Online Training: Tips for Success

What makes for a good online training? I've sat through some good ones, and delivered some that went better than others. Based on those "bright spots," here are my top 5 tips for success when delivering online training. Let me know if you think I've missed any, will you?

 

1)      Don’t go it alone – find a moderator

Running a webinar is like a circus juggling act: you are monitoring attendance, doing individual technical assistance for people having trouble getting access, watching questions roll in, running the slide show, not leaving gaps of “dead air” time… all while trying to speak and sound welcoming, knowledgeable and cool as a cucumber. Get help!

 

Recruit a moderator to do the behind the scenes work (attendance, individual technical assistance, monitoring questions, keeping an eye on the attendee view to spot any technical issues) while you do the talking.  Your moderator can also chime in once or twice to give voice to questions that have come in on chat, giving you a moment to take a sip of water and a deep breath.

2)      Use the online advantage
 

Online training may seem odd at first if you’re used to seeing your audience and getting cues from body language. But there are advantages to the online environment. Make sure you use them. A short list of advantages:

• You can cover more content. This is the flip side of less interaction. You can cover a lot of ground because it’s largely just you talking, and you can still keep connected to your audience by weaving in responses to questions that your moderator kindly tracks for you and groups by theme.
• You can easily record and post for later viewing. Your audience can relax and not worry about note taking.
• You have an ongoing resource and a promotion tool. Send the link out as a follow up, and use it as an example to promote future trainings.

 

3)      Make it interactive, and use humor and surprise to keep people engaged

How engaged do you tend to stay when participating in an online training? When do you lose focus (check email or Facebook, stop listening and look out the window…) and why? Most times it’s because the presenter is not breaking up the information into digestible chunks. This is always important, but especially in the online environment where you can’t see people slumping, glazing over, or opening other browser windows. What to do? Build in some form of active engagement every 5-7 minutes or 3-4 slides.

• Include your photo in the welcome slide, so people have a personable impression right off the bat.
• Use the polling feature in your online tool to gather input, or build your own poll with multiple choice questions on a slide.
• At least once, include a humorous response option in your multiple choice list (A. 50 or more staff, B. 20-50 staff, C. Fewer than 20 staff, D. Huh? Sorry, I was checking email and missed the question)
• Stop to briefly summarize a section before you move on.
• Insert a “Questions?” slide to prompt you to pause. If your phone service and the size of the group allows, unmute for questions. Or give people a moment to type questions using the chat feature.
• At least once, use a humorous photo to spice things up and to add an element of surprise or the unexpected. Maybe your “Questions?” slide has a person with cat eye glasses looking nerdily quizzical, or maybe your slide about outcomes is a sky full of colorful balloons.

 

4)      Don’t drone on and on – and end on time

Generally, cap your online trainings at an hour including 5 minutes for sign-on at the beginning and 5 minutes for questions and final remarks at the end. If you’ve got a lot of content, break it into multiple sessions or cover the rest in written supplementary material.

Bonus points for ending 5 minutes early! Your participants will appreciate it, and you won’t have to talk through the “ding!” sounds of people exiting the conference line.

5)      Make sure you meet your primary goal

Get clear on why you are doing this training online. Build the training and your follow up with participants to meet your goal(s). For example:

• Is your goal to bridge geographic distances? If you want participants to continue to interact, be sure to provide a participant list or ongoing forum for interaction.
• Are you building your email list for future outreach? Gather email addresses as part of registration, and follow up with content that adds value.

And finally, have fun! Nothing improves a webinar more than if you and your moderator are engaged with the content and enjoying yourselves.