BusinessCasualBlog.com: Training

February 06, 2010

For Some Friends Who Asked: How to Modify Your Twitter Profile

Below is one of the tutorials I posted in the Success Modules topic series on MindBridj. This one helps some of our members --and at least three of my friends who specifically asked for it--to modify their profile on Twitter.

Included also in the Success Modules -- but not in the video above -- is another video that shows MindBridj members how to customize the background of Twitter in a way that specifically brands their business.

I'm also currently working on an "Orchestration" series that addresses Chapter 5 in our book about orchestrating your social media activities. Though I can't release them all, I'll periodically post a few of them here as they get finalized.

By the way, I had a great local meetup today with a group of folks in a local social media group called the Social Media Mastermind group, Orange County (SMMOC). If you're in the Orange County, CA area, I'd definitely say it's worth looking into. (No cost.) And, if you're not, it might be worth checking out anyway to see the kinds of topics, discussions and activities that you might consider for a group you start in your area.

Are there any similar meetups in your area that you'd recommend?

Posted by mel on February 06, 2010 in Social networks, Training, videobook, Web videos | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 29, 2009

An update on the vbook to the Social Media Report

On the MindBridj web site today I posted the update above about progress we're making with the vbook (video book) we'll be launching next month.

In case you're new to this blog, the vbook will be an online complement to the Social Media guide I authored this year with Stefan Swanepoel.

Though we're still mucking around with enrollment pricing (including the "F" word...Free), we've at least decided to do just that (that is, make it free) for the first 3 months after rollout for everybody who signs up to be notified when we launch. (For convenience, I put the sign up form just beneath the video above.)

But, here's the thing. I'd really appreciate some feedback. Specifically, I'd like to get at least one topic you think absolutely needs to be included in an online program about social media. I'd like to make sure the online guide is as relevant as I can make it and your feedback would really help.

So, after signing up, please take a moment to post a comment below with one idea that comes to mind. I really appreciate it. Thanks.

Posted by mel on December 29, 2009 in Real Estate Professionals, Social networks, Training, videobook, Web videos | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 28, 2009

The 3 Rs of social media engagement - a model for corporate policy training

As I was preparing for a social media round table I'm facilitating next week, I came across Telstra's eLearning program for social media. It's not really a "how to" manual for using social media platforms. Rather, it's designed to inform its employees about the company's guidelines for social media engagement.

Those guidelines are rooted in: Representation, Responsibility and Respect.

It's worth a look. (Click the image below.) Especially if you're in the business of training and learning. I thought the interface and layout were quite engaging--especially their use of an avatar named "Lilly".

I've typically been fairly lukewarm--and sometimes downright cool--to the use of avatars in eLearning programs. (I've seen one too many examples of avatars that did nothing more than simply recite text that could just as well have been left for the user to read.) However, Telstra's use of Lilly to punctuate key concepts of the program was effective as a reinforcement tool. I think it was a solid "Level 2" on Bloom's hierarchy for cognition, and should be effective in distributing Knowledge and Comprehension across Telstra's workforce.

But, don't take my word for it. In a bold move, and in line with the culture of openness and sharing inherent in social media, Telstra has made their entire course available online. Click the image above... check it out.

It's worth a looksee and, I think, serves as a compelling model for the rest of us.

If you liked this, or any of the articles on this site, please subscribe!
Are you a fellow "Tweep"? Follow me on Twitter (@melaclaro)
Or, connect with me on LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/melaclaro.
Got friends? Forward this post or save it to any of the bookmarking sites below.

Posted by mel on December 28, 2009 in eLearning, Social networks, Training | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 20, 2009

Hubs-and-spokes in social media - video book excerpt

Here's another excerpt from the video book series I'm producing. The video book is the online/visual version of the book I authored with Stefan this past summer on the topic of social media for real estate professionals. It's now looking like the video book will roll out in January. (I was shooting for this month, but I'm afraid I've been OBE'd these past couple of months. [OBE = "Overtaken By Events".])

