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Friday Finds — Interactive Emails, Content Compass, AI in L&D

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“Success isn’t measured by your lack of stumbles but by the quality of your recoveries.”

— Matt Blumberg

October is Cybersecurity Month, making it the perfect time to remind you that weak or reused passwords are one of the biggest threats to your online security. If you're not already using one, consider a password manager to create strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts. My family and I use 1Password for just a few dollars a month—totally worth it! Bitwarden is a great free option. Do you use a password manager? Which one?

Thanks for reading!

🎶 What I’m Listening To

This morning, I’m listening to one of my favorite band names of all time - Artic Monkeys.

📰 News & Notes

What are Interactive Emails & Why You Should Send Them?

Interactive emails are another thing L&D should ‘steal’ from marketing. They make emails more engaging by adding features like polls, quizzes, videos, and buttons. This improves user interaction, retention, and provides valuable data. L&D teams can use interactive emails to create more engaging and accessible learning content, boosting engagement and learning outcomes.

🎯 Takeaway: Interactive emails increase engagement by turning passive communication into an active, user-driven experience.

Set Your Content Compass and Purpose

This article is a good reminder of the importance of defining a clear content purpose to align content with business goals and audience needs. By crafting a "content compass" — a purpose statement or framework — L&D professionals can ensure that content creation remains focused, helping decision-makers evaluate existing materials and future ideas based on strategic alignment. The process involves collaborative brainstorming, revision, testing, and practical application through examples, ultimately guiding content decisions and improving effectiveness.

🎯 Takeaway: A well-defined content purpose ensures all content aligns with organizational goals, helping make smarter content decisions.

AI in L&D: Intention and reality

This report by Donald Taylor and Eglė Vinauskaitė finds that L&D's current AI adoption often prioritizes speed over quality, limiting its strategic value. To maximize AI's potential, L&D must shift from internal efficiency to external impact by addressing specific business challenges and integrating learning with broader organizational goals.

 Takeaway: L&D should move beyond superficial AI use and embrace its potential to solve real business problems and drive strategic value.

You’re Invited: Demystify Custom Course Creation

Have you ever wanted to know what goes into creating custom eLearning courses? Register for our webinar to get a “behind the scenes” look and see if custom eLearning is right for your next project. We’ll cover many real-life examples, dive into processes and best practices, and review solutions to project scenarios!

🧰 Tech Tools & Tips

If tools are your jam, check out my new Work Smarter newsletter.

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🎧 Podcast

This is the conversation that caught my ear this week. Check out previous episodes in the Friday Finds podcast playlist.

Learn the ins and outs of developing and launching effective eLearning

Welcome to five hands-on sessions packed with advanced tips and tricks for designing eLearning content using iSpring's world-renowned eLearning tools. Learn how to create interactive quizzes, produce high-quality training videos, develop immersive role-play simulations, and deliver them to your learners through an LMS.

🧳 Where’s Mike?

If you or your event needs a speaker or workshop that is highly interactive and super practical, we should talk.

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