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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

Think back to onboarding experiences that you’ve participated in. Those may have provided you with critical first impressions of the company. Research says that onboarding also can be a factor in how long an employee stays with an organization.Chief Learning Strategist and Founder of ThinkLearnEngage Shana Campbell and Jason Sturges, CPTD, project lead of courseware development at AllenComm, co-facilitated the session “How to Rock Your Onboarding: 10 Steps to an Employee Centered Program.” During this upbeat presentation, Campbell and Sturges defined onboarding and reviewed onboarding’s role and purpose.They then discussed three onboarding frameworks. The first model focuses on who needs to be involved—commonly the employee, HR, and the manager or supervisor. The second model emphasizes four Cs: connection, culture, clarification, and compliance. The third model from Bamboo HR offers seven steps: “Outline Responsibilities, Train, Accept the New Hire, Give Early Feedback, Put Management in Charge, Assign a Mentor, and Focus on Stuff That Really Matters.”As Sturges pointed out, however, onboarding holds various meanings at different organizations. He covered some of the more prevailing definitions, including “Getting new employees oriented, integrated, and delivering results as efficiently and energetically as possible.” He noted that that definition covers the onboarding process’s business, social, and energetic aspects.He likewise pointed out that onboarding’s ideal length is often debated and varies by company. As many can attest, onboarding can be nonexistent or seemingly never-ending. Imagine your first day at a new job, completing the paperwork and then starting on your work with nothing but well wishes.Citing research, Sturges affirmed that onboarding begins at the point an individual applies for a position and lasts until the employee’s one-year anniversary. Does that mean onboarding leaders are tasked with a whole year of activities? No. However, during an employee’s first 12 months, Sturges says that companies should keep top of mind the “experiences, interactions, knowledge, and training” that new hires receive.In designing an onboarding program that brings people into your organization, makes them feel welcome, trains them up, and aids in retention, Campbell and Sturges agree that it must be an employee-centered experience. Sturges shared 10 steps to accomplish that goal:Identify problems.Categorize the biggest hurdles.Brainstorm all solutions.Determine success criteria.Evaluate and brainstorm.Organize solutions into the program.Pitch to management and leaders.Pilot.Gather feedback.Enhance and repeat.He points out, though, that Step 0 is to remember that you shouldn’t develop onboarding in solitude and that generally you need multiple departments involved in planning a successful onboarding. “Don’t do this by yourselves,” he advised. “Just as onboarding is a social event, preparing onboarding should be a social event as well.”In explaining Step 10—enhance and repeat—Sturges advised those planning onboarding experiences to refine along the way. “If it doesn’t work, throw it out, pull in a new idea, do something different, and just keep trying,” he said.To wrap up the presentation, Campbell offered advice to those tasked with pivoting from in-person onboardings to virtual experiences. She noted that—regardless of the model you choose to shape your onboarding—your program doesn’t have to change because it is virtual. Focus on the how not the what, and consider aspects like screen time and creative ways to record video content, she said. Those are the keys to making your virtual session a success.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

