Say It Like a Leader

Communicating with Clarity, Confidence, and Connection in High-Visibility Moments

Great communication isn't just about being heard. It's about being understood, trusted, and remembered. In this 60-minute interactive virtual session, you'll explore how to show up with clarity and confidence in high-visibility moments, strengthen your leadership presence across meetings and presentations, and use communication as a genuine contribution to those around you. 

Virtual Session

Thursday, August 27, 2026
12:00 - 1:00 pm AZT

Attendees will receive 1 CEU toward APTD and CPTD certification/recertification.

Speaker Info

Bridgett McGowen - The Presentation Fixer^TM

Bridgett McGowen is an award-winning international professional speaker, author, and communication expert. No stranger to ATD, Bridgett has presented at the organization’s international conference, including appearing on the mainstage, and its Core4 events since 2018, consistently receiving exceedingly high ratings. Among several other honors, accolades, and accomplishments, Bridgett holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s degree, is a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program graduate, has earned a Cornell University Certificate in Women's Entrepreneurship, and received an Award of Distinction from The Communicator Awards. Bridgett will move you to not only be confident but to be the most unforgettable person in the room.

Beyond Skills

Optimizing the Human "Being" in the Age of AI

Before you can shift your role, you must shift how you operate. This pre-conference session sets the stage for Lead the Shift: Talent Development's Role in an AI World by starting with the one thing AI can't replicate: you.

As AI continues to flatten the value of knowledge and technical expertise, what will set talent development professionals apart isn't just what they know — it's who they are and how they operate. In this highly interactive session, Ryan Gottfredson explores the Being/Doing distinction and why upgrading your internal operating system — self-awareness, emotional intelligence, adaptive judgment, presence — is essential for staying relevant and credible in an AI-shaped world.

You'll assess your own internal patterns, identify hidden constraints that may be limiting your effectiveness, and leave with a personalized picture of your strengths and blind spots — plus practical micro-practices and a development path for becoming the kind of talent development professional organizations will need even more as AI reshapes the field. It's the ideal starting point before the conference asks you to bring that same self-awareness into the strategic, organizational work ahead.

Receive a 20% discount on this workshop if attending the conference! To receive the discount code register for the conference first.

Attendees will receive 1.5 CEU toward APTD and CPTD certification/recertification.

Speaker Info

Ryan Gottfredson

Ryan Gottfredson, Ph.D. is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of Success Mindsets, The Elevated Leader, and Becoming Better: The Groundbreaking Science of Personal Transformation. He helps executives and leadership teams elevate their sophistication and effectiveness by upgrading the internal operating system that drives how they think, respond, decide, and lead. Through his 6th Gear Leadership framework, Ryan equips leaders to navigate complexity with greater clarity, capacity, and impact. He has worked with top teams at CVS Health, Deutsche Telekom, Experian, Kaiser Permanente, and the Federal Reserve Bank. A former leadership professor and researcher at California State University-Fullerton, Ryan is a go-to expert on the deeper development required for transformational leadership.

Join ATD AZ for a casual and informal meetup at The Park at OHSO Gilbert. We'll gather to talk about our profession, bring any current challenges/questions, and get to know one another!

When: September 23, 2026 starting at 5:30pm

Where: OHSO Brewery + Distillery 

335 N Gilbert Rd. #102, Gilbert, AZ 85234

Meet us at The Park outside. A few of us will be there early to grab some tables.

Food and drink are available for purchase.

Feel free to invite others as well and register them for the event.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Science in Learning: Consumer Science

The purpose of the Design and Delivery Community of Practice (CoP) is to explore new possibilities, share best practices, and build relationships in order to develop your instructional design and training delivery ability.

This month we want to discuss how we can market our learning to internal or external customers. What is preventing learners from finding our learning events?

Date and Time

Thursday September 24, 2026

5:00 - 6:00 pm AZT

Attendees will receive 1 CEU toward APTD and CPTD certification/recertification.

What is the group?

In our Design and Delivery Community of Practice, we will focus on the Instructional Design and the Training Delivery and Facilitation capabilities of ATD's Talent Development Capability Model™. Throughout 2026 we will be focusing on the science of learning. In the first meeting we are looking to determine the most appropriate tools for the discussions throughout the rest of the year. Then each meeting for the rest of the year will focus on one specific tool that is used.

Who can attend?

All learning, development, and talent professionals are welcome to join--whether you've just been told you're to train the new hire or you're a skillful facilitator who can handle the toughest of participants.

We will be looking for experts (or semi experts) to show tips and tricks of each tool and how to utilize them in our everyday lives.

