“I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change.” — Jim Rohn

Many of us in the Learning & Development world are challenged by small or non-existing budgets. Fortunately, there are a ton of great resources and tools available to help even the most budget-challenged among us. I’m excited to be part of next week’s Elearning Guild online event, “Get the Best Free Tools to Make Great eLearning” on Wednesday, January 30. It is a full day of great e-learning pros sharing their top tips and recommendations for free tools. Come on over and join me, Tracy Parrish, Karl Richter and Deanna SSSS fun-filled day of toolkit filling freebies!

Filter Failure is a Human Failure

Harold Jarche (@hjarche) reminds us that if in a digital world “..our filters become our eyes and ears.” And that we should strive for connections to “… trusted communities that have the cognitive diversity we need to make important decisions.”

First Impressions Matter: How Designers Can Support Humans’ Automatic Cognitive Processing

In short, looks matter. This article by Therese Fessenden (@TBFessenden )from the Nielsen Norman group tells us how our first visceral reaction to a site’s design influences our perception of relevance, credibility, and even usability. Better design equals better products.

How to Write Your Reports in PowerPoint Instead of Word: Nine Tips for Getting Started

PowerPoint is worth your consideration for certain types of documents. Yes, that’s right. I said documents.

Nice Visscher (@nickvsppt) shares some tips for getting started. (It is super easy.)

Still not sold? Bet you’ll change your mind after you see this beautiful SlideDoc from Duarte (@duarte) They’ve even got some free templates for you.

This great news for everyone in our house. “…reading is better at reducing stress levels than listening to music or drinking a cup of tea. The theory behind this is that reading absorbs the mind in a different world that allows people to escape their anxiety. Reading a newspaper might not have the same effect though because many stories can add further stress.” via Barbara Oakley’s (@barbaraoakley) Cheery Friday Emails

Marketing 101 for Org Learning

Mark Britz (@britz) says there are a lot of good things from marketing that L&D can take advantage of and the most important is “..going to where the attention is.”

Learning, Design & Technology Miscellany

A few other things just because I can.

Conference News

Speaker Proposals:

Design Resources

Apps & Tools

Books/Courses/Talks/Podcasts

Thanks for reading! If you found anything good, forward it to a friend or

You can find me at these UPCOMING EVENTS:

• February 5-7 ATD TechKnowledge, West Palm Beach, FL
• February 13-14 Learning Technologies, London, UK
• March 24-26: Learning Solutions, Orlando, FL
• June 14: PowerPoint: The Digital Design Super Powers You
  Never Knew, Cleveland, OH
• June 17-18: Learning Tech Day, Gent, Belgium

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I’m looking for great people and organizations who want to help people learn and work better. If you’re one of them, let’s talk!  Speaking and Workshop Information Sheet.