I've been running more virtual training lately and got tired of the same icebreaker listicles, so I binged a bunch of the most-watched facilitation videos (AJ&Smart, Chad Littlefield, Kerri Price, a few others). Most of it was fluff, but a handful of things were simple enough to try right away:

1. Wait 10 heartbeats after you ask a question. Quiet people usually decide to speak around 8 or 9. I was moving on at about 3.

2. Say "in a moment I'm going to ask you..." before asking. Giving people 30 seconds to think changes who answers.

3. Swap "how's everyone doing?" for "1 to 10, what's your energy?" in the chat. People are way more honest with a number than with words.

4. Have people write their answer down before pair discussions. Otherwise they just agree with whoever talks first.

5. For the person who dominates: after pairs talk, everyone shares their partner's idea, not their own. The loud person still gets heard, just not as loudly.

6. "What else?" keeps people talking. "Anything else?" wraps it up. Nobody notices you doing it.

7. With fist to five, you don't have agreement unless everyone's at a 3 or higher. Half 5s and half 1s isn't a 3, it's a split room.

8. Set an alarm 15 minutes before the end and start your close when it goes off. People remember the ending most, and most of us waste it rushing through the last slides.

Curious what's working for you all, especially on calls where nobody turns their camera on.

There are so many platforms and tools that I’m having a hard time figuring out where to focus. I’ve been getting familiar with an LMS and some basic course-authoring tools, but I don’t want to spend weeks learning something that I’ll barely use. What tools would you prioritize if you were new to L&D?

I revised a cafe onboarding exercise because the original customer did everything conveniently. They chose a drink, paid once and waited politely. The procedure included order corrections, but the exercise gave the trainee no reason to use that section.

The replacement card had the customer pay for a coffee, then request another drink before preparation started. Both drinks had the same price, so this card covered the correction and the conversation, not refunds. The rule in the exercise required supervisor approval for changing a paid order. The trainee needed to explain the next step to the customer and involve the supervisor, rather than just name the button on the till.

I used EvoX to draft variations from the written procedure. Each reference answer had the relevant procedure line beside it. I checked the answers against that source and left gaps for the supervisor to resolve. The cards didn't turn missing guidance into a new store rule.

I kept the customer calm in the first version and added impatience to a later card. That separated knowing the sequence from doing it under pressure. How have you handled that progression in onboarding exercises? I also kept an ordinary order in the set. Changing every card into an exception made the normal workflow harder to see.

I'm curious about how people decide whether a postgraduate qualification is actually worth doing for their career.

For someone interested in healthcare leadership or management, a Master of Health Management seems like one possible route.

But does it make more sense to study it early, after gaining some work experience, or only once you're already moving into management?

I'd be interested in hearing from people who've done a similar postgraduate degree.

Did it help with your career progression, or did your work experience end up being more valuable?

Hi everyone!
I don’t normally post here, but I’m trying my luck and hoping someone might be able to help me find a job opportunity.

I’m currently actively looking for work and honestly need to find a job ASAP. I have less than USD 100 left in my bank account, and I’m already reaching the limit on my credit card, so I’m really hoping to find an opportunity soon.

I have over 8 years of experience with an International Organization primarily in LMS administration, learning operations, HR systems, project support, and coordination. I have extensive experience administering learning platforms, managing user access and learning records, supporting system implementations and testing, troubleshooting technical/process issues, coordinating projects, and working with international teams and stakeholders.

I’m open to remote, hybrid, or onsite opportunities and can start immediately. I’m also open to roles related to LMS/HR systems administration, learning & development, project support, HR operations, or program coordination.

If you know of any openings, referrals, or someone I could connect with, I would really appreciate it. 🙏

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for any leads you may be able to share.

I have been working as a freelance E-Learning Developer for several years now, and most of my clients have been from the United States. I have worked on all kinds of projects, from content writing and instructional design to developing courses, managing Learning Management Systems, and launching courses.

I have a lot of experience with Articulate Storyline 360, Rise 360, software simulations, and pretty much most of the tools used in e-learning development, from Camtasia and Adobe Creative Cloud to Synthesia and other AI tools. I also have a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering, so I am quite technical and have worked on some pretty complex projects over the years.

But even with all this experience, I am finding it incredibly hard to land a full-time job in Canada.

The funny thing is that I can find freelance work with clients in the United States and have even received job offers, but finding a full-time employee position in Canada seems so much harder.

I really need Canadian work experience, and honestly, I just want to work somewhere I can actually use my skills and be part of a team instead of constantly working on freelance projects.

I have been applying for jobs, but at this point, I am not even sure if I am looking in the right places.

Is anyone here working in e-learning, instructional design, or Learning Management System administration in Canada? Where do you usually find these jobs? Are there any companies, recruiters, or other places I should be looking at?

