|
by Mary Polley-Berte
Companies and organizations today use web conferencing in many aspects of their organizations--to
conduct meetings, collaborate on projects, demonstrate products and services, and more.
Learning to use web conferencing technology is pretty easy, but there is a lot more to
training via web conference than just putting on a headset, dialing up an audio?conferencing
bridge, and logging onto the application.
This article offers some helpful tips specifically targeted to web conference
training.
1. Even though you are using web conferencing to deliver training, the training content itself must
still be planned and crafted just as carefully as if it were for a traditional classroom session or
e-Learning course.
2. When developing PowerPoint slides to use in web conference training follow these guidelines: -
Simplify content. -Use a large, bold, simple font like Arial. - Have no more than 6 to 8 lines of
text per page (fewer are better). - Make no more than 4 to 5 training points per page (fewer are
better). - Use plain backgrounds that contrast well with the text without clashing. - If possible,
avoid complex animations (i.e. no spinning text, etc.).
3. Establish one person as the point of contact, (POC) for communicating with their group of
attendees. Provide all information to this one person and let them communicate it to their own
people.
4. Provide an outline of objectives for attendees prior to the conference.
5. Test all aspects of your presentation ahead of time. (Enlist the help of an online facilitator
or a student for these tests.): - Check your phone lines and headset, and replace weak batteries
with full new sets. - Though most web conference technologies automatically run a short program to
install and test your machine, open your own test conference and run your presentation. Confirm
that your machine won't freeze up because of low PC memory or connection speed. - Check any online
exercises, tests, or polling questions you have planned for the session. - Run through the
presentation twice, to both check its timing and leave ample time for questions and
answers.
6. If student answers are being stored in a database or a learning management system (LMS),
determine how they will be scored, saved, and accessed later.
7. Are you using an electronic whiteboard? Check to see how its images will be stored. Will your
students need them later? How can they access this material? Is it something you can post in a
reference area on your training LMS?
8. If you are going to demonstrate with examples, try to keep them relevant to the audience. It's
easier for people to learn when material is presented through examples that make sense to
them.
9. Check how much background noise your system produces. Stage the actual conference in a quiet
place, where you can control any heating or air conditioning noise. Be careful about rustling
papers. And never eat anything or chew gum during the conference.
10. Will a host introduce you or will you have a guest presenter during the web conference? If so,
you'll need to run through all of things discussed in item 5 with the other
participant.
11. Do you or your guest tend to run long? If so, you may want to use cue cards. Or use a second
computer (or laptop) as a time clock, to signal when someone is running long.
12. Limit each session to 60 -- 90 minutes. Longer sessions are not productive.
13. Limit your audience. When possible, keep the number of people attending small. (No more than
six people are best.)
14. You might want to ask your technical people to set up a dual monitor configuration on your PC
(or laptops) for you, so that your presentation appears on one display (as others are seeing it),
while your delivery screens and notes appear on the other.
15. If appropriate, check time zones before scheduling the web conference. You'd be amazed how
often even experienced trainers forget to do this . . . and end up opening a conference at the
wrong time.
16. Related to item 15, check in advance to make sure that dates and times appear correctly in all
meeting listings and notification messages. Confirm that the dates and times you define are
communicated consistently to all participants.
17. Check ahead of time that all online links through which students can join the web conference
will work . . . whether they are delivered to learners in an LMS message, via email, or on a web
page.
18. If any learners are located in other organizations, try a test connect into their facilities
well before the actual conference. Though rare, their IT departments may need to change some
firewall settings before you'll be able to communicate in.
19. Have more than one Web Conference option ready to use. Then, if some participants can't
connect, you can create a new conference on the spot, with different conference
tools.
20. Generally, you do not want people to join a web conference until it is actually open for
business. Depending on the system you use, you may be able to enforce this with a student display
that says: "Cannot join until . . . "
21. Before starting, ask your POC if everyone is present and if it's OK to begin.
22. During the actual conference, check in periodically by asking questions of the attendees. For
example: "Does that make sense. Are there any questions so far? Can you think if an example where
you might use this __________." This helps to ensure the attendees are attentive, and to see if
they have any questions. Silence is a sign that the information is not being
understood.
23. Try to stay "on course" but allow for flexibility. Often questions asked will take you to
another topic area and may require more explanation than allowed in the allotted time. Try to
answer all questions and offer to follow up with more information offline, or in another
conference, when time is limited.
24. When you get close to the end, if you feel like you might run over or need a few extra minutes
to finish up, stop and check with all participants. Be considerate of others'
schedules.
25. Provide training exercises on the topics discussed.
26. Plan ahead for how you will close the session. Thank everyone for their time and attention,
leave time for any closing comments or information, discuss next steps (if any), and review how you
can be contacted (if needed).
27. Follow up with your learners after their web-conference training. This could be by email or
perhaps even through a test to gauge their understanding of the material.
28. Keep a log of all training and notes. It can help improve your future training.
About SyberWorks SyberWorks, Inc. (www.syberworks.com) is a
leader in the custom e-Learning Solutions and Learning Management System industries for Fortune
1000 corporations, higher education, and other organizations. Located in Waltham, Massachusetts,
the company serves the multi-billion-dollar e-Learning market. Since 1995, SyberWorks has developed
and delivered unique and economical solutions to create, manage, measure, and improve e-Learning
programs at companies and organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and other
countries.
Mary Polley-Berte may be contacted at http://www.syberworks.com Click here to view more of Mary Polley-Berte's articles.
Mary Polley-Berte is Director of Customer Support & Training at SyberWorks, Inc., in Waltham,
Massachusetts. Mary is a graduate of Boston University and resides with her family in New
Hampshire.
|
