You’re an experienced trainer. You know how to convey information to others in a way that helps them learn, you inspire many and encourage every single participants to collaborate with their peers.

You love the buzz, the satisfaction of a job well done and the pride of getting 5* feedback. You understand that a lot of training and development now happens online and that mastering the skills on how to do it properly will make you highly thought after trainer. So what is stopping you?

Through our many years of talking, debating, interacting with trainers, we have come across 3 main reasons…. See if you can recognise yourself?

1. Webinars, Virtual classroom and VILT are a lesser experience and you would be lowering your standards and compromising the quality of the content by agreeing to do it.

   False! You will definitely have to adapt your content. Online learning is all about bite size chunks, asking questions to engage the learner, keeping the conversation flowing and listening to attendees. But there is such a variety of tools available to online facilitators and trainers these days, online training actually presents many more opportunities to actually create and deliver a very interactive, engaging experience for your learners.

2. How can a training experience, where the trainer cannot see the response in the participant’s eye and body language, be as good as face to face?

   This is very often the new online trainers’ biggest concern.

   Online and blended training requires the facilitator to pay particular attention to his or her engagement with the attendees as well as their relationship and interaction with each other.

   The key is to engage the learners as early and as often as possible.

   ➔ Encourage personal questions from the moment participants join the room: start the conversation about personal expectations and needs immediately using the chat, a whiteboard, a poll

   ➔ Capture all questions and personal challenges: make reference to specific ones as often as possible, always quoting the participant’s name

   ➔ Push the boundary of the technology: use videos, create role plays, wacky icebreakers, add live sessions, discussion boards, breakout rooms, apps… you can have so much fun with today’s technology.

   The more direct involvement your students have in the course, the more invested and productive they will be. Like face to face training, what makes the quality of a virtual training is your energy, your presence, your confidence and how prepared you are. Using Virtual training will only be powerful if you believe it will be and if you are prepared for it!

3. I don’t like putting myself out of my comfort zone.

   As learning professionals, who ask from people who are working with us to break old habits, embrace change and challenge themselves, why are we sometimes so resistant to applying what we preach?

   Moving from face to face to online does require more learning. Adapting and sometimes re-designing existing content does require a new way of thinking.

   How about starting by exploring the technology available?

   If time is an issue, get a virtual classroom coach and trainers to show you around. If you have time, enjoy watching youtube videos and playing around!

   Once you’ve grasped the used of one platform, move onto the next one etc.

   Then move on to how to incorporate direct interaction as often as possible.

   Then look at how re-designing your existing content to get the most out of students is feasible. Incorporate direct interaction as often as possible, encourage learners to ask questions, add live sessions etc.

   Finally spend time practicing, recording yourself and refining your presentation.

   This all sounds like hard work and it can be challenging, especially at the beginning, but all this will make the experience more fulfilling too both for you and your learners.