Wrong month? Check out our latest list of free L&D webinars.

How can it be December? It feels like we’re in some kind of COVID-19 wormhole — and where it leads, we can’t be sure. What’s clear is that we’re navigating some interesting times, and it doesn’t hurt to pick up some extra skills and knowledge so we can meet the challenges head-on. Spending an hour with a free webinar might be a good place to start. Not only will you pick up some new ideas — you’ll have online L&D experts to keep you company if you’re working from home.

Tuesday, December 1, 2020, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Photoshop Magic Inside of PowerPoint
Discover how to create full-screen images for your slides using almost any photo you already have. Instead of wasting time searching for the perfect image, use these Photoshop magic tricks inside of PowerPoint to create it instead. This makes for great title slides, divider slides and content slides. While you can perform these tricks inside of Photoshop, it’s actually faster and easier to do inside of PowerPoint. This webinar, hosted by Taylor Croonquist, Founder, Chief Training Officer and PowerPoint Instructor at Nuts and Bolts Speed Training, will not only improve your speed and efficiency when working with images in PowerPoint, it’ll help you create more engaging slides for your presentations, guaranteed.

Tuesday, December 1, 2020, 10 a.m.–11 a.m. PT: Rethink LMS: How to Choose Your Next-Gen Learning Platform and Technology Partner
Out with LMS and in with Learning Platforms. For most organizations, the LMS is only one component of the learning and development tech stack, and only one piece of the entire employee experience. During this webinar, Matthew Brown, VP of Learning and Brand Success at Schoox, will explore:

• Why we need to think “Learning Platform” from here on out.

• The challenges learning teams face when using traditional learning management systems.

• Signs your technology partner may not be the right one.

• How to build a procurement plan that identifies business objectives, clarifies pain points and articulates benefits to stakeholders beyond L&D.

Tuesday, December 1, 2020, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Proving the Value of Soft Skills Training
Soft skills programs should perform and deliver results just like other learning programs. Professionals involved must be prepared to step up to the challenge of showing the value of major programs and initiatives, not only when impact and ROI are requested, but ideally before the request is made. Five levels of outcomes exist, which represents a chain of value: reaction, learning, application, impact and ROI. The challenge is to decide which programs are evaluated at impact and ROI. ROI Institute’s Chairman, Jack Phillips, PhD, and CEO, Patti Phillips, PhD, are joined by Rebecca L. Ray, PhD, Executive Vice President of Human Capital, to present an easy-to-understand interactive session to provide useful and practical tools to measure the business value of soft skills programs and how to calculate the ROI. 

Tuesday, December 1, 2020, 3 p.m.–4 p.m. PT: Member Showcase: Miggy Baranda
Designing learning that works. That’s what Miguel “Miggy” Baranda’s mission for the last ten years has been. Originally a special-needs and English teacher, Miggy transitioned to L&D in 2014 and hasn’t looked back. Having collaborated with colleagues in New Zealand, Australia, Asia and Europe, he loves maximizing tools, resources and talents that gets the work done, makes learners grow and clients happy. Tune into this webinar and meet Miggy in this Member Showcase.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Five Secrets to Revolutionizing Your Digital Workplace
Most employees prefer the flexibility and autonomy they get from working remotely. Companies are also realizing the benefits of a remote workforce. They’re no longer restricted to talent within their own cities and are no longer confined to their offices as long as they build a resilient, cohesive technology ecosystem and company culture to support this shift. Technological advancements are making this digital workplace possible and social activism is driving it to reality, but what are the weakest areas of Digital Transformation and how do we overcome them? In this webinar, Mark Lagemann, Chief High Five Officer and Video Evangelist at Panopto, will tackle the toughest challenges in achieving digital workplace success. He’ll also share practical solutions to shape the digital workplace of the future.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Your People Want More: Why Building a Continuous Learning Culture Is No Longer an Option (Free for ATD members)
If you’re still measuring training success as a series of completions and checkmarks, it’s time to think differently. The competition for top talent is tighter than ever, and the best of the best are looking for opportunities to continuously grow and improve their skills. The key to developing a learning culture is to curate, surface and build experiences that reward continuous learning and supplement formal training with curiosity and knowledge networks. Continuous learning’s about practice and measurable progress. It’s never about perfection or completion. During this webinar with Dave Romero, President of Unboxed Training & Technology, you’ll learn how to develop the continuous learning culture your people want.

Thursday, December 3, 2020, 8 a.m.–9 a.m. PT: Take Your Elearning Interactions to the Next Level with Advanced Actions and Variables in Adobe Captivate
If you’ve been creating elearning interactions using the simple actions in Adobe Captivate, now’s the time to upgrade your skills and start using advanced actions and variables to build custom interactions. Join Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Lead Elearning Evangelist at Adobe Digital Learning Solutions, to learn how to build custom interactions and interaction elements using standard actions, conditions, variables and shared actions. Along the way, learn about her favourite workflows and shortcuts to build interactions easily and quickly.

