Occasionally I share something I find helpful that I think could benefit many of you. I’ve written about Dawn Coppock’s book on a Tennessee adoption law, tools for better writing, and the outliner Workflowy.

Today I add Lynda.com to that list.

Lynda.com is a website with over 7000 tutorials in business, technology, marketing, project management, data analysis, communication, information technology, design, office software, programming, web development, and many more. The tutorials are segmented and indexed into tasks for just-in-time learning, and course playlists can map to specific job roles or competencies.

For example, most law offices use Microsoft Office products. I don’t care how much you know about Microsoft Word, I can almost guarantee you’ve barely scratched the surface of what it can do. Lynda.com offers 48 courses covering various aspects of Microsoft Word, with 14 beginner-level courses, 30 intermediate-level courses, and four advanced courses. Most of those courses will teach you something you didn’t know before.

How many CLE’s have you attended with PowerPoint slides crammed with gobs of text so small you couldn’t read it if you wanted to—which you don’t—only to have the presenter read it verbatim? Those presenters would benefit from Lynda.com courses on speechwriting, PowerPoint essential training, PowerPoint tips and tricks for business presentations, and related courses. A few hours spent learning about all the fantastic things PowerPoint can do—things few lawyers know anything about—can make all the difference for your audience.

A course in the fundamentals of time management changed how I organize my schedule and made me more efficient.

The list goes on and on.

A month-to-month subscription to Lynda.com costs $30 a month. But here’s the best part—access is free through most public libraries if you have a library card. My Knox County Library Card gives me unlimited access to Lynda.com for free.

My advice is to see if your local public library offers free access to Lynda.com. If it does, then there’s no excuse not to use this site to learn how to do things better. Even if you can’t get free access, you can learn a ton of information in only a month or two of paid access. It’s working checking out.

I hope you found this helpful. If you think others could find it useful, share it using the sharing buttons below.