ATD Accidental Trainer

Impassioned speaker and author of Leading Imperfectly , James Robilotta, shares how tapping into the power of curiosity can transform communities. James breaks down his framework for cultivating curiosity and reveals how starting with better questions will lead you to more authentic connection and loyalty at work and in your personal life. Tune in for more advice on disrupting your patterns with o...

Lauren Weinstein, co-author of The Empowered Job Search and the Career Discovery & Enablement Lead at Microsoft, is on the podcast this week to discuss the complexities of job changes and career development. Sharing her personal story of being laid off, Lauren offers advice for those transitioning between roles, companies, and industry fields.  A job change, whether intentional or unplanned, can b...

Ev idence -informed learning designer and educational technology specialist , Nidhi Sachdeva, breaks down the dangers of conflating neurodivergence and learning styles. Discussing Dual Coding Theory, Cognitive Theory, and Information Processing Theory, Nidhi explains the science behind how people learn and what trainers often get wrong .   While discussing the myth of learning styles, Nidhi shares...

Julie Dirksen is a learning strategist and author of the recently released book, Talk to the Elephant . She joins the podcast to chat about designing learning for behavior change. We discuss several topics from her book, including the COM-B behavior model, and how to map it to your behavior change interventions. Julie reveals the biggest barriers to behavior change – like motivation, competing pri...

Danielle Wallace, Chief Learning Strategist of Beyond the Sky, joins the podcast to share her passion for learner personas in L&D. Listen to her explanation of what learner personas are, the "do's and dont's" of building learner personas, and the ways you can use personas in training.  Meet some of Danielle's favorite learner personas as she discusses how you can build personas through holistic da...

Belo Miguel Cipriani, digital inclusion strategist and founder of Oleb Media, joins the podcast to help us rethink accessibility. Learn how to overcome the intimidation factor of accessibility and engage in active digital inclusivity with Belo's empowering recommendations.     Belo shares his personal experience living with a disability and addresses the overwhelming learning curve of accessibilit...

David Dylan Thomas, Founder and CEO of David Dylan Thomas LLC and author of Design for Cognitive Bias , joins the podcast to share how L&D professionals can harness cognitive bias in their work. David reveals common cognitive biases, such as confirmation bias, illusion of control, loss aversion bias, and consistency bias, and provides strategies to influence your stakeholders with these in mind. W...

Mallory Flynn, Content Manager of Organizational and Career Development at ATD, joins the podcast to discuss the latest projects she's been working on. Mallory shares what it was like to work behind the scenes on the newly released, ATD's Organization Development Handbook, and how the book was specifically created to support L&D professionals navigate OD from an L&D lens. She also shares how the O...

Louise Hendey, CEO of Erickson Coaching International, joins the podcast to discuss how a coaching mindset can build critical skills and resiliency in the workplace. She shares common ways organizations leverage coaching, including leadership development, team collaboration, and innovation.   Louise also describes the interconnected role that social connections and psychological safety play in bui...

Kris Newbauer, Chief People Officer and Head of People and Talent at Rotary International and author of Aligning Instructional Design with Business Goals , breaks down his eight-step framework that TD professionals can apply to strategically identify business needs, define success, and design curriculum with evaluation in mind.    Resources: ·        Kris' new book: Aligning Instructional Design w...

Markus Bernhardt, Chief Consultant for Endeavor Intelligence Insights, is an AI and digital transformation strategist. He joins the podcast to help us set realistic expectations about AI. He breaks down how large language models are built and explains why hallucinations in AI tools like Chat GPT will continue to occur. He also reveals how L&D professionals can leverage a deeper understanding of ge...

Destery Hildenbrand, XR Solution Architect at Intellezy, joins the podcast to discuss extended reality (XR), and its evolving role in L&D. Destery defines XR, AR, VR, and MR with a quick "reality check". He shares his impressions of the Apple Vision Pro product announcement and the implications new immersive technologies like this may have for L&D, workplaces, and our everyday lives.   Resources:...

