David Kelly’s Curated L&D Content for the Week of 6/11/18

This week’s curated content includes links exploring the following:

    • a practical look at design thinking
    • how marketing groups foster creativity
    • a curated list of free-photo sites
    • tips for the next time you speak in public
    • a fresh look at the course vs performance support debate
    • a resource to help those suffering from depression and mental health issues

The best of both worlds by Ryan Tracey
Design thinking is a popular topic in our industry. There’s great value in the concept; and there’s also lots of debate. This post shares Ryan’s view, which is more practical than others I’ve seen.  The value of the post is well summarized by this line from its closing: “Do your homework to check you’ll add real value, but get on with it and start adding that value now.”. It’s a good read for multiple reasons.

How to Train Your Brain to Be Creative: Lessons for Marketers by Jodi Harris
Creativity is a powerful tool to bring to your work. Like any skill, creativity is a tool that becomes more valuable through practice. Creativity not only helps us build more interesting learning programs; it also helps us solve problems and innovate our ideas. This post gives a lot of practical ways to focus more on developing your creative muscles.

The best free stock photo sites in 2018 by Ashley Gainer
Images are a hugely important asset in the world of elearning. Sources that provide free imagery are extremely valuable, especially in environments where budgets are tight. This post curates 8 of the author’s favorite sites for free photos.

12 tips for great speaking by Steve Wheeler
If you’re in the L&D field, chances are public speaking is part of your life. Whether you’re speaking at a conference, pitching an idea at a meeting, or leading an in-person training event, many of us find public speaking to be a requirement. This post covers a number of tips from my friend Steve Wheeler, who also happens to be one of my favorite speakers from Europe. While the post is written with conference speaking in mind, most of the tips are easily transferable to other contexts.

Should We Create Courses or Just Performance Support? by Christy Tucker
The debate over the effectiveness of course-based elearning has been going on for almost as long as elearning has existed, and will likely continue for many years to come. This post explores the debate from multiple sides, which in itself makes it valuable. What I really like about the post is how it pulls from all sorts of sources – books, writings, social feeds, and more – to provide context and ideas for the reader to consider. This isn’t a post about telling you an answer; it’s a post to help you better explore the question.

Suicide Awareness by Paul Wilson
This week’s high-profile deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain have placed a spotlight on the increases we’re seeing in suicides and the mental health issues that are contributing to the problem. This post explores how the normalcy of daily life – even the life of an L&D professional – can lead to depression. We all need to know that there are support systems in place to help should we need it. 

If you need help and are in the US, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide also can provide contact information for crisis centers around the world.

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