what participants should do in the training program, they can design a training program that will speak the learners’ language. At this phase, Greene recommended trainers fill the gap between story and action. Along with things such as suspense, hero, plot, problem, and character, stories need relatable characters and strong conflict.TD practitioners can use their audience profile to develop relatable characters. And they can use their action list of behaviors to design a strong conflict. By putting relatable characters together with a strong conflict, TD practitioners will create within their audience a desire for resolution. And that is filled with your message toward action. Greene explained more about characters and conflict in his blog, “L&D Pros Are the Best Storytellers.”Greene is facilitating the interactive postconference workshop “Build the Story: An Exercise in Training Humans” on Friday that will continue the learning around building characters and conflict. The workshop is currently full, but a waitlist is open.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

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