It does not matter if we are doing training sessions in the same room or connected remotely with learners through a virtual setting; it is a constant challenge to grab the trainee's attention. This is because distractions are everywhere.
Even before the pandemic, when there was no remote working model, it was reported by 70% of employees that they easily get distracted at work. A recent study revealed that only 20% of employee engagement is reported in the workplace.
Compared with traditional training methods, it takes 40-60% less time for corporate e-learning to complete. That’s why, today, online training is receiving a higher tilt from industry experts. However, the real challenge is to keep the participants engaged.
According to GlobeNewswire, by 2025, the worldwide E-Learning Market will grow by 7.2%, which is around $325 billion. Following are some tips on how to make Virtual training more engaging.
Set Realistic Expectations Upfront
Face-to-face learning is highly engaging, where learners participate in every discussion actively. In contrast, learners taking live training sessions find it challenging to focus on any topic for a longer time interval.
You must follow virtual training best practices that systematically plan the whole learning journey to overcome this problem. Let all your participants know your expectations at each stage of the learning process.
Additionally, give them solid reasons to invest their energy and time into the remote training. When they know how much benefit they will get from the training, their engagement level will increase. Other interactive training ideas that you can implement include;
- Encouraging learners to close irrelevant applications and websites on their browser and turn off the notifications from other platforms.
- Sending pre-training emails to all the participants that contain pre-requisites to attend the remote training. This helps set the tone for the training and reminds the learners to stay committed and focused.
- Sending a short video tutorial to the audience about how they can use the e-learning platform.
Do Everything Live by Turning on the Video
By keeping your camera on, you can make your audience feel your presence more intensely in the virtual classroom. In this way, both learners and trainers feel connected. Also, you are more active and responsive when people can watch you live.
Video training enables the audience to observe the trainer's body language and facial expressions and vice versa. Thus, this way of training is highly effective in conveying the message if people can see one another.
However, it sometimes becomes tricky to encourage learners to keep the camera on during live sessions. For this:
- Make this expectation clear through email before the virtual classes begin. This allows the people to make sure that their equipment is rightly set.
- Ask the audience to turn on their cameras as soon as the session starts. Let them know the importance of turning on the video in virtual training.
- Appreciate the participants by calling out their names visible in the video. This is one of the virtual training best practices that do wonders.
Strong Hook At The Start Of The Session
Another tip on making training more engaging is offering something that keeps the audience hooked when the session begins. In this regard, exciting icebreakers are pretty helpful in establishing a human connection.
For instance, you can begin your virtual session by creating a trivia game on the subject of training. This lets you discover what the audience already knows about the subject.
Likewise, you can ask every participant to show a virtual background relevant to the topic. This background can be from their favorite show or movie or anything they feel passionate about.
This is one of the brilliant virtual training activities to start your conversation and settle participants' nerves. It helps capture the audience's attention and avoids participants leaving in the middle of the session.
Add Virtual Training Activities Periodically
As you manage to develop the audience's interest in the virtual session, your ultimate goal is to increase it further. The key to making your participants more engaged in creating enjoyable activities periodically and providing opportunities for interaction. For instance:
- Give learning assessments and customized assignments to participants.
- Use gamification elements like badges, point systems, rankings, trophies, and certificates.
- Take polls to enhance the thinking process, curiosity, and healthy discussions.
- Games and quizzes with prompt scoring and feedback so that people remain motivated
- Use chat boxes for questions and taking opinions.
- Use cameras and microphones to establish emotional connections and speaking engagement.
Incorporate Diverse Content Covering Multiple Learning Styles
You cannot use similar content every time for each training session. The key to creating an engaging and transformational learning experience is incorporating a diverse range of content covering multiple learning styles. When you add various interactive training ideas to your content, this will help maintain engagement levels.
People retain information in different ways. For example, some might find it challenging to learn by reading a lengthy manual of instructions but easily understand the concept when presented in a video.
You should not limit the training session to traditional print media; instead, include interactive content, such as quizzes and assignments, embed content from different sources, dynamic presentations, and videos. You can also create a voiceover presentation to guide trainees through the slides. This will replace slides with long text with diagrams and images.
Establish Feedback Mechanism
Asking your trainees for feedback regarding the teaching style and course content is a fantastic way to maintain engagement. This gives learners a sense of ownership. Use tools like surveys and polls and ask simple questions during the training session. This will also improve your training effectiveness.
Conclusion
The article explains that online training requires attention to the methodology and engaging resources. Therefore, keep this in mind while you plan an online learning session. This will drastically boost job performance and improve employee skills. Moreover, it makes boring and complex training sessions a pleasant experience for learners.
Get creative, prepare interactive activities, and remind trainees that there's a shared goal to improve. With our WayBook tool, you can easily design an engaging and informative training session. This will increase the audience's interest in the topic and enhance their overall productivity.
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