The Visual Lounge

What does it take to be great at learning and development?Is it down to fancy tools, qualifications, or top video creation skills? Not exactly.It’s all about your audience and focusing on what they need to know. The other stuff can come later.In her career, Kati Ryan, Founder of A Positive Adventure, has picked up so many fantastic tips for L&D professionals. She joins this episode of The Visual Lounge to share her best advice for new and experienced L&D professionals alike.She explains why we need to get back to basics, focus on the audience, and plan everything with the end goal in mind.Learning points from the episode include:Why having a mentor can help you become a better trainerWhy you need to establish your aims before creating contentHow many people make the mistake of overengineering learningHow to make learning stickThe best way to involve subject matter expertsWhen to use images and video to break up contentImportant links and mentions:A Positive Adventure: https://www.apositiveadventure.com/Kati’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiryan/Kati’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/katiryan?lang=enLearn more about the TechSmith Academy here.To read the blog post on the topic or watch the video, go to: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/good-training-kati-ryan

Did you know that customer education can help to boost both customer adoption and retention?Education is often an overlooked part of the customer experience, but companies that prioritize it see great results.In this episode of The Visual Lounge, Cutler Bleecker, Learning Experience Designer at Skilljar, joins to share his expertise on customer education and creating great training content.Cutler has a passion for both teaching and technology, with an undergraduate degree in education as well as a Master’s in Instructional Technology. As a former high school Business and Technology teacher, Cutler has taught everything from accounting and computers to graphic design and video production.He transitioned into educational technology as a product expert, then a content creator for Classworks before moving to Skilljar.This episode is packed full of advice on creating educational content and what you need to know before you get started. We hear about Cutler’s successes, the challenges he’s faced when creating content, and his best advice for others.Learning points from the episode include:What customer education really meansWhy customer education is crucial to customer retentionWhy education can help customers before they sign upHow internal and external education differsHow to choose what formats to use in education materialThe best ways to make content more engagingWhy you shouldn’t forget accessibility when creating educational contentImportant links and mentions:Skilljar: https://www.skilljar.com/Cutler’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cutler-bleecker/   Learn more about the TechSmith Academy here.To read the blog post on the topic or watch the video, go to: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/improve-customer-retention  

Are you ready to take the plunge and become a YouTube content creator?Before you wing it and hope for the best, you need to know the best practices. Luckily, we’ve got you covered.In this episode of The Visual Lounge, we invited Nick Nimmin, a YouTube content creator and educator, who’s seen great success on the platform with over 800,000 subscribers and counting!Nick is passionate about the power of YouTube and online video to help people connect with an audience, expand influence, and grow their businesses.In this episode, he teaches the best ways to get ahead on YouTube, how to boost viewer retention, how to figure out the mystical algorithm, and everything else you need to know about the platform. This episode is packed full of tips and actionable advice for budding YouTubers and experienced content creators alike.Learning points from the episode include:Why being a YouTube content creator is such a big learning curveBusiness lessons from being on YouTubeWhy you should be intentional with your contentWhy knowing your audience is the most important thing in content creationHow to optimize for search on YouTubeWhy you shouldn’t only think about searchKey metrics that define success on YouTubeHow to boost viewer retention with in-screen video linksHow to use the Community Tab effectivelyImportant links and mentions:Nick’s website: https://www.nicknimmin.com/Nick’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCei6wyubYC1I1FwZ54LZFiANick’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/NickNimminNick’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicknimmin/  Learn more about the TechSmith Academy here.To read the blog post on the topic or watch the video, go to: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/succeed-content-creator   

What does it take to record great audio? A recording studio? A degree in sound engineering? You may be surprised. Justin David Proctor, audio recording master and two-time Grammy Award winner, joined this episode of The Visual Lounge to share his expertise on creating great audio. Justin takes us through his advice on getting the right equipment, pre-production and planning, preparing the room, dealing with background noise, software, and much more. Justin has worked in professional audio and music recording since 2005, engineering in multi-room large format commercial studios and cutting albums for major label record companies. He began managing a private record recording studio with his college records production partner a few years into this work while running Delivery Room Studios.Justin has won two Grammy Awards for recording engineering and composes original music, which can be heard on television networks and streaming services in the US and overseas. Learning points from the episode include:How new technology makes creating great audio much easier      Why preproduction and planning are unmissable steps in recording audioWhy you should always back up your dataThe different types of microphones to look atHow distance affects audioHow to choose the right microphoneThe best ways to set up your space for good audio recordingWhy overtreating a room can do more harm than goodWhy you should always sample your audio How different platforms like Spotify lay out audio requirements What to consider with decibels Important links and mentions:Justin’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/justindavidpro  Justin’s website: http://www.justindavidproctor.com/ 2021 Video Viewer Study: https://assets.techsmith.com/Docs/TechSmith-Video-Viewer-Study-2021-Report.pdf Learn more about the TechSmith Academy here.To read the blog post on the topic or watch the video, go to: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/audio-production-mastery  

