The value of the computer is that it allows kids to learn by doing. People don’t learn by being talked at. They learn when they attempt to do something and fail. Learning happens when they try to figure out why.
— Roger Schank
Hey, friends! This week, I had the pleasure of joining the iDTX conference, and let me tell you, it was a virtual blast! If you missed out on all the digital goodness, fear not, for the recordings are available on Tom McDowall’s YouTube channel. In other news, I’m about to take to the skies and head to New Zealand tomorrow. Yes, that’s right, I’ll be jetting off to the land of hobbits and kiwis. I just hope I don’t accidentally end up in Old Zealand – that would be quite a detour!
As always, thanks for reading.
What I’m Listening To: It has got to be a road trip playlist today for the mother of all road trips. How could I resist when the first song is “Melt with you” by Modern English?
Last Week’s Most Clicked:
How to Write the Way Your Co-Workers Actually Read
📰 News & Notes
Typographic Hierarchy in Design
Let’s talk about typography design and the importance of creating a clear hierarchy. When you establish a typographic hierarchy, you’re guiding your readers through your text, making it easier for them to understand and engage with your content.
To achieve an effective hierarchy, you’ll need to consider font size, style, weight, and spacing. By using larger fonts for headings and smaller ones for body text, you’ll create a clear distinction between the two, helping readers navigate your content more easily. Limiting the number of font styles you use will also give your text a more cohesive and polished look.
A well-designed typographic hierarchy offers many benefits, such as increased readability and improved user experience. By making your text more accessible and organized, you’ll also enhance your content’s credibility and authority. I think this is one of the easiest ways most people can improve their content, so dive in and learn how you can make your content stand out!
Creating Better Video for Learning
Are you looking to create engaging and effective video content for your learners? Patti Shank’s article is packed with valuable tips and insights on how to make your videos more captivating and memorable. Discover the secrets to keeping your learners’ attention, enhancing your visual design and audio quality, and creating compelling storytelling that resonates with your audience.
With expert advice on concise messaging, engaging graphics and animations, and interactive elements, you’ll have everything you need to create impactful video content that boosts learner engagement.
3 science-based rules of writing
Research shows that when writing is easy to understand and uses emotional language, people are more likely to read it all the way through, even if the topic is not very interesting. Simple language and sentence structure make reading easier, while emotional language captures our attention and keeps us engaged.
To make your writing more interesting and easy to read, follow these 3 rules:
- Use simple, common words instead of complex ones.
- Write short sentences and use active voice.
- Use exciting or hopeful language to keep your reader engaged.
This great newsletter dishes out 3 minute marketing recommendations based on the latest research. Subscribe for free.
Microlearning Hacks: How to grab people’s attention
In a recent talk show-style discussion at the 7taps Microlearning Conference, I chatted with Kate Udalova, the founder of 7taps Microlearning, and Christopher Lind, VP and Chief Learning Officer at ChenMed, to explore some of the best techniques to cut through the noise in today’s fast-paced world.
We covered some tactics for how to use marketing techniques to capture your audience’s attention and keep them interested.
The Power of the Early Engagement Effect
In her latest newsletter, Gwyn Wansbrough shares a facilitation tip that can transform your engagement levels. She emphasizes the importance of engaging participants early on in a group session. Engaging participants in the first 5 minutes can increase their likelihood of staying engaged throughout the session, leading to better outcomes.
It’s the facilitator’s job to help participants turn on their engagement switch, as engagement cannot be assumed. To help, she also shares two easy ways to do this from Priya Parker and Session Lab.
How Cérélia accelerated their employee onboarding with a learning platform
A potent training methodology, together with a clear view of employee competencies, went into creating effective blended learning within the aNewSpring platform. Cérélia was able to create bite-sized chunks as part of an accelerated onboarding program to train their learners in a very short time.
Find out how to use this methodology for any type of training
Get smarter in 5 minutes with Morning Brew (it’s free)
There’s a reason over 4 million people start their day with Morning Brew – the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be boring…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free.
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Join over 450K people reading Tech Brew – the 3-times-a-week free newsletter covering all updates from the intersection of technology and business. We provide free tech knowledge that’ll help you make more informed decisions.
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🎧 Podcasts
These are the podcasts that caught my ear this week.
https://sites.libsyn.com/49241/a-deep-dive-into-chatgpt-and-marketing-ai-special-episode-364
A Deep Dive into ChatGPT and Marketing AI
🧰 Tech, Tools & Tips
If tools are your jam, check out my new WorkSmarter newsletter
Resound.fm
Automate podcast editing so you can do it in minutes instead of hours.
Soapbox
Easily create and share videos from your browser with this extension by Wistia.
Vizard
Easy-to-use online video editor & screen recorder that allows you to create professional-looking webinar, testimonial, conference recordings within minutes.
Readow
Let artificial intelligence find the next book for you to read. Type in the titles of books you like and see what book recommendations AI will find for you out of more than a million titles.
Employee Resistance to Training
Get Buy-In and Motivate Employees to Learn
See how companies worldwide motivate their teams to learn and grow and then apply their best practices to your team. iSpring conducted a global, cross-industry research study of the reasons behind employee resistance to training and ways to address this issue.
Download the results of this research with its stats, graphs, and tables, and get actionable insights from iSpring L&D Consulting. It’s entirely free to you.
🧳 Where’s Mike?
- New Zealand ATD Conference, March 15-16
Friday Finds is an independent publication that I produce in my free-time. You can support my work by sharing it with the world, booking an advertising spot, or by buying me a coffee.
Mike Taylor 