In this opening excerpt from Chapter 3 of the video book, I introduce some of the sites and tools to be discussed in that chapter. What do you think of the format? Anything I should change? Anything I should do more of?

By the way, sign up in the form below if you want me to keep you posted about the exact release date for the video book. It's totally cool, you can take yourself off the list at any time and I think many of you know I won't be selling your email address to any third parties. Thanks again for taking time to visit!

Posted by mel on December 20, 2009 in Real Estate Professionals, Social networks, Training, Web videos | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 19, 2009

Changing Behaviors By Making Things Fun

At the ASTD-OC learning event the other day, one of our colleagues teed up a structured networking event by discussing the key precept in the video below: changing behaviors by making something fun. The video was produced by Thefuntheory.com.

If you liked the experiment above, I also found the one below as compelling, if not more, because the repetition encouraged by the "fun" factor really demonstrated the potential for this approach to really "clean up." (Pun intended.)

Posted by mel on December 19, 2009 in ASTD, Training | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 11, 2009

Brain teaser - Hint: we try to do this for our clients and customers

In case you missed it, or aren't (yet) connected with me on Twitter or Facebook, here's the brain teaser I posted yesterday.

Give up? Here's a thread with the answer.

Posted by mel on December 11, 2009 in Brain teasers, Facilitation Tools, Just for fun, Training | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 10, 2009

ROI Evaluation In Training - Then and Now. Will It Work For Social Media ROI?

In previous posts I've written about the challenges of determining the ROI (Return On Investment) in Social Media. As I wrote some of those ROI-themed posts, I shared my observations that this topic, while a relatively new and lively debate among those in the spheres of social media-dom, isn't really a new concept to those in the Training and Learning industry.

In each of those articles, I made reference to a framework that's pretty well-known among those in the Training and Learning industry; a framework widely attributed to Donald Kirkpatrick over 50 years ago.

I thought many of you -- both in the Training/Learning industry and those in the Social Media sphere -- would appreciate this article that revisits Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Model. It comes courtesy of the article archives at the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).

The article conducts a very compelling compare/contrast format as it revisits Donald Kirkpatrick's thoughts between when he wrote the piece in 1959 vs. 1996. What's interesting is that now, over 50 years later, many of the same principles still hold true.

It's worth a read. Personally, I'd be interested to know what you think: can the model be adapted for solving, once-and-for-all, the debate about how to calculate the return on investments in social media?

Posted by mel on December 10, 2009 in ASTD, ROI, Social networks, Training | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Brain Teasers... do you have "the inside track?"

A couple of days ago I wrote about how helpful I've found some of these simple "brain teaser" activities for training classes and workshops. I posted a couple of them in my blog the other day and also on Facebook and Twitter. I was pleasantly surprised to find some goodly interest in them. Some of my friends asked that I post a new one at least once a day. I think I've got enough content from my old notes to comply with that for a while... at least until my notes run out. ;)

Here are the ones I shared with friends yesterday.

Hint: "John said he's got the job promotion locked in because he's got this..."
Answer (click here)

Hint: "Some days progress just like we do this."
Answer (click here)

Posted by mel on December 10, 2009 in Brain teasers, Facilitation Tools, Just for fun, Meeting facilitation, Training | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 08, 2009

Brain teasers to pull your trainees back after a break - "Life in the big city"

If you've ever facilitated a workshop or a training session, then you know how difficult it can sometimes be to pull everyone back into the room right after a break. But, that's usually the first challenge. Once you have them back in the room, the next challenge is to get the brain juices flowing again.

"Brain teasers" were fun little activities I found helpful in getting folks back into the groove again. The trick is to make 'em short, not too difficult so as to be a turn-off, but also not so easy as to be boring. The little snip above is an example of one from a series of 5-10 slides I'd have up on the screen for people to try and make sense of. I've been known to throw chocolates and candy around the room to those who guessed correctly. (I found the sugar was a good little booster, too.) :)

The brain teaser above is an easy one. After all, I give it to you right in the title to this post. But, how about the one below? Any takers?

