Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

Instructional Designer & Consultant

Currently

Where Have I Been & Where Am I Speaking: Fall 2019

Where the Heck Have You Been?!

I know, right?! I didn’t blog at all in August. So some of you might be thinking, “where has Ashley been?” At least I hope you’ve been thinking that, because I’ve really missed connecting as frequently, and I’m about to get back to it!

In July 2018, I tore my medial meniscus and damaged a bunch of cartilage in my knee playing softball. If you remember my jaw saga, you might be thinking “choose a different sport, please”, but no. No. I. Will. Not! ANYHOW. I had been waiting since then to have knee surgery, and on July 31st 2019 the wait was over!

I participated in a really neat research study that had two options: Option 1 – I get the surgery they’ve been doing successfully for years, which would only require one surgery, or Option 2 – I get a fancy 2-surgery deal that would first extract cartilage, mail it to a lab, grow new cartilage, and then 3 weeks later I would have a second surgery to implant the newly grown cartilage – cool, right?! I wouldn’t know which I had been selected for until I woke up from the anesthesia of surgery 1.

I really wanted the cool surgery so I could tell everyone I was bionic or part cattle (because the grown cartilage matrix was made with bovine matter), but my maiden name is Murphy and I abide by Murphy’s Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong), so I was randomly selected for the old surgery, which is referred to as ‘microfracture‘ plus a meniscus repair. Now that I’ve had this surgery, I am extremely glad to be nearly 6 weeks post-op, and not having to restart the post-op countdown with the second surgery, but it’s not nearly as neat sounding.

Long story short: I’ve been caged up on crutches and in a bulky range of motion brace for the past 4.5 weeks, and I have 1.5 more to go before I get the fancy custom brace and get cleared to resume normal life tasks like driving. I’ve had 2-4 appointments every single week, and it’s been incredibly exhausting. But, I’ll spend another 12-18 months in the new brace, and then my knee should be almost good as new. Which means: more softball and more travel.

So, that’s where I’ve been, and like I said earlier, I’m very excited about getting back into the swing of things with the blog…and with speaking opportunities!

Where Am I Speaking?

 

If you’re in the market for some Miami travel this November, I’ll be delivering two sessions for ATD Core4 Miami:

Session 1: Instructional Design for E-Learning

Oftentimes, eLearning programs don’t fully consider instructional design principles and best practices. Without considering these principles, though, how can you ensure that the eLearning is effectively addressing the issue for which it was developed?

In this session, you will learn about several key instructional design tips to consider when developing your eLearning. These tips stand to help you create a more targeted, consistent, and accessible eLearning program.

Key Takeaways:

  • Why it is so important to know your audience
  • Methods for ensuring consistency
  • Strategies for designing more universally
  • Ways of building in feedback opportunities

Session 2: Top 10 Tips: Articulate Storyline

So you’re developing some pretty awesome e-learning in Articulate Storyline, but you’d like to streamline your development…this is where all of those software secrets can come in handy! If you’ve ever felt like you could use a clone, this session aims to make you twice as productive doing what you do.

In this session, you will learn 10 top tips for working in Articulate Storyline, and how these tips can help you become more productive in your Articulate Storyline development.

Key Takeaways:

  • Methods for streamlining your development process
  • Strategies for making the tool work for you
  • How to speed up your development, without sacrificing quality
  • Articulate Storyline tricks of the trade

And, then I’ll be delivering a 2-day workshop in Washington, DC, so if you have any recommendations for things to do and/or people to see, definitely let me know!

This is one of the first years in a long time that I won’t be participating at DevLearn because I won’t be cleared to fly until early November, so I’m having some serious FOMO…but 2020 will be a good one!

Where to Find Me – Spring 2019

Wowee! It has been a chaotic week and a bit since Learning Solutions 2019. I had so much fun at the conference, met so many folks I finally wanted to meet in person, and ate a bunch of great food! But now we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming. Before I get back to screencasts, I thought it might be helpful to tell you where you can find me this spring.

