L&D teams spend the bulk of their time making sure everyone else in the business grows through learning. Somewhere in that though, it’s easy to let your own development slip down the list, even though it matters just as much as anyone else’s.
“I don’t need a course” is a tempting line to reach for when workload’s high, but the person setting the training could often do with some too. After all, it’s what keeps your team ahead of the curve and deepens the knowledge behind every course you put out.
Here are the most common myths we hear around upskilling in L&D, and why letting go of them could make your courses even better this year.
Myth #1: “I don’t have time for training. It’s not worth a day away from my workload”
Reality: Taking dedicated time out to learn is much more efficient long-term than figuring it out as you go.
Blocking out a day or two for training can feel impossible when you’re already stretched thin. Many L&D teams are expected to do more with less right now, so a full day out of the workload understandably doesn’t always feel feasible.
Figuring things out as you go might look like the faster route when deadlines are stacking up. However, leaning on a stray YouTube tutorial here and a back-and-forth with ChatGPT there chips away at far more time than it seems to in the moment. It also means the courses themselves take longer to build, since every unfamiliar step forces you to stop and work it out, breaking your flow along the way.
Dedicated, expert-led training is a much better way to get up to speed or freshen up your knowledge, and you may just pick up some hints and features you might never have stumbled across on your own.
Myth #2: “I’ve been using this tool for ages, I don’t need training on it”
Reality: Experience with a tool doesn’t mean you’ve seen everything it can do.
Mastering the basics of a course build is a good starting point, but it’s worth asking what more the tool can do beyond that. If your builds are starting to feel a little flat, an advanced course might be exactly what’s missing.
If you’re using Articulate, for example, are you making the most of custom navigation, interactive video, or 360 imagery, or are you still relying on standard features and bullet points, like most Storyline users? Confidence with the basics is a sign you’ve outgrown the beginner course, but not that you’re finished learning. That’s where more advanced training comes in, taking your builds from doing the job to demanding attention.
Myth #3: “I’ve mastered my authoring tool, so I don’t need training”
Reality: Tool fluency and effective learning design are two different skillsets.
You know Articulate and Vyond inside out, so there’s nothing else you need to learn, right? Well, you could be missing a trick, as there’s a lot more that goes into effective eLearning than tool fluency alone.
Two areas are worth building alongside it: instructional design and visual design. Instructional design covers the principles behind learning that sticks, from conducting a proper learning needs analysis through to how to structure a course to support retention. In other words, the behavioural theory behind the learning.
Visual design is much more than simply making things look pretty, too. It’s about creating engagement and applying principles that hold attention and help information sink in.
Combine tool know-how with these two disciplines, and you’re on to a winning formula.
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Myth #4: “I’ve already bought the tool. Training is another cost on top of it”
Reality: Investment without know-how is just expensive software.
After shelling out for pricey software, training can feel like an unnecessary extra, especially with L&D budgets under closer scrutiny than ever. But without the skill to use a tool properly, you’re unlikely to see the return on that investment, which is exactly the kind of argument that gets a business leader’s attention.
Training alongside your tools is what sets your team up to succeed with them, so people are building with confidence from day one rather than working out the fundamentals on the fly.
Myth #5: “I don’t need training, AI can help me”
Reality: AI can speed up production, but it can’t replace the judgement behind good course design.
There’s a common misconception that AI can do all the work on its own. While it’s certainly a helpful hand across plenty of tasks, expecting it to build a course with minimal input is misguided, and unlikely to produce learning that drives any lasting change. A human still needs to sit at the centre of course building.
On top of that, using AI well is a skill in itself, and it’s fast becoming one of the biggest capability gaps in the workforce. The EY 2025 Work Reimagined Survey found that while 88% of people use AI in their jobs, just 5% use it to truly transform how they work, with most reserving it for simple tasks rather than anything more ambitious.
Upskilling in how to use it well, including writing effective prompts, is an investment with immediate dividends, and ones that will keep paying off.
👉 Learn from the experts: Explore our Articulate 360 AI Assistant Training course
Myth #6: “I don’t want to do formal training, I prefer ‘giving it a go’”
Reality: The best training blends expert guidance with hands-on practice so you can try for yourself.
Anyone who’s sat through a long, unengaging session knows exactly how tedious a badly built course can be, and it’s often what puts people off formal training altogether. But everyone learns differently, and a blended approach, mixing structured input with practice, usually works best. That doesn’t mean the formal route has to be dull, either, as with the right design, it can even be enjoyable.
If hands-on learning is more your style, look for training that’s built around practice rather than someone talking at you for hours on end. Our courses pair hands-on building with expert guidance throughout, so you’re learning by doing while picking up tips from people who really know their stuff.
Training that’s proven to work
From getting more out of your authoring tools to the principles behind great learning and visual design, our courses are led by industry experts with over 90 years of combined experience. The training is designed to get you results, with practical guidance you can put into action the minute you’re back to work.
