In today’s learning and development market, your portfolio often matters more than your resume. Yet many instructional designers, eLearning developers, and facilitators struggle to know what to include, how to structure it, and what hiring managers are actually looking for. The result? Overbuilt projects, unclear case studies, and portfolios that don’t fully reflect the depth of their thinking.

In this practical and engaging session, you’ll explore the most common portfolio mistakes instructional designers make and learn a clear framework for building a focused, compelling portfolio that highlights your instructional decision-making, learner-centered design, and professional growth. Whether you’re transitioning into the field or refining an existing portfolio, you’ll leave with actionable insights you can apply immediately.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify common portfolio mistakes that weaken clarity and impact in the hiring process.
• Apply a five-part framework to structure portfolio projects around problems, decisions, and outcomes.
• Distinguish between showcasing tools and demonstrating instructional design thinking.

Dani Watkins brings a professional, purposeful approach to igniting learning experiences for adult learners in both classroom and online environments. As the Chief Learning Experience Officer and founder of Zenith Performance Solutions, Dani has over 28 years of experience in learning and development, continuously staying at the forefront of industry trends and innovations. She is a sought-after speaker at major conferences, including the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Training Magazine’s Tech-Learn and Training, and Learning Guild's DevLearn, where she shares her expertise and passion for enhancing employee performance through innovative, instructional design.

Dani’s work has been widely recognized, including a Bronze Brandon Hall Group Excellence Award for Best Custom Content. She is also a Canvassador and has been published in TD Magazine with her article, "Bringing eLearning to Life," which explores the art of storytelling using whiteboard animations.

With 20 years of experience designing, developing, and delivering custom technical and business skills training programs, Dani has partnered with organizations across industries like pharmaceuticals, financial services, real estate, health care, telecommunications, government, oil and gas, soft-ware/technology, manufacturing, and education. Her expertise lies in designing, developing, and delivering innovative, instructionally sound courses that align with business strategies and drive performance improvement.

When Dani isn't busy igniting learning experiences, she enjoys spending time with her family or running trails in Colorado.
 

Christy Tucker is a learning experience design consultant with over 20 years of experience helping people learn. She specializes in using scenario-based learning to engage audiences and promote skill transfer to real-world environments. She has created training for a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit associations, state and local government agencies, universities, and more. Christy has been blogging about instructional design and elearning for over 15 years and is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events.