How can you deliver top-notch virtual training?

Knowing your audience is a vital step to help you identify learning needs and preferences. If you don't understand who you are building for and why, you will not be able to create a positive learning experience and reach desired outcomes.

I think virtual training is not effective. It is really uncomfortable sitting for hours in one place, looking at a screen to learn something new. They have to be short and sharp! Start with a funny scenario to bring people to laugh and relax as this way they will become more aware/be awake and take information in.

Knowing the audience definitely helps , also understanding the psychological demographics and trend analysis of users groups might help more.

It is important that the program is built according to the real needs of the learners, taking into account their interest, orientation and diversity. The learner, whether he is in a real or virtual environment, needs to receive your message as if it were addressed to him alone. As Bob Pike mentioned in his writings and articles, trainees are children with large bodies, and this is one of the essential points that must be strictly considered.

Understanding your audience is crucial for successful training sessions. By getting to know your participants before and during the training, you can tailor your content and delivery to meet their needs and expectations. Here are some tips: Conduct pre-training surveys to gather information. Engage with participants through social media or online forums. Use interactive activities to gauge their knowledge and experience. Monitor engagement during the session and address questions in real-time. Collect feedback afterward to improve future sessions. Remember, knowing your audience helps create a more engaging and effective training experience.

Choosing the right tools for virtual training is more about having the right features that encourage learning and retention. Here are some of the features tools should include: User-friendly interface: Tools should be intuitive and easy to navigate. Collaboration features: Tools that allow participants to interact, share ideas, and collaborate in real-time. Multimedia support: Tools that support various multimedia formats, such as videos, presentations, and interactive quizzes. Interactive features: Tools with features like chat, polls, and breakout rooms promote active participation and enable trainers to gauge understanding and address questions in real-time. This is a small list of features.

Don't let the tech get in the way of the learning. Make it interactive, but keep it simple. Clear instructions on the tools, and do this both verbally and written in chat. #virtual learning is not the same as face to face - embrace the differences!

3 ways to deliver world class virtual training - 1. Use engaging multi-media content 2. Offer real-time interaction & feedback 3. Ensure accessibility and user-friendly platforms.

When leveraging tools and platforms, it is best to assess what is currently available for use and identify if it will meet the needs based on what was discovered during analysis. Utilizing tools that are already available within an organization will help with cost savings. If you find existing tools will not meet the needs then complete research, compare with competitors, and test before use. Depending on your role, you may need to build a business case for why a new purchase is needed. The information you collected during analysis will be helpful in building your case.

It is choosing the best training tool for online training. Because it is critical to rely on interactive participatory work among trainees, Padlet is one of the tools I use to engage trainees in interactive participatory training activities. This is an electronic interaction in which all students contribute from the first to the last day of the training program by contributing their thoughts, suggestions, experiences, and knowledge that enriches the training program and places each of them in an open area. Then everyone may work together to achieve the goal of benefiting and learning as much as possible from the training program.

In my experience the best way to make a virtual training interactive is to: - Use interactive content- videos, animations -Gamification - points badges activities - Set clear objectives - Use of varied activities - Real world relevance - A lot of personalisation - Follow less tell more ask way of training

I find that the best way to stop learners from falling asleep during online training is interactivity and regular screen breaks. Activities, discussions, case studies and breakout rooms are great as are thought-provoking questions. I invite learners to share their views and respectfully disagree as a way of stimulating insightful discussion from which we all learn. I keep slides to a minimum (definitely no slide reading) and ensure that training includes ample time for discussion without dragging on unnecessarily. Also, I ask my learners upfront about their goals, challenges and interests. I use their responses to focus the training and manage expectations.

Engaging learners in virtual training is a delicate dance between strategic instructional design and tailored personalization. The essence of game-based training isn't merely in gamification but in seamlessly integrating educational principles within a gaming framework. It's crucial to strike a balance: providing challenges matched with timely rewards, developing adaptive learning pathways that evolve with the learner, and offering real-time feedback for continuous skill enhancement. Personalizing these experiences to fit each learner's unique needs and styles results in heightened engagement and deeper knowledge retention. As the virtual training landscape evolves, the blend of thoughtful design and individualized learning remains key.

