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“Everything worthwhile is done with others.”

― Mariame Kaba

It’s been surprisingly peaceful around the house this week. Both kids have been at band camp from 1:00 to 9:99 every day. One of the delightful perks? I get full control of the dinner menu! Feel like fish? Absolutely! Craving for some fresh, delicious veggies? Even better. The absence of any culinary critiques or grumbling is the cherry on top. And if you’ve had the joy of raising a few of your own, I bet you can relate to these moments of tranquility. Don’t get the wrong idea, though. I’m still happy to see them when they come home!

As always, thanks for reading.

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What I’m Listening To: The Wallows is another discovery that I’ve made courtesy of my “official music consultant” (my daughter)

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

Using Images in Visual Design

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📰 News & Notes

Cognitive Bias Cheatsheet

Our brains use cognitive biases as a way to save energy and cognitive resources. The human brain constantly processes an overwhelming amount of information, and using cognitive biases helps us navigate this complexity more efficiently. Instead of analyzing every piece of information from scratch, our brains rely on these mental shortcuts to quickly assess situations, categorize information, and make decisions.

🎯 Take away: This article provides a comprehensive and organized list of cognitive biases, highlighting four key problems our brains have evolved to deal with which can help us improve our understanding of ourselves and our decision-making processes.

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Emotional intelligence in the workplace: Why it matters and how to build it

In the age of automation, emotional intelligence (EQ) is increasingly critical, affecting key performance indicators like sales, customer satisfaction, and employee turnover. EQ skills differentiate top performers and contribute to personal and professional growth, as evidenced by productivity improvements and cost savings in companies like Motorola and the U.S. Air Force following EQ training. Organizations can nurture EQ through compassionate leadership, cross-departmental collaboration, and focused training on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management, supplemented with continuous performance support.

🎯 Take away: In today’s automated world, fostering emotional intelligence in the workplace is a key differentiator for top performance, contributing significantly to personal development and organizational success.

The Power of a Performance-First Mindset

Bob Mosher talks about the shift from a training-first to a performance-first approach significantly reduces training time, accelerates competency, and enables learners to better handle constant changes in skills and business processes. Key design changes suggested include beginning with analyzing the workflow and focusing training efforts on tasks that significantly impact performance, with a digital coach handling the rest.

🎯 Take away: Workflow learning, a performance-first approach that embeds learning within work tasks, can transform L&D by reducing training time, accelerating competency, and enabling continuous adaptation to change.

25 Ways to Support Social Learning

Crafted by Mark Britz of the Learning Guild, this checklist is a handy companion to thriving in today’s dynamic, hybrid work landscapes. Unveil the power of social learning to foster knowledge sharing, continuous growth, and strong team bonds even in distributed settings. Embrace change, conquer challenges, and unlock innovation to revolutionize your organization’s success!

🎯 Take away: ​Embracing social learning empowers organizations to thrive in rapidly changing work environments, unlocking innovation and connection among dispersed teams.

The Art of Sharing: Getting Your Slide Decks Online

Explore three options for sharing your presentations online: Microsoft PowerPoint Online, reliable but lacking engagement insights; SpeakerDeck, a nice-looking, minimalist and PDF-only option; and DeckLinks, a cutting-edge marvel with interactive features and detailed analytics. Choose your platform, and share your own slide deck gems if you’ve got ’em!

🎯 Take away: Explore three good options for sharing your presentation slides online.

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Visit and subscribe to the Neovation Learning Hub for free eLearning resources – L&D superpowers that you can use to improve your eLearning initiatives and help you be more creative, productive, and valuable to your L&D team!

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Become a better designer in 5 minute lessons
Join 50,000+ people learning design in short, practical lessons. Original, illustrated design tutorials to help you design better websites & apps.
Check it out for free!

Prompt Engineering Daily
Get the most simplified and tactical AI prompts, insights and tools to stay ahead of the curve. Read by over 85,000+ readers from Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta and more!
Check it out for free!

The Knowledge Newsletter
The Knowledge 🧭, is a newsletter helping creators and professionals to think deeper and work smarter.
Subscribe for free

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🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.
Check out previous episodes in the Friday Finds podcast playlist.

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This user-friendly guide offers a simple checklist of the key questions you should ask potential learning partners, plus tips for what to listen for to evaluate fit. Vet for key traits such as strategic capabilities, innovation, operational excellence, and values alignment. Download for free

🧰 Tech Tools & Tips

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

.

Iconbuddy

100K+ open source icons. Search, download, customize, edit over 100k+ open source icons. SVG, PNG, WEBP & other formats.

iconbuddy.app

Pixelied

This is an image editor and versatile online graphics editor. Perfect for marketing, e-commerce, and social media designs.

pixelied.com

Free Vector Illustrations For Your Projects

Hand-drawn, vector, free illustrations. Ideal for websites, web applications, mobile applications, marketing materials, printouts, social media posts, templates, work presentations,

www.freeillustrations.club

Get live feedback during PowerPoint presentations with Microsoft Forms

Take the pulse of your audience during a presentation by gathering live feedback and fostering active participation.

insider.microsoft365.com/en-us/blog/get-live-feedback-during-powerpoint-presentations-with-microsoft-forms

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Discover What Employees Think About Your Current Training

How effective is your training? Do employees find it helpful and engaging? Get the answers easily: download this free survey template and send it to your learners. In it, you’ll find 10 questions handpicked by training professionals. You only need to add your organization’s name and the survey is good to go.

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

NASJE
August 28
Columbus, OH

Central Ohio ATD Annual Conference
Sept 12
Columbus, OH

CUNA Learning Live
October 16
San Antonio

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 by buying me a coffee.

Like this post? Share it with someone you love. Don’t like it? Share it with someone you don’t!

Sponsored by iSpring

Sign up here to get Friday Finds in your inbox every Friday

The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.

Brian Herbert

As August arrives, I feel a mix of emotions as summer starts winding down. Yes, there are still plenty of steamy days ahead, and about three weeks before the kids go back to school, bringing back the ‘normal’ schedule. With our oldest entering his last year of high school I’m taking stock of some of the “last times” that are around the corner with him. Which is a very strong reminder that life’s simplest joys with loved ones are the most treasured. I hope you are treasuring time with someone you love.

As always, thanks for reading.

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What I’m Listening To: Something a little different and electronic-ish, but don’t let that scare you away. Check out Jonas Blue radio.

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

How to Use AI to Do Stuff: An Opinionated Guide

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📰 News & Notes

Why Do Companies Have So Many Managers?

