Wrong month? Check out our latest list of free L&D webinars.

The race to summer’s end is on. How much beach time can we cram into August — while still meeting all those deadlines? It’s a dilemma indeed. If you’re at a loss as to how to get everything you want out of summer and still be productive, you might find some inspiration in a free webinar or two. This month’s selection is full of creative and business-smart ideas that can support your goals. Check them out!

Tuesday, August 3, 2021, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Use PowerPoint Live Presentations to Create Unique Audience Experiences
Join Richard Goring, Director at BrightCarbon, to learn about PowerPoint’s new and wonderful presentation option called Live Presentations. You can share a deck with your audience and they can each have a personalized experience with subtitles, multi-language translations, reactions and feedback. It’s a terrific way to share content, whether remotely or even in-person.  

Tuesday, August 3, 2021, 11 a.m.–12 p.m PT: L&D Planning and a Post-COVID 19 Environment (Free for ATD members)
The pandemic has changed where and how people work. It’s also changed expectations companies and employees have for one another. With the remote workforce a reality, you need to prepare your people for how to work remotely as well as what to expect when back in the office. Join in this event, hosted by Mike Reedy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of OutCons, where he’ll cover:

• Trends in remote working.

• The impact remote working will have on people.

• How Learning and Development can plan for a post-COVID 19 work environment.

Tuesday, August 3, 2021, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: If Not You, Who? How to Crack the Code of Employee Disengagement
How do you inspire employees to get off the sidelines and get into the game? Author of the best-selling book, If Not You, Who? Cracking the Code of Employee Disengagement, Jill Christensen has uncovered a proven strategy to turn disengaged workers into a unified high-performing team, resulting in increased revenue, customer satisfaction, productivity and retention. You’ll leave this session with: 

• Insights into why traditional approaches to employee engagement don’t work.

• Tactics to engage senior leaders and managers in employee engagement.

• A proven strategy that you can apply immediately to re-engage employees.

• Clarity on next steps and inspiration to achieve their goals.

Wednesday, August 4, 2021, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: How to Design Your Skills Strategy (Free for ATD members)
To remain nimble and adapt to constant change, L&D professionals must develop the skills of their people for the jobs of today. This dynamic and interactive webinar will give you the foundation for building a customized skills strategy that aligns to your mission and people strategies. Cornerstone OnDemand’s Steve Dobberowsky, Director of Strategy and Value Services, and Jeremy Spake, Senior Principal, will show you the three critical steps in designing a skills strategy that drives growth for the future: 

• Effective business strategy and inspiring vision.

• Valuable internal feedback as a primary source for better decisions.

• External environment in shaping the future of industries or organizations.

Wednesday, August 4, 2021, 12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m. PT: Use Psychological Safety to Improve Outcomes (Free for I4PL members)
A psychologically safe learning environment strengthens learning and competency outcomes. Join Chemène Sinson, founder and principal at Blackwater Projects, for this interactive session that will help VET trainers and instructional designers: 

• Clarify what psychological safety is.

• Recognize how psychological safety enhances student outcomes and competency attainment.

• Identify practical strategies to establish and maintain psychologically safe learning.

Chemène will focus on how to establish and maintain psychological safety in the live, online classroom environment, but ideas shared will be useful to any delivery mode.

Thursday, August 5, 2021, 8 a.m.–9 a.m. PT: Best Practices for Writing Effective Assessment Questions for Your Elearning Courses
Are you asking the right questions at the end of your elearning course? Are these questions closely tied to the learning objectives? Do you include application-based questions in the assessment? If the answer to any of these questions is “No” or “Not sure,” join Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Lead Elearning Evangelist at Adobe Digital Learning Solutions, as she talks about the best practices for writing effective assessment questions for your elearning courses. She’ll share some good and bad examples of assessment questions, along with an easy-to-use format to help you write assessment questions for your elearning courses. 

Thursday, August 5, 2021, 2 p.m.–3 p.m. PT: Community Member Showcase - Kristy Louden
This webinar is presented by the Community for Training, Learning, and Development Professionals (TLDC).

Friday, August 6, 2021, 8 a.m.–9 a.m. PT: Community Member Showcase - Shannon Pittman-Price
This webinar is presented by the Community for Training, Learning, and Development Professionals (TLDC).

Tuesday, August 10, 2021, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Leading Through Change and Uncertainty (Free for ATD members)
Organizations have faced unprecedented challenges in the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic and global economic downturn created chaos, uncertainty and massive disruption. If there were ever any doubt about the importance of a leader’s ability to navigate change, uncertainty, and disruption, there isn’t anymore. Leading through change and uncertainty is difficult. Providing clarity, keeping teams engaged, making decisions, leading with empathy and avoiding burnout can become overwhelming, even for the most gifted leaders. This webinar will explore how organizations manage change and prepare leaders to navigate an uncertain, rapidly changing business landscape. Join a panel of industry leaders as they share their perspectives on the critical skills required to lead. 