How do you ensure great learning design?Whether you’re working with video, PDFs, or blog posts to deliver training content, visual elements are key to delivering a clear message to your audience.Mel Milloway, Learning Experience Design Manager at Miro, joined this episode of The Visual Lounge to talk about the importance of visuals and video in learning design.Prior to working at Miro, Mel worked in learning design at Amazon and has held other learning and development roles at various organizations.She’s known for promoting and talking about UX design, crafting mock-ups, and developing learning products with a variety of technologies. She often blogs about the new tools she’s testing and shares her thoughts on the world of learning and development.In this episode, we get to hear some of her words of wisdom around learning design, getting feedback, working with data, and the benefits of video in learning. We hear some stories from her career and how she’s helped to solve problems and target audience needs effectively.Learning points from the episode include:What makes good learning designThe role of visuals in designWhy you should make decisions based on data rather than preferenceThe benefits of getting a second opinionWhy your audience should be the focusWhy video is a great medium for learningImportant links and mentions:Mel’s Learning Lab: http://melslearninglab.com/Mel’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melmilloway/Mel’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCep9W9nv5oP1y8t5OQKQhFgMel’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/melmillowayLearn more about the TechSmith AcademyTo read the blog post on the topic or watch the video, go to: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/creating-learning-experiences   

The future of communication in the workplace is video (and no surprise, it's already here). If you haven't found a way to implement video in your your workplace communication methods yet, there's no time like the present. juIn this episode, Matt Pierce, Andy Owen, and Kara Swanson discuss ways that video has become a part of their internal communication and why they think replacing some communication with videos will serve you and your coworkers better in the long run.Do you want more tips on creating videos? You can easily watch and search past episodes here. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

What’s the secret to great visual design?We asked Connie Malamed, The eLearning Coach, to share her eLearning and visual design expertise in this episode of The Visual Lounge.Connie helps people build their instructional design skills. She’s a consultant, an author, and speaker in online learning and visual communication. Connie is the author of ‘Visual Design Solutions: Principles and Creative Inspiration for Learning Professionals’ and also runs The eLearning Coach website and podcast.Connie’s interview is packed full of fantastic advice for instructional designers, experienced or otherwise. She explains how creativity comes in many forms and why you don’t need to be a top artist to be a great visual designer. She also delves into the top design principles you need to know about, how to avoid overwhelming your audience, and why style guides are so important.Learning points from the episode include:Why everyone can be creative in visual design, not just the artistsWhy using white space and positioning are key to great visual designHow to create focal points and draw the eyeHow cognitive load worksWhy we need to avoid overloading our audience with informationHow standardization and style guides can help visual designersImportant links and mentions:The eLearning Coach: https://theelearningcoach.com/Connie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conniemalamed/Connie’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/elearningcoachMastering Instructional Design: https://masteringid.com/Businesses Must Modernize Communications or Risk Productivity Loss: https://www.techsmith.com/visual-communication-research.htmlThe Future of Communication Is Visual. Here Are 6 Ways Your Team Can Innovate: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/visual-types-remote-communication/How To Use Visual Communication and Why It Matters: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/why-visual-communication-matters/The One Tool You Need to Create Awesome Visual Instructions: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/the-tool-you-need-to-create-awesome-visual-instructions/Learn more about the TechSmith Academy.To read the blog post on the topic or watch the video, go to: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/visuals-for-instruction-secrets

If you're looking to grow your company's YouTube channel, then this video's for you.You know that there are certain strategies to make your videos grow, gain views, subscribers, and get more exposure. But how can it work for your company?In this episode, Matt Pierce, Andy Owen, and Kara Swanson talk through our experiences with YouTube content creation and strategy and what we've learned.Do you want more tips on creating videos? You can easily watch and search past episodes here. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

What’s the best process or framework for creating videos that leave an impact?The truth is that every video creator does things differently. And you’ve got to find whatever works for you. Oz du Soleil is someone who’s found a process that works for him. He’s the host behind Excel on Fire, a YouTube channel that makes Excel tutorials both fun and interesting.As well his YouTube channel, Oz is also a Microsoft Excel MVP, lead author of Guerilla Data Analysis 2nd Ed., and has several courses on LinkedIn Learning.  We sat down with Oz to hear his thoughts on video creation and get a look at his process.He takes us behind the scenes to where it all began, what he’s learned about his own preferences for making videos, and some tips you can use in your own content. Learning points from the episode include: Why you should treat each video as its own entity How to strike the balance between jokes and informative content in videosWhy you should try to create videos that you don’t get elsewhereWhy you need to know when to walk away from a videoImportant links and mentions:Oz’s TechSmith tutorial: How I Edit Video with Oz du SoleilOz du Soleil’s website - https://ozdusoleil.com/Excel on Fire YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZgOVykPoRbSZQfY9YysiRQOz’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozdata/Oz’s Twitter – https://twitter.com/ozexcelTechSmith’s Camtasia tutorial on Skillshare -  https://skl.sh/2Wtb2EMLearn more about the TechSmith AcademyTo read the blog post on the topic or watch the video, go to: https://www.techsmith.com/blog/how-i-make-videos

The main reason that people continue to watch a video is that they’re genuinely interested in the topic.What if there were some key questions that every creator could ask that would help them figure out where their viewers are in their progress and who exactly they should be creating content for?In this episode, Matt Pierce, Andy Owen, and Kara Swanson discuss the seven questions you need to ask before you start creating videos.Do you want more tips on creating videos? You can easily watch and search past episodes here. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Want the 7 QUESTIONS so you can follow along?Who are they? What problem are they trying to solve? What goals are they pursuing?Do they have previous experience with the topic? Where and how will they likely find or access the video?What is their skill level?What related topics should they also be learning?