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

Out like a lamb goes March, leaving us to enjoy the cherry blossoms — and some heat soon, we hope. Add some chocolate eggs to the mix, and spring is shaping up. How is your spring looking? If, like many L&D professionals (especially in the Canadian public sector), you’ve just completed a sprint to fiscal year end, you may be catching your breath and wondering what to do with those extra free minutes. Why not catch a free webinar or two? There’s a good selection this month.

Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Receiving Feedback? Stay Calm, Be Curious, Ask Questions, Make a Plan
“I’d like to give you some feedback...” These might be the seven most dreaded words you could imagine. However, effective feedback that’s given to support and encourage improvement becomes fuel for growth. Shifting your mindset to one of an active listener and seeking to understand the content and the context is a crucial part of the leadership journey. Join Marjorie Mauldin, President of Executive Forum, for a lively conversation to help understand and reframe the role of receiving effective feedback.

Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Bringing Live Learning to Life: Applying an Events Mindset (Free for ATD members)
Many organizations are missing new opportunities for live learning that can deliver powerful learning experiences. Why are in-person and virtual live learning key to organizational transformation? How can you make in-person and virtual live learning more impactful? And where do they provide the most value? Join GP Strategies’ Learning Experience Consultants, Laura Barrett and Craig Stokes, as they discuss how they adopted an event’s mindset in the design and delivery of live learning and share some of the exciting work they’ve been doing in this space. 

Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 10 a.m.–11 a.m. PT: How Coaching Can Accelerate Development of Women Leaders
Women continue to be severely underrepresented in leadership roles at most employers. While employers can deploy several strategies to address this inequity, coaching is particularly effective by providing a contextualized and personalized experience for women seeking career growth, as well as managers who are responsible for developing them. Leslie Tedgui, Interim VP of Marketing and Global Brand Director at CoachHub, Wilma Li, a certified executive and leadership coach working with CoachHub and Claude Werder, Senior VP and Principal Analyst at Brandon Hall Group, will explore how coaching addresses the systemic barriers that have historically limited women’s abilities to advance in the corporate world. 

Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Beautiful Typography for Presentations
A font can make or break your presentation. Legibility and professionalism are critical. After getting geeky, Mike Parkinson, Owner of Billion Dollar Graphics, will share the latest trends and show you how to make amazing slides with simple typography tips and tricks. He’ll make eight designs using simple and clever techniques. You can use what you learn immediately to make your job easier. Don’t miss this insightful and valuable session. 

Thursday, April 6, 2023, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Everything’s Fine!? Prepare for Disaster. Present with Pizzazz.
The presentation gets off to a rocky start when the presenter Lenn Millbower, President of Offbeat Training LLC, is locked out of the room and his not-very-good brother, Les, takes over. Calamity follows calamity as Les communicates ineffectively, turns easy-to-comprehend information into complicated mush, displays hideous slides, and blows up the laptop. The comedic segment ends as Les runs from the platform in total disarray. Lenn then takes over and, with the participant’s help, discusses what can go wrong in a presentation and how to prepare for the worst. 

Monday, April 10, 2023, 3 p.m.–4 p.m. PT: What Makes an Accessible PDF Accessible? Part 3
You want to ensure that all learners can access your content and designs. How you make content accessible can be a challenge if you don’t know where to start. And even if you think you have it right, there’s more stuff hidden deep inside the PDF that needs to be remediated. Alan Natachu, Learning Technology Partner at Exact Sciences, aims to help you understand the basics of PDF accessibility. He’ll go over the importance of setting up a document properly before exporting to PDF, the logical layout of a PDF and try to make sense of the hidden stuff found in PDFs. 

Tuesday, April 11, 2023, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Creative Problem-Solving: Solve the Real Problem (Free for ATD members)
99% of the time, what you think is the problem is not the real problem. Research shows that investing even five minutes in redefining a problem produces more original and higher quality solutions than those developed without clarifying the problem. Using examples from business, medicine, education, agriculture, manufacturing and more, Dr. Roger Firestien, President of Innovation Resources, Inc., introduces the simplest of methods to uncover the correct problems to solve. That method? Questioning. But you can’t just ask any questions, you need to develop creative questioning.

Tuesday, April 11, 2023, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Convergence of Microlearning, Just-Time, and Just-Enough Learning Programs and Solutions
Prior to the pandemic, Microlearning was popular and was the trend. During the pandemic and the subsequent endemic, Microlearning has further deepened its roots. Its heightened impact is a direct result of the growth of remote, hybrid and nomadic work that has become a permanent way of work and learning. In essence, these approaches have now converged. Ray Jimenez, Ph.D., Architect of TrainingMagNetwork.com and Chief Learning Officer of Vignettes Learning, will share his experience in helping companies provide solutions that merge microlearning, just-in-time and just-enough learning. 

