Throughout human history, technology has disrupted the way we communicate with one another. But according to Andrea Pacini, the fundamental principles behind effective communication haven't changed, and are as relevant today as they were in the past.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Andrea joins Ross D and Anna to discuss his forthcoming book, Timeless Presenter. We cover:

• what the book is about, and how it differs from Andrea's previous book, Confident Presenter
• why the principles of communication don't change, even as tools and technology do
• why nobody cares about your presentation skills, but they do care about the things those skills deliver
• why practice is the key to becoming a better presenter.

To find out more about Andrea's work, head to the Ideas on Stage website. You can also check out the Presentation Toolkit, where you'll find details on Timeless Presenter.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service - including AI skills development!

You can also email us at custom@mindtools.com.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers   

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Dr Anna Barnett
• Andrea Pacini

80% of the world's workforce are deskless, but L&D teams spend most of their time worrying about the 20%. Speaker, advisor and author JD Dillon is on a mission to change that with The Frontline Enablement Playbook.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, JD joins Ross G and Ross D to discuss:

• why the 80% get neglected
• why frontline managers are the most important people in the business
• strategies for supporting deskless workers.

To find out more about JD, visit jddillon.com. For the book, visit jdwroteanotherbook.com

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D discussed Casey Newton's thoughts on Grammarly. Ross G discussed the number of satellites in the night sky.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service - including AI skills development!

You can also email us at custom@mindtools.com.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers   

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Ross Garner
• JD Dillon

It's once again 'Bring Your Paper to Work' day here at Mindtools Kineo, as Ross G, Dr Anna and Ross D each take turns to share an academic study that they think has key insights for L&D professionals.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, we discuss the following papers:

Rogelberg, S. G., Kreamer, L. M., & Gray, J. (2026). 'Thirty years of meeting science: Lessons learned and the road ahead.' Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 13, 415–442.

Castro, S., Englmaier, F., & Guadalupe, M. (2024). 'Fostering psychological safety in teams: Evidence from an RCT'. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2024(1), 16624.

Shen, J. H., & Tamkin, A. (2026). 'How AI impacts skill formation' (arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.20245).

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D mentioned National Grid: Live.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service - including AI skills development!

You can also email us at custom@mindtools.com.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers   

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie

• Anna Barnett

• Ross Garner

Completion stats are a vanity metric. Happy sheets are pointless. Revenue impact will get you a seat at the table.

We've all heard these statements from conference stages. Some of us, your hosts included, might even have said them. But in this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, we wanted to dig a little deeper.

We invited Evolve L&D's Tom McDowall to join Ross G and Claire, to discuss:

• why the context behind completion metrics is crucial to understanding them
• how to design effective learner surveys
• how 'metric chains' help broaden our understanding of learning impact.

During the discussion, we referenced Dr Will Thalheimer's book Performance-focused smile sheets.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Claire discussed the design of the London Tube map.

Ross G discussed a novel genetic modification technique known colloquially as 'agriculture'. And it's recent acceleration.

To find out more about Tom, visit evolve-ld.com. For more on the IDTX conference, see idtx.co.uk.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers   

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Garner
• Claire Gibson
• Tom McDowall

Hello listeners! No new episode this week, but we wanted to take the opportunity to dig into the vault and revisit an old favorite from 2024 with Ben Betts.

At the time we recorded this one, Ben had receently published a blog post, in which he wrote that 'the LMS is the first point of entry to learning; the front-of-house of our industry.' While that front-of-house may look a little different now than it did twenty years ago, and despite the oft-repeated claim that the LMS is dying, it remains the default gateway to digital learning in organizations. But are things changing?

To answer that question and others, Ben joined us to discuss:

• the many eras of the LMS, and how we got to where we are now;
• the forces that have shaped e-learning interfaces over time;
• how AI and other changes in the tech landscape might usher in a new era.

You can read Ben's blog post, 'What's the Next Generation of E-Learning Interfaces?', on his website.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers 

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie
• Owen Ferguson
• Ben Betts

Often, leaders are promoted into their roles because of their ability to solve problems. But that strength can become a weakness when it leads to dependency, creating an environment where the leader is always swooping in to save the day.

In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross D and Cammy are joined by Bill Flynn, CEO of Catalyst Growth Advisors and author of The Hero Trap, to discuss:

• what the 'hero trap' is and why leaders fall into it;
• why the behaviors that bring early success often limit growth later on;
• how leadership development programs need to change to address this issue;
• how we can help leaders make the shift from problem-solvers to systems-architects.

You can pre-order The Hero Trap here, and find out more about Bill's work on his website.

In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D recommended the podcast Rabbit Hole.

For more from Mindtools Kineo, visit mindtools.com or kineo.com. There, you'll also find details of our Learning Management Systems, Content Hub for leaders and managers, and custom learning design service.

Like the show? You'll LOVE our newsletter! Subscribe to The L&D Dispatch at lddispatch.com

Connect with our speakers   

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn:

• Ross Dickie

• Cammy Bean

• Bill Flynn