To effectively engage your audience, ensure you have planned the activities based on the size of the group. The bigger the group, the more challenging it is to keep the learners engaged. When ever possible, I prefer facilitating for groups with max 10-15 participants. This way it can develop into a team experience with some individual touches as well.

Currently we are presenting Interview Training to our current interviewers that will be distributed to the whole organization. Participant engagement throughout long trainings is essential to keeping everyone actively listening and can help participants relate information back to personal experiences. Breakout sessions with large groups can be extremely beneficial when doing presentations with large groups. Having colleagues work together to find solutions to a larger issue can help get people connected from different departments and help company culture.

One tip to facilitate a memorable virtual experience is to "act up." Think of being on stage in the theatre and making sure the entire audience hears you no matter where they sit. In a virtual presentation, it is a bit similar; every action you take needs to be amplified in order to make everyone follow. Your instructions need to be crisper, your pauses more considered. And as you can't rely as much on the group dynamic that develops in in-person sessions, you need to carefully plan how you will pull your participants into the experience.

To present training sessions with confidence to a virtual audience use eye contact, expressive gestures, and a clear voice to establish a connection. We often sit stiff and become dry in virtual environments. We tend to talk in a robotic manner, thus boring our audience. Their lack of engagement then affects our confidence. The more we engage and interact, the more confident we become as our audience interacts.

Preparation is key to help you feel confident with facilitating. Review the content beforehand and practice run throughs. Also remember to breathe and be mindful of your pace. Your delivery of the training contributes to the learner's engagement and experience.

Being a virtual trainer means more inspiration and more confidence. Remember well that you are a first-class facilitator of the learning process, you are not a teacher in the traditional sense and you are not a physical trainer, virtual training has the ability to manage dialogue and manage emotions, as well as manage activities and diversity in raising topics and ease of moving between the topic and tools are certainly enhance the confidence of the participants in your person as well as enhance your position with them. And don't forget that you are a facilitator of the learning process.

Facilitating the trainee training program must be built on interactive participative technologies. When I talk to trainees about developing a strategic plan that starts with an analysis of the current situation, I share a link through one of the electronic interactive tools, such as the Canva template for the Best Analyzes, PESTEL Analysis, or Voice Analysis, where the trainees participate in what Among them through their electronic devices, whether mobile, tablet, iPad, or laptop, so that each one of them can talk about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. All trainees contribute to knowledge creation by using an interactive, participatory template, such as those accessible on Canva.

Encourage Reflection and Application: Encourage students to think about the principles they've learned and apply them to real-world settings. Provide chances for learners to apply their knowledge and skills through practical exercises, simulations, or assignments. Continuous comments: Provide timely and constructive comments on the progress and performance of your students. Provide individual comments on assignments, examinations, or presentations, emphasizing areas for development while also recognizing their merits. Motivate and Recognize Achievements: Throughout the course, celebrate learners' accomplishments and milestones. Recognize their efforts, offer positive feedback, and note their progress toward their learning objectives.

To measure the impact of training multiple methodologies and many means, perhaps the most prominent of which is through: Observation Practicality Communicate with managers and assess the level of development Through a meeting you take place every period to measure the process of evolution. Perhaps all of the above demonstrates the importance of the so-called pre-evaluation, interim evaluation and final evaluation. As the constant in all these processes and stages is the process of support, motivation and support, you are at this moment not a trainer, but you are the inspiring leader.

Be humble of the subject boundaries and let the audience know the scope of your answers. Veering outside your expertise may not be the best actions.

Training is an activity that needs a lot of patience, inspiration, creativity and the ability to transfer and facilitate knowledge, and provide the ability to manage activities and deal with participants with skill to accommodate their diversity, differences and references

Is what you are trying to do fun? People learn best when what they are doing is fun, engaging and interactive. Children learn quickly because everything is a game to them. The more they learn the more fun life is. We lose this simple logic as we get older. Making things fun makes you learn quicker.

Micro-breaks are a great way to allow reflection time. Allow the audience a few moments away from the session to recharge and grab a snack.

My top tips are: - give clear instructions before the session (eg check audio & video, ask for cameras to be switched on) - explain tech/admin such as raising hand ✋️ icons/emoji & use of chat - be aware of any special needs such as anyone using captions or a reader - switch style / activities regularly eg breakout rooms, polls, group discussions - take mini stretch breaks & encourage cameras off / movement during breaks