Tuesday, August 10, 2021, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: What Now?: Optimize Online Learning to Sustain Digital Transformation Post-Pandemic Session
The digital transformation of learning has had advantages for workers now able to access learning and development online, at their own pace and from their own homes. However, the mad-dash approach to migrating existing face-to-face content to a digital format without time to intentionally cultivate a desired digital learning experience has left some learners and organizations with the impression that online learning isn’t as effective or engaging as face-to-face. This webinar, led by Kiara Graham, Learning Strategy Consultant at D2L, will discuss the advantages of online learning and focus on strategies your organization can use to optimize their learning offerings for a new, digital, post-pandemic workplace. 

Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Experiential Learning: Improving the Effectiveness of Software Training (Free for ATD members)
Traditional training methods, including classroom and online training, are ineffective for software training. Knowledge retention suffers when there’s no reinforcement. Information delivery needs to be instant, contextual and experiential if it’s to engage learners. In this webinar, Dharshan Chandran, Digital Adoption Expert at Whatfix, offers key insights into experiential learning methods that help software application users become proficient in a shorter amount of time, self-sufficient and more productive. 

Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: TechLearn Preview #2: Create Your Own Escape Room in PowerPoint
An Escape Room is a perfect way to test your wits in a race against time. They involve teamwork, communication and delegation, as well as critical thinking, attention to detail and lateral thinking. Physical escape rooms have expanded to include tabletop games and online experiences. In addition to being a fun activity, digital escape rooms can also be used as effective training tools. Join Monica Cornetti of Sententia Gamification and Gamemaster of GamiCon, and Sharon Goza of Game2Learn to discover how you can: 

• Explore the delightful world of escape rooms.

• Build an escape room on a budget without paying for expensive licences or artist fees.

• Address ways to make the escape room accessible for people with disabilities.

Thursday, August 12, 2021, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: How to Ensure Your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs Deliver Value
Renewed interest in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has prompted organization leaders to reflect on the progress (or lack of progress) they’ve made with these efforts. Showing the value of DEI investments can be challenging for some professionals. This session, hosted by Dr. Patti Phillips, CEO of ROI Institute, will describe how to measure the value, including ROI, of DEI programs. After attending this session, you’ll be able to:

• Identify the five levels of outcomes from DEI programs.

• Explain the need to deliver impact and ROI for selected DEI programs.

• Design DEI programs to deliver application, impact and ROI.

• Plan the next steps to ensure DEI programs delivers value.

Tuesday, August 17, 2021, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: How to Create and Track Adaptive Learning with xAPI and SCORM
Join Frank Pietrantoni and Rebecca Davenport from the Office of Health Professions Education at Nebraska Medicine/UNMC as they share their recipe for adaptive learning that combines a little bit of xAPI and a dash of SCORM, and then mixed together in an LRS and LMS. By the end of this session, you’ll see how: 

• xAPI can be used in Articulate Storyline.

• SCORM modules published to an LMS can send xAPI statements to an LRS and why this is important.

• Elearning can be more adaptive to people’s input.

• Mobile technology can be used to deliver and/or assess training.

Tuesday, August 17, 2021, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: How Tools Enable Inclusive Learning Within Remote Teams: Four Must-Haves for Virtually Supporting Inclusive Learning (Free for ATD members)
Representation and diversity within workspaces are crucial to recruitment, employee retention, company culture and revenue. Inclusive and diverse workspaces in the hybrid age involve strategy from the top down, investment in tools and training, and engaged employees with time to invest into online or hybrid training. Join Eric Polite II, CDE, Chief Transformation Officer at Eric Polite and Associates; Mayra Archilla-Barton, Manager of Inclusion Practices at CDW; and Chris Olson, Strategic Advisor at Class, as they discuss the four must-haves for virtually supporting inclusive learning: 

• Executive-level buy-in.

• Investment in tools and resources that enable inclusive learning.

• Training for your organization’s leaders to coach inclusively.

• Accessible and equitable learning and development programs.

Wednesday, August 18, 2021, 8 a.m.–9 a.m. PT: Enabling a Hybrid Workforce (Free for ATD members)
In a hybrid workplace, a digital learning playbook is critical for organizational success. It captures and encapsulates access to resources, communications, processes and workflows. But what does it look like in action? What are the key considerations? Join Matthew Donovan, Chief Learning and Innovation Officer at GP Strategies, as he explores learning within the hybrid workplace, with perspectives for individual contributors, managers and executives. 

