Talent Development Skills

Toolkit: Level Up Your

This collection of tools can help you level up your skills for better learning outcomes.

Contents» Checklist: Is Your

PowerPoint Any Good?

» Job Aid: Preparing Yourself to Present

» Job Aid: Learning Program Design Elements Prioritization Tool

» Put the Brain at the Center of Your Webinar—Tips for Engaging Webinars

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Checklist: Is Your PowerPoint Any Good?Just as the crowd at a sporting event is often referred to as an extra player for the home team, with some creativity PowerPoint—or other presentation software—can offer an extra advantage to facilitators of any learning experience.

Use this checklist when preparing and designing your presentation to ensure you’re using the software as a true learning tool.

Preparationq Have you taken some time to map out the objectives, sequence, and flow of your presentation before opening

PowerPoint and populating your slides?

q Are you sure slides are a better medium than handouts, flipcharts, videos, demonstrations, or models?

Designq If you’re not required to use a template, have you maximized the use of space on each slide?

q If you’re required to use a template, have you maximized the use of space on each slide in a way that blends with the template?

q Have you been intentional about where and on how many slides your logo appears?

q Have you chosen powerful imagery to create the atmosphere you want to represent your content?

q Have you credited the source(s) (if necessary) or purchased the appropriate rights to use your chosen imagery?

q Have you been intentional about your font choice(s) for each slide?

q Have you reviewed your deck with ruthless frugality to ensure no superfluous words or sentences are better said verbally than written in long-form on your slide?

q Have you removed any detailed text that would serve your audience better as a handout?

Dataq Is the point you wish to make with your data slides obvious at a glance?

q Have you highlighted the data point(s) you’d like to draw attention to in any graphs or charts through the intentional use of color, bold font, etc.?

Engagementq Have you animated information so that you reveal the information on each slide only

when you want your audience to focus on it?

q Have you written instructions for your activities on a slide to help keep your audience on task?

q Would inserting an interactive, real-time poll such as Poll Everywhere add value to your presentation?

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Job Aid: Preparing Yourself to PresentWhy do presenters fail? The most likely answer is lack of preparation—the presenter was overly confident, too busy, or put it off until the last second. Don’t let this happen to you! No matter how far in the future your next presentation is, it’s never too soon to start preparing.

Use these questions to gather the appropriate information for your next presentation.

Information to Gather Responses

Aud

ienc

e A

naly

sis

Who is the target audience?

What are the audience demographics?

How large is the audience?

Is attendance required or optional?

How familiar are they with the topic?

What is their general opinion of the topic?

Where were participants before this talk?

Loca

tion

Ana

lysi

s

Who is my main point of contact?

Describe the size and style of venue.

How will participants be seated/arranged?

What technology will be available for me?

Who is the technical and audiovisual contact?

Mai

n Po

ints

and

Con

tent

Con

side

rati

ons What are the 3-5 high-level topics to cover?

What should participants be able to do after this presentation?

Within the topics above, are there any specific points that must be addressed?

Holistically, are there any topics or points that must be avoided?

Describe company culture and any pertinent current events at the company. (This is useful for customizing your presentation.)

Any pertinent pop culture references or current events to include or consider?

Pers

onal

Intr

oduc

tion Why was I selected to speak on this topic?

How can I personally relate to the audience?

What education/certifications/jobs should I share?

What experiences/projects should I share?

Oth

er N

otes

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Job Aid: Learning Program Design Elements Prioritization ToolUse this tool with your team to decide which program elements are of highest priority so you can focus on the most critical ones first.

Item My Rating Teammate 1 Teammate 2 Teammate 3 Average

Online Course Library

Leadership Development

Technical Training

Onboarding

Social Learning

Videos

Mentoring

Communities of Practice

Mobile Learning

Top 3 Elements Based on Highest Average:

1.

2.

3.

Bottom 3 Elements Based on Lowest Average:

1.

2.

3.

Note: This tool can be adapted to weigh each element against specific criteria, such as alignment with the organization’s culture, impact on the business, estimated degree of risk involved, or other criteria important to the program’s success as determined by you and your team. In that case, the weight of the criteria would be multiplied by the rating to determine an overall score for each element.

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Put the Brain at the Center of Your WebinarThe classroom isn’t the only place formal learning is delivered. Webinars are increasingly important as they save time and money and offer flexibility to link learners from around the world. Here are some brain-based strategies to consider for your next webinar.

Create an open environment. Reduce learner stress and boredom by being informal and encouraging questions and comments. Treat the webinar as a conversation between colleagues rather than a presentation of facts from an expert. Encourage participants to share their experiences.

Adopt an open microphone policy. To create an open experience you need to open up discussion rather than close it down. So adopt an open microphone policy for smaller groups. Discourage people from muting their phones unless they need to leave their desk, and encourage them to share questions.

Encourage chat around the topic. The chat window is there to allow free sharing of ideas and questions. The more people talk and ask questions about the topic, the more they are building synaptic connections and consolidating memory. (Oh, and the less they focus on distractions like email.)

Use breakout rooms. Virtual breakout rooms socialize virtual learning and allow participants to talk to each other. They localize and personalize the learning, introduce new voices, and allow participants to dip into each other’s experiences as they build mental models of the knowledge area.

Use polls and quizzes. Polls and quizzes can excite people and create a surge of adrenaline as they compete for the right answers. They also get learners drawing on their existing memories.

Set mood and tone with music. Music is used in film and television to set mood and influence energy levels. As people come to your webinar, play some music that’s uplifting and energetic.

Schedule regular stretch breaks. Breaks are good for memory consolidation. Take regular breaksduring the webinar and encourage participants to stretch or move around to increase the flow ofoxygen to the brain.

Create a Q&A system. Encourage participants at the start of your webinar to post questions that they want answered on a whiteboard. Revisit these questions throughout the session and ask participants (not you) to answer the questions. This gets them drawing on what they’ve learned.

Create clear slides. Don’t cram too much information into slides. Reduce cognitive load by putting only one point per slide and using images, which are easier to remember than words.

Use video. People love watching television more than reading PowerPoint slides. Good video is an effective use of moving pictures, music, and good narrative. Use it to enhance the learning. If you don’t have the skills to produce it, draw on the ever-expanding YouTube library.

Talk less and have participants explore more. The more you say, the more they will forget. Say only what you have to say and let them explore the answers to the topic.

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VisionCreate a World That Works Better

MissionEmpower Professionals to Develop Talent in the Workplace

For over 75 years, the Association for Talent Development (ATD) is a professional membership organization supporting those who develop the knowledge and skills of employees in organizations around the world. We understand that getting employees up to speed, trained, and ready to tackle today’s increasingly demanding business landscape is no small task—especially when the watchful eye of the CEO is now more than ever focused on talent development, and on how the organization can be more innovative and shift with the changing environment.When the pressure is on, ATD is there for you.