About Julie Dirksen

Julie Dirksen is the author of one of the bestselling instructional design books Design for How People Learn (over 80K copies sold) and her new book Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change. She is an internationally recognized speaker and conference presenter.

She is a learning strategy consultant with a focus on incorporating behavioral science into learning interventions.She works with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to innovative technology startups to major grant-funded research initiatives.

Her MS degree is in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University. She’s been an adjunct faculty member at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and is a Learning Guild Guildmaster.

She’s happiest whenever she gets to learn something new.

Julie Dirksen profile picture - she is looking at the camera and smiling, wearing a maroon sweater.

Where’s Julie?

Her upcoming workshops and talks

Rotterdam October 21, 2024 – with aNewSpring – A free webinar followed by a one-day masterclass, Cut Through the Noise: Communicating Value.

Brussels, October 22-23, 2024 – L&D Talks – Two-day Masterclass Learning Design for Behavior Change,

Las Vegas November 4, 2024 – DevLearn – One-day Design for Behavior Change Workshop,

Berlin, November 27-29 — Online Educa Berlin

Online appearances

Julie can frequently be found being interviewed for podcasts or leading webinars. Check out these recent and upcoming appearances:​

Watch the recording of the book launch for Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change, featuring special guest, Cammy Bean.  They had a good time talking about books. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShocVwzyT7g

Listen to this episode of The eLearning Coach Podcast where Julie was interviewed by host, Connie Malamed. Learn more about Julie’s new book, Talk to the Elephant.  They discuss a behavior change model, COM-B, and walk through a scenario to demonstrate its use. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/elc-081-focusing-on-behavior-change-in-instructional/id592110281?i=1000630330013

Check out this interview by Peter Shea, founder of the Instructional Design in Education Facebook Group and Director of Professional Development at Middlesex Community College in Bedford, MA.  The conversation delved into lots of aspects of Julie’s new book, Talk to the Elephant.  Check it out on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZZdg4iAKm4

The Design Learning for Behavior Change Webinar, taught by Julie and hosted by  A New Spring’s Learning Innovator.  The webinar is based on Julie’s new book, Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change. During the session you’ll find out how to use frameworks and strategies from behavioral science to help you research and analyze challenges, feel more confident that you’re solving the right problem, and design and test solutions that can help people with difficult behavior changes. The recording will available soon. https://www.anewspring.com/events/design-learning-with-julie-dirksen

You can also check out the playlists on Julie’s Usable Learning Youtube channel.

Julie’s Media Kit