This article from The Atlantic looks into the American corporate culture’s over-reliance on management and its potential transformation in the wake of the pandemic. It argues that the U.S., more than any other country, is addicted to the concept of management, often promoting individuals to managerial roles based on their performance in unrelated tasks, leading to inefficiencies and a lack of genuine leadership. However, the shift towards remote work is poised to disrupt this system, necessitating a reevaluation of the role of managers, who will need to prove their worth by providing their teams with the tools to succeed, rather than simply overseeing their work.

🎯 Take away: The shift towards remote work necessitates a reevaluation of the role of managers, transforming them from overseers to facilitators who nurture talent and foster growth.

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Brain Hacks: 6 Secrets to Learning Faster, Backed by Neuroscience

In this TED Talk, Lila Landowski shares some neuroscience-backed secrets that can supercharge your learning process. There are six critical ingredients to learning faster: attention, alertness, sleep, repetition, breaks, and mistakes. By harnessing these elements, you’ll unlock your true learning potential and retain information like a pro. So, dive in and discover the keys to maximizing your learning journey!

🎯 Take away: Learn the six important factors to better, faster learning.

Using Imagery in Visual Design

This insightful article from NN/g is packed with valuable insights, it explores the crucial role of visuals in captivating audiences and enhancing user experiences. From the power of emotions evoked by images to practical tips on selecting the right visuals, this piece is a must-read for designers and creators aiming to craft engaging and meaningful designs.

🎯 Take away: While visual design often feels like a matter of taste more than a science, following these best practices will help you choose imagery that works well within your designs.

15 best AI tools for instant meeting summaries

Discover the wonders of AI note-taking tools! Effortlessly capture and summarize essential information from your meetings without the hassle. Check out 15 fantastic tools that will save you time and effort.

🎯 Take away: ​Get the info on 15 AI tools that will make your meeting recaps a breeze.

Debunking Myths About Creating Accessible Learning Content

Ever wondered why accessibility isn’t a priority in your eLearning content creation? We’ve all been guilty of making excuses, including me. But let’s face it, those “Yea, buts” like “nobody in our organization has a disability” or “it costs more and takes too much time” just don’t hold up anymore. Diane Elkins, is here to debunk these myths and show you successful solutions. Say goodbye to being a “yea, but…-er” and embrace fully accessible learning experiences!

🎯 Take away: Get the scoop from a top expert on the accessibility mindset you should adopt for your eLearning efforts.

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Find free resources on the Neovation Learning Hub to help you expand your eLearning toolkit! Subscribe to our Learning Hub email list and receive our helpful, practical, and actionable resources directly to your inbox.

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Become a better designer in 5 minute lessons
Join 50,000+ people learning design in short, practical lessons. Original, illustrated design tutorials to help you design better websites & apps.
Check it out for free!

Prompt Engineering Daily
Get the most simplified and tactical AI prompts, insights and tools to stay ahead of the curve. Read by over 85,000+ readers from Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta and more!
Check it out for free!

The Knowledge Newsletter
The Knowledge 🧭, is a newsletter helping creators and professionals to think deeper and work smarter.
Subscribe for free

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🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.
Check out previous episodes in the Friday Finds podcast playlist.

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Get clarity around your learning projects with this customizable learning-program design template. This free download has the right prompts and practical guidance to help you define key project elements, such as your problem statement, audience, constraints, and more. | Download the free guide »

🧰 Tech Tools & Tips

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

.

DamnGood.Tools

Easy to use fun tools – free and open source.

damngood.tools

Fireflies.ai

Fireflies uses generative AI to bring ChatGPT to meetings. Generate transcripts and smart summaries for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex and several other platforms.

fireflies.ai

Recraft AI Board

Generate and edit vector art, icons, 3d images and illustrations in a wide range of styles suitable for websites, print and marketing

www.recraft.ai

Vectorizer.AI

Trace pixels to vectors in full color using AI.

vectorizer.ai

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Need to Develop an L&D Strategy? Get a Kick-Start

Make sure you don’t miss anything in your L&D strategy. Download and customize this strategy template to your needs by filling it with your data — your learning goals and objectives, training and development initiatives, budget, and more.

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

NASJE
August 28
Columbus, OH

Central Ohio ATD Annual Conference
Sept 12
Columbus, OH

CUNA Learning Live
October 16
San Antonio

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 by buying me a coffee.

Like this post? Share it with someone you love. Don’t like it? Share it with someone you don’t!

Sponsored by iSpring

Sign up here to get Friday Finds in your inbox every Friday

We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.

Marcel Proust

Guess what? This week, I became the proud owner of a new-to-me car. With three of us already jostling for car keys and another soon to get their license, it was time we added another set to the mix. As much as I entertained the thought of an e-bike – picture me, hair blowing in the wind, saving the planet one pedal at a time – the usually unfriendly and always unpredictable weather around here made the car a more practical choice. So here’s to no more early morning car key hunts, and to the freedom of having an extra set of wheels in the driveway! (But I’d still really like one of those sweet e-bikes!)

As always, thanks for reading.

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What I’m Listening To: This artist is one I often find myself taking notice of but until recently didn’t pay much attention to who it is. I think you’ll like Ashes to Amber – check it out.

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

Sources of Cognitive Load

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📰 News & Notes

How to Use AI to Do Stuff: An Opinionated Guide

This helpful guide by Ethan Mollick talks about how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for all kinds of things. The article explains how AI works, showing us how to use it in our day-to-day lives to make things easier. It tells us how to train AI systems using a mix of data and step-by-step instructions. Plus, it gives good advice about using AI responsibly, reminding us to always consider people’s needs first in this age of advanced technology. In short, this article by John Doe is a great beginner’s guide to understanding and using AI effectively and responsibly.

🎯 Take away: Helpful advice on using AI responsibly written in a way that’s easy to understand.

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Mind-body connection is built into brain

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that the mind-body connection is built into the structure of the brain. Their study, published in Nature, reveals that areas of the brain controlling movement are also connected to networks involved in thinking, planning, and controlling involuntary bodily functions. This discovery provides scientific evidence for phenomena such as the calming effect of mindfulness and the positive mental outlook of regular exercisers. The study suggests that this network evolved from a simpler system, becoming more complex as humans developed advanced cognitive abilities.

🎯 Take away: This study finds he connection between the mind and body is not just a philosophical concept, but is physically built into the structure of the brain.

The Top 9 Facilitation Newsletters You Want in Your Inbox

Imagine this: You’re sipping your morning coffee, you open your inbox, and instead of the usual clutter, you’re greeted with a treasure trove of insights that can take your facilitation skills to the next level. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Well, you can that into a reality. Cheska Teresa from Butter has sifted through the digital haystack to bring you the crème de la crème of facilitation newsletters. So, buckle up and dive in!

