The Best of Learning, Design & Technology | August 24, 2018

“There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” – Leo Tolstoy

It is getting to be my favorite time of year. There’s a hint of autumn coolness and things will soon be sporting all their amazing fall colors.  No matter what the season, Friday always means that it is time for the best things from the learning, design, and technology world.

To Keep Pace, L&D Must Adopt an Ecosystem Mindset

I’ve been thinking on this topic a lot lately and this ATD article by JD Dillon (@JD_Dillon) is a good illustration of how we should think about the relationship of learning and working in the modern workplace.

https://www.td.org/insights/to-keep-pace-l-d-must-adopt-an-ecosystem-mindset

Presentation Tips: Lessons Learned from Giving 100+ Talks and Webinars

If you ever present anything (and who doesn’t these days?) you know there is always room for improvement. This is a rich post of tips and lessons learned collected by Chad White (@chadswhite) of Litmus.

Presentation Tips: Lessons Learned from Giving 100+ Talks and Webinars

Make My Persona

This online persona generator from Hubspot (@Hubspot) is meant for buyers but can also use personas to know more about your learners. Aren’t they our customers?

https://www.hubspot.com/make-my-persona

Designer Q&A: Pushing the Limits of PowerPoint Animation

Do you make time for experimentation? I’m a big believer that it is time well-spent. It often leads to innovation and discovery of new techniques you can apply to your “real” work. This is an amazing example from Duarte’s Steve Wishman (@stevewishman). You’ve gotta see this to believe it is created in PowerPoint! (He exported it as a video for easy viewing, and here is a link to the PowerPoint file if you don’t believe it.)

https://www.duarte.com/presentation-skills-resources/designer-qa-pushing-the-limits-of-powerpoint-animation/

The Best Free Tools for Amazing DIY Graphic Design

The best free tools for

Fortunately, for all the non-designers among us, there are a number of newish tools that make it super easy for anyone to create professional looking graphic designs. These designs are light years ahead of the templates you’ll find in Microsoft Office and way more options to choose from for way more types of projects!

https://mike-taylor.org/2018/08/21/the-best-free-tools-for-amazing-diy-graphic-design/

Learning, Design & Technology Miscellany

A few other things just because I can.

Conference News

  • Looking for your next conference? I’ve added some new events recently to my global collection of L&D events.

Design Resources

  • Picular is Google but for colors. Type in a word and get a related set of colors.

Apps & Tools

  • Session Lab – SessionLab (@SessionLab) is the dynamic way to design your workshop and collaborate with your co-facilitators
  • VectorMagic -Easily Convert JPG, PNG, GIF Files to PDF, SVG, EPS Vectors

Books/Courses/Podcasts

What I’m listening too

Thanks for reading! If you found anything good, forward it to a friend or spread the word with a tweet.


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I enjoy sharing my ideas and experience with corporate professionals via workshops, keynote presentations, podcasts, and webinars. Learn more in my Speaking and Workshop Information Sheet.

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Published by Mike Taylor

Born with a life-long passion for learning, I have the great fortune to work at the intersection of learning, design, technology & collaboration.

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