Mindflash

The task of keeping online training lively and memorable requires the constant application of great design, clear, clever writing, and engaging visuals, so it’s easy to end up in a design rut. To help spark your creativity, I’ve gathered 3 free PowerPoint templates, available for download in this post.... Read more »

Audio serves a vital function – particularly in online training – by breathing life into your material, setting the tone, and grabbing your trainee’s attention.  But we need to know when to use it for the greatest impact, and how to do so in a way that’s low-cost and high-quality.   If it seems like using audio is too complicated or technical, let me assure that it’s not. This post includes 4 Audacity tutorials I’ve pulled together to get you up and running AND show you how to edit your audio for higher-quality results.... Read more »

What’s standing between your Trainees and your training objectives? Oftentimes it’s complexity. Whether it’s the volume of information or a SME who thinks everything is important, there is usually more information to convey than is practical. Combine that with a short timeline and you’ve got a classic training conundrum. Enter the infographic. Well-designed infographics convey messages in a way that eases comprehension; they capitalize on our innate understandings of the world around us to help build context and retain information.... Read more »

Have you ever found yourself struggling to find a stock image with a transparent background?  Or, maybe you’ve wasted hours of your time trying to remove the background from an image? While there may not be a silver bullet, there are plenty of cool shortcuts, tricks, free tools, and tutorials. In this post, I provide ratings and video tutorials for 5 great tools that I commonly use.... Read more »

With many training and development departments stretched thin or nearly non-existent, the task of creating new online training is daunting enough. Who has time to think about maintenance?  And yet, allowing your programs to go stale poses some significant operational risks. I say - go green! I’ve put together a few easy to implement training design best practices that will get you off the training reproduction line by using the 3 Rs: Reuse, Recycle and Renew.... Read more »

No matter how dull a training topic might be, it shouldn’t be a barrier to creativity, it should inspire ingenuity.  But there are some topics that are just hard to get excited about.  When your job is to create an engaging experience, how do you ignite that creative spark to help you turn the world’s most boring material into the world’s most amazing training?... Read more »

Like other visual design elements, the right font has the power to grab your audience on an emotional level while reinforcing your message.   But unlikeother visual elements such as color scheme, photos, or clip art which are readily translated from inspiration to application, a stylized font can be harder to replicate and integrate into a design. ... Read more »

We’ve all seen (or designed) training that looked like the clip art version of a ransom note. So it’s with great surprise that I find myself intrigued at the idea of revisiting clip art in training design (minus the infamously over-used screen beans). But with clip art’s rep as a visual clutter magnet, is there a surefire way for a non-designer designer to use it well?... Read more »

Emphasis is an important element in graphic design because it’s the way you direct your audience’s attention. Designers know that well-placed emphasis is a powerful tool for making their message sticky, so it only makes sense that we should use emphasis in training design to make our online training sticky.... Read more »

If you’re like me, you may have found yourself walking away from meetings with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with tons of content, lots of rules for how to use it, and absolutely NO ideas for turning it into an effective, trainee-friendly course... Read more »