NOTE: Use the RSS feed or Kill the Newsletter to get all the wisdom and keep your inbox clean.

🎯 Take away: Tap into the facilitation wisdom of these top nine facilitation newsletters.

Nudgestock 2023

Nudgestock is the world’s biggest festival of behavioral science and creativity, where we inspire brands and people to impact the world. It happened last week and the theme was MESSY. That’s because our heads are messy, our organizations are messy, and the world is messy. But where there’s mess, there’s opportunity to change behavior. Watch talks from these four categories:

• The world is a mess;
• Studying the mess;
• Making mess work;
• Your messy humanity

🎯 Take away: ​Choose from 15 excellent talks from some of the world’s boldest speakers including Rory Sutherland, Paul Zak and more.

5 Dozen Canva Tutorials for Teachers

Richard Byrne has just shared a big list of 60 easy-to-follow Canva guides for teachers (or anyone else) on his website, Practical Ed Tech. These guides are great for beginners who are just getting started, people who have used Canva a little bit, and even those who are already good at it. With Canva, you can make a wide range of digital designs including posters, slideshows, worksheets and more.

🎯 Take away: This collection of Canva tutorials can help you create a host of professional looking digital and print items.

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Are you looking for helpful, practical, and strategic eLearning resources – available for free – to expand your eLearning toolkit? Subscribe for insights and resources sent to your inbox by visiting the Neovation Learning Hub!

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Become a better designer in 5 minute lessons
Join 50,000+ people learning design in short, practical lessons. Original, illustrated design tutorials to help you design better websites & apps.
Check it out for free!

Prompt Engineering Daily
Get the most simplified and tactical AI prompts, insights and tools to stay ahead of the curve. Read by over 85,000+ readers from Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta and more!
Check it out for free!

The Knowledge Newsletter
The Knowledge 🧭, is a newsletter helping creators and professionals to think deeper and work smarter.
Subscribe for free

---

🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.

---

Start every learning project off right with a Learning Environment Analysis (LEA), a powerful framework for uncovering learners’ problems, constraints, and needs to prescribe the right solution. This comprehensive guide introduces the LEA and the specific tools to use at each stage, from learner discovery to analyzing findings.
Download the free LEA Guide ↓

🧰 Tech Tools & Tips

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

.

Playground AI

Playground AI is a free-to-use online AI image creator. Use it to create art, social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos and more.

playgroundai.com

SVG Hub

A library of over 70 elements ready to paste into your design project.

http://svghub.vercel.app

Calendo

Book meetings faster. Integrate multiple Google and Outlook calendars and share your availability with ease. No more back and forth of emails.

https://www.calendo.xyz/

Prompthub: AI Prompt Management for Teams

Collaborate, version, and test with PromptHub. Keep your prompts organized and leverage top-tier templates to streamline your process.

www.prompthub.us

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An Old-School Learning Activity That Works Every Time

Wow your learners with a retro jeopardy game. 5 minutes into it and they’re on the edge of their seats! The best part? You can create it using only PowerPoint. Watch this 4-minute video tutorial to see how.

Watch the video

Or read a step-by-step guide to delve deeper into the topic.

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

NASJE
August 28
Columbus, OH

CUNA Learning Live
October 16
San Antonio

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 by buying me a coffee.

Like this post? Share it with someone you love. Don’t like it? Share it with someone you don’t!

Sponsored by iSpring

Sign up here to get Friday Finds in your inbox every Friday

“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”

Leo Burnett

I’m back from vacation and already heading back out on the road today for a softball tournament with my daughter. We’re probably in the car right now as you’re reading this and it looks like it will be a little toasty. So I’ll be thinking cool thoughts, soaking up some sun and cheering like crazy for all the Ohio All-American girls. I hope you’ve got something to cheer for this weekend as well.

As always, thanks for reading.

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What I’m Listening To: I’m off with my daughter to an out of town softball tournament this weekend, so today I’m queuing up Classic Road Tip Songs

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

ChatGPT Driven Instructional Design: Dreams, Results, and Horrors

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📰 News & Notes

Sources of Cognitive Load

Cognitive load theory is about how things affect our working memory. It has three types: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load. Intrinsic load is about the task itself. Extraneous load is about the task’s design or environment. Germane load is about the resources used for the task. Cognitive load is influenced by motivation, task elements, and background knowledge. It’s a useful model for learning. But it doesn’t cover convincing students to use effective study strategies.

🎯 Take away: Cognitive load theory provides valuable insights into how various factors impact our ability to effectively use our working memory resources

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Slow Ideas

Some innovations spread fast. How do you speed the ones that don’t? In this article, Atul Gawande highlights the powerful impact of direct human interaction and personal engagement in driving change and implementing critical practices. He shares some examples of initiatives that vividly demonstrate the effectiveness of person-to-person efforts in transforming norms and saving lives. These initiatives underscore the vital importance of understanding existing norms, fostering trust, extending practical support, and embodying kindness and empathy. They highlight the undeniable significance of establishing genuine connections and active engagement to bring about transformative improvements.

🎯 Take away: The primary takeaway here is the importance of human interaction and personal engagement in driving change and implementing critical practices.

This company adopted AI. Here’s what happened to its human workers

AI has the potential to boost productivity and customer satisfaction in the workplace. Incorporating AI chatbots improved the productivity of customer support representatives by 14% and resulted in faster issue resolution and higher customer satisfaction. Less experienced representatives benefitted the most, performing at the same level as their more experienced colleagues. However, there are concerns about income inequality and the distribution of AI’s benefits. While AI can make our economy more productive and raise living standards, there are no guarantees of how these benefits will be shared. Additionally, AI’s impact on the labor market and job automation needs careful consideration.

🎯 Take away: AI has the potential to significantly improve productivity, customer satisfaction, and address income inequality, but careful consideration and proactive measures are needed to ensure its benefits are shared.

The joy of plain language; a Bob Ross inspired approach to content design

Bob Ross simplified complex ideas to achieve success, and you can do the same in your content design. Aim for a reading age of 9-11 with simple sentences and everyday words. Use active language like “we” and “you” for a personal touch and give clear instructions. Structure content to frontload important information, use headings and lists, and break up large blocks of text. Remember, create content for individuals, not just for the internet. Keep it plain and understandable to engage your audience effectively.

🎯 Take away: ​Be like Bob Ross and simplify your content for better results.