Annie Murphy Paul, author of The Extended Mind , joins the podcast to discuss the benefits of thinking outside of the brain. Our conversation explores how to enhance our thinking abilities by harnessing the power of our bodies, our environments, and the people around us.     Resources: AMP's Twitter: https://twitter.com/anniemurphypaul AMP's Website: https://anniemurphypaul.com/ The Science of Cre...

Bryant Galindo, founder of CollabsHQ and a workplace mediator and executive coach, joins the podcast to discuss conflict resolution tools every modern learner should know. Bryant defines mediation and highlights the similarities and differences between coaching and mediation. Bryant shares communication techniques to create more productive dialogues. We also discuss navigating stress, strategies t...

Anastasia Deduykhina, founder of Consciously Digital, joins the podcast to discuss digital wellbeing. Anastasia shares how digital transformation is impacting key workplace skills, including learning, memory, active listening, and critical thinking. She provides suggestions to regain focus, reduce stress, create boundaries with digital devices, and reconnect with our bodies. Resources: Anastasia o...

Amanda Smith, Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer at the City of Alexandria, joins the podcast to discuss her approach to innovation in the government sector. Amanda shares her four-pillar approach to creating a culture that cultivates innovation and provides examples of how to rethink your strategy for leadership, workforce, processes, and partnerships.    Resources: ·        Amanda Smith on Lin...

Lenny Grinberg, Director of Business Development and Account Management at RWS, joins the podcast to discuss why localization matters. He shares the differences between translation and localization and reveals the biggest mistake content creators make when it comes to translating content. Lenny offers his perspective on the potential risks and benefits of free translation tools and how L&D profess...

In this episode, Stella Lee, chief learning strategist at Paradox Learning, shares her take on the current landscape of AI. Stella provides strategic questions everyone should be asking as they evaluate AI and its evolving role in L&D and the future of work, predicts how L&D roles will change, and gives recommendations to navigate the AI revolution happening all over the world. Resources: Stella o...

Megan Torrance, CEO and founder of TorranceLearning , joins the podcast to share how to get started with data and analytics.   Megan provides a framework for talent development professionals to archive, analyze, and act on workplace learning data, whether you are a beginner or a long-time data user.   Resources: Megan's new book: Data and Analytics for Instructional Designers Megan on LinkedIn: ht...

Luke Hobson, Senior Instructional Designer and Program Manager at MIT xPRO, joins the podcast to share the value of blogging and why talent development professionals should leverage it in their work. He describes how blogging can help repackage content and how to implement it in organizations today. We also discuss the active learning benefits of writing a blog, and how to build both your personal...

Betty Dannewitz, founder of ifyouaskbetty and immersive experience designer at Ken Blanchard Companies, joins us to discuss imposter syndrome. She shares her own personal experience and research on the topic as we chat about why it happens, the way it manifests, and strategies to defeat your "imposter monster". Betty also shares a variety of resources to diver deeper if you want to learn more abou...

Tanya Boyd, Learning Experience Architect at Insights, joins the podcast to share the power of activating awareness. By developing this skill, Tanya shows how we can achieve our goals and unlock future outcomes with more efficiency and effectiveness. She defines various types of awareness and examples of each, how they work together, and the role of awareness in our digital world today. She also p...

Under the Hood of Chat GPT with Myra Roldan Myra Roldan is a talented technologist, TEDx speaker, and go-to expert on new and emerging technologies. She joins the podcast to discuss new AI tools on the market and what to know about the generative AI chatbot everyone is talking about: Chat GPT. Myra defines AI and Chat GPT and provides various AI tools and use cases that can enhance your L&D workfl...

Monique Russell, founder of Clear Communication Solutions, joins the podcast to discuss how to cultivate your public speaking skills. She shares her public speaking framework and its interconnected relationship with emotional intelligence. Monique reveals techniques to enhance any conversation or speaking opportunity – including influencing stakeholders and sponsors, communicating the value of you...

Cindy Huggett, virtual training expert and consultant, joins us on the podcast to discuss the evolving role of virtual trainers to learning experience facilitators. We chat about the mindset shift all trainers and facilitators need to make, how to reframe your relationship with technology, and various strategies to enhance your facilitation skills, no matter what learning environment you use.   Re...