ESSENTIAL TOOLS for 2010

• Articulate '09
• Snagit
• Camtasia Studio
• Logitech QuickCam® Orbit AF Webcam
• Kodak Z1485 14.85 Megapixel Camera
• Photoshop CS4
• Adobe Captivate

Articulate
Engage

Engage is the package I've been waiting for. It will speed up production of snippets using the Media Tour interaction. I caution ISDs from using Interaction for Interaction's sake. Suggest that you use interaction ONLY when needed, not to act as a break in an otherwise boring show and tell. As you can see in the figure below, Engage offers quite a number of useful interactions.


Articulate Engage



Articulate Quizmaster

If your company or client already has an LMS, we don't see much use for this tool. It's more likely that you will be writing assessment questions on Excel templates which will be easily uploaded to an LMS like Sum Total or Lectora. While Quizmaker has LMS output options (SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, and AICC), your LMS team would still have to validate the Schema. Most of my clients with an LMS want me to use Excel templates.

Always ask your client first. If using Quizmaker can save your client time and money, do it.


Articulate Engage

Articulate Presenter

Turn PowerPoint into a Flash authoring tool with Articulate Presenter. One of the benefits we see is that now PowerPoint can be a usable storyboarding tool. Remember, just because you CAN add all this functionality doesn't mean that you SHOULD. Always assess the learning you develop based on the needed outcome and your client's budget for money and time.

Articulate Presenter Ribbon in PowerPoint

EZLCMS, a Fully-Featured LCMS at Bargain Prices!

Looking for an affordable SCORM Compliant LCMS? Look no further. We recommend EZLCMS.

This powerhouse of an eLearning application is Software as a Service at its best. EZLCMS lets you develop your lessons using a wide variety of applications and instantly generate a SCORM (1.2 or 2004) compliant course.

Don't believe it? Try it yourself. Get a trial today.

Here's what we've used it for...

1. Storyboarding

2. Asset repository

3. Quick and Dirty eLearning, OK we admit it, we use PowerPoint.

4. Large-scale deployment (up to 2500 simultaneous log ons)

5. Refresher scenarios and quizzes

6. Mastery training

Is Training Rebounding?

Is business getting better for training professionals? Here in South Florida, the buzz is getting louder. "We need ISDs!" We need Technical Writers!" In the past, when companies felt that the upturn was about 6 months away, that's when they:

• scrapped old business practices,
• streamlined with new practices and technology,
• trained their existing staff on the new stuff, and
• built tools to use for new employee training.

So, smart companies are investing in training.

Now is the time to let your clients know about this simple method so that they will have a leg up on the competition when demand picks up.

How to sell training

We examine ouselves to determine if our message is getting across to our prospects.

We so-called training professionals like to think we have an edge over a manager who finds herself (or himself) facing a team of depressed and nervous people. What we have that they don't have is insight and objectivity.

We have the luxury of observing. We have the luxury of listening. We have the opportunity to take what we see and hear and convert it into beneficial action.

If you had seven seconds (14 words) to explain the benefit you offer to your client, what would it sound like? This simple phrase is your mission, it defines why you do what you do.

Now, use no more than four words for a tag line. Ours is "Accelerate success!"

Finally, the next time you are talking with a prospect and they ask you to describe who you are and what you do, just repeat the tag line first and then your mission. Then ask, "What challenges may I help you solve today?"

What Are We In For?

In researching how economists and business owners responded to the depression,and the recession of 1990-92, I've been reading two books. The first, by Stuart Chase, is titled The Nemesis of American Business, Macmillan, 1931. Chase was the man who coined the phrase, "A New Deal." This book is a collection of his essays from a variety of business magazines of the day. While a bit naive and self serving, Chase's insights into the problems of his day are worth a re-read. The second book I am devouring is by Murray Raphel and his son, Neil. It was published during the last major economic storm of the early 1990's. It is titled Tough Selling for Tough Times, Raphel Publishing, 1992.

What is most fascinating is that Chase took a positive view of what had to be done to fix the problem, both economically and socially and the Raphels took a positive attitude in order to entice their readers that they had nothing to fear but fear itself (sorry for that, it seemed so apt). Neal Raphael and his team have updated the original to cover some of the challenges that did not exist in 1992. I recommend all my readers to take a look at this practical guide for thriving in today's economy, Business Success in Tough Times, Raphel Publishing, 2009.

Regards,

Doug