Unleashing the Mind: 5 Best Neuroscience Courses to Take in 2023

Whether you want to know how the brain works, how to learn better, understand human behavior and even brain injury and pathologies, these courses have got you covered. Class Central has curated a list of the top online neuroscience courses, including beginner and advanced levels, courses relating neuroscience to learning and behavior, and courses exploring brain injury and pathologies.

If you’re looking for other topics, check out Class Central’s Best Online Courses of All Time

🎯 Take away: This is a collection of highly-rated online neuroscience courses curated by Class Central

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Do you want helpful, practical, and actionable eLearning resources – for free – to expand your eLearning toolkit? Subscribe for insights and resources sent to your inbox by visiting the Neovation Learning Hub!

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Become a better designer in 5 minute lessons
Join 50,000+ people learning design in short, practical lessons. Original, illustrated design tutorials to help you design better websites & apps.
Check it out for free!

Prompt Engineering Daily
Get the most simplified and tactical AI prompts, insights and tools to stay ahead of the curve. Read by over 85,000+ readers from Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta and more!
Check it out for free!

The Knowledge Newsletter
The Knowledge 🧭, is a newsletter helping creators and professionals to think deeper and work smarter.
Subscribe for free

---

🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.

---

Start every learning project off right with a Learning Environment Analysis (LEA), a powerful framework for uncovering learners’ problems, constraints, and needs to prescribe the right solution. This comprehensive guide introduces the LEA and the specific tools to use at each stage, from learner discovery to analyzing findings.
Download the free LEA Guide ↓

🧰 Tech, Tools & Tips

If tools are your jam, check out my new WorkSmarter newsletter

Join over 4 million people who start their day with Morning Brew
Get the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be boring…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free. Check it out for free!

🧰 Tech Tools & Tips

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

Journalist’sToolbox.AI

A collection of AI-enabled content creation tools.

journaliststoolbox.ai

Free SVG Generators

👉 Discover these free SVG generators on the web to handle the time-consuming task of creating patterns, textures, blobs, illustrations, and more.

www.svgbackgrounds.com/free-svg-generators

TxtPages – Create fast text webpages

Super fast and easy way to create text-based webpages.

txtpages.xyz

daily.place

Create your perfect space to focus on your daily tasks.

www.daily.place

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Everything You Need to Know About Building an Impressive ID Portfolio

Wondering if your current portfolio has what it takes to land your dream job? Download this ultimate guide and discover how to make your portfolio sell. Gain insights and best practices, see examples and top portfolio platform options, and get step-by-step instructions for creating a strong portfolio from scratch.

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

NASJE
August 28
Columbus, OH

CUNA Learning Live
October 16
San Antonio

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 by buying me a coffee.

Sponsored by iSpring

Sign up here to get Friday Finds in your inbox every Friday

Without an understanding of human cognitive architecture, instruction is blind.

John Sweller

We’re enjoying the cool, refreshing Rocky Mountain air this week. We’ve checked out a couple more schools with my son, and Denver University is right up there on his favorites list! We’ve also had the chance to visit with family and explore the mountains. It is always a treat getting outdoors in the mountains. (I do have to confess that this flatlander has felt the lack of oxygen up here. )

As always, thanks for reading.

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What I’m Listening To: My main man Karl Richter turned me onto Dirty Heads and they’re coming to Columbus in July. My favorite song of theirs is this remake of “Life’s Been Good”

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

10 Toolkits I Can’t Live Without

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📰 News & Notes

Stop Brainstorming

Matthew Ström’s article “Stop brainstorming” critiques the effectiveness of brainstorming, a popular method for idea generation in leadership meetings. He argues that at its best, brainstorming produces the same ideas as individuals working alone, and at its worst, it perpetuates negative cultural habits, reinforces hierarchies, and limits creativity. The concept of brainstorming, introduced by Alex Osborn in 1948, has been challenged by studies showing that individuals working alone often solve more problems than those in groups due to issues like production blocking, evaluation apprehension, and free riding. Ström emphasizes the importance of creating a psychologically safe environment for idea sharing, suggesting that brainstorming has become a shortcut for psychological safety. He concludes that if a team is already producing ideas, they should continue doing so in their own way, and if not, the focus should be on building psychological safety rather than scheduling brainstorming sessions.

🎯 Take away: An interesting read from Matthew Ström about brainstorming and why it does not work.

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Top People to Follow in Behavioral Design

A fantastic resource created by Sarah Wong of team Habit Weekly on the top people to follow to stay up-to-date and learn more about behavioral design. These practitioners from around the world are sharing valuable behavioral insights, fundamental concepts and tips for getting started in the field.

🎯 Take away: If you’re interested in behavioral design, subscribe to the Habit Weekly newsletter and follow them on Twitter or LinkedIn.

ChatGPT Driven Instructional Design: Dreams, Results, and Horrors

There are many different opinions on the benefits of ChatGPT for the learning field. Excitingly, it’s already being tested as a “teaching assistant” and I believe it can elevate your instructional design and delivery. In this webinar, Megan Torrance, Josh Cavalier, and Ray Jimenez, explore the profound impacts of leveraging ChatGPT in areas such as instructional design, tools and technologies (video, writing, images, audio, etc.), leadership, strategies, data analytics, platform and systems integration, and learning systems.

🎯 Take away: Get the scoop on using ChatGPT in the learning field from three top experts in this recorded webinar.

Battle of the Breakout Rooms

If your crunched for time, you can pop open this comparison chart. If you have time to dig in, you’ll find a thorough comparison of the break out room capabilities of Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Butter. If you haven’t tried Butter yet, it’s work giving it a test drive.

🎯 Take away: ​Compare the breakout room functionality of Zoom, Teams, Google Meet & Butter​.

The Priming Effect: How Expectations Become Reality

This article delves into the intriguing concept of the priming effect, a psychological phenomenon that significantly influences our behavior and performance. This effect, essentially a mental shortcut, occurs when our response to a subsequent stimulus is influenced by our exposure to an initial one. The manifestation of the priming effect is evident in a variety of scenarios. For instance, the same message, when articulated in different words, can elicit diverse reactions. Similarly, a positive past experience with a brand can prime us for a similarly positive encounter in the future. Moreover, the identities we adopt and use to define ourselves can significantly shape our behavior, further demonstrating the pervasive influence of the priming effect.

🎯 Take away: The science is clear: humans take mental shortcuts. Learn why we do this and how you can avoid it.

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Become a better designer in 5 minute lessons
Join 50,000+ people learning design in short, practical lessons. Original, illustrated design tutorials to help you design better websites & apps.
Check it out for free!