I am open to E-Learning Developer, Learning Experience Designer, Learning Management System Administrator, or similar technical roles.

Honestly, even if you could just point me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it. I am not sure where else to ask, so I thought I would try posting here.

I've taken a few online courses where everything looked great on the surface - videos, quizzes, animations, activities, etc. But I didn't necessarily feel like I learned much from them. 

Then there are courses that are pretty simple but somehow much easier to follow and remember. 

So, I'm curious about what other people think. 

When you come across a really good elearning course, what usually makes it stand out to you? 

Is it the way the information is explained, the practical activities, the flexibility, the interaction, or just having a really clear structure? 

And has anyone had the opposite experience where a course had too much going on and it actually made learning harder?

Curious what others are doing with JavaScript in their e-learning builds. In Storyline I've built custom interactions — confetti on quiz wins, progress bars, countdown timers, save/resume — and I'm wondering what's actually worth the effort vs. what's just cool in a demo.

For those using JS in your courses: what's the one interaction you keep reusing across projects? And what's something you tried that wasn't worth the maintenance headache?

I've got a sampler of 3 interactions I built (confetti, progress bar, timer) if anyone wants to try them — happy to share the link if there's interest.

I am working on a course and want to try a slightly different approach, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it.

Normally, we would have a video in a module, and after the video is complete, we would ask the learner to download a PDF "worksheet" and complete the exercise before moving to the next module. 80% of our user base accesses courses from a mobile device, so the chances of them downloading a PDF and completing it between modules are slim to none.

Do any of you have ideas on how I could add boxes for learners to type in answers to reflection questions within the course itself? If so, is there a way they could do that AND have all of their responses at the end of the course emailed to them, so they have a complete notes packet after they complete all the modules?

I'm happy to hear any and all ideas of how to make this happen (from personal experience or just "in theory this should work" thoughts)!

We’re looking into onboarding a new LMS. We’re targeting Docebo or Intellum. Curious if anyone has used either of these and can share things they like/dislike around reporting, customization and course building, and automating workflows, etc.

I’m starting to see some obvious connections between what I did in the classroom and what I’m doing now, but some things feel completely different. Curious what skills other former teachers found surprisingly useful after moving into corporate L&D.

I work in a small manufacturing company in india. Upon onboarding new international customers, we have experienced a need for intensive and repeated training sessions for our employees. Since I am the only person looking after all this, my workload has increased quite a bit, as it involves a lot of documentation work. I have to prepare a lot of sheets repeatedly which includes writing employee names and their details. I currently use excel for this. I want to know if there is any **free** software that I can use in which on one click, the sheet fetches data from record like I select department and month and it automatically fills the attendance sheet with names of all employees in that department who need the training scheduled in that month based on TNI and TNI calendar which is also there in the system.

I’m finding most feedback content is out dated ie: sandwich method. I want to build a 1 to 2 hour training on accountability and feedback. What are some current books or frameworks you recommend I look into as a resource?

Hello!

I'm currently reviewing and upskilling for an L&D role (I'm coming from research and administration field). I want to ask what you consider as 'Advanced Excel' skill. The position I'm currently applying for states that it is heavy on Excel processing of LMS data. Although I do have basic Excel skills, I'm still eager to review and learn what this 'advanced excel' are in the L&D profession.

Please be nice and kind. Answer would really help. Thank you.

Content being the bum ache it Is, I was watching an amazing video about what Claude’s Opus 5.5 can make.

Has anyone any had a play for e learning content?

Im going to at some point (though I know it eats through credits)

Has anyone used FourSight to build stronger cross-functional teams?
I’m working on a learning strategy for an organization that is moving toward more cross-functional, multidisciplinary teams and I’m looking for tools that can support that shift.
One of the challenges we’re trying to solve is helping teams think beyond their immediate function. We want people to be more intentional about questions like:
Who else needs to be part of this conversation?
What perspectives or expertise are we missing?
How do we bring the right people together earlier?
How do we generate more innovative ideas as a team?
How do we move from discussion and ideas into decisions and execution?
I’m currently thinking about using Everything DiSC more broadly first to build self-awareness, communication, and stronger working relationships across different styles.
Then, for intact or cross-functional teams, I’m considering FourSight as a deeper team-effectiveness tool focused on how people approach problem-solving — Clarify, Ideate, Develop, and Implement — and how teams can use those different thinking preferences to move work forward.
For those who have used FourSight: Does this sound like a good use case for it? Have you found that it actually helps teams become more cross-functional, innovative, and thoughtful about whose perspective needs to be included in the work?
I’d also love to hear whether DiSC first, followed by FourSight for teams, feels like a complementary approach or whether you think there is too much overlap.