Wednesday, August 18, 2021, 10 a.m.–11 a.m. PT: Countdown to DevLearn Webinar: Find the Right Fit to Integrate Microlearning Into Your Learning Ecosystem
In this session, you’ll look at four primary use cases for microlearning and been shown real examples of each being used successfully in organizations. You’ll then begin to develop your vision for where it can fit into your learning ecosystem by considering your performance objectives and the four use cases to identify places where microlearning could have a valuable impact on your organization. Finally, you’ll consider learner motivation for continuous learning and discuss strategies to engage learners in a consistent and sustained way with microlearning programs. You'll leave this session with ideas for where microlearning can have a strategic value in your organization and how to get learners to engage with it.

Wednesday, August 18, 2021, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: How to Start or Evolve a Sales Enablement Function That Gets Results
Sales enablement is an emerging profession that’s quickly approaching a crossroads with significant ramifications. Practitioners of sales enablement face a choice of being viewed as an overhead expense or an essential business partner that provides value as a critical piece of the organizational growth engine. Join Mike Kunkle, VP of Sales Effectiveness Services at SPARXiQ, in this episode of Sales Effectiveness Straight Talk to learn:

• The positive impact of sales enablement, when executed at the formal maturity level.

• The updated Building Blocks of Sales Enablement.

• A diagnostic framework that you can use to build a sales enablement function that delivers results.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: The Art of the Flip: How Flipped Video Enhances Training and Onboarding
After a decade of proving its value within higher education, the “Flipped Classroom” model debuted in the workplace in 2019. Since then, however, organizations have quickly adapted to using real-time video conferencing tools like Zoom, Webex and GoToMeeting, particularly in the areas of training and employee onboarding. How then, should organizations be using a flipped-classroom approach in today's environment? Join Dalnaz Hasan, Sr. Video Evangelist at Panopto, for a holistic overview of the flipped classroom that will illuminate a myriad of ways to successfully “flip" your learning and development programs.

Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 8 a.m.–9 a.m. PT: Community Member Showcase - Ana Smith
This webinar is presented by the Community for Training, Learning, and Development Professionals (TLDC).

Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Super Simple PowerPoint Slide Design 2
This is a follow up to Mike Parkinson’s, Owner of Billion Dollar Graphics, incredibly popular Super Simple Slide Design session. Learn how to make simple yet engaging and professional slides quickly. Mike shares new, innovative designs that you can easily make — when you know how. Use the latest trends, discover tips, tricks and techniques to develop amazing slides. Less is more in this session. 

• Make professional slides quickly.

• Cut wasted content.

• See the latest in slide design.

• Know why less is best.

Thursday, August 26, 2021, 8 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Creators' Workshop Series: Create Your First Elearning Project with Adobe Captivate!
Participate in a hands-on workshop by Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Lead Elearning Evangelist at Adobe Digital Learning Solutions, and learn to create an exciting elearning course that hits all the right notes. This webinar’s for Captivate beginners, educators and intermediate-level elearning professionals. You’ll learn how to:

• Use Quick Start Projects for creating visually appealing elearning courses. 

• Use the ready-to-go slides and customize them according to your needs.

• Quickly create your elearning course that’s rich with interactions, graphics and animations.

• Add a quiz and publish your course to an LMS.

Thursday, August 26, 2021, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: ATD Research: Virtual Classrooms (Free for ATD members)
Virtual classrooms connect instructors with learners in real time using technology. This webinar, with Maria Ho, Associate Director at ATD, will look at changes in virtual classroom use (particularly those resulting from the COVID-19 crisis), how virtual classrooms compare to other instructional methods and the situations in which virtual classroom training is most effective. The session will cover how organizations design, deliver and measure virtual classroom training for business effectiveness. It will also examine considerations for adapting traditional face-to-face courses to virtual classroom settings, along with the virtual classroom tools and technologies organizations should integrate into virtual training to maximize its impact. 

Thursday, August 26, 2021, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Create Business Impacts — Understand What Matters to Your Boss
You’re a designer, developer and L&D leader. You do your job because you’re good at writing, graphics, software, projects, or you have mastered instructional design and technologies, but you have no clue what matters in your business. In this webinar, Dr. Ray Jimenez, Architect of TrainingMagNetwork.com and Chief Learning Officer of Vignettes Learning, will share his consulting toolkit and experience on how to understand the business mindset. The Business Impacts Framework will help you discover where to find the correct targets inside your business and how to use your expertise in design, development and delivery to create results. This webinar takes you to a “real sample” to understand the business mindset.

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