PDU Courses Help
Video courses for PMP recertification and how to report PDUs.
20 articles
- Are the PDU courses free, and do I need an account?Yes, they're free. There's no account, no sign-up, and no payment. Progress is saved in your browser on that device, and your certificate is created in your browser.
- Does watching at a faster speed affect my PDUs?Yes. Recorded time is wall-clock time while the video plays on the course page, so a faster speed means less recorded time and possibly fewer PDUs. Pausing doesn't add time.
- How do I earn a certificate of completion?Watch at least 90% of the video on the course page, pass the knowledge check with 4 out of 5 correct, then enter your name and download your PDF certificate of completion.
- How do I fix or re-download my certificate?Go back to the course page in the same browser where you passed, enter your name correctly, and download the PDF again. This works any time, as long as your progress is still in that browser.
- How do I report these PDUs to PMI?You report them yourself in PMI's CCRS under Education, Online or Digital Media. Use "Self Made PM" as the provider and enter the PDUs shown on your certificate, not the course's listed maximum.
- How do the PDU courses relate to the book?The courses are free companions to The Project Brain and the blog, and several extend the book's AI topics. The book itself is not a PDU course and earns no PDUs.
- How does the knowledge check work?The knowledge check unlocks after you watch at least 90% of the video. It has 5 multiple-choice questions in random order, the pass mark is 4 out of 5, and you can retake it as often as you like.
- How is PDU credit calculated for each course?PDU credit is your recorded learning time (video playing on the course page plus knowledge check time), rounded down to the nearest 0.25 PDU and capped at the course's listed maximum.
- How many PDUs can I earn on this site?The listed values add up to 47.0 PDUs, but each is a maximum. Credit is based on recorded learning time, and with 17–29 minute videos, most people earn roughly 0.25–0.5 PDU per course.
- Is Self Made PM a PMI Authorized Training Partner?No. Self Made PM isn't a PMI Authorized Training Partner, and PMI doesn't pre-approve the courses. You self-report the PDUs yourself under PMI's Online or Digital Media category.
- What are the free PDU courses?They're 23 free video courses for project managers. Each has its own page with the video, learning objectives, a 5-question knowledge check, and a certificate generator for self-reporting PDUs.
- What is the PMI Talent Triangle?The Talent Triangle is PMI's way of grouping professional development into three areas: Ways of Working, Power Skills, and Business Acumen. Every course here is tagged with one of them.
- What should I keep in case of a PMI audit?Keep the PDF certificate for each course and short notes on what you learned. Save them outside your browser, because course progress is stored only on the device where you watched.
- Which courses count toward Business Acumen?Four courses are tagged Business Acumen, with listed maximums adding up to 7.5 PDUs. As with every course, your credit is based on recorded learning time.
- Which courses count toward Power Skills?Ten courses are tagged Power Skills, with listed maximums adding up to 17.0 PDUs. Credit for each one is based on the learning time you actually record.
- Which courses count toward Ways of Working?Nine courses are tagged Ways of Working, with listed maximums adding up to 22.5 PDUs. Your actual credit is based on the learning time you record, not the listed value.
- Which courses cover leadership and communication?Ten Power Skills courses cover leadership and communication, from difficult conversations and influencing sponsors to meetings, status reports, and public speaking.
- Which PDU courses cover AI for project managers?Four courses focus on AI: Build Your Own AI-Powered PMO with Claude, the PB&J prompt engineering course, AI Fluency, and Agentic AI. All four count toward Ways of Working.
- Why did my course progress disappear?Progress is saved only in your browser's local storage on the device where you watched. Clearing site data, using a private window, or switching browsers or devices starts the course over.
- Why doesn't skipping ahead count toward completion?The course page counts each second of the video you actually play, once. Skipped sections aren't counted, and the knowledge check unlocks only after you've watched at least 90% of the video.