The How To Learn Podcast
Episodes
So you think Learning Design is simple
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 la...
Desirable Difficulties
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
Perfectionists Anonymous
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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. Her...
Switching Off: A Few Tips
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Making lists, observing rituals and transitions, putting on different clothes.. these are not just things that happen across Christmas and the New Yea...
Letting Go
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Reading the Room
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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'...
The Dark Side of Learning
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 thi...
Nine Skills from One Chair
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chairing meetings is a learning superfood! In this quickfire How To Learn mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan identify nine skills you can develop throu...
Random but Valid: How We Actually Learn
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever picked up a random dog-eared, second-hand book on holiday.. and learned something? Ever picked up a surprising amount of knowledge without actual...
Things That Should Work.. But Don't
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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? ...
You Are What You Scroll
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
Asking Questions: A Life Skill
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Learning through Explaining (the Protégé Effect)
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 k...
Three Tips for a New Job
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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 w...
A Skill We Need to Talk About
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Learning? Later
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 othe...
Meetings and Presentations: The Messy Art of Improving Your Impact
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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 in...
Are You a High-Training Manager?
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new study shows the difference that managers can make in encouraging their staff to pick up training opportunities. 'High-training managers' see up ...
Don't hit the ground running!
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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: ...
Colleagues: Intimidating or Inspiring?
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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") ...
Safe Space or Toxic Workplace?
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Thinking about your workplace: do team members feel able to admit mistakes? Do you feel comfortable asking questions, and expressing incomplete ideas?...
The Surprising Power of Learning Buddies
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 le...
Do You Have an Apprenticeship Mindset?
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The medieval apprenticeship model was a superb piece of learning design. Unfortunately a seven year skills programme is a hard sell in the modern work...
Smart Networking at Big Events
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Networking is an important part of learning - and even introverts can be brilliant at it! In this two-minute special from the floor of a buzzing exhib...
Can You Concentrate for 8 Seconds?
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The human brain is wired for distraction. We're always scanning, processing and deciding on trivial things.. from noises outside the window, to WhatsA...
Why We Hold Ourselves Back
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Part of learning is putting ourselves forward for new things: for new projects, for interesting experiments, for more responsibility, for stuff that l...
Let's Invent New Laws on Learning
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this four-minute mini-podcast Thembi and Jonathan decide to pass some new legislation, and to enforce it immediately. So please get ready to comply...
Feedback: The Guinea Pig Technique
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How can we use small fluffy animals to get valuable feedback? In this 5-minute mini-podcast we look at two tricky issues: how can you persuade peopl...
Imitation and Sweet Potatoes
27 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this mini-podcast, Thembi and Jonathan talk about learning through imitation: - why copying people at work is a good thing - why we should worry ab...
Snack, Observe and Dive In!
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do we actually learn? Thembi and Jonathan abandon the theory and talk about how they actually learn, in real life: through 'snacking' on learning ...
We Need Shorter Hours
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we insist on using 60 minutes as a standard unit of learning? Jonathan has looked into Babylonian astronomy and decided that basically hours ar...
The Discomfort Zone
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this mini-podcast, Thembi talks about being a panellist at a big event - and how you can use the 'discomfort zone' to learn new skills and push you...
The Book at the Bottom of the Bag
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In "The Book at the Bottom of the Bag", Thembi and Jonathan discuss: 🎇 the classic problem of not quite getting round to reading that improving bo...
The Mixed Gift of Feedback
18 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you hate getting feedback? Do you love it? Do you see it as a useful developmental tool? Possibly all of the above? This episode looks at.. The Mi...
Cascading the Learning
18 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fact #1: one of the best ways to consolidate the learning you've gained at a course, conference or event is to come back and share it with your team. ...
Red Flags
17 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Red Flags, Thembi and Jonathan take five minutes to discuss.. 🎆 when you should be wary of learning - what are the tell-tale signs that somethi...
Smart Shadowing
17 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Does shadowing actually work? In this podcast: 🎆 Jonathan is a bit down on the traditional 'sit quietly and watch' model of shadowing 🎆 Thembi...
Mentors and Mini Mentors
17 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Does "finding a mentor" sound a bit intimidating? In this podcast, Thembi and Jonathan talk about different types of mentoring - and how you can bene...
The Matrix Problem
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can we download a new skill in ten seconds? If not, why are we pretending that we can? Too much learning seems to be based on how Trinity learns to fl...