​With COVID-19 disrupting the economy, I thought it would be helpful to provide a list of resources that fellow learning professionals can use to build, maintain, and enhance their skills while on furlough, looking for work, or if you have extra time.  The following lists provides access to application free trials, recommended books that have helped me with my own career growth and development, links to some blog posts that you may find helpful, and other resources.

I'll update this post as I find more resources to share.

Please note, I'm not an affiliate reseller so I'm not making any money off of the following.

Free Application Trials and Tutorials
The following authoring and video editing tools offer free trials that you can use to build, maintain, and enhance your skills.

• Camtasia - Screen recorder and video editor
  • Training tutorials
• Articulate 360 - Popular eLearning authoring application
  • Articulate e-Learning heroes community
  • e-Learning challenges - Practice your skills!
• Adobe Captivate - Popular eLearning authoring application
  • ​​Training tutorials
• Adobe Premiere Pro - Video editing application
  • ​Training tutorials
• Snagit - Screen capture recording and editing
  • ​​Training tutorials

Free Courses and Programs
Some great content has been made available recently.  I'll keep updating as I find them.

• LinkedIn content to help you navigate the challenges of today's job market - Courses on building your job search strategy, networking, and interview skills
• The Change Quest Model - The brain-based approach for thriving through change - A self-paced 90 day course on change initiatives.  Update: It is no longer a free course however, it is heavily discounted.
• Cornerstone Cares - Free resources on working from home, managing stress and anxiety, remote learning, and COVID-19
• Coursera - Over 100 free online courses.  You may be interested in the following.  Introduction to Neuroeconomics, Introduction to Personal Branding, a course on building chatbots, how to write a resume, and more.

Free Industry Reports
Stay up to date on the latest research and findings by industry leading organizations.  

• 2020 Workplace Learning Report by LinkedIn Learning
• Instructional Design Trend Reports by SweetRush
• 2020 L&D Trends by Trainingindsutry.com
• 2019 Training Industry Report by Training Magazine
• State of the American Workplace by Gallup

Here are some additional reports from 2019.

Suggested Reading List
Here are some books that have improved my capabilities as a leader and learning professional.  They're not all directly learning related but I've read each of them and found them to be great resources that I go back to time and time again.

• Innovative Performance Support: Strategies and Practices for Learning in Workflow - A great resource to help you enable your learners to succeed on the job.  
• Slide:ology The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations - Great book on how to develop engaging and influential presentations.  I use it as a reference when creating my own presentations.
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success - Learn about the power of having a growth vs. fixed mindset.  Something that you can pass on to your team, learners, family, and friends.
• Never Split The Difference - Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It - Inspirational book on how to negotiate and influence favorable outcomes.  The tactics Chris shares in this book really work.
• Measure What Matters - Learn from John Doer how to harness the power of OKRs to achieve your goals.
• Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Training Evaluation - Learn how to evaluate your training program's using Kirkpatrick's methodology.  A must read if you are serious about analyzing the outcomes of your programs.
• ISD From the Ground Up - Great book that I've used to help team members build a career in instructional design.
• Crucial Conversations - Tools For Talking When Stakes Are High - I've read this book about three times now and it's had a great effect on my ability to have effective conversations.  I highly recommend reading it.

Blog Posts
Here are a few blog posts I've written that you may find helpful to develop your skills, read up on learning industry trends, achieve better training outcomes, and connect with other professionals in the learning and talent development field. 

• Three Ways to Enhance your Instructional Design Resume
• What does an Instructional Designer do?  They Solve Business Problems
• ​Four Steps to Develop Your Skills
• Be a Thought Leader - 5 Free Industry Reports to Stay Informed 
• Four Questions to Achieve Better Training Outcomes
• 10 Talent Development Articles to Leave it Better Than you Found it​

Industry websites
I've found the following sites to be useful in terms of providing me with consistent, quality, information pertaining to the learning and talent development field.

• Joshbersin.com
• cathymoore.com
• mindtools.com
• brittandreatta.com
• td.org
• learning.linkedin.com/blog
• chieflearningofficer.com

​I hope that you find some value in these resources.  If you have questions or want to connect, I'm happy to do so.  Drop me a line!