The BLOC Podcast

In this episode, I talk to Sabina Sulat about her amazing book Agile Unemployment ( https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Unemployment-Guide-Thriving-While/dp/1737718332 ) and what it is like to be unemployed, how to take care of yourself, and how to focus your search for the next step in your career journey.  Sabina is a graduate of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. While in school, she studied p...

In this episode, I chat with Chris Young about the changing economy and its impact on L&D, what L&D hiring managers are looking for, and about BS words in L&D. :) Chris Young serves as the director of Workforce Development, a section of the Human Resources Division at the Texas Department of Transportation. Chris began his career in the U.S. Army.  After the Army and then undergraduate...

In this episode, I talk to Roberta Dombrowski, VP of User Research, about how to encourage a culture of learning in your organization and what mindfulness in the workplace looks like. Roberta Dombrowski, MS is the VP, UXR at User Interviews, a research recruitment platform aimed at helping teams discover and embrace user insights. Roberta previously led product research at Year Up, edX, and Plural...

On this Q&A episode of the BLOC, I answer (from my experience and opinion) the following questions: I want to get into an L&D career - what should I do? (or some form of this) What is the best way to tell someone, "Uh, no dude, that is not MY job, that is YOUR job"? I have a new learning program that I am trying to launch, and I just can’t get buy-in past my own boss. What can I...

In this episode, we talk about instructional design interviews. What are the common questions that are asked? What are those questions trying to get at? In this episode, I reference Nyla Spooner's "I'm New Here" podcast, which you can check out here: https://anchor.fm/nylalxd . I also reference Episode 3 of the BLOC with LaToya Smith, which you can find here: https://www.buzzsp...

In this episode, I talked to Sarah Cannistra about L&D Leadership. Sarah Cannistra is an L&D career coach and modern learning leader and consultant. Through her company, The Overnight Trainer, Sarah helps people looking to transition into an L&D career, as well as L&D leaders looking to grow their strategic learning mindset. She draws on over 10+ years experience in corporate L&amp...

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Julia Huprich, Editor-in-Chief of Learning Science Weekly, about how we can avoid L&D fads or trends and focus on what really matters in the field.  Julia Huprich is the Vice President of Learning Science at Intellum, where she leads the initiative to establish evidence-based practices in corporate learning and customer education that drive real-world results. Sh...

In this episode, I talk to Mark Hoffman about user experience (UX) design, which is closely tied to learning design and why Mark, an instructional designer, has decided to take this career side step. Mark is an educator and learning development professional who began his career as a high school social studies teacher and happily landed in the career of instructional design. Mark has a passion for...

In this solo episode, I talk about a couple of ways we can add value to our organization as an L&D department - by collaborating with our SMEs and stakeholders so that they understand the time and effort it takes to create learning experiences and by innovating and using a variety of tools to create learning experiences quickly and efficiently. I mention the wonderful 7taps tool in this podcas...

On this episode, Cara North is BACK! We chat about the recent videos she's published to her Unfiltered ID YouTube channel , FREE L&D organizations you can join, and how you can move into the field of L&D and why it's important to continue growing as an L&D professional.  Here are links to the FREE resources discussed in this podcast: Teaching: A Path to L&D ATD (Associati...

In this episode of the BLOC, I celebrate the 25th episode by playing the intro to every guest interview of the BLOC we've had so far.  In order of their appearance, you'll hear from: Eamonn Powers Dr. Luke Hobson LaToya Smith Jeremy Negrey Cara North Holly Owens Veronica Reed Alex Mitts Leslie Early Jenifer Johnson Sara Stevick Kate Udalova Dr. Dawn DiPeri Monique Danielle Matt Gjertsen...

In this episode, I chat with Margaret Boersma about emotional intelligence. Margaret Boersma, OCT is an educational consultant, trainer, speaker with proficiency in Emotional Intelligence. Her career in teaching, combined with her expertise in social/emotional learning allows her to assimilate the affective domain (people skills) in the context of a company’s goals. In the role of a catalyst, her...

