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“Let the improvement of yourself keep you so busy that you have no time to criticize others.”

― Roy T. Bennett

I’m hoping that spring has finally sprung for good around here. It was beautiful here last night and it is always so good to spend time outside. More sun and fewer screens always make me feel better. I hope you’re enjoying your favorite parts of spring, or fall if you’re south of the equator.

Thanks for reading!

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🎶 What I’m Listening To

This week I stumbled on a good “Essential Indie” playlist. I don’t know who any of these people are, but the music is good.

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👆 Last Week’s Most Clicked

9 Instructional Design Principles and How to Use Them

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📰 News & Notes

The Hidden Power of Typography

This article from Microsoft Design explores the significant impact that typography has on user perception and interaction in digital interfaces. It discusses how the choice of typefaces, their size, weight, and spacing can significantly influence how information is processed and understood by users. The article highlights that well-chosen typography enhances readability, user experience, and accessibility, ultimately guiding users’ emotions and actions subtly yet powerfully.

🎯 Take away: Typography is not just an element of design aesthetics but a pivotal tool in enhancing user interaction and comprehension, making it crucial for effective digital communication​

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The Six Priorities That Determine Where the Eye Looks First

This article by Larry Jordan explains how people look at images and videos. He identifies six key elements that grab our attention: movement, brightness, size, focus, contrast, and what’s in the center. Arranging these elements carefully can make your pictures and videos more engaging and guide viewers’ eyes where you want them to look. This is important for anyone who creates visual content because it can influence how people feel and what they remember.

🎯 Take away: Knowing these visual tricks lets creators guide viewers’ eyes and deliver their message clearly. Key things stand out, so viewers get the intended impact.

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The Psychology of Short-Form Content: Why We Love Bite-Sized Videos

Short-form videos are increasingly popular due to their alignment with the shrinking attention spans of viewers, as highlighted by Dr. Gloria Mark’s research, which shows a significant decrease in attention span over recent decades. This format caters to the modern preference for quick, digestible content, making it highly effective in capturing and maintaining audience engagement.

🎯 Take away: Embrace the power of short-form video to efficiently engage your audience, leveraging its cost-effectiveness and relative ease of creation.

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Moving your training to asynchronous eLearning can help your organization keep up with employee onboarding. Our guide uncovers the five key considerations when converting your training to eLearning!

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🧰 Tech Tools & Tips

If tools are your jam, check out my new Work Smarter newsletter.

Dexa — Where Curiosity Meets Credibility

Explore the knowledge of trusted experts, that was previously locked in podcasts.

dexa.ai

Meet your AI assistant for work | Sana AI

Chat, search, and interact with all your knowledge—even your meetings.

sana.ai

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🎧 Podcast

This is the conversation that caught my ear this week. Check out previous episodes in the Friday Finds podcast playlist.

What Ideas Can You Steal from Marketing for L&D

At first glance, it might seem that marketing and Learning and Development (L&D) are very different. But if you dig a little deeper, they both have similar goals – to grab attention, raise awareness, and spread a message to the audience. So, what can L&D creators learn from marketing? It turns out a lot!

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

• ATD ICE, New Orleans May 19-22
• Canadian eLearning Conference, Toronto, June 13-14
• Greater Cincinnati ATD, September 4
• DevLearn, November 6-8

If you or your event needs a speaker or workshop that is highly interactive and super practical, we should talk.

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iSpring Days 2024 will offer a rich program that includes lectures, workshops, discussions, and case studies. Some of the key topics that will be covered are Artificial Intelligence, Microlearning, Social Learning, Gamification, Accessibility, Instructional Design, and Management and Strategy. Don’t miss out on this exciting event; save your spot now!

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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 buying me a coffee.