As learning designers, we’re ultimately in the business of trying to help people build new connections in their brains. To do this effectively, we need to have a fundamental understanding of how the brain works. But how far down the neuroscience rabbit hole do we need to go?

In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross Dickie and Ross Garner are joined by Lauren Waldman, learning scientist, consultant, and founder of Learning Pirate. We discuss:

· Lauren’s journey to deepen her understanding of how the brain works;

· how much learning designers need to know about neuroscience to be effective in their roles;

· the cost of L&D’s continual focus on the ‘shiny and the new’.

To find out more about Lauren’s work as Learning Pirate, head to: https://www.learningpirate.com/. You can also view a trailer for Lauren’s ‘Joining Forces with Your Brain’ series here.

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Ross Garner mentioned the ‘Battle of the Eclipse’.

Ross Dickie recommended the documentary STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers:

· Ross Dickie

· Ross Garner

· Lauren Waldman

As a conversation approach and development tool, coaching is a highly effective option for everyone – not just the executive suite. Professional coaches are expensive, so how can large organisations give all of their employees the chance to be coached and for coaching conversations to be the norm?

In this episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma and Claire are joined by Mina Papakonstantinou, Manager in the Leadership development team at Deloitte, to discuss upskilling internal coaches at scale.

We discussed:

• the benefits of creating a coaching culture
• designing and facilitating a coaching skills programme for thousands
• measuring and evaluating a coaching programme.

During the discussion, Mina referenced a case study she provided as an example of how we apply coaching psychology in internal coaching within organisations.

See: Papakonstantinou, F. (2021). Internal coaching within organisations–Coaching psychology application. In Introduction to Coaching Psychology (pp. 203-204). Routledge.

See also her article, 'Creating micro closures: reinventing the psychological transition process to help coachees deal with the current state of disruptive change'.

She also contributed to: Papakonstantinou, F. (2016). 'A Trusted Chameleon: The evolving role of the L&D consultant as an internal coach'. In Coaching Psychology International - VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1 (pp, 11-16).

In what I learned this week, Gemma talked about oathing stones – a wedding ceremony ritual. You can read about it and other options: humanism.scot/ceremonies-blog/wedding-ceremony-rituals/

Claire found out about how money is made. Check out this really funky piece on it here: refinery29.com/stories/how-stuff-is-made-money/

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. 

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers:

• Gemma Towersey
• Claire Gibson
• Mina Papakonstantinou

Whether you’re delivering workshops, speaking at conferences, presenting to senior leaders, or even hosting L&D’s favorite podcast, public speaking is a critical skill for learning professionals. So how do you develop this skill, and how do you manage your nerves when speaking publicly?

In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Lara are joined by Samantha Tulloch, public speaker and business-transformation consultant. We discuss:

· the nuances of public speaking in an L&D context,

· techniques that can help you prepare and deliver effectively,

· strategies for managing nerves and anxiety.

During the discussion, Ross D referenced our previous episode with Andrea Pacini.

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Samantha mentioned the little-known Steven Bartlett.

For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtools.com/business. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.

Connect with our speakers

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers:

· Ross Dickie

· Samantha Tulloch

· Lara Kidd