Prompt Engineering Daily
Get the most simplified and tactical AI prompts, insights and tools to stay ahead of the curve. Read by over 85,000+ readers from Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta and more!
Check it out for free!

The Knowledge Newsletter
The Knowledge 🧭, is a newsletter helping creators and professionals to think deeper and work smarter.
Subscribe for free

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🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.

---

🧰 Tech, Tools & Tips

If tools are your jam, check out my new WorkSmarter newsletter

Fillout

Create powerful forms, surveys and quizzes your audience will answer. Store responses directly where you need them.

www.fillout.com

Better Stacks

Stacks gives your team smart recommendations for their searches by turning teams’ bookmarks into personal and shared knowledge-base. The smarter way for your teams to collaborate and share knowledge.

betterstacks.com

Flourish Studio

Beautiful, easy data visualization and storytelling

flourish.studio

Munch | Content Repurposing Done Smart.

Extract the most engaging and impactful clips from your long-form videos. Munch allows you to create once. Repurpose to Dozens of pieces on every platform.

www.getmunch.com

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Everything You Need to Know About Building an Impressive ID Portfolio

Wondering if your current portfolio has what it takes to land your dream job? Download this ultimate guide and discover how to make your portfolio sell. Gain insights and best practices, see examples and top portfolio platform options, and get step-by-step instructions for creating a strong portfolio from scratch.

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

NASJE
August 28
Columbus, OH

CUNA Learning Live
October 16
San Antonio

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 by buying me a coffee.

Sponsored by iSpring

Sign up here to get Friday Finds in your inbox every Friday

Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.

Aristotle

You know, relationships can be a real rollercoaster ride, right? A little something that I always try to keep in mind: “assume positive intent.” It’s like a little mantra that helps me navigate the ups and downs. Many things fall into a gray area where things can be seen in different lights, either positively or negatively. Choosing to believe that the other person means well, is like a little magic trick that helps things go more smoothly. I’m not always successful at doing this but I’m trying to keep this thought top of mind as much as possible. Have you ever experienced anything like this yourself? 

As always, thanks for reading.

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What I’m Listening To: I’m assuming everyone will have positive intent if they listen to this Happy Mix with me today! 8)

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

AI-Powered Learning Design

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📰 News & Notes

Facts Don’t Change Minds

This is a thought-provoking article that explores the role of propaganda in shaping public opinion and argues that it can be an effective tool for persuasion despite its negative connotations. It highlights the psychological biases and cognitive limitations that make people resistant to factual information and suggests that propaganda, when employed ethically, can tap into emotions, values, and narratives to influence beliefs and behaviors.

🎯 Take away: Challenging the notion that facts alone change minds, this article highlights the power of skillfully crafted narratives in shaping beliefs and opinions, making a case for the virtues of propaganda.

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We Don’t Think As Much As We Think We Think

Can we trust our intuitions? In this Microsoft Research talk, Daniel Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust instincts, exploring the machinery of the mind and the two systems that drive the way we think and make choices. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Bringing together years of research from one of the most influential psychologists in history, Thinking Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.

If you haven’t read his book yet, drop what you’re doing and grab a copy now.

🎯 Take away: These are ideas that everyone, especially learning pros, should know and leverage.

Assigning AI: 7 Ways to Use AI in the Classroom

Ethan Mollick explores the various applications and practical implementations of artificial intelligence (AI). He highlights seven key areas where AI can be employed effectively, including automating routine tasks, enhancing decision-making processes, improving customer service, optimizing resource allocation, personalizing user experiences, analyzing big data, and advancing scientific research. If you aren’t familiar with Ethan, he’s a leading voice on using AI and one of my favorites to follow

🎯 Take away: This article emphasizes the potential of AI to revolutionize diverse industries and offers insights into how organizations can harness its power to drive innovation and efficiency in their operations.

9 Click-Worthy YouTube Videos That Will Help You Lead Live Sessions

Gwyn Wansbrough is the final week of her 4-week series where she shares curated lists of her all-time favorite design and facilitation resources. I’m confident that you’ll find a few worth bookmarking.

If you’re curious, here are her previous 3 weeks as well:

Week 1 >🎙️ Favorite facilitation podcasts

Week 2 > 📚 18 books that will help you become an exceptional facilitator

Week 3 > 🧰 10 Facilitation Toolkits I can’t live without

🎯 Take away: ​Most of us lead online sessions to one degree or another and these resources are gold!

Decorative Animations Impair Recall

Hopefully you know that working memory plays a crucial role in our ability to learn? A recent study investigated the impact of decorative animations, like those found in PowerPoint presentations, on learning and working memory. The study found that these “seductive details” hindered learning and memory retention. Students had difficulty recalling content presented alongside such animations compared to still images. Additionally, remembering the animations themselves was harder, leading to increased mental workload. These findings highlight the importance of minimizing extraneous cognitive load to optimize learning outcomes.

🎯 Take away: Decorative animations appear to act as a seductive detail that impairs learning, even though they may appear to enhance the visual appeal of slide presentations. So, pause for thought before clicking “insert clipart.” 8-)

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Get smarter in 5 minutes with Morning Brew (it’s free)

There’s a reason over 4 million people start their day with Morning Brew – the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be boring…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free.

Check it out for free!

AI Tool Report

Learn AI in 5 Minutes a Day
We’ll teach you how to save time and earn more with AI.
Join 70,000+ free daily readers for trending tools, productivity-boosting prompts, the latest news, and more.

Check it out for free!

55k+ marketers and growth hackers swear by this daily newsletter

Stacked Marketer curates the most useful and important digital marketing news and boils it down to a 7-minute read.
Every weekday, you get breaking news, insights, advertising hacks, tips & tricks for all your digital marketing — Facebook, Google, content marketing, SEO, Snap, TikTok, email, and countless others.
If you’re a marketer looking to constantly up your game or a founder who wants to make sure they’re nailing their growth, this is one free resource you absolutely need to be taking advantage of.

Subscribe to Stacked Marketer for free.

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🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7DWxtMkc5mihqkxZK3A98p?si=P9E07KImSsSIFJE9_e7PTw

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🧰 Tech, Tools & Tips

If tools are your jam, check out my new WorkSmarter newsletter

10015 Tools

All online tools you need in one box for free. Build anything online with “all-in-one toolbox”. All tools are easy-to-use, blazing fast & free.

