Have you ever had this conversation with an SME (subject-matter expert)? 

• SME: “This needs to be in the course.” 
• You: “I’m not sure it does.” 
• SME: “Yes, they definitely need to know it.”
• You: “But I’m not sure it will help them.” 
• SME: “Well then at least need to be aware of it.” 
• You: “Hmpfh.”

Your learners have needs, and your SMEs have knowledge and experience. But do those two things always line up? When creating learning content, SMEs with the best intentions can end up creating content that’s long on information, short on practical application, and wrapped up in a bullet-point PowerPoint bow. The next thing you know, your learners are going to YouTube to find what they need instead.

In this session, you’ll learn five key strategies for working more effectively with subject-matter experts to create content that sticks. You’ll gain practical insights, tips, and resources for making the most of your SME’s expertise and for harnessing that power in a productive and helpful way. You’ll walk away better able to move your online content from simply conveying information to helping your learners solve the real problems they face every day.

You will learn to:

• Change the focus of your efforts from the SME’s expertise to the learner’s needs
• Negotiate out “nice-to-know” information
• Help SMEs break down what they've learned over the years in a way that's helpful to others
• Use one simple question to determine what content should be included and what should be cut

Diane Elkins is the co-owner of Artisan E-Learning, a custom e-learning development company and E-Learning Uncovered, where she helps people build courses they’re proud of. She has built a reputation as a national e-learning expert by being a frequent speaker at major industry events for ATD, The Learning Guild, and Training Magazine. Her favorite topics include accessibility, instructional design, and authoring tools. She is co-author of the popular E-Learning Uncovered book series as well as E-Learning Fundamentals: A Practical Guide from ATD Press. She is a past board member of the Northeast Florida and Metro DC chapters of ATD.

Amy Morrisey is the president of Artisan E-Learning and leads the sales & marketing teams. As president, she stays focused on maintaining the high standards our clients have grown to expect. She believes that staying close to our clients, our people, and our work is a smart way to do that. One of her favorite things to do in the e-learning world is jump in with a client to write a storyboard that is creative and application-based. Before working with Artisan, Amy spent 17 years in corporate training and development predominantly teaching leadership development and coaching teams and executives. She is a past board member of ATD Detroit.