Best of DemoFest – April 17th, 2019

At Learning Solutions, I presented one of the projects we’ve worked on at Traliant, Preventing Discrimination and Harassment for Employees. And guess what!…IT WON! We won Best Video Solution, and I was so pumped about it because I truly believe that our courses are engaging and are binge-worthy video-based compliance training.

In any event, I will be presenting an 8-9 minute overview of our project at Webinar: Best of DemoFest 2019: Award-winning eLearning in Action. The webinar is this Wednesday, April 17th from 10am to 11:30am PST. If you’re interested, definitely sign up and check out our project as well as a handful of other winning projects!

ATD Central Florida – Off-the-Cuff with Alexander Salas – April 22nd (somewhere around there), 2019

My pal Alex asked if I would be interested in participating in Off-the-Cuff, a video-based interview series hosted by ATD Central Florida, and oh boy, I was game! It’s an unscripted interview, and I think I’ll be chatting about e-learning portfolios, but I’m sure Alex will throw in some wildcard questions to keep me on my toes.

ATD Central Florida – Digital Encounter – May 13, 2019

Prior to to the Off-the-Cuff commitment, Alex had asked if I’d be interested in presenting at an ATD Central Florida Digital Encounter, and again, I was game. This session will be hosted on May 13th from 7-8pm EST, and is on a topic near and dear to my heart: Building eLearning Portfolios. This session if free for ATDCFL members, and is $10 for guests.

Anyone who isn’t new to my site knows my vehement appreciation and preaching of getting your e-learning portfolios in order, so I’m happy to be there to provide information and answer any and all questions.

ATD ICE 2019 – May 18-22nd, 2019

ATD ICE is the one event each year that I try not to present at because it’s one of the largest events that I go to each year, and I enjoy engaging as a participant. I’m sure I’ll present there sometime in the future, but not this year! I’ve got a pretty busted up knee, and the venues for ATD ICE always have a lot of ground to cover, and I’m really slow right now.

That being said, I will physically be there, I’m super pumped to sit in on Seth Godin’s keynote…oh, and Oprah’s too. I’m also very excited to hang out with old friends and meet up with new ones. If you see me hobbling around and want to say Hi, make sure you stop me in my tracks and introduce yourself!

Outside of the event, I’m also pretty excited to catch a Nationals vs. Cubs game, check out the International Spy Museum, and stop by some landmarks.

Articulate Roadshow: Halifax – June 6, 2019

It has only been YEARS that I have been nagging Tom Kuhlmann and David Anderson to come to the east coast of Canada to do a roadshow…and they have finally relented! The folks at Articulate will be swinging by on June 6th to do a day-long workshop in Halifax, so if you know of any east coast Canadians who are using Articulate software, make sure that you pass this link along to them!

You can register for the Articulate Roadshow: Halifax here, and until the end of April, you get early-bird pricing. For the amount of ground they’re going to cover, this workshop is very well-priced. And, having attended and presented at many of these roadshows, I can tell you 100% that the value is there.

I will be there to help coordinate and/or answer any of your pressing Storyline questions. If you attend the event, make sure you come say Hi!

Where Have I Been?!

The statement ‘New Year, New Me’ never really spoke to me until this year. At the tail end of 2018, I accepted a  full-time position as a Senior eLearning Developer at Traliant, and I’ve been MIA from the blog because I’ve been insanely busy ramping up with them (and learning so much!) as well as ramping down with my other obligations.

What is Traliant?!

Traliant is an e-learning company that develops compliance training – primarily Sexual Harassment and Preventing Discrimination and Harassment Training – that truly looks like something you would find on a news channel or streaming service (e.g., Netflix or Hulu). I’ve only been with the company for just shy of a month, but I’ve already fallen in love with the quality of the content, the excitement and enthusiasm of the team, and the sheer volume of exciting clients that have come across my desk so far!

What You Can Expect from Me

Aside from being MIA for the majority of this month, things will be ramping back up with the blog in the coming weeks/months. I love maintaining this blog, and there are a ton of things I’m really excited to share, so stay tuned for more content, more screencasts, and a new design (coming soon, THANK YOU, Erin)! I’ll be getting back into a normal routine with the blog, so keep checking in.