10015.io

Opus Clip – AI-powered Video Repurposing

Opus Clip turns long videos into high-quality viral clips for you to share.

www.opus.pro

NexSnap

Make beautiful and engaging screenshots in seconds. No sign-up or credit card is required

www.nexsnap.app

Openxams

If you’re a teacher, you know how much time and effort goes into creating and grading exams. With OpExams, we make it easy to prepare, administer, grade and analyze, both your paper and online exams.

opexams.com

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Discover a New Way to Create and Share Your ID Portfolio

Elevate your eLearning courses and take your instructional design skills to new heights. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out in the field, this webinar will provide you with valuable insights and practical tips on creating impactful and engaging course portfolios.

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

CUNA Learning Live
September 16
San Antonio

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 by buying me a coffee.

Sponsored by iSpring

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

The days seem to be on fast-forward as my son hones his words for his college essay and gears up for another go at the ACT. It’s a tangible reminder, much like the loud ticking of a clock, that his time under our roof is winding down. Each moment feels more precious than ever – I am striving to treasure our shared experiences, no matter how mundane. Sharing the warmth of the couch as we take in a show together, or a game of catch with my daughter have become the highlights of my world. I hope you have the chance to cherish time with a loved one as well!

As always, thanks for reading.

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What I’m Listening To: I’m a product of the 80’s and I love remixes, so what else could I be listening to but 80’s Remixes?

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

Tools of the Trade: Discovering the Benefits of Marketing Tools for L&D

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📰 News & Notes

AI-Powered Learning Design

In this article by Dr. Philippa Hardman, explore the potential for AI-powered learning experience design. Discover how AI revolutionizes education by personalizing content, optimizing engagement, and enhancing knowledge retention. Dr. Hardman introduces adaptive learning, intelligent tutoring systems, and AI-driven learning analytics, showcasing their transformative potential. With practical guidance for educators and designers, this is an informative look at the future of learning, where AI takes center stage in creating immersive and effective learning experiences.

🎯 Take away: Learn how AI is transforming the velocity & effectiveness of learning experience design and pick up some of the new tools that are helping make it happen.

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UX Writing, Strategic Writing & Content Strategy Books

A collection of books from Luan Nguyen on UX Writing, Strategic Writing & Content Strategy that are great for anyone interested in learning about writing for product Web/App or content strategy for the whole ecosystem.

🎯 Take away: Content design isn’t graphic design or just copywriting under another name. Content design focuses on what content best serves the users’ needs, whether it be the written word, infographics, visuals, videos, or charts.

First Principles of Teaching and Learning

In this post, Tom Sherrington shares his insights to effective education and learning. The principles can be summarized as follows: 1) Cultivate curiosity by sparking students’ wonder through thought-provoking questions; 2) Strike a balance between challenge and support to foster autonomy, resilience, and joy in learning; 3) Embrace a rich tapestry of knowledge that interweaves diverse subjects for a holistic understanding; and 4) Harness the transformative power of feedback as a sacred ritual, providing timely and actionable guidance for growth.

🎯 Take away: With these principles, education becomes a magical journey of curiosity, challenge, knowledge, and feedback.

The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard & Why

This article published in Harvard Business Review in 1995 delves into the dynamics of communication and reveal why some individuals are more likely to be heard while others struggle to make their voices heard. It highlights the influence of conversational rituals, emphasizing that adherence to dominant norms of assertiveness and confidence increases the chances of being heard. Additionally, it explores the role of status and power in shaping communication dynamics. The authors propose strategies to enhance inclusivity, emphasizing the importance of equal participation and diverse perspectives.

🎯 Take away: ​By challenging existing power imbalances, organizations and individuals can tap into the collective wisdom and unleash the potential of every voice.

9 Best ChatGPT Courses to Take in 2023

Unleash your conversational superpowers with the best ChatGPT courses! From captivating dialogue to personalized customer interactions, these courses will equip you with the knowledge and skills to engage, inspire, and entertain like never before. Get ready to start your adventure and unleash the full potential of ChatGPT!

🎯 Take away: Unlock the full potential of ChatGPT and prompt engineering with these top-rated courses.

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News Without Motives
1440 is a free daily newsletter helping 2M+ Americans stay informed—it’s news without motives, edited to be unbiased as humanly possible. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don’t have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and everything in between – in a five-minute read each morning, 100% free.

Sign Up Now!

Actionable Productivity Delivered to Your Inbox
1440 is the daily newsletter helping 2M+ Americans stay informed—it’s news without motives, edited to be unbiased as humanly possible. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don’t have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and everything in between – in a five-minute read each morning, 100% free.

Subscribe for free!

Science for people who give a shit!
The critically-acclaimed and “refreshingly snarky” newsletter and podcast help you think deeply and act decisively about the world’s make or break science news, from climate to COVID, heat to hunger, and agriculture to AI ethics.

Subscribe for free

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🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.

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🧰 Tech, Tools & Tips

If tools are your jam, check out my new WorkSmarter newsletter

ClipDrop

Create stunning visuals in seconds with AI. Remove background, cleanup pictures, upscaling, Stable diffusion and more…

clipdrop.co

Camo – Great video made easy

Camo enables the camera you already own to produce incredible video, whether you’re meeting, streaming, or recording. Start creating great video today.

reincubate.com/camo

Micdrop

Send audio messages via email.

www.sendmicdrop.com

Is This Phishy?

A friendly email address to which you can forward sketchy emails (for free) and it tells you whether the email is a phishing scam 🎣📩.

isthisphishy.io

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Learn to Make Your Courses Interactive with Quizzes

Interactive online quizzes are the easiest way to add interactivity to your courses. But which question types will be perfect for your specific course? Discover 14 interactive question types with descriptions, examples, and step-by-step instructions on how to create them!

Read the Article

And hey, want to see quizzes in action and test your knowledge of the highest mountain in the world? Take this engaging test on Mount Everest and you might just learn something new!

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

CUNA Learning Live
September 16
San Antonio

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 by buying me a coffee.

Sponsored by iSpring

“The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”

—Bertrand Russell

Yesterday, I had the honor of speaking at the Learning Guild’s online marketing for learning event. I shared some of my favorite marketing tools that can be “stolen” for use with L&D work. Anyone who is curious can check out my slides here. Do you use any marketing tools in your L&D practices? What are they and what do you like about them?

As always, thanks for reading.

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What I’m Listening To: Today I’m investigating another music recommendation from my daughter. This time it is Declan McKenna.

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

Scenario-based learning: 5 best practices and examples

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📰 News & Notes

Behavioral Scientist’s Summer Book List 2023

The Behavioral Scientist’s Summer Book List for 2023 is a diverse collection of books published between January and August of the year. The list, meant to inspire curiosity and learning, covers topics from language and well-being to human and artificial intelligence, and also includes unconventional subjects like neuroaesthetics and psychedelics. I bet you’ll find something that catches your eye. I found several that I’ve added to my reading list!

