From the course: Converting Face-to-Face Training into Digital Learning

Technical tips and tools: Virtual instructor-led training

From the course: Converting Face-to-Face Training into Digital Learning

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Technical tips and tools: Virtual instructor-led training

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- [Instructor] We want to deliver high quality Virtual Training and we want to look and sound good while doing it. To achieve these worthwhile goals, there are a few technical things concerning how we present ourselves and the tools we use that we need to know. Let me start with a few tips that will allow us to present ourselves in the best professional light. My first suggestion is to invest in a quality microphone, and of course run your session from a quiet room. Good headset mics aren't expensive, and will yield far better quality than the mic on your computer. They are also better at filtering out background noise, which you always want to minimize. Position your webcam so that you're looking up slightly when you look into it. This angle simulates eye contact and is more flattering as you'll have fewer shadows on your face. Also, make sure your face is well lit. Natural soft light is best, say from a window across the room. If that's not an option, place a lamp in front of you so as to illuminate your face and remove unflattering shadows. It'll take a few practice recordings to get your sound, camera angle, and lighting just right. But I'm confident that you'll quickly achieve a professional setup. Okay, now let's turn to tools. It's hard to do quality work without quality tools. Some of the more popular conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Meet are easy to use, but they're really built for meetings rather than training. But I get it, sometimes you got to use what the company tells you to. If you must use a platform that doesn't offer much in the way of training functionality, you're at least going to want to quizzing and polling application. For quizzing, I recommend Kahoot. A game based quizzing application, which participants have a lot of fun with. And for polling your participants, I recommend Slido. Both are low to no cost apps. Now, if you want to master the virtual training format, you're going to need a platform built for training. The two platforms I recommend are GoToWebinar and Webex. Both companies have been in the training space a long time, have robust features, as well as solid customer service. Whatever virtual platform you use, get intimate with all its functionality. Can you break participants into chat rooms? Can you offer quizzes and polls on the fly? Get into the software and play around, look under every nook and cranny. Research how creative people are using the platform. As you can tell, there's a decent amount of technology involved in virtual instruction. But mastering it comes down to two basic things. Setting up your audio and webcam so you look and sound your best, and getting to know your platform tools really well.

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