Virtual training is here to stay. It’s now up to us to discover, learn and improve our talents to feel more at ease and confident with our virtual training.
Effective and engaging virtual training is more than a one-way delivery of informational material with an occasional quiz and chat box for answers (this is actually a webinar).
Virtual training emulates an in-person training course with modifications and adjustments required to deliver training in a digital platform with a focus on the learner and performance outcomes.
Let’s take a look at the six “P’s” of effective and engaging virtual training.
1. Presence
It is important that you come into the course excited to teach: Energized, prepared and looking forward to meeting — and helping — your learners.
2. Presentation
Development of your training course, the presentation, begins with a needs analysis and determining what the learner is going to take with them to implement after the training.
Presentations are a compilation of instructional design, visual design, adult learning principles, engagement with the learners and referencing how people process information to learn the material and implement after the class to their role.
3. Preparation
Preparation of your course activities, handouts, job aides, and all related activities for projects can take up a substantial amount of course development time.
Remember to outline the responsibilities of the trainer or facilitator, virtual training producer and anyone else helping you deliver the training.
4. Practice
It takes a lot of time to practice, practice, practice the course after you have read and understood everything. Add this to your schedule and you will do great!
5. Producer
Virtual trainers will quickly lose the engagement of their learners if they are solely addressing learner technology issues.
A virtual training producer is a colleague/team member who manages all the technology for you as a virtual trainer, be a facilitator for the class, and may co-teach with the virtual trainer.
Therefore, if there are technology issues, the virtual training producer takes care of everything, and the trainer executes the course as planned.
6. Platform
Always confirm the digital platform that is going to be used to deliver the training class.
This is critical because you must ensure that all the course activities can be executed as planned in the digital platform.
Plan and schedule time to redo the course, activities and engagement touchpoints, and anything else that is needed based upon the digital platform being used for the training class.
What’s Next?
The above tips will help you deliver a virtual training class with impact and focus.
Evaluate, redesign and deliver virtual training courses using the six p’s that support learners, as well as their performance after the class, and you’ll be on your way to impacting the bottom line.
Register for the June TICE to see Liz Wool’s session, “Redefine Effective and Engaging Virtual Classroom Training Programs: The 6 P’s for Success™”
