With the holiday season upon us, just the simple fact that we’ve made it through 2020 with our health and important relationships in tact should be gift enough. Of course, if you’re still looking for a physical present to give to that special trainer in your life, my colleague Rachel Niles spent some time this week compiling a list of recommendations from almost three dozen thought leaders in the L&D space.
Let’s begin with 31 book ideas
If you think someone needs a little help building their library of professional books, the following recommendations from our Train Like You Listen podcast guests run the gamut from L&D-focused to history to religion to philosophy to all-around inspiration.
Atomic Habits by James Clear was recommended by Betty Dannewitz.
Make It Stick by Peter Brown (and company) was recommended by JD Dillon.
Lean Thinking by James Womack and Daniel Jones was recommended by Todd Hudson.
Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte was recommended by Tim Slade.
Brilliance by Design was recommended by Sarah “Chillin'” Schillen.
Anything by Brene Brown was recommended by Kassy LaBorie (who also has her own books out, entitled Interact and Engage: 50+ Activities for Virtual Training, Meetings and Webinars, and Producing Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars).
You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day was recommended by Melissa Milloway.
To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink was recommended by Gus Curran.
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker was recommended by Nancy Bacon.
Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin was recommended by Eliza Blanchard.
Using Brain Science to Make Training Stick by Sharon Bowman was recommended by Becky Pluth (who also has a book of her own for sale entitled Creative Training: A Train-the-Trainer Field Guide).
The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki was recommended by Darren Nerland.
The Culture Map by Erin Meyer was recommended by Mary Cropp.
Nobody Wants To Read Your Sh*t by Steven Pressfield was recommended by Mike Taylor.
Design for How People Learn by Julie Dirksen and For The Win by Kevin Werback and Dan Hunter were both recommended by Marci Morford.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott was recommended by Anne Gerken.
Design for Real Life by Eric Meyer and Sara Wachter-Boettcher was recommended by Bianca Woods.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling was recommended by Chris Pirie.
Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan was recommended by Erin Peterschick.
Designing for Modern Learning by Crystal Kadakia and Lisa Owens was recommended by Sophie Oberstein (who also authored Troubleshooting for Trainers).
Map It by Cathy Moore was recommended by Emily Wood.
Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright was recommended by Amy Lou Abernathy.
Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott was recommended by Shermaine Perry (who also wrote the children’s book: I Move A Lot and That’s Okay).
Range by David Epstein was recommended by Lisa Spinelli (who also write the book Teachers to Trainers).
Beginner’s Pluck by Liz Forkin Bohannon was recommended by George Hanshaw.
If books aren’t your thing, how about training tech?
Many, many podcast guests suggested that a PowerPoint remote is training tech they can’t live without.
Kassy LaBorie, who specializes in virtual training and meeting facilitation, suggested a great headset is a must-have. Here is the headset I’ve been happiest with over the past year.
An oft-overlooked yet when in-person training opportunities return, this could be an important piece of (low-tech) training equipment is a chime to help transition attention back from small group discussions to the large group.
Ashley Chiasson, who lives in the world of elearning and does plenty of voiceover says that her Blue Yeti mic is essential for her work.
Finally, if you want to help someone upgrade from the built-in camera on their phone or laptop to something higher quality (or if someone just needs a webcam), Brent Schlenker, co-host of the weekly Instructional Designers in Offices Drinking Coffee webcast recommends the Logitech HD Pro C920 webcam.
However you plan to celebrate this holiday season, I hope you stay safe and healthy! We at Endurance Learning will wrap up our year’s worth of blog posts next Thursday as our team shares our 1-word resolutions for the coming year!
If you want to use some time over the holiday break to try a new approach to training, sign up for a demo of Soapbox.