In this episode, I talk to Jonah Goldstein about the cool projects he gets to work on at 360Learning, from the CLO Connect leadership interview series to programs for new leaders and ways to get everyone in the organization involved in learning. Jonah has worked in education, training and development for 20 years. From academic publishing, to education policy with the United Nations, and corporate...

In this episode, I talk to Matt Gjertsen of Better Every Day Studios about how he helps small companies scale great learning experiences and how learning for behavior change is better than throwing information at people any day of the week! Matt's journey into learning started as an Air Force Instructor Pilot where he also spent time teaching people to compete in half marathons and triathlons...

In this solo episode, I talk about how the learning and development function at an organization can help to contribute to employee engagement. We typically think of employee engagement in terms of how engaging our learning experiences are, but in this chat, I offer additionally ideas and ways to think about employee engagement. If you want more ideas for employee engagement events with varying pri...

In this episode, I talk to voiceover artist, Monique Danielle, on why you should hire professional voiceover artists for your learning projects whenever possible. She also shares tips for amateur voiceover for those moments when you have to record your own voiceover for learning projects. Monique Danielle is a friendly voiceover artist providing outstanding, vibrant voiceovers for eLearning projec...

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Dawn DiPeri about how she combines graphic and instructional design to run her co-owned small business, East End Advertising. She gives great tips on graphic design for new instructional designers! We even talk briefly about - gasp - COMIC SANS! Dawn DiPeri is a Learning Designer at Harvard University where she works in the AERID lab helping a team of researchers mig...

In this episode, I chat with Kate Udalova about her amazing new product, 7taps! We talk about how she came up with the idea, some of the great features, and a new 7taps course creation contest she is launching, which she announces for the very first time right here on our show!! Here is a link to the 7taps contest! Kate Udalova is the founder of 7taps Inc, a Florida-based edTech startup that allow...

In this solo episode, I briefly introduce the idea of empathic design to create a learner persona to best help learning and development professionals understand their learners' needs. First, I briefly explain the Empathic Framework created by Kouprie and Visser. Then, I introduce another form of empathic design, an Empathy Map that was first introduced to me by Connie Malamed but has since be...

In this solo episode, I give five basic tips for leveraging your LinkedIn profile as well as a couple of more advanced tips for LinkedIn users. I think LinkedIn is a powerful, professional social media platform that can be used for more than just finding a job! Connect with Heidi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiekirby/ or on my website: www.heidikirby.com To learn more and get more g...

In this episode, I chat with Sara Stevick, who is an instructional designer and the founder and president of Teaching: A Path to Learning & Development (TPLD) (formerly known asThe Next Step: Life After Teaching (TNSLAT)) , a volunteer organization who helps educators transition into instructional design career roles. We talk about why we are committed to helping new instructional designers es...

In this episode, I chat with my former manager, Jenifer Johnson, about organizational development (OD) (or, as I like to call it, instructional design's cousin) and how OD can transform your organization, improve performance, and engage employees. She also shares some tips for managing a virtual team and how to keep some of the work-from-home perks we currently enjoy after the pandemic is ove...

In this episode, I start by answering the question I ask all my guests, "Tell  me a little bit about your career path and how you got into L&D." Then, I reflect on this year and share one of my favorite resources to help you reflect on 2020 and set goals for 2021.  YearCompass offers a free booklet that I used last year and intend to use this year as well! Scroll down to "Downlo...

In this episode, Leslie and I talk about some of the controversial thoughts and ideas educators and IDs bring to the table: including pedagogy versus andragogy, where learning objectives belong, and the myth of learning styles. *Gasp* Leslie shares her perspective as both and educator and an instructional designer. Leslie Early is an instructional designer focused on developing engaging digital co...

In this episode, I talk to Alex Mitts about our shared undergraduate backgrounds in English Literature and our affinity for the arts and how that has shaped who we are as instructional designers. Alex gives advice to those who are looking to hone their craft and shares how "being obsessed" has helped him to transition from teaching to instructional design. Alex Mitts currently serves as...