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The eLearning Coach Newsletter

Develop Leadership Traits That Improve Your Career

Published 9 months ago • 2 min read

The eLearning Coach Newsletter

For Learning Professionals

Greetings Reader,

September 26, 2024

What do you think of when you hear the word leadership? Some believe that it's a characteristic innate to the lucky few. Last month, I recorded a conversation about leadership with someone who has a different perspective. David Kelly, Chairman at the Learning Guild, explains how leadership is a set of traits that anyone can develop. He contends that leadership traits help you stand out and gain respect in any job.

Next is an article for those who think their design work appears too random and disorganized. You'll learn how to use a grid to add consistency and structure to your visual design. While we're on my favorite topic—visual design—the third article explains how to design eLearning slides by dividing the layout into functional areas.

​How to Develop Leadership Skills for Any Role​
In this conversation, David Kelly (CEO of the Learning Guild) and I discuss the nine core behavioral traits that learning leaders should cultivate and how to go about doing this. Transcript Available.

​Designing eLearning and Slides with Grids​

If your eLearning and slides appear out of control, designing with a grid will bring order to your work. If you no longer want that random, haphazard look, learn how to use a grid to organize visual elements.

Considerations for eLearning Screen Design​

One approach to screen design is to create consistent functional areas of the screen. This may reduce cognitive load, though you may need to throw in some novelty too!

Now on to the goodies below.

GOOD FINDS

Before downloading files, please be sure to check that they are virus and spam-free. Note that freebies often require some form of registration.

FEED YOUR MIND Readings to expand your perspective on learning, technology, and design:

MULTIMEDIA

  • ​Synfig Studio: Open source 2D animation software.
  • ​MixKit: Free stock videos, music, and sound effects.
  • ​Motion Elements: Wide range of videos, images, music and templates for $20 a month.

COOL TOOLS

  • ​Storm AI from researchers at Stanford: Generates Wikipedia-style articles on any topic using large language models and web search. This could be for the start of something you are researching or for background on a topic before meeting with a SME.
  • ​GPT: Create your own ChatGPT with specialized knowledge
  • ​Wordtune: Helps you with writing (paraphrases, rewrites, corrects your grammar) and has a free basic plan.

MY COMMUNITY AND COURSES

​MASTERING INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN​

Since 2019, I've been helping the smart and friendly members of this community grow and expand their instructional design skills through self-paced courses, monthly speakers with industry leaders, member calls, and a discussion forum. All courses are open to all members.

​BREAKING INTO INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN​

My free 12-lesson email course about transitioning to a career in instructional design. The course explains the variety of instructional design careers, tasks of the profession, places to network, salary ranges and more. You'll get two email lessons a week for six weeks. Or receive all lessons at once by purchasing the eBook.

Would a colleague like this newsletter? They can sign up here: The eLearning Coach Newsletter. See you on Twitter @elearningcoach and at Instructional Design Newbies on Facebook!

Stay inspired,
Connie Malamed

PO Box 1623, Frederick, MD 21702
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The eLearning Coach Newsletter

Connie Malamed

I help learning professionals build skills and visibility to advance their careers. Join 15,000 readers who enjoy articles on learning design, visual design, and cognitive psychology every month.. Subscribe for practical guidance, resources, and freebies.

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