The Mindtools L&D Podcast

388 — Public speaking in L&D

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Whether you're delivering workshops, speaking at conferences, presenting to senior leaders, or even hosting L&D's favorite podcast, public speaking ...

387 — Bringing spaced practice into workplace learning

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One-off learning interventions are frequently the 'go to' solution for workplace learning teams, but we know that spaced repetition and retrieval pra...

386 — How do we leverage AI for education?

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout the first few months of this year, we've been exploring artificial intelligence for L&D. In episode 377, Donald Taylor gave us the context...

385 — Building a modern learning ecosystem

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today's workplace is one where change is the norm. Learning is critical in this environment, but supporting learning isn't just about creating conte...

384 — What will be hot in workplace L&D in 2024?

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Taylor describes this year's Global Sentiment Survey as the 'unsurprising survey'. Predictably, artificial intelligence topped the table by so...

383 — Designing learning for the charity sector

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While there are often constraints in charity's learning budgets, it's actually this limitation that can point the way to more efficient and effective ...

382 — You don't have to talk to add value

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As experts, managers or leaders, we often seek to help others by talking, talking, talking. But what if we didn't talk and just listened? This week in...

381 — Are you a trusted learning advisor?

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We often hear that learning and development needs a 'seat at the table'. But how do we get there? How do we build credibility, tackle real issues, an...

380 — A holistic approach to workplace wellbeing

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What does an effective workplace wellbeing strategy look like? For some organizations, it's fruit boxes and staff discounts. For consultant and autho...

379 — How many Rosses does it take to adopt AI?

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial Intelligence (AI) generally and Large Language Models (LLMs) specifically have been all the rage over the past 12 months. Should you care?...

378 — Management development: Doing more with less

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jackie Kennedy is Learning and Development Lead at London Borough of Camden, where work contexts range from libraries and schools to waste management...

377 — AI in L&D: The State of Play

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, AI has seldom been out of the news. Such is the pace of change, it can feel difficult to keep up. But how ...

376 — Enhancing the employee experience

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How much thought does your organization give to the Employee Experience? And what tools can you use to enhance it? In this year's first episode of...

375 — Rockin' Around The ChatGPT

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's a wrap! In what is traditionally our 'least listened to' and 'most unhinged' episode of the year, we're celebrating the festive season with som...

BONUS — From the desk of 'The L&D Dispatch' newsletter

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hey listeners! Here's a fun stocking filler for you: Throughout this year, Rosses D and G have been writing The L&D Dispatch, a weekly newsletter from...

374 — VR for coaching and soft skills

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the past, we've always talked about Virtual Reality training in the context of skills that are expensive to learn or dangerous to practice. But L...

373 — What if L&D had a marketing strategy?

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ever launch a workshop that no one attended or an e-learning module that nobody accessed? It's surprisingly common: and one reason is that we're not...

372 — AI Conversations is changing how we practice power skills

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Historically, if you wanted to get better at having difficulty conversations, you had to take part in embarrassing roleplays or actual high-stakes co...

371 — Talk to the Elephant (cause the rider ain't listening)

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Instructional designer and author Julie Dirksen's first book, Design for How People Learn, is a core text here at Mind Tools Towers. So we couldn't ...

370 — Thriving during the menopause

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The menopause, a natural transition that women experience, is finally becoming an open discussion topic in more communities. Does this mean that women...

369 — A healthy dose of L&D

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Healthcare is a difficult environment to work in, where decisions literally mean life or death. Combine that pressure with diverse roles, shift-based...

368 — Employee wellbeing at scale

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In small organisations where everyone knows each other, it's possible to spot what individuals need and offer tailored health and wellbeing support.  ...

367 — Mastering multicultural facilitation

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In our globalised world, we work and learn with people from diverse cultures. How can we facilitate multicultural training, for instance, so that the ...

366 — Building online communities

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In organizations, learning-oriented 'online communities' often bring to mind empty forums and unused Yammer groups. But what does a vibrant community...

365 — L&D lessons from customer education

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Mind Tools L&D Podcast usually focuses on how L&D can help colleagues develop in their careers – but we're not the only industry with an inter...