Rock Your Onboarding

As so many of us are spending our days on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or some other form of video communication, it’s easy to be blasé about it. But if you’re an online presenter, it’s important to consider how the video experience is affecting your learners.During her session “Top Five Principles for Incorporating Instructor Video Into Virtual Classrooms,” Diana L. Howles, CEO and co-founder of Howles Associates, offered guidance for this new literacy of being on camera.Howles first pointed out the video frame, the space that others see during online trainings or meetings. That space subconsciously sends the message to the viewer that “everything in this frame is important.” Learning can be affected when there are distractions in that space that take them away from what the instructor is trying to convey.Before delving into her tips, Howles posed the question of whether the instructor should be on camera at all. Several years ago, the quality of video was generally poor, so it was not unusual to have a static picture of the presenter. But today we have effective video, she continued, and the gains of being on camera include increasing the learner experience as well as the level of perceived connectedness and presence. But that doesn’t mean that a presenter necessarily needs to be on screen all the time, Howles noted.The five principles for being more effective, as Howles outlined, are:Minimize distractions in the video frame.Adapt instructor movement for the video.Establish an on-camera presence.Improve the video’s technical quality with small adjustments.Be on camera when the focus needs to be on the instructor.To highlight potential distractions, Howles showed a static depiction of the video frame for an instructor facilitating a course on emotional intelligence. Attendees chatted about what they noticed that was distracting, among them an open closet door to a crowded, somewhat messy storage space; the presenter being off-center in the video frame and truncated at the top of her neck; and in general too much space in the frame above the presenter’s head.A second picture showed a gentleman in front of a fireplace with a plant on the mantle piece. To viewers, it appeared as if the plant were growing out of the presenter’s head. Other faux paus include sitting below a ceiling fan that is operating, making it look like the facilitator was wearing a giant rotating hat.You can easily remedy your background when facilitating, advised Howles, either with a virtual or blurred background that many video technologies offer or by purchasing a physical screen for your office space.She continued to demonstrate images of presenters who were offering less-than-an ideal learner experiences. One example was the positioning of the camera so that the presenter was looking down into the camera. That means learners are looking up to the presenter, an intimidating stance. Instead, presenters should be at eye level. You can do that by raising your chair or, if need be, sitting on a book or something to elevate yourself when presenting.Contrasting the background and foreground is another important tip to remember. Either light on black or black on light, Howles recommended, and to prove her point, she showed a distracting “floating head” of a presenter wearing dark clothes against a dark background.Throughout the remainder of her session, Howles offered more in-depth looks at the remaining four principles. Using her tips, especially presence, can actually lead you into honest conversations with attendees, making it feel as if you’re together. Because, after all, we are all in this together.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

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

Seth Godin knows how to capture an audience’s attention. During the Association for Talent Development’s Virtual Conference: Unleash Potential, the altMBA founder and bestselling author ditched traditional greetings and salutations and instead opened his keynote address with one word: “Yikes!” From there, he proceeded to describe the state of affairs for organizations in today’s climate.“The organizations where we work have shifted from industrial organizations that everybody there knows what their job is and they do what they do to learning organizations that have to lead because business as usual is now unusual,” he said.Those remarks helped set the stage for his talk “Right Here and Right Now: The Urgency of Creativity in Leadership and Development” in which he conveyed that the disruption that has hit the workplace presents an opportunity for talent development professionals to lead their organizations into the future. “Right here and right now, leadership and development, training—all of those things—those are our future,” he explained.TD professionals already have what it takes to lead their companies to a better place, he contended. And his talk centered on principles that TD professionals should keep in mind while navigating through this era of unprecedented change.Leadership vs. Management“Leadership and management are not the same thing,” Godin stated and highlighted the differences between the two concepts. One key difference is that management is mandatory and leadership is voluntary. The industrialized world cannot function without management; and management aims to keep things “under control,” he explained. On the other hand, Godin stressed that leadership is about possibility.He then called attention to some of the baggage associated with leadership and pointed out, “What it means to be a leader is to choose to do something that might not work.” He encouraged: “Ship creative work.” That is his marching order for those who want to help their organizations achieve better. Godin said, “If it doesn’t ship, it doesn’t count,” meaning you need to get your efforts off the ground. Shipping creative work, he explained, is a form of active leadership that can help TD professionals see what is possible.Sketchnotes provided by See In ColorsGodin revisited his “ship creative work” concept during the Q&A that followed his address. He reminded listeners that they could explore the concept further in his book The Practice: Shipping Creative Work that is set for release early next month.Godin likewise touched on impostor syndrome, noting that it, too, is bundled in the baggage that comes with leadership. He contended that impostor syndrome is good to have and encouraged attendees to view those feelings as a compass. “When you feel like you’re an impostor in service of others, it means that you’re doing the right work,” Godin added.Learning vs. EducationGodin maintained that TD professionals are well positioned to help transform their workplaces into learning organizations. A learning organization, he said, is one that asks hard questions to which there are no answers and sees possibilities for better even when the world has seemingly turned upside down. However, many TD professionals have been in the business of education, not learning.Education is compliance—“it is trading time and money for a certificate”—whereas learning, similar to leadership, is voluntary, he explained. To lead then is to ask and answer the right questions.For example, Godin suggested attendees take a look at their organization’s meeting culture. While sitting in those Zoom meetings, hours at a time, questions they could ask include: Where did our meeting culture come from? Why aren’t they sending a memo instead? Who decided that it had to be synchronous as opposed to asynchronous? How do we know this is working?“Meeting culture is an example of how a learning organization can evolve—it’s an opportunity,” Godin said. Though TD professionals may not manage meeting culture, hiring practices, or other aspects of the business, that should not hinder them from making a difference. Godin encouraged attendees to put fear aside and use this mass disruption to influence others and create cycles of possibility that can help move their companies to the next level.Convincing LeadershipFollowing Godin’s keynote address, conference participants raised questions on everything from impostor syndrome to how they can help leadership better understand the value of a learning organization.In addressing how TD professionals can convince leaders of the importance of embracing a learning culture, Godin said that the pandemic has, paradoxically, created two choices for organizations: Be resilient or fail. Since failure is not an option, he suggested selling resilience. Resilience, he said, comes from learning.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

