By Craig Valentine, MBA World Champion of Public Speaking Craig Valentine will be the opening keynoter for the big LERN Annual Conference in Baltimore Nov. 16-19, 2016. There are four public speaking pitfalls that trap most presenters.  If you want to drastically improve your very next presentation, it is important to understand 4 of the

“This year is a watershed year in brochure design,”  ace brochure expert Julie Coates told a standing-room-only webinar audience this summer. “Younger adults want authentic, they want service to the community, they want passion,” she noted.  And middle-aged and older adults are just fine with those new trends too. “Gen Yers are designing brochures, and

Measure the amount of time each of your programmers spend by Division, says Evone  Vognsen, Director, Program Development Continuing Education from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  She spoke recently at a best practices conference sponsored by LERN. “Data is our world,” she told the packed room.  “And we live and breathe operating margin,” she noted. One of

“Helping your boss help you creates vertical cohesion and contributes to efficiency on both ends,” says Christina May, a LERN member with the Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe, Illinois. She will be leading a Roundtable on “Managing Up for Millennials” at the big LERN conference. “Managing up is very important to the success of work

From Greg Marsello, who visits lifelong learning programs all over North America every month, here are his 3 latest tips: Standardize First. Lifelong learning programs that have successfully centralized operations have first standardized processes. This way staff can be cross-trained and all be following the same processes. Centralizing without standardizing can cause confusion and reduce

Step out of your day-to-day marketing routine and discover a slew of no- and low-cost marketing strategies proven to work. From new social media strategies and unique email techniques to out-of-the-box print promotions, this new webinar, 39 & 1/2 low- or no-cost marketing techniques guaranteed to make your program more money, will deliver more ideas than you

Here are 3 top tips from Tom Parfitt and Christina Draper on promoting UGotClass certificates and courses.   UGotClass, which is growing at 25% a year, has had its top three registration months in history all take place this spring and summer. Say ‘Online’ Not LERN or UGotClass No need to confuse your customers with a

Double Your Fun – – Bring a Friend.   Encourage your customers to register a friend for your classes, notes Tom Leaverton, head of marketing for Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He says “bring a friend” very much resonates with Gen Y, and can get more young adults to enroll in your classes.   He

Here are three of the top questions this year emerging leaders are asking in our popular UGotClass online program Certificate in Leadership Development. Q1: How can I as an emerging leader get more visibility? Answer. Yvonne, the desire for visibility is a common misconception among young emerging leaders that usually has very bad results.  What

The Inner Harbor of Baltimore, the site of the big 2016 LERN Annual Conference Nov. 16-19, delights your colleagues. We know that because our conference was there ten years ago and the 900 attendees raved about the location. So we’re going back. Museums, restaurants, shops and stores, ships, tours, boat rides and music are all

There’s a new organizational skill your organization will need to develop for success in the 21st century, says the SuperStar keynoter at LERN’s big upcoming Annual Conference in Baltimore in November.  The skill is strategic agility. “Strategic agility requires at one and the same time a dynamic organization structure and culture and the stability to keep

You may have two different lists of Best Customers, a LERN member has just discovered.  Lisa Beytien-Carlson, Communications Coordinator, Community Education, District 196, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, Minnesota, found this new marketing benchmark in working with LERN on an analysis of a second mailing of the print brochure to her Best Customers. Check out the full story

Here are the 5 things you and your teachers need to understand about female learning and spatial ability. Thanks to educator Susan Baranek  of Helena, Montana, for asking the question, “Have studies been done to see if higher testosterone levels in females leads to better spatial reasoning?”  She was a recent participant in our UGotClass