364 — You have to work with IT. Can we make it easier?

02 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever found a learning technology that you were convinced was going to transform your organization, only to have your IT team act as a blocker...

363 — What the heck is Mind Tools?

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This year, at the ATD Conference in San Diego, friend-of-the-show Will Thalheimer asked Ross G what he was working on. Ross replied: 'Well, how much ...

362 — Using creativity in L&D

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Coaching usually takes a standard format: a series of conversations in which the coachee considers their goals, reflect on how they think and behave,...

361 — How do we measure productivity?

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Productivity is traditionally calculated with a simple division: total output / total input. Great for measuring widget production, not so much for ...

360 — Evidence-based leadership development

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What do we mean by 'evidence-based leadership development'? Development of evidence-based leaders? Or an evidence-based approach to leadership develo...

359 — Is it still safe to talk about EDI?

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Many organisations are accused of not doing enough to support marginalised groups. But even those who do try to make a difference often end up accuse...

358 — Hot take: Most employees aren't actually that interested in L&D

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, the Mind Tools and Emotion at Work teams ran a fringe event at the CIPD Festival of Work. At the event, we asked participants for t...

357 — L&D governance (the ultimate juggling act)

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do L&D leaders decide where to spend their time? Who gets access to their budget? How do we deal with those colleagues where we have to say: 'No, ...

356 — Embracing scenario-based learning

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Scenario-based learning takes learners beyond a short-term memory check, instead challenging them to respond to real-life situations. But how do we ...

355 — Who knew that online schools existed?

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the past, if you had difficulty thriving in a traditional school, your parents travelled a lot, or you were a child actor, you had the option to...

354 — A simple guide to delivering better presentations

25 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What makes a good presentation? When should and shouldn't you use a presentation to communicate your ideas? Why do most presentations suck? On this ...

353 — L&D insights from 20 years of data

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's been 20 years since the launch of the Learning Performance Benchmark: the industry-leading tool for measuring the health of the L&D profession. ...

352 — Supporting neuroinclusion at work

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cognitive diversity brings enormous benefits to teams. How can we proactively recruit and support people who are neurodivergent?   In this week's epi...

351 — Coaching for everyone! But how?

04 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Coaching, once the preserve of a privileged elite (ie: the leadership team), is increasingly seen as a useful tool that can help all of us perform be...

350 — How do you inspire others?

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do you consider yourself an inspiration? Most of us don't. But everybody has the capacity to inspire others to act and, in L&D, that's basically part...

349 — Introducing 'Skill Bites', a nudge-based approach to course design

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's very strange. For years, we've been told that people want 'resources, not courses'. But, when you ask them, it's longer-term skill development...

348 — What makes the ideal client?

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The HR and L&D sectors are built on a foundation of outsourcing. Often, the secret ingredient to ensuring those products and services add value is…...

347 — Can L&D make others more resilient?

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In The Resilience Handbook, occupational psychologist and author Sukh Pabial outlines three elements which can make us more resilient: positive psych...

346 — Book Club: The Voltage Effect

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You had an idea for say, a product or service. You created it and rolled it out to a small target group. It worked - a success! It's now time to expa...

345 — Boosting engagement with creative campaigns

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You might offer employees the best content libraries, training or toolkits in the world, but if they don't know what's there, or when or why they'd a...

344 — The 20-year evolution of L&D

16 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For over 20 years, Debbie Carter has been working at industry magazine Training Journal, tracking the changes that have taken place in our field – ...

343 — Mapping employee networks to retain talent

09 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You can map employee networks in all sorts of ways: formal hierarchy, online interactions, geographic location. But, in this episode, we look at how ...

342 — Adult Learning Theory (and how to build a bridge)

02 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adults do not learn as children learn. They have prior experience, they have real-world problems to solve and, crucially, they can get up and walk out...

341 — How to compete in the robot wars

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In case you've missed it, 2023 has become the year when automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) started displacing cognitive and creative work. ...

340 — Takeover Special! We answer your questions!

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In an uncomfortable first for The Mind Tools L&D Podcast team, we're handing over this week's hosting duties to friend-of-the-show Matt Pleger, Orga...