How does ATD define "Delivery and Facilitation?"

Training delivery and facilitation are means by which talent development professionals help individuals improve performance at work by learning new skills and knowledge. The practitioner serves as a catalyst for learning by understanding the learner’s needs, creating the right environment for learning, building rapport with participants, and using the appropriate delivery options and media to make learning engaging, effective, relevant, and applicable.

How does ATD define "Instructional Design?"

Instructional design is an essential element of an effective learning effort. The creation of learning experiences and materials is what results in the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. Talent development professionals follow a system of assessing needs, designing a process, developing materials, and evaluating effectiveness. Instructional design requires the analysis and selection of the most appropriate strategies, methodologies, and technologies to maximize the learning experience and knowledge transfer.

AI isn't just changing how work gets done — it's redefining the role talent development professionals play. This year's ATD Arizona conference brings the TD community together to explore what it means to lead through that shift, not just react to it.

We open with keynote speaker Josh Cavalier, who introduces the Human-Machine Performance Analyst (HMPA) — a new model for the TD professional that blends learning design, data analysis, business acumen, AI literacy, and ethical judgment to drive measurable workplace performance. Josh's opening keynote sets the framework for the day, and he returns to close the conference by tying the day's ideas back to a practical roadmap you can act on Monday morning.

In between, choose from 6 breakout sessions built to extend Josh's ideas into practice, from hands-on AI applications to the strategic, ethical, and human-centered skills TD professionals need to stay indispensable as roles evolve. Whatever your starting point with AI, there's a session that meets you there and moves you forward.

New this year is the Skills Marketplace, a peer-to-peer showcase where individuals demonstrate how they're actually using AI in their day-to-day work. Come see real tools, real workflows, and real results from colleagues across Arizona and leave with ideas you can put to use immediately.

Bonus #1

Register for the conference as an Early Bird, and you'll be entered for a chance to win a complimentary full-conference pass to DevLearn in Las Vegas November 4-6 (up to a $1,945 value)!

Bonus #2

All October 29 Conference registrants will receive a 20% discount for the September 16's Beyond Skills: Optimizing the Human "Being" in the Age of AI and October 30's Applying AI in L&D: A Full Day Workshop (up to a $59.00 value)!

Bonus #3

All October 29 Conference attendees will receive a copy of Josh's book Applying AI in Learning & Development (up to a $45.99 value)!

LOCATION

Desert Willow Conference Center
4340 E Cotton Center Blvd
Phoenix, AZ 85040-8908 

*agenda subject to change

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Josh Cavalier

Josh Cavalier is the founder and CEO of JoshCavalier.ai, helping L&D professionals harness AI to transform human-machine performance. With 30+ years in education technology, he makes AI practical through training, speaking, and his YouTube channel. His book, Applying AI in Learning and Development: From Platforms to Performance, provides a roadmap for integrating AI into L&D, drawing on real-world platforms, tools, workflows, and ethical considerations. He co-founded Talent Rewire (www.talentrewire.ai) and serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. Talent Rewire provides talent leaders with AI impact data on activities and on how associates should be upskilled as roles are redefined by AI.

Attendees will receive 6 CEU toward APTD and CPTD certification/recertification.

Applying AI In L&D

Spend a full day working directly with Josh Cavalier — author of Applying AI in Learning and Development: From Platforms to Performance — to build practical, hands-on skills for applying AI in real talent development work. This workshop extends the ideas from ATD Arizona's 2026 conference, Lead the Shift: Talent Development's Role in an AI World — though conference attendance is not required to attend.

Receive a 20% discount on this workshop if attending the conference! To receive the discount code register for the conference first.

This is a working session, not a lecture: materials are fully digital and interactive, with no printed workbooks. Participants should bring a laptop or other device to work with throughout the day. Every participant also receives a copy of Josh's book, included in the cost of registration.

Space is limited — registration will close September 30!

Attendees will receive 6 CEU toward APTD and CPTD certification/recertification.

Speaker Info

Josh Cavalier - Founder & CEO, JoshCaalier.ai

Josh Cavalier is the founder and CEO of JoshCavalier.ai, helping L&D professionals harness AI to transform human-machine performance. With 30+ years in education technology, he makes AI practical through training, speaking, and his YouTube channel. His book, Applying AI in Learning and Development: From Platforms to Performance, provides a roadmap for integrating AI into L&D, drawing on real-world platforms, tools, workflows, and ethical considerations. He co-founded Talent Rewire (www.talentrewire.ai) and serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. Talent Rewire provides talent leaders with AI impact data on activities and on how associates should be upskilled as roles are redefined by AI.