“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” ― Roald Dahl

This week I had a nice adventure out to San Jose (via Ft Lauderdale and Austin due to weather) for the ATD TechKnowledge Conference.  It is always great to see old faces and make new friends….and getting back home to the comfort of your own bed. 😎

Here are a few of the things that came across my radar this week.

An Anatomy of the Modern Learning Professional

In this post, Nick Shackleton-Jones (@shackletonjones ) implores us to let go of convention to reach our extraordinary potential. (via Ger Driessen’s (@GerDriesen) bi-weekly newsletter (Subscribe here)

As a profession, we are a group of people with extraordinary potential: the potential to craft life-changing experiences or to design resources that help productivity and engagement soar. But we will need to let go of convention, and swim to the surface

http://www.aconventional.com/2017/05/an-anatomy-of-modern-learning.html

eLearning Trends of 2018 – 57 Experts Share Their Predictions

Bryan Jones (@elearningart) has compiled insights from 57 eLearning experts (or maybe 56 plus me). Whether you want to read the specifics or just watch the video version Bryan has got you covered. He’s even got a downloadable/printable version you can use for your own reference or sharing with others.

Modern eLearning Design Visuals – How to Use Hot Graphic Design Trends of 2021 in Your Courses

Writing a Great Conference Proposal

If you’ve ever thought of taking the leap to speak at a conference, you’ll want to take a few minutes to hear what Bianca Woods (@egeeking), has to say about deciding if you are ready to present, what should you propose to speak on, and even some tips on writing your proposal. What are you waiting for? Just do it!

http://eachconference.ca/call-for-presenters/

What happens in your brain when you pay attention?

In his talk, neuroscientist, Mehdi Ordikhani-Seyedlar, provides a glimpse into the human brain and how, exactly, it decides what we pay attention to. Spend 6 minutes to learn ways we can leverage our brain patterns to focus and communicate more effectively. This talk will help you focus and it is also a great model for getting your audience to focus on what you’re saying during your presentations as well.

https://www.ted.com/talks/mehdi_ordikhani_seyedlar_what_happens_in_your_brain_when_you_pay_attention

The Sanity Saving PowerPoint Secret You Should Know!

If you’ve ever drawn the short stick and had to merge changes from multiple versions of a file you’ll want to know this sanity-saving trick. Even if you only share slides occasionally, you can still benefit from knowing this simple and MUCH better way.

https://mike-taylor.org/2018/01/23/the-sanity-saving-powerpoint-secret-you-should-know/

Interested in the things that didn’t make the cut here? Follow me on Twitter or even better, subscribe to my newsletter.

Upcoming Events

Elearning Guild: Designing for Engagement Spotlight
January 31, 2018  Online https://www.elearningguild.com/spotlights/content/4180/spotlight-home

HCM Excellence Conference
January 31-February 2, 2018 Palm Beach Gardens, FL  https://brandonhall.com/excellenceconference/index.html

Learning Technologies
January 31 – February 1, 2018 London, UK  http://www.learningtechnologies.co.uk/welcome/conference

International Conference on Distance Education and Virtual Learning
February 1-2, 2018 Melbourne, Australia  https://www.waset.org/conference/2018/02/melbourne/ICDEVL

Learning Technology & Design
February 1 – 22, 2018 Online Online
https://ltd.tagoras.com/

Global L&D-related Conference Calendar

Free Ebook: Filling Your Design Toolkit

Presentation & Elearning Starter Kit