339 — Designing high-impact video

11 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Used effectively, video can be the most emotive part of a learning experience. So how do you get it right?  In this episode of The Mind Tools L&D...

338 — Ever wanted to write a book?

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Does everyone have a book in them? How hard it is to take an idea to publication? In this episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, authors Andy Lancaste...

337 — Promoting equity with reverse mentoring

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The opportunities we have access to in life are shaped by our background, our environment and our networks. It is difficult to create equitable orga...

336 — Who says learner surveys ain't sexy?

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Learner surveys get a hard wrap: at best they're a waste of time, at worst they actually mislead us. But what if we just did them well?  This wee...

335 — Adjacent learning

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Can we improve our workplace performance through learning outside of work? Are there benefits to this? How might we go about it?   This week on ...

334 — Turning pressures into opportunities

07 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What do business leaders think about L&D? What do they expect? What's the reality for L&D? This week on The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma is joined b...

333 — What will be hot in workplace L&D in 2023?

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What are L&D practitioners excited about in 2023? Is it the rise of artificial intelligence? Or is it the Metaverse? What about skills-based talent ma...

332 — How to choose a learning platform

21 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do you pick from the hundreds of platforms out there? What questions might you ask to refine your options? If you're looking for a learning platfo...

331 — Six ways to engage employees

14 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What do employees and managers care about in 2023? How do we keep them feeling happy, interested and safe? A new report from Reward Gateway offers six...

330 — The Happy Manifesto: Revisited

07 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ten years ago, Henry Stewart wrote The Happy Manifesto, outlining 10 principles for happier workplaces. Among them: Make your people feel good; Be o...

329 — No budget? No problem!

31 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With inflation high, and high profile redundancies hitting the headlines, L&D is once again under pressure to demonstrate the value it offers and to h...

328 — The Mind Tools L&D Podcast Awards

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Last week on the show we had James McLuckie join us to share his advice for winning an award, and this week - as we're approaching Oscars season - we ...

327 — How to win an industry award

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Industry awards offer a chance to reflect on your work, raise your profile and win some prestige, but they also take a lot of work. So if you're going...

326 — Reject the gloom: L&D is getting better

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In January, many of us like to take stock, reflect on the last twelve months, and make plans for the year ahead. In this spirit, we're kicking off 202...

325 — Christmas Special: Home Alone

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Back by popular demand (ish), the Mind Tools L&D Podcast team are wrapping up this year with a tenuous spin on festive favourite Home Alone! This time...

324 — Navigating L&D jargon

13 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we'll be chatting about the common jargon used in the Learning and Development field. We'll break down these phrases and explain wh...

323 — Making decisions with data and intuition

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

'Big data' promised us an end to uncertainty, but we realise now that this is a myth. Uncertainty will always remain, and intuition can help us naviga...

322 — Learning design: Lessons from Scottish Games Week

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This October saw cities across Scotland play host to the first ever 'Scottish Games Week', a nationwide event featuring a conference, an education s...

321 — Multimedia in learning design

22 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

At Mind Tools, we pride ourselves on our ability to create visually rich learning experiences that drive performance. Often, these experiences will in...

320 — Three research papers with Jane Bozarth

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In learning science, there are certain ideas that have leapt the fences of academia and seeped into the public consciousness. Often, these ideas gai...

319 — Remote learning for a distributed workforce

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the UK, 84% of workers who had to work from home because of the Coronavirus pandemic have said they plan to continue working at home, at least some...

318 — Podcasts for workplace learning

01 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Here at Mind Tools Towers, we love podcasts. We've produced our own for six years! But what role do they have to play in workplace learning? This week...

317 — Halloween Special: Edgar Allan Poe and 'unity of effect' in learning design

25 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Once upon a midnight dreary, Ross G pondered, weak and weary Whether Ross D might consider him a dry and awful bore— If he proposed some gentle chat...

316 — Sharpening your skills

18 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As learning professionals, we can rely on people always needing support to do their jobs more efficiently and more effectively. We can also rely on th...

315 — Bad English is not a problem

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

English is the world's lingua franca, but the 400 million native-English speakers are a minority compared to the 2 billion people who learned English ...