Want to more book lists beyond just the behavioral science topic? Here are ten more book lists on a range of other topics.

🎯 Take away: Find your next great read and fill up your book bag for some great summer reading.

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4 Proven Toolkits to Master the Art of Learning

A meta-study on learning, memory, and metacognitive processes revealed that most learners hold outdated beliefs and commit errors that can hinder rather than enhance learning effectiveness.

In this article, Eva Keiffenheim shares four of the best toolkits for learning how to learn.

🎯 Take away: These resources help you adopt evidence-based learning strategies.

Why L&D should be at the forefront of the AI revolution

AI means that 50% of all employees will need reskilling or upskilling by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum. The velocity of AI is astonishing and any organization in any field that fails to keep up will be left behind.

🎯 Take away: Despite posing the most pressing obstacle to organizations of every magnitude, AI also holds the potential to resolve the very issues they currently confront, and on a large scale.

The upside of bad design

This article explores the unexpected benefits that can arise from poorly designed products or systems. The author suggests that while bad design is often seen as a negative aspect, it can actually foster innovation, creativity, and problem-solving. There are several examples where limitations and flaws in design have led to unexpected positive outcomes. These range from the creation of popular video games to the evolution of user-friendly interfaces.

🎯 Take away: ​Embracing the potential of bad design can serve as a catalyst for improvement and ingenuity.

Why the Brain’s Connections to the Body Are Crisscrossed

Dazzling intricacies of brain structure are revealed every day, but one of the most obvious aspects of brain wiring eludes neuroscientists. The nervous system is cross-wired, so that the left side of the brain controls the right half of the body and vice versa. This is a fascinating theory about why that might be.

🎯 Take away: In all bilaterally symmetrical animals, from humans down to simple worms, nerves cross from one side of the body to the opposite side of the brain. Geometry may explain why.

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News Without Motives
1440 is a free daily newsletter helping 2M+ Americans stay informed—it’s news without motives, edited to be unbiased as humanly possible. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don’t have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and everything in between – in a five-minute read each morning, 100% free.

Sign Up Now!

Actionable Productivity Delivered to Your Inbox
1440 is the daily newsletter helping 2M+ Americans stay informed—it’s news without motives, edited to be unbiased as humanly possible. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don’t have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and everything in between – in a five-minute read each morning, 100% free.

Subscribe for free!

Science for people who give a shit!
The critically-acclaimed and “refreshingly snarky” newsletter and podcast help you think deeply and act decisively about the world’s make or break science news, from climate to COVID, heat to hunger, and agriculture to AI ethics.

Subscribe for free

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🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.

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🧰 Tech, Tools & Tips

If tools are your jam, check out my new WorkSmarter newsletter

Connect your employees’ development with your company goals with this LMS, LXP, Talent Mgt & Knowledge Base platform

junojourney.com

Create online courses in a matter of minutes. Build a simple, yet powerful course platform with Notion.

courses.so

A new way to learn. Turn existing content into beautiful, engaging and interactive online courses with the help of AI.

courseau.co

Create, organize & share everyday activities just by speaking…or type when you have to.

www.jot.ai

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Workshop: Creating an Effective Scenario From Scratch

A Step-By-Step Walkthrough by Clark Aldrich

Learn to create engaging scenarios from one of the world’s best simulation designers, Clark Aldrich. Clark will tell you about common scenario types, what you should consider during the development process, how to create a scenario storyboard, and more – step by step!

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

CUNA Learning Live
September 16
San Antonio

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 by buying me a coffee.

Sponsored by iSpring

The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love.

— William Wordsworth

Ted Lasso, an exceptional tale about a soccer coach from Kansas navigating his journey in Richmond, is an embodiment of optimism, grace, and humanity; it beautifully balances wholesome, aspirational storytelling with a raw edge of delightful cursing, making us wish all coaches were as inspiring and real as Ted, a beacon of light in an often perplexing world. Through the humor, heart, lessons, and colorful language, this show isn’t just about sports but about embracing the challenges of life, showing us that every day is a chance to begin anew and that even amidst the chaos, it’s possible to believe in the goodness of people and the power of connection.

Though it’s sad to see Ted Lasso end, its inspiring messages bring joy. If you haven’t, do yourself a favor and watch this delightful show.

As always, thanks for reading.

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What I’m Listening To: With the bittersweet finale of Ted Lasso being this week I’m tuning into the Season 3 soundtrack. Lots of great music in there.

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

Visual Frameworks: A language of patterns

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📰 News & Notes

Scenario-based learning: 5 best practices and examples

Scenario-based learning is an effective training approach that encourages active participation and facilitates the application of knowledge in realistic work situations, allowing learners to experience the consequences of their decisions in a controlled environment​. It enhances content retention, provides real-time feedback, and is especially beneficial for teaching complex topics and in remote learning environments​​. The method’s success hinges on creating realistic scenarios, enabling learning from mistakes, and adhering to the “Five Cs of Scenario-Based Learning” (Context, Challenge, Choices, Consequences, and Contemplate), ultimately allowing learning and development professionals to tailor their programs to meet learners’ needs effectively​.

Take away: Scenario-based learning makes employees active participants in their own learning process, better preparing them for the real issues they may face at work.

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The Invisible Power of UI Typography

Typography is often overlooked in design, but it plays a crucial role in the success of a project. Even subtle typography issues can have a significant impact on user experience. This recorded webinar is led by Oliver Schöndorfer, a UI designer, typographer, and content creator. He explains how typography can be used to boost designs and shares his knowledge with a contagious enthusiasm.

Subscribe to Oliver’s Font Friday newsletter to get more great stuff like this.

Take away: Typography probably matters more than you think it does and it pays to know how to do it well.

ChatGPT Prompts for Motivation

Dr. Philippa Hardman presents a compelling approach to enhance student engagement. Research like this and this shows that intrinsic motivation is an incredibly powerful lever for educators. By utilizing prompts generated by ChatGPT, educators can tap into learners’ curiosity and critical thinking skills, creating a dynamic learning environment that caters to individual interests and needs.

Take away: Incorporating ChatGPT prompts can be a powerful tool in motivating learners and fostering a more engaging learning experience.

Learning How to Learn (And 20+ Studies)

Interested in cognitive science and learning techniques that actually work? Well , brew yourself a big cup of joe, and settle into your favorite chill spot! This is a fascinating compilation of research on effective learning strategies, the amazing workings of our bodies, and how to keep our brains in tip-top shape. It’s got loads of references to scientific studies too. So sit back, sip on that coffee, and dive in!

