How To Create Impactful Virtual Training: Focus Areas And Top Tips

How To Create Impactful Virtual Training: Focus Areas And Top Tips

Summary:
Virtual training often falls flat due to disengaging content, technical issues, and poor facilitation. But with the right approach, organizations can transform their virtual sessions into dynamic, results-driven experiences. Discover the key factors that set successful virtual training apart.

The Keys To Making Virtual Training Work

In recent years, virtual training has become essential. However, designing and delivering effective virtual training remains more of an exception than the norm. Virtual training failures are common. We've seen and heard it all:

1. Boring, static, dull sessions
2. Poorly designed slides
3. Ineffective facilitation
4. Technical issues

Yet, success is possible. Those who succeed not only avoid common pitfalls but also leverage the unique advantages of Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) over other delivery methods.

Build And Deliver Impactful Virtual Training

To build and deliver impactful virtual training, focus on three key areas:

1. Select a platform that supports your training goals
2. Design engaging and effective training
3. Prepare facilitators for successful digital delivery

Pick The Right Platform

Not all platforms are created equal, and no single platform can serve every objective. It's essential to choose the right platform based on your specific training goals. A well-chosen platform helps ensure that your virtual sessions are engaging and effective, without technical disruptions. If your goal is:

1. Knowledge sharing with a large group
   A webinar platform may suffice. These platforms are typically great for delivering content to large audiences in a one-to-many format.
2. One-on-one or small-group coaching
   A video-enabled meeting platform is best. These platforms allow for personal interaction and can accommodate smaller groups effectively.
3. In-depth Instructor-Led Training
   A purpose-built virtual classroom platform is ideal. These platforms offer more advanced features tailored for learning, such as breakout rooms and collaborative tools.

Consider the tools required for an engaging learning experience. Do you need breakout rooms, virtual whiteboards, chat, or polls? Can participants share audio and video? These features are crucial for effective interaction and engagement.

• Tips for platform selection

1. 1. Define your training objectives clearly before choosing a platform.
   2. Develop a strategic plan for achieving those objectives.
   3. Choose a platform that directly aligns with your needs and desired outcomes.

A common mistake is designing training around an existing platform, rather than selecting a platform that best supports the training objectives. Avoid this backward approach. Ensure your platform fits the experience you intend to create, not the other way around.

Design Engaging Training

One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is simply converting live, in-person classroom training into VILT without making adaptations. What works in a physical setting doesn't always translate effectively into a virtual environment. The following are key design principles to bear in mind:

1. Design specifically for VILT
   Unlike traditional in-person sessions, virtual training requires materials, facilitation techniques, and exercises tailored for the digital experience. Consider factors such as content flow, discussion management, visual engagement, and interaction strategies. Each element should be re-imagined meeting the unique demands of a virtual setting. One of the most effective ways to design impactful virtual training is to incorporate the Learn-Feel-Do framework:
   • Learn
     What specific knowledge should participants gain from the training?
   • Feel
     What emotions or motivations should be evoked to drive engagement and retention?
   • Do
     What actions should participants take following the training to apply their new knowledge?
2. Maintain participant attention
   In a virtual setting, it's far easier to lose participants’ attention. Unlike in-person training, where facilitators can engage and manage attention with non-verbal cues, VILT requires more deliberate attention to participant engagement. Design training sessions that actively re-engage participants at frequent intervals. Assume attention will drift—plan interactions to bring it back.
3. Maximize engagement through interaction
   Engagement is crucial for retention and application of new knowledge. Use interactive elements such as polls, group discussions, breakout activities, and real-world applications. The platform you choose will directly affect the available engagement tools. Use the tools at your disposal to foster as much interaction as possible to ensure an effective learning experience.

Prepare For Delivery Success

Strong facilitation skills in a physical classroom do not automatically translate to effective virtual facilitation. Facilitators must adapt their delivery style and approach to the digital environment. Virtual facilitation requires not just content knowledge but also technical and interpersonal agility. Tips for effective virtual facilitation include:

1. Select the right facilitators
   Virtual facilitation demands mental agility, preparation, and adaptability. Not all facilitators are suited for a virtual environment, so ensure they develop "digital senses." They should be comfortable with digital tools, able to troubleshoot in real time, and skilled at reading and reacting to virtual cues.
2. Pair facilitators with hosts
   Every VILT session should have a dedicated host to manage technical issues, monitor participant engagement, and handle administrative tasks. A host allows facilitators to focus on content delivery and participant interaction, rather than dealing with technical issues or logistical challenges.
3. Prepare thoroughly
   Virtual training demands more preparation than in-person sessions. To ensure smooth delivery, make sure that the facilitator, host, and participants are all prepared in advance.
   • Facilitators need to rehearse their content, refine interaction techniques, and get comfortable with the platform.
   • Hosts must be ready to troubleshoot and manage any logistics, from breakout rooms to participant technical issues.
   • Participants must have clarity on expectations, including pre-work, required technology, and whether video participation is expected.

Achieve Success

Many organizations struggle with virtual training design and delivery. Poor technical execution, ineffective facilitation, and lack of engagement lead to disappointing results. However, by designing with the virtual learning environment in mind, organizations can create dynamic, interactive, and results-driven training experiences. Success requires thoughtful platform selection, engaging Instructional Design, and well-prepared facilitators. With these elements in place, virtual training can be both effective and transformative.

RAIN Group
RAIN Group is a global sales training company delivering award-winning results through in-person and virtual sales training, coaching, and reinforcement.

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