The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t just changed the way many of us work – it’s also fundamentally changed how we learn too. While remote training isn’t a new phenomenon, it has given organisations the chance to build and maintain training programmes to ensure that employees have access to training and development opportunities.
One thing is for sure, as remote and hybrid working is here to stay, remote training will become more significant than ever. For remote training, engagement is key. But how can you introduce remote learning experiences that will spark imagination, encourage collaborative working, and ensure that participants will benefit from learning and retaining new skills?
Having successfully conducted remote training with more than 1,000 participants, we share 4 elements that helped us achieve high engagement in remote training.
Spice up your presentation
When using a PowerPoint presentation during your remote training, remember that less is more. Avoid text-heavy slides. The attention span of a typical audience lasts about 7 minutes before you run the risk of losing them. Therefore, keep each slide brief and to the point. Leverage PowerPoint’s built-in animations to bring your content to life: add GIFs, colour effects, and other visual aids to emphasize your slides’ most important takeaways.
Facial expression and intonation
Your listeners can only hear and comprehend so much at a time. Speaking at a steady, audience-friendly pace will make your presentation easier to follow and enable you to be more persuasive and win your audience over. It’s important, however, not to speak too slowly. Avoid sounding monotonous by varying your pace and speaking fast and slow, pausing frequently to let the information sink in. Even though you are conducting online remote training, do not forget to control your facial expression as well. Turn on your video and look directly into your computer’s camera to give your audience the impression of being in the “same room” with them and addressing them directly.
Interactive session
Encourage audience interaction during your remote training by creating quizzes, trivia, or polls. Utilize the Poll feature on Zoom or use a third-party app to custom-make your own quiz and poll such as Kahoot! or Mentimeter. Adding gamification to your remote live sessions with the audience via video is a great way to make your training fun and interactive! Launching polls also help to spark active learning and create discussions. You, as the trainer or facilitator, can see each participant’s response in real-time and ask them to expand upon their response.
Offer multiple participation options
Depending on the type of audience you are working with, webcams and even microphones might not be something everyone is comfortable with. Leave the chat box open and encourage learners to engage with one another. Here, they can ask and answer questions to help expand upon the topics at hand. Use the available features on the chat, such as emojis, for example, encourage the audience to respond to your question by sharing emojis in the chat box. Or, to simply type their question via the chat box.
Curious about what we can do for your organisation? Contact us or have a look at what Globally Cool has to offer in terms of remote training.