314 — Working with SMEs

03 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How do you set your projects up for success? Does the SME and learning designer relationship really follow the buddy cop movie trope? In this episode ...

313 — How can we learn at speed to drive performance?

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How is it possible to learn faster than external world changes? What do we need to do to purposefully protect ourselves against irrelevance?   Mi...

312 — Book Club: The Expectation Effect

20 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our brain is a 'prediction machine' that responds to and interprets reality based on what we expect. This is the claim of science writer David Robso...

311 — The XR Zone: Extended Realities (XR) for learning

13 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week The Mind Tools Podcast team are travelling through another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. That's the signp...

310 — Questions, questions, questions

06 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What's the evidence telling us about effective questions for learning? How can we apply it?  In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcas...

309 — Your questions answered

30 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Will avatar-based training replace virtual classrooms? Would it make any difference if L&D didn't even exist? In this week's episode of The Mind Tool...

308 — L&D hacks (we wish we knew years ago)

23 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Here at Mind Tools Towers, we've been supporting L&D teams for years – and that's given us plenty of time to reflect on things we could have done be...

307 — Is your learning culture keeping pace with rapid digitalization?

16 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Many organizations responded to the global pandemic by adopting digital technologies that enabled different ways of working. This sudden, unanticipate...

306 — Has it worked?: Measuring impact

09 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Have learners engaged? Learnt what we set out for them to learn? More importantly, have they bought that learning into how they perform? Is this havin...

305 — Reimagining how we work

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rather than defaulting to pre-pandemic habits, or continuing with pandemic arrangements, we now have an ideal opportunity to rethink how and where we ...

304 — The seductive allure of neuroscientific podchat

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

People are more satisfied by explanations that contain neuroscientific jargon and images. Why? Because dopamine fires up the hippocampus, and that's...

303 — Psycho-metrics, Qu'est-ce que c'est?

19 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Who knows why anyone does anything? Well… people who craft psychometrics claim that they can answer this question. And this week on The Mind Tools L...

302 — What's the story with stories?

11 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Since the dawn of history, people have been telling stories. Obviously, because the recorded history we have is in the format of a story. Now Ross G...

301 — Managers Matter: Feeling the squeeze

05 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our mental wellbeing can depend in part, on our role at work. How do stress levels of colleagues, managers and directors compare, for instance? What i...

300 — Celebrating live from London!

28 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In our 300th episode of The Mind Tools L&D podcast, we are LIVE from London!   Owen, Nahdia and Gemma were joined by two special guests, Julie Di...

299 — How can we embed learning in our workplaces?

21 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We're all familiar with one-off learning events like e-learning modules, workshops and virtual classrooms. They're common because they're logistically...

298 — How can L&D promote an anti-racist workplace?

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Back in episode 279 of this podcast (February 1, 2022: 'Why work is the ideal place to talk about race'), we spoke with authors Margaret Greenberg and...

297 — Can gamification level up our learning?

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gamification promises fun activities, increased user engagement and – ultimately – better workplace learning. But do points and badges really make...

296 — Effective hybrid working

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There are more and more people working in a hybrid way. What does this mean for how we meet, develop relationships and support learning? In this week'...

295 — How do we prevent burnout

24 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Why is chronic stress, or burnout, on the rise? Who suffers the most? Is it an individual or an organisational problem?    In this week's episode of...

294 — Developing a digital mindset (for non-digital folks)

17 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What is a digital mindset? Why is it important? And can non-technical people really contribute in digital roles? In this week's episode of The Mind T...

293 — How to grow your people

10 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Why is it so difficult to start something new and stick with it? How do we gain and maintain momentum? And why do we tire of what we're doing?  In th...

292 — Choosing the right intervention

03 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Interactive checklists, immersive VR games, bitesized elearning and so many possibilities in between. Learning designers are spoilt for choice when i...

291 — What's the value of values?

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What are your organisation's values? How were they shaped? And what impact do they have on your future? In this week's episode of The Mind Tools L&D ...

290 — The world of learning has changed

19 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How and where have people been working over the past 12 months? What barriers to learning have they faced? And how have perceptions of workplace learn...