
ATD Accidental Trainer
ATD Accidental Trainer is an ATD podcast featuring bimonthly interviews with industry experts who share stories and tips about how to grow your training career. Hosted by Alexandria Clapp, ATD Accidental Trainer covers trends, strategies, and actionable information for talent development professionals.
Latest episodes

7 snips
Jul 6, 2022 • 40min
Rebuilding Connection and Joy at Work with Blair Bloomston
Blair Bloomston, CEO of GameNation, joins us to discuss how to enhance our relationships, interpersonal skills, and joy at work. She shares improv techniques to cultivate active listening, failure stories and how mistake-making builds empathy, and how to rebuild connection with simple practices. She also gives us a preview of her upcoming TD magazine article on leveraging game dynamics to improve any relationship, communication, or learning activity. Find Blair on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairbloomston Check out the Game On Nation live streams: https://www.youtube.com/user/thegameonnation/videos See her keynote at Core4: https://core4.td.org/keynotes

Jun 23, 2022 • 29min
Take Your Virtual Facilitation to the Next Level with Diana Howles
Diana Howles, CEO and Co-Owner of Howles Associates and author of Next Level Virtual Training, joins the podcast to discuss her virtual training capability model, how she identifies evergreen training principles amidst ever-changing technology, and how to support hybrid (or live online mixed) learners in our modern workplaces. We also chat about applying learner experience design to virtual training, and how to advance your virtual facilitation skills with the models and principles she’s provided in her new book. Diana’s new book: Next Level Virtual Training Check out Diana’s website Find Diana on LinkedIn

Jun 8, 2022 • 15min
Saying Goodbye to Lisa Spinelli and Hello to Alexandria Clapp
In this episode, Lisa Spinelli says goodbye to her hosting role and passes the torch to the podcast’s new host, Alexandria Clapp. Lisa shares the journey of launching the Accidental Trainer podcast and reflects on some of the topics that have been discussed over the past few years. She recalls favorite moments that made her laugh and taught her new lessons. Lisa also introduces Alexandria Clapp, a fellow content manager at ATD, and they discuss Alexandria’s background and the perspective she hopes to share in future episodes.

Jun 1, 2022 • 32min
Manoj Kulkarni on Defining Adaptive Learning
RealizeIt CEO Manoj Kulkarni joins us to discuss adaptive learning. He describes how adaptive learning has evolved over the years, why it’s necessary to customize learning for individual employees, how personalized learning can improve performance at scale, how to implement adaptive learning in a talent management strategy, some obstacles still facing adaptive learning, and more. Find Manoj on LinkedIn: Manoj Kulkarni Learn more about RealizeIt: https://www.realizeitlearning.com/

May 11, 2022 • 35min
Sarah Cannistra on Turning Your Side Gig Into A Full Time Business
The Overnight Trainer’s Sarah Cannistra joins us on the podcast to discuss how she started her own consulting business. Sarah found herself misaligned in her previous corporate role, despite having things she really loved about her job. She shares how she pushed back on advice like “don’t rock the boat”, her first challenges as a first- time business owner, why she started coaching, how she discovered her differentiators, the power of saying yes and no, how she turned her side gig into a full time business, and more. Find Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scannistra Check out the Overnight Trainer podcast: https://theovernighttrainer.podbean.com/

Apr 27, 2022 • 1h 2min
Marcus Buckingham on Developing Your Talent's Individual Loves
Marcus Buckingham, New York Times bestselling author, speaker and business consultant, joins us for an extra long, extra fun episode. We covered a lot of ground here about his new book, Love + Work, how talent development pros and managers can help their employees find meaningful work by discovering their red threads, how unique we all really are and how to find those threads we have to really look deep within. Marcus Buckingham Love + Work Marcus Buckingham Company ADP Research Institute

Apr 13, 2022 • 40min
Cara North on Customizing Learning Assessments
Director of Learning at Circulo Cara North joins us on the podcast to discuss the need for and how to create customized learning assessments. Cara gives her take on work-based scenario training, personalizing compliance training, long-term learning success and much more. Cara North ATD22 in Orlando

Mar 30, 2022 • 25min
Bridgett McGowen and Rick Lozano Discuss ATD22
In this episode, crowd-favorite speakers Bridgett McGowen and Rick Lozano join us to discuss why the ATD International Conference and Expo is so important to them and their careers; how the unexpected can happen at any point and time during the conference and leave you with a life-long lasting impression! They also discuss why going in-person this year was a must for them and what you can expect to see from these two, separately, in the year to come. Stick around until the end of the episode for a Lozano surprise! ATD22 in Orlando (Flash sale until April 1!) Brigett McGowen Rick Lozano

Mar 16, 2022 • 23min
Christine Tao on Coaching as an Effective Leadership Strategy
Sounding Board CEO and Co-founder Christine Tao joins us for an in-depth look at how coaching can transform leaders and employees. We discuss how the market has changed for leadership coaches and the skill of coaching as well as the biggest myths around leadership coaching. Christine Tao Sounding Board

Mar 2, 2022 • 40min
Whitney Johnson Offers a Guide to Career and Leadership Growth
Whitney Johnson, CEO of Disruption Advisors and author of Smart Growth, joins the podcast to discuss The Great Aspiration, how to determine your place on the S curve, why it's important to have an action board, and how to jump to the next S curve with confidence. We also chat about how leaders can impact their employee's growth with the assessments and insights presented in her new book. Smart Growth Disrupt Yourself podcast Whitney Johnson HBR article Whitney's assessment *The giveaway is now closed.