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

Stories Prepare You to Act

Despite all the available tools, it can be difficult to develop a training program that is effective and engaging. In the session “Engaging E-Learning,” Tanveer Makhani, a cognitive scientist and solutions consultant at Kineo, discussed how to create success in the digital learning space.He opened his session by defining what success looks like for those tasked with creating e-learning experiences: Success means you have completed the project within budget and received rave reviews. Using that as a launching pad, he reviewed three key considerations talent development professionals should make when designing a successful e-learning experience: Use learning models, choose the right tone, and redefine interactivity.Use learning models. A learning model is a template or best practice for how to solve a problem, Makhani explained. Matching the most appropriate learning model with your content requires you to have an understanding of your desired outcome for the learning experience.In a situation where your goal is to share information, to inform, or to raise awareness, you may want to convey that information in “short bits of information and open navigation.” Examples include a scrolling e-learning page or an e-magazine. Makhani noted that the latter is a highly underrated form of e-learning.For situations where your learning objective is to improve knowledge or skills—for example, how to operate a ventilator—or where you need to assess learner competency, Makhani suggested providing plenty of opportunities for learners to practice. “Until we get our hands dirty, we don’t really know how to do something,” he explained. He contends that we’re all kinesthetic learners and suggested throwing learners into a challenge even without all of the necessary training or information. His rationale is that when learners realize they only understand 30 percent of something, for instance, they will be more receptive to learning the 70 percent they don’t know.The third learning scenario Makhani raised is when your objective is to change attitudes or behavior—for example, teaching a new set of behaviors or soft skills such as listening. The learning approach for that scenario can involve branching scenarios as well as immersive and ongoing learning campaigns where talent development professionals intentionally “slow drip” information in an effort to bring about the desired change in behavior.Choose the right tone. Regardless of the content, Makhani posited that tone matters. He then shared his five-rule framework to use to create engaging, exciting, and yawn-proof content:Keep it light.Give it spirit.Have a conversation.Call for action.Be adult.Redefine interactivity. Sometimes talent development professionals fall prey to incorporating interactivity in e-learning just for interactivity’s sake—that’s what you want to avoid, Makhani cautioned.“If you put interactivity into a learning module just for the sake of clicking or just to kind of make it fun and engaging, you’ll find that people actually get more fatigued and distracted by those interactions than engaged, or it doesn’t promote a level of deeper understanding,” he explained. Instead he suggested you get learners to cogitate—that is, get them thinking by asking questions that provoke deeper thinking.Another best practice for incorporating productive interactivity is to get learners feeling—do this by telling good stories, humanizing the content, putting learners in the story, and building in deliberate real-world practice. “Don’t be afraid to make your learner uncomfortable,” Makhani said.Also, get learners acting by incorporating real-world activities, such as interviewing other team members, and contextualize and personalize the learning so they can demonstrate what knowledge they may already possess. Makhani noted that it is likewise important to let learners hear from real people, including their peers—that gets learners connecting.“You don’t always have to be the one teaching,” Makhani stated. “Sometimes you just have to create the environment or the forum for them to learn from each other.” In wrapping up his discussion of the principles of creating engaging e-learning experiences, one of his final suggestions was to offer learners mentors and coaches.During his session, Makhani reminded talent development professionals that the goal of learning is to change, and “if learning didn’t change behavior, learning didn’t happen.” If learners aren’t engaged, the likelihood of them retaining the information decreases.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