Thursday, December 3, 2020, 10:00 a.m.–10:45 a.m. PT: Remote Work, Rising Stress, and the Critical Need for Connection (Free for ATD members)
Greater remote work and rising stress make the need for human connection urgent. Connection protects the emotional and physical health of individuals and boosts their performance. In this webinar, Connection Culture Group’s President and Co-Founder, Michael Stallard and Partner, Katie Stallard, will explain:

• How human connection affects your emotional and physical health, and your performance.

• How to assess your current level of connection.

• A simple, memorable and actionable model to create a culture of connection.

• Practices to tap into the power of human connection that will help you and your organization thrive.

Thursday, December 3, 2020, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Tools and Techniques to Break Through Sales and Marketing Silos
Companies have experienced huge changes in how they execute on business objectives this year. If you’re in sales or marketing, you may feel like you’re running twice as hard to get half as far, but are you running in the right direction? At many organizations, sales and marketing have traditionally had an unfriendly relationship. Neither team believes the other understands their needs or priorities. To help you bridge the sales and marketing gap in today’s uncertain climate, Allego’s Chief Revenue Officer, George Donovan, and Chief Marketing Officer, Wayne St. Amand, will discuss how they work toward common goals and how they’ve overcome challenges.

Friday, December 4, 2020, 10 a.m.–11 a.m. PT: Higher Ed: Lighten Up! Fostering Levity and Connection in Virtual Events (Free for ATD members)
These days, meeting online is the only option, but how can you help people feel connected to each other? Shannon Krajewski, Professional Development Coordinator at LA Pierce College; Brian Moe, Instructor at LA Pierce College; and Erin Strider, Senior Project Manager at ATD, will explore some ideas for how to bring levity to your regular meetings, as well as create online events that will help you make personal connections with colleagues. Bring your ideas and success stories, too, as there will be time for sharing with the group. Less a presentation about and more of an experience of, this will be a webinar you won’t want to miss.

Tuesday, December 8, 2020, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: The Future of Training Revealed
Be in-the-know on fading practices, latest trends and the future of training. Join Becky Pike Pluth, President and CEO of The Bob Pike Group, and be part of the conversation on how to embrace changes in the training industry and not be left behind. Explore where we’ve come from, what stopped working, and what needs to happen next to meet the rapidly changing demands businesses like yours will face. You’ll learn new and future trends in training, discover how technology’s disrupting the training function, and compare old and new tips for the training function.

Tuesday, December 8, 2020, 10 a.m.–11 a.m. PT: Create Long-lasting Customer Relationships with Extended Enterprise Learning
Organizations live and die by their customer experience. Wouldn’t it make sense to leverage the skills, content and technology your company’s using to create world-class learning experiences for employees to do the same for your customers? Join David Wentworth, Principal Analyst at Brandon Hall Group, and Mac Mirchandani, General Manager and VP, Product Management with Acendre, as they discuss the market demands and trends for leveraging Extended Enterprise Learning, including:

• Ways to leverage extended enterprise learning to improve customer relationships.

• Challenges presented by extended enterprise environments.

• The role of technology.

• Real world examples.

Wednesday, December 9, 2020, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Accessible and Inclusive: Elearning for Everyone in 2021
No instructional designer ever sets out to purposely create barriers to learning, but we all see the world through our own lens and that means we may be innocently excluding important groups of learners. Take a step back and shine a light on hidden assumptions and biases that could make your learning less inclusive, and therefore, less effective. This session, hosted by Chris Willis, Director of Product Content at Elearning Brothers, will give you what you need to get you well on your way. You’ll explore:

• The meaning of accessibility and inclusion in the context of elearning.

• Three principles of inclusive design.

• Six strategies for designing a more effective learning experience for everyone.

Wednesday, December 9, 2020, 10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. PT: Future-Proof your L&D career: Build Your 2021 Gameplan (Free for IPL members)
As organizations put increasing demands for the effectiveness and value of learning programs, the skills of the learning professional need to change as well. Learning professionals, whether in-house L&D teams or consultants, trainers or coaches, need to be able to design and develop programs that deliver measurable organizational change and impact.

If you’re a learning professional, consultant, coach or trainer looking to stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly changing learning industry, you’ll want to join Actionable.co’s Founder and CEO, Chris Taylor, and Head of Learning Strategy, Alyssa Burkus, for this webinar to understand the trends and influences shaping our world, and how to evolve your skills in order to stay competitive and deliver compelling learning solutions.

