Tips from CommonCraft

I’m pretty impressed with the CommonCraft videos. They’ve found a way to make YouTube a marketing and profit center for themselves, and a lot of their work is in the training and marketing industries. They’ve found a nice niche for themselves.

One of their recent blog entries catalogs some lessons learned in their previous year of business. I’ve pulled a few of the tips out below that I think apply to a training department – especially one that focuses on e-learning.

Simple is better. Approach an explanation by removing information instead of adding it. Remember Occam’s Razor.

Production values and ideas are often at odds. Flashy graphics and cool music are sometimes a poor replacement for a good idea. Spend time focusing on the message.

It’s not always about how it works – it’s about why anyone should care. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference (Elie Weisel). The path to a solid explanation is making people care as a first priority.

We all need a little more levity. Unstuff your shirt and make people laugh. Look foolish. Defy convention and do not take yourself too seriously.

Think about how those tips might apply to your business. Are you focused on the ‘how’ at the expense of the ‘why’? Can you afford to inject a bit of humor? Are you all glitz and no substance? Are getting too deep into the details?

That last question really hits home for me. I’m a detail person. I have a hard time writing a short email when I’m trying to make a point, and frequently provide more detail than is really necessary. Many times I’d probably be better served to provide more high-level information and let the recipient ask for more if necessary. In the same way, I’m wondering if we sometimes provide too much detail in our training sessions? Should we instead move some of the detail into performance support tools? Obviously that’s not an across the board answer, but it’s something we should be thinking about when designing sessions, whether online or in the classroom.

[tags]instructional design, business tips, training[/tags]

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