Tuesday, April 11, 2023, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Learner Personas: Design Learning Experience They Enjoy (Free for I4PL members)
Whether you're using gamification or new technologies, having learner personas allows you to target your message and apply learning tools that will appeal to your audience. Drawing from a process used by successful marketers, you too can target your “product” to specific audiences. In this interactive presentation by Jonathan Peters, Ph.D., Chief Motivation Officer at Sententia, Inc., you’ll not only learn about why personas are needed, but be introduced to how you can create ones for your organization. In a time when we expect individualized experiences, it’s time to create learning experiences that “they” enjoy. 

Wednesday, April 12, 2023, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Empower Your Employees: How to Have the (Talent Mobility) Talk
Despite catchy buzzwords such as “quiet quitting” and “bare minimum Monday,” employees are as eager as ever to acquire new skills and grow their careers. Meanwhile, HR leaders are ramping up talent mobility initiatives to improve workforce planning, enable internal talent sourcing and retain employees, even while facing economic downturns and fierce competition. Join Jason Lauritsen, Keynote Speaker and Management Trainer, and Katie Ballantyne, VP of Global Learning Strategy and Innovation at Cornerstone, for practical strategies on fostering career growth and aligning employee development goals with critical business initiatives. 

Wednesday, April 12, 2023, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Eight Ways to Work with Others (Free for ATD members)
In this webinar, Dr. Roger Pearman, Managing Partner at TalentTelligent, will examine the hallmark qualities of the eight mental functions that are the core of the Pearman Personality Integrator. Each of these mental functions provides access to personal strengths and potential challenges when working with others. In our volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world, understanding the habits of mind and knowing how to flex when working with others is an essential skill for satisfaction and growth. 

Thursday, April 13, 2023, 8 a.m.–1 p.m. PT: Leader Talk: Digital Transformation in Learning
In this digital era, L&D leaders must ensure that their employees have the digital skills to effectively use the tools and technologies they need to perform their jobs. To do this, learning leaders must deliver high-quality training to improve digital literacy in the workplace — when and where employees need it most. In this Training Industry Leader Talk, you’ll learn how to effectively lead your organization through a digital transformation and deliver impactful training that improves the digital skills and capabilities of your employees. 

Thursday, April 13, 2023, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: The Bottomline on ROI: What It Is, What It Is Not, and How to Make It Work
Patti Phillips, Ph.D., CEO of ROI Institute, will introduce the ROI Methodology, the most applied and documented approach to showing the value of investments in training and development, HR, performance improvement and other fields. She’ll demonstrate real-world applications of this methodology involving different programs, including sales training, virtual learning, coaching, leadership development and others. Attend this session to see how implementing this methodology will indicate the impact of programs, processes and initiatives — and how you can improve them and the processes that support them. 

Tuesday, April 18, 2023, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Training as an Event: Achieving Superior Production for Your Virtual Training
Live virtual training has gone from a novelty to the instructional instrument of choice for many organizations. While audiences and trainers may feel Zoom-ed out, creative use of the latest generation of digital tools can supercharge your virtual training programs and deliver a better ROI than traditional, face-to-face learning experiences. Brella Productions’ Co-Founder and Senior Creative Event Strategist, Mark Mallchok, and Technical Director, Joshua Stroud, walk you through how to: 

• Bring an event-based mindset to your virtual training efforts.

• Create virtual trainings with meaningful interactions and gamification to achieve durable and measurable results.

• Integrate the power of vMix/OBS into Zoom and Teams meetings.

• Use these digital production tools to give your next training a broadcast-quality polish.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Part 2: How ChatGPT Impacts Our Mindsets, Emotions, Skills in Writing, Facilitation, Storytelling, Visual Designer and Content Designer
How does ChatGPT affect and enhance our lives, minds and skill sets? Every L&D professional ought to wonder. ChatGPT is the most recent, December 22, 2022 release, of OpenAI.com — a conversational interactive with A.I. ChatGPT is so advanced and intriguing that Wall Street Journal estimated that OpenAI is valuated at $29 billion. Observers say that ChatGPT is the “Google Search killer.” In this session, Ray Jimenez, Ph.D., Architect of TrainingMagNetwork.com and Chief Learning Officer of Vignettes Learning, will continue sharing his analysis and experiments with ChatGPT. 

Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Facilitator Shortcuts to Create Engaging Virtual Training
Are you re-creating the wheel every time you facilitate virtual classes? Wondering how to save time while still creating an engaging learning experience? Wish you had repeatable shortcuts to help efficiently set up and deliver your virtual programs? Join virtual training expert Cindy Huggett, CPTD, Principal of Cindy Huggett Consulting, to learn tips, tricks and hacks that you can immediately use to simplify your preparation and get participants ready so that everyone can focus on learning. 

Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Session 1: Useful Tools for Trainers: A Otter.ai, Grammarly and Sendible Workflow
How can L&D Pros keep up on all the many tools and technologies being released everyday? Let TrainingMagNetwork help you with short, bite-sized introductions and comparisons in this series of 60-minute webinars exploring tools for trainers, IDs and training managers, led by Kirsten Rourke, CEO of Rourke Training. This session will cover brainstorming, editing and multi-platform content posting workflow. The goal is to make content writing and delivery easier. People that want to share their content to social media and blogs will find this valuable. 

Thursday, April 20, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Six Theatre Techniques to Enhance Virtual Learning
Imagine that your virtual training is so lively and compelling that people clamour to attend. Even for dry or dull topics, most learning professionals prefer to design and deliver engaging virtual learning experiences. In this session, Cynthia Clay, President and CEO of NetSpeed Learning Solutions, will take a page from the stage, exploring six theatre techniques that are guaranteed to uplevel your effectiveness in the virtual classroom. Join Cynthia to take your virtual and hybrid training to the next level by acting more like a theatre professional. 

Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Tips and Tricks for Creating a Perfect Video Tutorial
Everyone is producing their own tutorials and maintaining their own Youtube channel, sometimes for the better, but often for the worse. Damien Bruyndonckx, Founder and CEO of One2Learn, will describe the most common mistakes found in the video tutorials that flourish on the web. This will allow you to formulate a series of very simple tips and tricks that can be used to create professional quality video tutorials. These tips and tricks cover all aspects of creating great video tutorials, from writing the script to shooting and editing in your favourite software, all the way to uploading the finished video. 

Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Building a Culture of Trust (Free for ATD members)
The heart of workplace success in the face of current developments — hybrid work, recession fears, diversity efforts, and retention and engagement challenges — comes down to solving one key challenge: trust. New research shows that leaders struggle to build trust with their teams, and organizations falter without it. In this webinar, with Meagan Aaron, Managing Consultant at DDI, you’ll learn how: 

• Employee views on trust have changed in the workplace.

• Trust varies at different levels of leadership, from the front line to the C-suite.

• Key leadership behaviours can build a culture of trust.

Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Creating Inclusive Presentations
Audiences are changing and becoming more diverse by the day. As a result, the wants and needs of your audiences have evolved along with the expectations as presenters. Microsoft PowerPoint MVP, Nolan Haims, Principal of Nolan Haims Creative, will address how design, communication and software techniques can help speakers consider and adjust for age, gender, ethnicity, physical abilities, language barriers and even attention spans. Topics will include: 

• Selecting more mindful imagery and iconography.

• Balancing text and visuals for older and younger audiences.

• Accessibility considerations in PowerPoint.

• Special considerations when presenting online.

• Live transcription and translation with just a click.

Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: The Six Disciplines for Using Artificial Intelligence in Learning & Development
In this presentation, Josh Cavalier, Learning Architect at American Tire Distributors, will provide a roadmap for L&D professionals seeking to leverage AI effectively. You’ll discover the six key disciplines that are essential for anyone who wants to utilize these powerful tools to their fullest potential: 

• Basic knowledge of AI.

• Social and ethical implications of AI.

• AI-enhanced learning experiences.

• Evidence-based evaluation of AI-based tools.

• Workflow analysis for AI-based tools.

• Learning and Improvement Regarding AI Tools.

Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. PT: Participant Directed Pick-Your-Own Adventure Workshops — What Happened (Free for I4PL members)
Find out what happened when this workshop was provided in a virtual and in-person context. Learn from the outcomes and experience the magic of a participant directed learning experience. Many learning and development professionals are familiar with self-directed learning; however, options or choices are not often incorporated into live workshops or training. With multi-session live workshops or workplace training series, adding the pick-your-own adventure element adds intrigue. This re-imagined approach aids facilitators and workplace leaders to be more engaged with the materials. Patricia Regier, Owner of Regier Education Inc., will show you how to design and facilitate with a pick-your-own adventure approach. 

Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Streamlining Branching Scenario Planning and Design
While branching scenarios can be a valuable experience for learners, building them can be time-consuming and challenging. In this session, you’ll learn how to streamline your processes for branching scenarios, from initial planning through writing and creating a functional prototype. You’ll start from the beginning, by analyzing the problem you’re trying to solve, identifying your objectives and gathering stories from SMEs. Christy Tucker, Instructional Designer at Syniad Learning, will share tips for planning the flow of your scenario and compare different branching structures. You’ll see how the free, open-source tool, Twine, can streamline the process of planning, writing and prototyping branching scenarios. 

Thursday, April 27, 2023, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Leader Talk: Keys to Leadership Training
Effective leadership is integral to business success. Poor leadership can lead to high turnover and low employee engagement. In today’s competitive business environment, organizations must invest in leadership development to engage and retain talent. Learning leaders must work to identify the skills that leaders need to be successful and deliver training programs that target and develop those skills. Join this Training Industry Leader Talk to learn the keys to great leadership training and how you can ensure that your company’s leadership team has the skills needed to move your business forward.

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