Wednesday, December 9, 2020, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: The Hard Side of Soft Skills
Learning practitioners seldom receive requests to help organizations teach programming skills or learn how to repair computers. On the other hand, it’s likely that hardly a day goes by without a request from someone to help put together a leadership training or to help a team become better communicators. In this session, Dr. Tom Tonkin, Senior Principal of Strategy and Value Services at Cornerstone, will discuss the similarity and differences between learning hard skills and learning soft skills. Concrete and operational definitions will unveil the mystery behind these two learning outcomes. The use of examples and case studies will clarify these positions.

Thursday, December 10, 2020, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Seven Strategies for Adding Value and Making a Difference in Turbulent Times

The impact of the COVID-19 Crisis is changing the world as we know it. It’s not the situation that counts as much as how we respond to the situation. In this webinar, Bob Pike, Founder of Training and Performance Forum, will share:

• What he’s learned from previous meltdowns.

• The one most important choice we must make.

• The importance of focus and clarity.

• The top three things we can do in the midst of this crisis to be better and stronger both now and in the future.

• Seven strategies for adding value and making a difference.

Thursday, December 10, 2020, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Coaching and Training a High-Performance Sales Team
Many sales professional’s world were turned upside down. Field salespeople that had spent years honing their face-to-face selling skills were now charged with learning how to prospect and sell in a world gone virtual. Inside salespeople were experiencing deal slippage and frozen budgets, and often, sales managers are not equipped to teach their sales team the complete set of skills needed to adapt and succeed in this new selling environment. Join Colleen Stanley, Founder and President of SalesLeadership, as she shares thought provoking insights on how to integrate consultative selling skills and emotional intelligence skills into your sales and leadership processes to bridge the knowing, doing and succeeding gap.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020, 10 a.m.–11 a.m. PT: Mastering Resilience (Free for ATD members)
The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, social unrest, economic upheaval and political uncertainty have left us under siege on multiple levels. Everyone’s being called, in one form or another, to take the role of first responder. The job of a first responder starts with assessing the current state, then follows with swift and immediate actions to mitigate and restabilize. The problem is that when you’re simultaneously responding to multiple calls to action, resources get depleted. How do you ensure that you, as first responder, are managing of your own resources and capacity to survive and thrive through these times? Join Barbara Mintzer-McMahon, President of Center for Transitional Management, to explore and experience what is necessary to master resilience.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020, 9 a.m.–10 a.m. PT: Creating Your Micro-Credentialing Strategy
Organizations have long since recognized that there’s a skills gap that needs to be addressed to remain competitive. With so many options for employee engagement, upskilling and professional development rapidly changing from day-to-day, where does one even begin? In this webinar, Amber West, Instructional Designer for D2L, will share best practices for setting up your own micro-credentialing strategy, discuss how to motivate your audience, and the differences between micro-credentialing, gamification and badging, as well as the benefits of each.

Thursday, December 17, 2020, 8 a.m.–9 a.m. PT: Beyond the New Normal: Manager Training During and After the Pandemic (Free for ATD members)
How has the pandemic impacted manager development efforts within organizations? How are organizations preparing managers for the future of work? Join Tony Anticole, Founder and Principal of Varna Group LLC, as he shares key findings from a survey of learning and development leaders about the state of manager development and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. You’ll learn:

• How the pandemic has impacted both the volume and format of manager development programs within organizations.

• What learning and development leaders report are the most challenging aspects to deliver quality manager development during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• What elements are included in and most central to current manager development programs within organizations today.

• Why manager development programs need to prioritize behaviours that align to intrinsic motivators.

Thursday, December 17, 2020, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. PT: Converging Digital and Physical Learning (Free for ATD members)
How can learning and development professionals enhance the physical learning experience through digital technology? Join Kelly Rider, Chief Learning Officer at PTC, and Adrian LaSala, Field Comms and Digital Workplace Sr Manager at PTC, for this session to learn practical applications for using technology such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality to build workforce capabilities at scale in real time. Experience it for yourself with a hands-on example that will provide a glimpse into a new frontier of learning. You’ll learn use cases for emerging technologies to enhance traditional approaches to learning and development and hands-on application for using augmented reality for professional development.

Thursday, December 17, 2020, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. PT: Wake-Up the Great Storyteller in You — How to Persuade and Provoke Others
You would not be in training and learning design and delivery if you are not already a great storyteller. Inherent in storytelling is understanding the human mind and behaviour, but often, these great storyteller skills get lost. We get drowned with PowerPoints, Zoom, elearning, authoring tools, platforms, etc. We forget that at the heart of a trainer and learning expert lies the innate desire to persuade others with great stories. In this session, Ray Jimenez, PhD, Architect of TrainingMagNetwork.com and Chief Learning Officer of Vignettes Learning, will spark, ignite and rekindle that great storyteller in you by sharing techniques and exercises to boost your abilities to tell stories and persuade others. You’ll be refreshed and inspired once you reconnect with that great storyteller in you.

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