What Else Have I Been Up To?

To be honest, when I haven’t been doing something work-related, I’ve been taking time to wind down:

  • Listening to lots of podcasts (I recently started the Monster podcast)
  • Watching lots of Netflix (Birdbox, F is for Family, The Punisher, the Fyre Festival documentaries)
  • Enjoying time with my little family
  • Going gluten free (since November) – I hate to admit it has helped my migraines, but it really has (still looking for a solid pizza crust recipe though!)
  • Planning my conference schedule for 2019 – I’ll be at ATD ICE and DevLearn this year for sure
  • Helping organize a Halifax Articulate Roadshow (!!! so excited about this and will be happy to share details once they’re available)

Random

I am still waiting on a knee surgery from a baseball injury this past July. It’s progressing in that I’ve received my MRI results, received confirmation that I do in fact have to have a meniscus repair that hasn’t healed on its own, and I have a consult with the surgeon for the beginning of March. That being said, it is extremely discouraging to know that with a 3-4 month recovery and no surgery date as of yet, I’ll be unable to play softball this season (maaaaybe in the fall, but we’ll see). It’s also been extremely hard, mentally, to do zero physical activity requiring my legs (I’d even settle for a 15 minute dog walk without a swollen knee at this point).

2018 Recap and 2019 Goals

I hope everyone is enjoying their New Year’s Eve. In reading last year’s recap, I realized that our household was in quarantine with the flu and right now I’m trying to fend off whatever feels flu-y. It’s sort of comforting to know that it’s a trend. A ton of things happened in 2018 that I’m extremely proud of, but that’s for another day! Reflecting on how much I accomplished from my goal list, I feel incredibly happy with what I managed to do.

In addition to everything I accomplished, I also won Best Academic Solution at DevLearn 2018’s DemoFest, I delivered my first full-day pre-conference certificate workshop (and received pretty darn good feedback), bought a new house with my husband (and sold our first home – which was a PROCESS!), visited one of my besties, Erin, in Aspen, got to spend an entire week with my best friend, Rachel in Vegas (she will be my new Vegas pal…AMEN!), and accepted a new job that I hope will become my career. It’s been wild!

2018 Recap

Personal goals:

  • Slow down and enjoy the present; – I have made this goal for many years in a row and I SUCK at achieving it. 
  • Maintain a consistent exercise schedule; – This is a half-achievement. In July I tore my medial meniscus in my left knee, so exercise has been just a nice thought since then and until post-surgery (whenever the heck that will be…AMEN to universal healthcare).
  • Be more mindful of the food I’m putting into my body and make positive dietary changes; – I completely forgot that this was a 2018 goal, and I actually achieved it. This past year I went gluten-free, which has been both a blessing and a curse. I hate to admit that it’s been effective with my migraines and visual auras…because GF pizza crust just isn’t the same, but I’m sticking with it!
  • Run the Bluenose Half Marathon and participate in a relay race (should be do-able since I won’t be attending ATD ICE this year); and – This didn’t happen because I did end up going to ATD ICE (which was amazing).
  • Travel to Toronto with my husband for the Blue Jays Home Opener and plan and execute an epic 5-year anniversary vacation. – Went to the home opener. They got crushed. It was still great! Executed a 5-year anniversary vacation to Portugal, and it was beautiful.

Business Goals:

  • Increase business income by 25%; – Business income has been blown out of the water.
  • Attend 2 conferences; – I actually attended 3: ATD ICE, ATD Core4 Toronto, and DevLearn 2018.
  • Speak at 1-2 e-learning conferences; – I spoke at 2 conferences: ATD Core4 Toronto and DevLearn 2018. 
  • Participate in the e-learning heroes community challenges (period – not regularly, just participate); – I’ve realized that to do this, I need to discover cloning technology…I would LOVE to participate, but have been swamped.
  • Blog regularly; – This definitely happened!
  • Break 1,000,000 views on the blog; and – The blog has hit 1,025,000 thereabouts! And I cannot believe how much love and support (from you folks) that I get for this blog and the content I produce. When I hit 1 million, I actually teared up. I’m not crying…you’re crying!
  • Get more courses up on Sprout. – Essentials of Instructional Design and Articulate Storyline 360 Essentials both launched and have been enjoying a very successful learner-ship!

