8 Ways To Retain Learners' Attention During Online Training

8 Ways To Retain Learners Attention During Online Training
Summary: In this article, you will find some useful principles that will help you retain your learners’ attention in online training.

How To Retain Learners' Attention In Online Training: 8 Ways

Online learning opens great opportunities for people for gaining new knowledge. Now people no longer have to travel to any particular place for training or education. Many international educational institutions have online programs allowing students to get an education from their own homes. Also, there are a lot of training programs on the internet in any field, about any topic and in any language.

However, online learning brings certain challenges to both speakers and learners. As recent statistics show, learners’ attention span has been decreasing significantly as a consequence of digital technology advancement. Actually, they are able to keep attention on the same thing no more than just 8 seconds. That is why so much depends on a particular speaker of an online training and how well he can keep learners’ attention. For this purpose, they can take certain steps and follow several principles in their presentation.

1. Brevity

According to a study by the American Press Institute, the majority of learners perceive information efficiently if it isn’t longer than just 8 words. Thus, complex 43-word structures are understood by less than 10% of learners. Therefore, it’s better to deliver knowledge in brief and precise manner telling only accessible and relevant information.

2. Interesting Stories And Examples

People remember the information more vividly if it is based on real relevant examples. In this case, the provided knowledge seems more trustworthy. They demonstrate that the majority of doubts and issues are quite common and that there are multiple solutions to the same problems. Stories and examples allow considering the same issue from different points of view.

3. Control And Keep In Tune With The Audience

Each speaker in online training should be also a psychologist to some extent. He should feel the audience and keep in mind that the humans don’t like monotony. In fact, people are prone to get bored very quickly and lose interest easily. So, he should always stay vigilant and proactive to keep their attention.

A good speaker feels the audience and takes control of any vibrations. So, if you notice that the attention of your listeners wanders, it’s the time to change something. The reason is that their brains need frequent stimulations to keep focused.

4. Quiz

A quiz is an excellent tool to keep the audience motivated. At the beginning of the training, you can let them know that it also includes a quiz that they should pass in order to move forward. They will have a compelling reason to listen to you attentively. Also, it will keep their brains active and focused all the time.

5. Secret

Each training should include a secret point. Tell your learners that you have a secret for them that you’ll discover at the end of the training. This is a great marketing trick that encourages people to stay in the training until the finish.

6. Humor

If you feel that the audience gets bored use humor to refresh your speech and the whole atmosphere of the event. For example, you may tell a joke or a funny story that will help your listeners to relax and make the training less formal and more friendly. This will also help to build trust in communication with the audience, and keep their attention. However, it is unacceptable to tell any indecent or obscene stories, or to use ambiguous statements. It will only spoil the interaction with the audience.

Generally, laugh and humor contribute to a better perception of information. So, those parts of the training that are accompanied by laugh and fun are memorized better. Hence, there is a double effect of humor in training: Keeping attention and better perception of information.

7. Changes

Use versatile material for presentation. Change slides frequently. You may start with a short video about the topic that contains relevant facts or a fascinating story. Then, demonstrate some figures, illustrations, or graphical data, etc.

Also, it’s great to alternate the delivery format. For example, you may devote 10 minutes to a lecture, then organize a discussion, and then some activity involving all learners. Sometimes you may even make short pauses unexpectedly.

8. Engage Learners, Activate Them

Keep in mind that people get bored when they are passive. Their brains refuse to accept and digest information in this case. So, as more actively they are engaged in the process, as more attentive they are in the training.

Modern online training software includes collaboration tools that allow engaging all participants in the process making it interactive and interesting. All these methods will be useless if a speaker approaches training process formally. He should be interested in the topic that he talks about. He should be emotional, positive, and attentive.

Good speakers may be compared to good conductors who masterfully manage orchestras. They see the overall picture of the event, notice weaknesses operatively, and take actions to prevent any inconsistencies.

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