The L&D tips of 'L&D Leader' Jeanne Bakker

Jeanne Bakker on stage.

Here you can read the entire interview with Jeanne Bakker, who tells in a personal interview about her upbringing and the moments that led to becoming one of the most inspiring trainers.

The career tip for L&D practitioners

'Make sure you speak the business language of where you’re teaching. If you can't keep up with other people's language. 'Blended learning' 'Vulnerable leadership. Learn the language of the customer. Or take a course. If you understand the other person's language, then you know what's important to them.'

What is media or website you recommend?'

'There are so many good podcasts. Tjip de Jong from Kessels & Smit. A great podcast. I can recommend that one to anyone. And beyond that, I think as an L&D professional, you should create an account on TikTok so you can learn how people stick with your message.' 

Most Inspiring L&D Professional

'I still think Donald Kirkpatrick (died in 2014, creator of Kirkpatrick model, the four different levels of training evaluation). Or a more modern one: Britt Andreatta. She is always ahead of everything, she’s got the latest of the latest. And she also does her best to really spread her knowledge. Also her interpretation, during corona, was fantastic.'

Best L&D book?

'No more boring learning' (by Bakker herself), sorry that I’m mentioning my own book! And 'Love of learning' by Manon Ruiters. She really tackles all aspects of learning in that book. And every now and then I open that book for inspiration.

Does your training ever go wrong?

‘Certainly. If my ego is too high. If I haven't studied the people sitting there well enough and I'm putting on a show. If I'm not firelighting. But I try to avoid that as much as possible. I find it rude when you see how little energy a trainer sometimes gives to a group of people. If you just sit around and give boring training. 'Come on man, there are 100 people sitting here. Have some respect!'