Tips For eLearning Digital Events
Yes, some of them had honest reservations. Holding hitch-free virtual meetings is no child play. I often see people ask questions about how to hold engaging conversations that'd keep all attendees' attention until the meeting is over, avoid distractions, and significantly mitigate the possibility of having a technical breakdown.
Having run several virtual workshops and meetings, I dare to say it's not as difficult as people think. This article will not just answer the recurrent questions; you'll also learn other tips I've found helpful over the years. We have quite a lot to cover, so let's get started.
Read Also: Elearning: Tips for webinars or virtual classroom
1. Keep The Virtual Meeting Engaging
It is good to identify the issues to be discussed and make a draft of the succession. However, you must keep the meeting engaging. So how do you do this? You could introduce the subject matter, the status quo of a problem, and afterward call out for responses from the participants. While you make your presentation, ensure to keep it short but detailed. This sounds more like a chat, right? That is how it should be!
Let's get a bit practical. Instead of going the usual route of giving a dissertation-like presentation, tease your audience, as a marketer would do to his potential buyers. I mean something like: We have discovered a problem, stated the severity, and opened the floor to air their opinion of how to solve it. And if you already have a suggestion, you can add: "Here's my opinion, can we review it?"
In a nutshell, your slides should be interactive. This way, they will sound like a chat, and you will significantly avoid oversights. That's how to stimulate everyone's interest.
Do the same for eLearning sessions also. Again, go a step at a time. But this time, design the activities to be self-paced. Throw out a question and ask them to suggest probable strategies to fix it. If you're able to keep it conversational, you'll be shocked at the intelligent answers you'll get.
Here Are Other Simple Ways To Ensure The Active Participation Of Your Audience
- Use a conferencing medium that is scalable enough for your anticipated number of attendees. You can consider trying out Zoom.
- Keep a sharp eye on the conversation, both the audio comments and the chats. At intervals, as required, halt the talk and run through the chats. There might be messages requiring your response. You being responsive will further motivate the participants to interact. Yes, you may not be able to respond to everybody. But at least, you can still skim to fish out the major points.
- Read out the chat messages if you're recording the cloud meeting. You'll need the chats to understand the flow of the discussion when listening after the meeting.
2. As Much As You Can, Keep Your Presentations Free Of Animations
Not using animations or transitions in your presentation would help you keep the development time within a reasonable duration.
3. Keep Every Session Short
You must realize that humans have a short attention span. In my experience, it is better to keep it within one hour and one and half hours. Endeavor to make presentations brief, so there'd be enough time for real-time discussion.
4. Make Use Of A Headset/Earphone
Using your PC's inbuilt microphone will not make the sound production come out nice. So, get either an earphone or a headset.
5. Give Out Your Course Materials On Time
The participants will find learning easier if they have all the necessary course materials before the lecture starts. That way, they can match the contents with your explanations in the meeting and make their jottings.
Wrap Up
In every session, you hold the active participation of the audience. But if the crowd is large, it might be necessary to regulate the chat options. In any case, keep it interactive. And don't forget to cross all tees about your hardware.
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Originally published at www.thelearning-lab.com.