Build E-Learning With Intentional Engagement

The Association for Talent Development hopes you are enjoying the ATD Virtual Conference: Unleash Potential and the sessions. Hopefully you are networking with other talent development professionals and acquiring insights into tools to check on, shortcuts to try, and new models to experiment with.The learning doesn’t stop tomorrow, though. On Friday, you can reserve a spot to participate in one of eight postconference workshops, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET. Note: Advanced reservations are required for the workshops. To reserve your place, add the workshops to your personal agenda via the virtual platform by selecting the + or “Reserve Spot” button.Many of the workshops relate to an earlier session by the same speaker. Be sure you take part in the related session prior to the workshop. As Senior Manager or Conference Education Bridget K. Dunn explained, “The workshops really align with each of the tracks and give participants an opportunity to take advantage of a deeper dive in the morning and afternoon sessions.” Listening to the sessions throughout the week “is the best way to maximize learning and transfer,” Dunn noted. If you missed an earlier session or two, you can access the session recordings in the conference platform. During the workshops, you will have the opportunity to connect with facilitators and other attendees in smaller breakout rooms.Workshop PreviewsAmong the workshops are Maria Morukian’s “The Art of Facilitating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dialogues: A Deeper Dive”; Rance Greene’s “Build the Story: An Exercise in Training Humans”; and Margie Meacham’s “Create Hyper-Engagement by Incorporating a Chatbot Into E-Learning.”In Morukian’s workshop, attendees will learn to identify and practice key facilitation techniques for meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion-related dialogues with diverse learners and practice handling challenging, emotionally charged situations that often arise in identity-related discourse. The workshop builds on “The Art of Facilitating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dialogues” session.Green’s workshop builds on his “Story Design: A Foundationally Human Approach to Instruction” session. Workshop attendees can anticipate an interactive session that focuses on building relatable characters and strong conflict that aligns with learning objectives. As the description notes, “In this workshop, expect to give as much as you receive as the group decides what makes a character relatable and discovers how to keep conflict alive for a riveting training experience.”Meacham’s workshop will help attendees learn the building blocks of easy-to-use software that enables them to create e-learning with personality. Note: There is no associated session to listen to in advance of the workshop. Attendees will be able to apply what they learn by planning a conversation with a chatbot and enhancing chatbot replies with existing assets. This workshop is recommended for intermediate designers and developers who have basic computer skills and are familiar with the basics of Adobe Captivate or Articulate Storyline. Attendees will need a laptop with Windows and Articulate Storyline (360, 3 or 3) or Adobe Captivate.The postconference workshops are an energizing, experiential way to end your week of learning. Note: Some workshops have reached capacity and are closed to attendees. You may place your name on the waitlist. Further, if you have reserved a spot in a workshop and can no longer attend, please remove the workshop from your agenda, freeing up the spot for another attendee.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

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