Take away: ​A brilliant summary that synthesizes evidence-based research on best learning strategies, physiology, and brain health.

21 podcast picks to help unleash your facilitation superpowers

Want to take your facilitation skills to the next level? The good folks of at Butter have done the hard work of finding the best facilitation podcasts out there that can help you make your facilitation skills a superpower.

Take away: Save loads of time upping your facilitation skills with these podcasts curated by Butter.

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News Without Motives
1440 is a free daily newsletter helping 2M+ Americans stay informed—it’s news without motives, edited to be unbiased as humanly possible. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don’t have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and everything in between – in a five-minute read each morning, 100% free.
Sign Up Now!

Get smarter in 5 minutes with Morning Brew (it’s free)
There’s a reason over 4 million people start their day with Morning Brew – the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be boring…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free.
Check it out!

Science for people who give a shit!
The critically-acclaimed and “refreshingly snarky” newsletter and podcast help you think deeply and act decisively about the world’s make or break science news, from climate to COVID, heat to hunger, and agriculture to AI ethics.
Subscribe for free

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🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/68rO1ZtvYGeKdlMI67SDeV

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🧰 Tech, Tools & Tips

If tools are your jam, check out my new WorkSmarter newsletter

Create a Journey to combine videos, slides, text and embeds from your favorite tools in one delightful experience.

www.journey.io

Powerful Free Online Photo Editing & Graphic Design Tool,

www.fotor.com

An audience interaction tool for your virtual and hybrid events and meetings. Engage your audience with live Q&As, Polls, Chat, Reactions, and Surveys, whether online, in-person, or in-between.

pigeonholelive.com

Perfect Writing. Zero Effort. All you do is talk. AI does the rest.

theoasis.com

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Employee Training Plan

Planning your training is the first factor that affects its success.

There are dozens of questions you ask yourself when you create a plan for the first time. What should you include in your training plan? How should you organize it? What should you start with?

Get started quickly and easily with this ready-made training plan template. It already has everything you need to lay out a proper foundation for your training. Just download it, fill it in with your specific info, and put it to use immediately.

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🧳 Where’s Mike?

Learning & Marketing Conference
June 7-8
Online

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 by buying me a coffee.

Sponsored by iSpring

“If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.”

— W. Edwards Demming

Schools out, schools out, teachers let the monkeys out! The kids just wrapped up their final exams and we’re celebrating with a trip to New York City for some sightseeing and a Taylor Swift concert (My daughter’s Christmas present – maybe for the next 5 Christmases! ) If you know of any hidden or ‘must do’ things in NYC, please hit reply and send them my way.

As always, thanks for reading.

What I’m Listening To: This week I’ve been loving a new to me artist and creative speller – Biskwiq. Something with a little attitude, but still kinda chill.

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Last Week’s Most Clicked:

The Ultimate Guide to Curation for L&D

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📰 News & Notes

In The Know: Back to the FUTURE of L&D

In an engaging conversation with JD Dillon, Donald Taylor embarked on a journey through the evolution of Learning and Development (L&D) over the past two decades. They explored significant workplace trends, learning to identify valuable investments amidst fleeting fads.

🥡 Take away: Tune into this expert conversation if you’d like insights on how to navigate the dynamic L&D landscape with clarity and informed decision-making.

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10 Most Important Teaching & Learning Studies of the Past 50 Years

This post explores key findings in educational research over the past 50 years. It highlights the shift from teacher-centered to student-centered approaches. Important topics include the significance of feedback, the effectiveness of retrieval practice, the benefits of metacognition, and the role of technology in education. Overall, the post emphasizes active learning and the need for thoughtful integration of technology.

🥡 Take away: Educational research over the past 50 years has highlighted the importance of student-centered approaches, active learning strategies, and effective instructional techniques.

Visual Frameworks Library

Created by Dave Gray, this site offers visual frameworks—pictorial mental models—to help clarify thoughts and foster shared understanding about diverse situations. These intuitive sketches represent recognizable patterns and are designed to be easily understood. Inspired by the concept of the “pattern that connects,” Gray collects these patterns on his site, hoping they can help others navigate complex situations.

[A tip of the hat to Mathias Vermeulen’s newsletter for this one.]

🥡 Take away: This collection of visuals can help you tap into the power and utility of visual frameworks as tools for understanding complex concepts and situations.

The UX Cookbook

This site is packed with ‘recipes’ for all things UX – from research and personas to design and usability testing. And guess what? They’re always adding new stuff. It’s your one-stop-shop for creating impactful learning solutions that your users will love​​.

🥡 Take away: This site is a comprehensive and evolving resource for understanding and implementing User Experience (UX) principles that can improve the design of your learning design efforts.

AI’s Increasingly Important Role in L&D

This eBook by Markus Bernhardt, presents a synthesis of articles for L&D professionals covering the latest trends, technologies, and implications of AI in our industry. Give it a read to dive deeper into the future of adaptive and personalized learning.

🥡 Take away: While AI can be a useful tool in learning and development, it is important to be aware of its limitations and potential ethical implications..

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News Without Motives
1440 is a free daily newsletter helping 2M+ Americans stay informed—it’s news without motives, edited to be unbiased as humanly possible. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don’t have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and everything in between – in a five-minute read each morning, 100% free.
Sign Up Now!

Get smarter in 5 minutes with Morning Brew (it’s free)
There’s a reason over 4 million people start their day with Morning Brew – the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn’t have to be boring…make your mornings more enjoyable, for free.
Check it out!

Science for people who give a shit!
The critically-acclaimed and “refreshingly snarky” newsletter and podcast help you think deeply and act decisively about the world’s make or break science news, from climate to COVID, heat to hunger, and agriculture to AI ethics.
Subscribe for free

---

🎧 Podcasts

These are the conversations that caught my ear this week.

---

🧰 Tech, Tools & Tips

If tools are your jam, check out my new WorkSmarter newsletter

Get the official ChatGPT app for iOS.

Create graphic designs with the aid of an AI assistant.

Photomator is a powerful yet easy-to-use photo editor for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

Musi is a new music app that rivals Spotify.

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Employee Training Plan

Planning your training is the first factor that affects its success.

There are dozens of questions you ask yourself when you create a plan for the first time. What should you include in your training plan? How should you organize it? What should you start with?

Get started quickly and easily with this ready-made training plan template. It already has everything you need to lay out a proper foundation for your training. Just download it, fill it in with your specific info, and put it to use immediately.

---

🧳 Where’s Mike?

Learning & Marketing Conference
June 7-8
Online

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 by buying me a coffee.