The How To Learn Podcast

In this mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan look at deeper interview skills, and share some tips from having been on both sides of the table. This isn't about generic interview tips - dress smartly, turn up on time, research the organisation etc - valid as they all are - this is about conversational skills, storytelling, double-loop examples and the tedious inevitability of practice. Remember there'...

Who could be against creativity, or collaboration? But put them together - in the learning design world, for example - and sparks can fly. In this mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan explore how to 'plan for the pain'. How should we contract up front, how should we manage collaboration overload, do we need a conductor, and does the relay race ever finish? Happy collaborating..

We pull back the curtain on what it truly takes to be a learning designer. Spoiler alert: it goes way beyond building your beautiful course. In the latest How to Learn mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan explore the idea of the super-being learning designer. The truth is, great learning design means nothing if you can't bring people along the journey with you. Most learning design job descriptions m...

"No pain, no gain." In this mini-podcast Thembi and Jonathan explore the decisions we're all having to make about our learning muscles: which ones are allowed to get a bit flabby? Do we embrace 'desirable difficulties' and take the tougher - but more effective - route to learning via repeated and varied practice, thinking hard, and testing ourselves? Or should we relax, offload the cognitive effor...

Are you a self-confessed perfectionist.. or maybe a chronic procrastinator.. or not ready to admit it quite yet? Well, we all have the tendencies. Here are some tips to help. In their latest How to Learn mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan look at the cost of perfectionism - 'it's not a quirky character trait, it's a barrier to learning' - and share four tips on how to share something that isn't qui...

Making lists, observing rituals and transitions, putting on different clothes.. these are not just things that happen across Christmas and the New Year, but excellent techniques for switching off in general. Thembi and Jonathan finish the How To Learn podcast for 2025 with advice which is probably way too late: don't wait for holiday periods to switch off, you need to practise it all the time! Tha...

What are you holding onto.. that's actually holding you back? In this mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan look around the workplace at where people need to 'let go'. You might need to delegate a favourite project.. give up your comfort way of doing things.. or leave behind the luxury of the 'junior mindset' where you know somebody else will sort it out. As Thembi says, 'it's not a personality flaw,...

In this mini-podcast Thembi and Jonathan take 5 minutes to talk about a complex skill: 'reading the room'. Which can also mean 'reading the workplace' or even 'reading the interview panel'. Can we really trust ourselves to pick up social cues and group dynamics, in the moment, with accuracy? Maybe give yourself a better chance by i) understanding and mistrusting your own bias, and then ii) concent...

Have you noticed how bad habits, sloppy short cuts and toxic workplace cultures can get under your skin? - and even become part of who you are? In this How To Learn mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan discuss The Dark Side of Learning. Ultimately, the most powerful mechanisms of learning such as repetition and imitation are entirely neutral. They don't care whether you're learning something good or...

Chairing meetings is a learning superfood! In this quickfire How To Learn mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan identify nine skills you can develop through the process of chairing meetings: from time management to tech, from body language to diplomacy. So don't see it as a chore to avoid, see it as a way of building valuable skills.. and a way of helping your colleagues not to waste their time in the...

Ever picked up a random dog-eared, second-hand book on holiday.. and learned something? Ever picked up a surprising amount of knowledge without actually noticing how you did it? From double-glazing sales techniques, to life tips for avoiding airport stress, to mastering the London Underground, and to Emotional Bank Accounts - Thembi and Jonathan share some stories of random learning and argue that...

Do you feel slightly guilty that you're not making full use of all the amazing self-management, personal organisation and efficiency hacks out there? In this episode, Thembi and Jonathan look at the need to learn what actually works for you - and what doesn't! Prompts and notifications, colour-coding, post-its, reminders, notebooks and auto-prompts all come under the sceptical microscope of How To...

They're inside your head.. and they're using the most powerful techniques to make you remember and learn. But do you want your most effective tutors to be the algorithms of your favourite social media? In this mini-podcast Thembi and Jonathan look at the role of scrolling behaviour - and more generally, the role of habits - in creating learning. How can we be more intentional about our habits? How...

We believe there is an important life skill called 'the willingness to ask questions'. But what does skilful question-asking look like, and can we get better at it? In this mini-podcast Thembi and Jonathan discuss: - why we shouldn't stop asking 'stupid' questions: certainly not when we're still new, and actually not when we're more experienced, either - the need to pick your person, pick your mom...

It might feel like a boring chore to take notes at an event, or to 'cascade' some learning back to colleagues. or even to explain something that you know - or think you know. But in this 5-minute mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan talk about the known 'Protégé Effect' - basically how teaching or explaining something helps you to learn it better. It can also add to your visibility in an organisation...

"Learning on the job" starts on Day 1. Here are three tips from Thembi and Jonathan: - avoid the experts! (or rather: find somebody who can remember what is was like NOT to know what they were doing..) - be curious: start volunteering for stuff beyond your role - remember you need to induct THEM to YOU It's also never too early to work out the skills you will need further down the line.

In this 5-minute mini-podcast, Thembi brings up a skill which is often neglected: conversation. We talk all the time, but how often do we think about it, consciously, as a skill which can be improved? From active listening to building rapport, conversational skills are crucial for our working and social lives. Thembi talks about 'How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks' by Leil Lowndes as a way in...

A cheerful mini-rant about good intentions and bad habits. Why do we trip up our own learning with procrastination, poor planning, bad filing and other habits? Or maybe it's just Jonathan? Plus a bonus moan on how the route to free content is strewn with annoying extras and roadblocks. Rant along with How To Learn..!

"You can tell when you're reading from the notes." In this 5-minute mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan chat about office skills, and plunge straight into two examples: how to facilitate meetings, and how to deliver presentations. How did they actually get better over time? (assuming they did) The episode covers: - the role of observation, copying and practice - using an emotional reaction to things...

A new study shows the difference that managers can make in encouraging their staff to pick up training opportunities. 'High-training managers' see up to 50% more participation - with benefits for performance and productivity. In this mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan discuss: - the link to leadership potential: are 'high-training managers' the leaders of the future? - what to do if you've got a di...

We're all tempted to rush into a new job or project, to show that we can 'hit the ground running'.. but in this mini-podcast Thembi and Jonathan say: Please don't. Much better approach: - take your time, you have to crawl before you can walk (let alone run) - be kind to yourself, it's ok not to know things - don't abandon your induction halfway - keep an induction mindset, and never stop asking qu...

We have a disagreement in this podcast: when you see a colleague demonstrate a real skill, is it intimidating ("oh wow, I don't know how to do that") or is it inspiring ("oh wow, show me how")? Either way, we think we should definitely learn more from others in the workplace. The discussion also covers: - are we losing random workplace learning? - how can we be more curious, and more grateful?  Pl...

Thinking about your workplace: do team members feel able to admit mistakes? Do you feel comfortable asking questions, and expressing incomplete ideas? Or do you find yourself avoiding situations, questioning your own capability, and feeling demotivated or stressed? How you feel in the workplace is a major factor in how (and whether) you learn and develop. In this mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan...

Don't bother blocking out time for learning.. just find a learning buddy instead! In this episode, Thembi and Jonathan talk about how they used the learning buddy system to finally get round to reading a book (Julie Dirksen's Design for How People Learn). In the end, we feel more accountable to other people than to our Outlook or Google Calendars. Let's use that power!

The medieval apprenticeship model was a superb piece of learning design. Unfortunately a seven year skills programme is a hard sell in the modern workplace :) But you can still use the apprenticeship model for your own benefit, even if you're not technically an apprentice, and even if you don't aspire to become a master violin-maker in Bavaria. In this mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan offer a qui...