Posted by mel on December 08, 2009 in Brain teasers, Facilitation Tools, Just for fun, Meeting facilitation, Training | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

December 06, 2009

Top 5 aha moments about Learning in 2009.

ASTD's The Learning Circuits Blog posted it's question of the month the other day. For this month it's asking "What Did You Learn About Learning In 2009?" We're asked to describe any "aha" moments as we think back across the earlier months in this year.

In thinking about my response, I found it helpful to dig through my articles this year and see what some of the "Best Of" highlights were through 2009. So I took a look at the Content stats using Google analytics. I also took a look at my feature articles in the niche-focused eLearningLearning Community. (The latter being a community that, "...(collects and organizes) the best information on the web about eLearning.")

At the end of this post I'll list my five "Best Of" articles according to the eLearningLearning community. (Where my Google stats say something different, I'll point them out.) But, as interesting as my Best Of articles were to re-visit, what I found more helpful was to stand back and sort of blur my eyes a bit to see what insights I could glean.

My top 5 "aha" moments from 2009.

After the initial echo from the vacuum between my ears, the following five things--in no particular order--sort of faded to the foreground as "aha" moments.

Listening posts for feedback and direction. It has been hugely helpful to have tools on hand that do much of the heavy-lifting to collect and organize relevant information for my professional development. Automated tools such as Google Alerts, Google Analytics, RSS, and other tools via affiliations with niche communities (e.g., eLearningLearning), and so on have been great. These technologies have been immensely helpful in keeping me clued-in about where I need to improve for my own development, as well as for understanding where variances exist between what I think my readers want from content I produce versus what they believe is important. The 5 Best Of articles I list at the end of this post is a good example of this variance because what my readers read the most weren't the things I necessarily thought were the things they'd most read. (*Chuckling* I hope that made sense.)

Reflection. I believe learning happens best when we take time to reflect on the meanings of things that go against our expectations. And, to then devise a new course of action based on those revelations. This goes hand in hand with having feedback mechanisms, such as automated listening posts as I mentioned above. But, this can also be just as effective--if not more so--when a non-technology feedback loop is put to use. Personal coaching, mentoring and mastermind groups come to mind.

We shouldn't underestimate our expertise. It's all too easy to sell ourselves short and think that for any topic we feel we know, there's always going to be somebody else in the world who knows that topic more than we. While that may very well be true, it is also true that: 1) many of those people will not act to share their knowledge to a wider audience via conventional or new media. Hence, their expertise will unfortunately remain invisible and do relatively little to benefit others; and 2) it is also true that there are many in the world who know less about a particular subject than we do. Those people can benefit from what we know--if only we will be willing to share it with them.

We gain strength from communities. I'm not just talking about online social networks here. Last year (2008) I ran 4 marathons, as well as an equal number of half-marathons and smaller races. This past year (2009) I ran...zero (0) races. (Not for want of trying.) Also, this year I couldn't seem to stay consistent in my training program to save my life. The big difference (?)--last year I was a member of a 6- to 8-person running group. We got together at least every Saturday morning to do "long runs" together. This year, I didn't. By being a member of a community we enjoy--no matter how small the community or group--we indirectly set new standards of expectations for ourselves in order to be able to continue membership. For example, in order for me to "be able" to keep up with those whose company I enjoyed every Saturday morning, I had to do my "homework" and consistently run my own miles during the week so I could maintain fitness to ensure I kept pace with my buds for our long runs every Saturday morning.

Many of my readers love tools, "how tos" and lists! I let out a chuckle every month when I take a look at my Content stats. This relates to my first points above about Listening Posts and Reflection. As it turns out, despite my musings about topics in social media, business and learning, the articles many of you like to read seem to be those that provide lists, give a tutorial or those which outline a process or proedure. I'll have to reflect on that more and see how best to tailor my content for you in 2010. :)

This all brings me to a nice segue way.