Teacher of the Year: Web Training Best Practices Get Top Vote

From the Dec. 2008 Issue

It couldn’t be any easier to get a lesson: Stay in your seat, look at your computer and dial into a conference call. Welcome to webinar learning. Hassle free? Yes. Effective? That depends on whether or not you remember what you saw. Web training is a great tool, but people often underestimate the work it takes on both sides — trainer and participant — to make it meaningful and productive. There are some guidelines for getting the most out of viewing a webinar, but usually those work only if the presenter can keep your attention. That’s why it is so important for leaders, trainers and presenters to think differently about using this evolving technology and to begin developing their own Best Practices for Webinar training.

RULE #1, AS USUAL, IS TO BE PREPARED:

• Know the tool you are using for the presentation. That means spend time learning the features with confidence. This is important: It’s the difference between capturing the attention of your audience or losing them to e-mail and Instant Messenger.
• Test everything first. You know what happens when you assume it will work right the first time. See recipe for disaster.
• Avoid sessions on Mondays and Fridays. Your attendance will be lower and attrition will be higher.
• Find a quiet place from which to do your teaching; preferably one without background noise.
• The only software running on your computer should be what’s needed for you to present. There’s nothing quite as distracting to your viewers as seeing previews of your incoming e-mail and those cute Instant Messages that pop up unannounced. Shutting down those other programs also means your processing power is stronger so your screen refreshes quicker.
• Assign a moderator to kick things off and ask them, or a trusty coworker, to stand by to watch for issues. Have them log in to both the web session and the audio to see and hear what attendees see and hear so they can alert you to any problems.
• Send login instructions, including how to test the connection, several days ahead of the session. Make instructions as clear and simple as possible, keeping in mind that not everyone who attends is technology savvy. Also include an alternative number that is manned during your presentation so participants can call if they have any issues with the web session.
• When it’s appropriate or could be helpful, plan to send notes in advance with instructions to print them for those attending the session.
• Use reminders to count down to the event. An e-mail reminder a day or two in advance is great, and a quick reminder one to two hours before the session most always will increase attendance.
• Create a welcome slide so people know they are in the right place when they log in. Part of that welcome should be information (again) on who is presenting and the phone number to log in for the audio portion.
• Best Practice for audio is teleconferencing instead of streaming audio. It is two-way, the sound quality is better and you have more flexibility on the services offered for the audio. It’s a plus if you can have an attendant on the call to help with any issues. You’ll also want to have the ability to mute phones during the session, record the audio, and turn off annoying announcements as people enter and exit the call.

During the presentation include these Best Practices to assure your training success: