Best Practices in Training Adaptations for Virtual Training?

You have the right concern.  It’s easy to give a virtual lecture but it’s hard to achieve engagement.  Aside from learning how to do it effectively, you need the right video conferencing product.  I won’t recommend one but here are some features you should consider:

– Easy to log in and use.  Do you really want something that requires each participant to download and install software, even if it’s free?  Do you really want something with a learning curve rather than intuitive through the browser?

– Security.  You don’t want to allow interlopers, and you especially don’t want the possibility of trolls.

– Cost.  It may or not be a big issue.  If it is, beware that you’re giving up something if it’s “free”.  Carefully read the terms.

– Participants can interact.  They can see each other, usually through thumbnails, which they can click on to expand, but without leaving the main speaker.  There may be a sidebar that allows text conversation without interrupting the speaker.

– Multi-media sharing, from participants as well as the speaker.

– A tech moderator.  You’ll pay for this feature but you may be glad you did.

Successful virtual facilitation is all about continually engaging your audience, they need to actively participate throughout the presentation.  IMO you can do this with or without slick technology.  I’ve been using WebEx Training Center (more tools then Meeting Center) for years which has some great functionality like: polls, emoticons, on screen annotations, whiteboards, and the more complex break out rooms.  Even without technology, you can pause and require participants to answer questions or engage in more in depth dialogue.

My rule of thumb is every 6 slides or 10-12 minutes you need them to actively do something (e.g. Who has ever used a process map, give me a green check for yes or a red x for no?  Then possibly call on a participant to briefly explain how the process mapped helped to visualize the business problem).  I also make sure my audience knows the sessions will be very engaging so they expect and look forward to it.  I purposely include triggers in my content to remind me and the audience it’s time for an engagement.

My sat scores are directly correlated with the number and quality of these engagements, same as face to face training but much more critical for virtual, best of luck.