2019 Goals

Personal Goals:

  • Slow down and enjoy the present;
  • Have knee surgery to repair the torn meniscus;
  • Rehab the knee and then return to a maintaining a consistent exercise schedule;
  • Make additional dietary changes (maybe get rid of dairy?); and
  • Hit the cottage at least four times for max relaxing.

Business Goals:

  • WORK LESS;
  • Work smarter – implement processes that will make my work-life easier and more efficient;
  • Hire an accountant (something that I’ve been long overdue for);
  • Maintain relationships with my existing clients;
  • Invest in sprucing up the blog;
  • Blog regularly; and
  • Continue to grow Sprout E-Learning.

ATD ICE 2018 – Keynote Recap: Connie Podesta

Keynote: Connie Podesta

I was super excited to attend Connie Podesta’s session, Life would be easy, if it weren’t for other people, because it seemed very relatable. Decoding the mystery of human behaviour seems like a unicorn of an event, but if she has advice, I’ll take it!

Connie Podesta begins her session by asking us how many of us would live our best lives if it weren’t for other people. ALL OF US.

She gives us two choices “I have an UNBELIEVABLE PowerPoint presentation”, with workbooks, and group work, or “vote for choice two before you hear it”…no really, choice two is to do none of that.

If you’re married, have kids, have bosses, have co-workers…selling is your ability to get people onboard. Today, Connie is going to show us how to get people onboard with all of these individuals!

Connie explains that women have created the term ‘executive coach’ to ensure men would come to the sessions…that’s why we don’t call ourselves therapists (to men). I know a lot of men who are comfortable going to therapists, but I think the term ‘executive coach’ seems a lot more appealing to many. Who knows?

  • Connie: Would you rather hug an old lady, or kick a dog?
  • Person: Kick an old lady

That sounds accurate.

She hauls a woman up who is under 39, and she explains how the under 39s are those who are full of themselves and don’t wear watches, the 50+ folk have sore shoulders, are the glue that sticks everything together, and are the happiest generation…because they don’t care, and the 40-49 group are those who are angrier than all of the other generations.

She explains that the 39s and under are a generation who get rewards for showing up. She recommends all of the 39s and under get a watch…why? Because we apparently blow off 42.5 hours a year checking on the time.

There’s an activity: choose your shape: circle, square, triangle, squiggle – what resonates most with you?

  • Squares: Detailed, left-brained, specific, make lists, dependable, reliable (don’t ask them “does this make my butt look big?”), hardest woking individuals in the industry…according to them; no one knows what they do, because they’re territorial, are not the best team players
  • Triangles: A little bit temperamental and it’s unpredictable, don’t like negative feedback, perfectionists, argue unsatisfactory grades, are OCD, are the best multi-taskers in the room (triangle secret: they don’t finish anything – they have the lowest attention span in the room, will go to squares to finish their projects), are driven out of their mind by circles
    • Squares and triangles just want their brains to stop.
  • Circles: Married to squares, never finish stories, -hits head on microphone-, oblivious there is a speaker present, easily distracted, party people (first time I’ve heard that), social people (ONLY time I’ve heard that), love telling stories, have made people endure your stories, the stories are so far from accuracy, are the motivators of the world, make all other shapes disgusted at 7am (do not talk to triangles before 10 or they’ll slap you), and are the peacemakers of the world – other shapes DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU – you hate hassles, confrontations, and want everyone to get along; you want everyone to be happy and to learn from you, you get your feelings hurt 34897294239 times per day, and you have a hard time saying “NO!”; the circle motto is “I’ll do it.”
    • Inside the brain of circles: they honestly believe from the depths of their soul that they were put on the Earth for a reason, for a destiny, to fix or rescue
      • I’m a circle and this is 500% accurate.
  • Squiggles: Are the idea people, half of the ideas are non-sense, have authority issues stemming from childhood
  • The Unidentifiers: No fun, grumpy, don’t feel the need to participate, are closet-squares, because those are the only people who wouldn’t stand

How do you find out what shape people are? Ask “How are you today?” Squares and triangles won’t say anything. Circles will think you genuinely want to know. Why do we have kids that we think aren’t ours? Because at 6 months, they look around and think “I don’t want to be like anyone else in the family.”

She hauls up another poor participant, Ed – A Square. She’s trying to teach us how to close a deal with a square. To illustrate this, she uses Ed. She asks “My office or your office?” and he says “My office.” If you call a meeting, it should be in the other individual’s office, because you’ll have a 60% increase in chances to close a deal if you go to them.

Now, let’s close a deal with a triangle. Close deals in their office because it’s all about power.

Circles and Squiggles: If you are not early for the meeting (1 minute early, or late), triangles and squares are DONE with you. Also – no one wants to be as close to you as you want to be to them. You spend a lifetime sending squares and triangles into a corner with your closeness and your small-talk. GET OUT OF HERE!

Overall: This session was a hilarious end session to a great week at ATD2018. I love Connie and her incredibly accurate account of individuals (or myself at the very least).

ATD ICE 2018 – Session Recap: Diana Howles

Session: How to Avoid the Top 10 Mistakes in Instructional Videos

Diana begins her session by explaining that she loves helping clients use multimedia effectively. 

The trend is forecasting that approximately 82% of all internet traffic will be video, by 2021. This means that we will need to leverage video within our training materials. But we need to ensure we’re doing this effectively. Not just for the sake of creating video.

Diana plans to show us 10 mistakes we make within instructional videos, because “we don’t know what we don’t know”, which is one of my all-time favourite quotes. 

Common mistakes to avoid:

  1. Visual and Audio Distractions
  2. Inadequate Lighting
  3. Poor Audio Quality
  4. Formal Reading of Script
  5. Rapid On-Camera Movement
  6. Lack of On-Camera Presence
  7. Awkward Positioning in the Frame
  8. Static Visual Content
  9. Long and Boring Openings
  10. Losing Sight of Intended Audience

She provided examples for each element, such as:

  • Not cutting off bodies on-camera at awkward angles
  • Bringing several wardrobe options to ensure there are no visual distractions based on wardrobe (e.g., creation of floating heads)
  • Avoiding background distractions (e.g., things behind the individual on camera, or open doors/closets)
  • Ensuring nothing is obstructing the video frame
  • Use settings conducive to the person on-camera (e.g., instructor in a classroom instead of outside).
  • Ensure the speaker is front-lit. Backlighting (e.g. speaker sitting in front of a window) will create a shadow over the speaker.

Diana also emphasized the importance of scripting your talking points so that you know where you’re going, but not sounding like you’re reading from a script. There are studies that have shown that conversational delivery is better for learning than reading formally to the audience.

She discussing being cognizant of on-camera presence, such as:

  • Direct eye contact toward the camera lens
  • Create a likeable and personable connection
  • Maintain high energy/topic enthusiasm
  • Ensure you’re maintaining a perception of expert credibility
  • Maintain a pleasant and natural smile
  • Use conversational and personal tone
  • Maintain a balanced pace and speaking rate

She explains that in video, you should ensure your speech is short and to the point. Avoid reading full scripts verbatim on-camera. To avoid long-winded intros and outros, Diana recommends shooting these sections of the video last, once the speaker has warmed up to the video-recording process. This tends to facilitate concise intros/outros.

On camera, objects appear as if they are large as they move toward the camera, so be conscious of this, especially with hand gestures/movements to maintain proportions.

Don’t lose sight of your intended audience! A good example of this is not using acronyms without defining them first. This is something that is the bane of my existence when I review written content, because not all individuals reading the content are familiar with the acronyms, so listening to someone talk at me in acronyms in a video would overwhelm me with confusion.

Overall: This was a great session, and really hammered home the importance of being conscious of a lot of basic information that may get lost in the shuffle of creating instructional videos, in order to raise the quality of videos and ensure the learning takes centre stage.