When delivering Virtual Classroom Training, it is important to remember that just because something works in normal classroom training, it does not mean that it will also work in online training. Not only does material need to be adapted for the online setting, but trainers too need to adapt their delivery, their training methods and the whole approach that they take.

Engaging a remote audience is entirely different from engaging one face to face and many of the visual clues that trainers normally make use of will not be available. In some Training sessions, there may be long periods when you cannot see or hear your audience.

A virtual Classroom Trainer should be able to type quickly and communicate clearly and concisely.
They should also be patient, as virtual classrooms produce lags in communication. This means allowing pause time for people to connect, or type answers.

Virtual Training is a skill that can be learned, like any other, but these are some of the things that you should consider.

Final Preparation

• Be prepared for anything that can happen with the technology and equipment and have plans in place. Practice with the learning platform and record yourself to review how you are doing. Be confident and sure of yourself.
• On the day check everything again. Enter the virtual classroom early and check the connection and audio. Invite trainees to join the training 10 minutes early to “live check” audio and visuals.
• Make ‘eye contact’ by looking straight into the camera, not down at any notes. Have an interesting but not distracting background. Practise, practise, practise!

Keep Trainees Engaged

• In all training, learners should be involved. This is especially true in a virtual Classroom; don’t talk at attendees, talk with them, engaging them in the conversation. Do this right at the beginning of the training, so that delegates feel comfortable from the start.
• Use Ice-Breakers: If it fits and especially in a long session, start with an interesting ice-breaker.
• If possible, and taking into account bandwidth and screen space, ask people to switch on their camera. Do this at least at the start of the training. This will help both you and your delegates to settle and massively help interactions.
• Get to know the students as much as possible and note names at the beginning of the session, so that you can call on them individually during the training.
• Use Interactive learning activities that involve the participation of everyone. Exercises. Discussions. Games.
  Within the limitations of the Platform that you are using, try to make slides as interesting as possible. Avoid bland, over-wordy slides.
• Make it relevant by asking how the subject matter relates to trainees, either personally or professionally. Ask Interesting and Thought-Provoking Questions.
• Limit Chat Moderation: It is good to limit cross-talk during a presentation, but allow people to talk to you and each other whenever it is possible during the training.
• Hold Think-Pair-Shares with Breakout Groups: If your platform support break-out rooms and if it fits, place delegates into pairs and groups to discuss, complete exercises and report back to the group.
• Try to change thing and get interactions from delegates every five to ten minutes. Don’t go any longer than this, as delegates will drift off. If you are inventive enough, get trainees to use their smart phone to respond to exercises. Play games together. Connect people, share stories and tips on what works for them.

Structuring a Virtual Classroom

• At the start of each session, after a break, do a formal check-in, ensuring everyone is back and happy so far. End with a check out and ask individually if they have any questions.
• Keep concepts clear: Be extremely clear what are the key messages, concept and learning areas are. Do not be afraid to repeat the same message many times.
• Try different things: Use polls, breakout sessions, whiteboards, ask people to draw on screen, unmute people, annotate etc. Things will go wrong, but don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself as you use all of these tools. Tell delegates to expect glitches and make a joke out of them.

It is possible to create a successful, engaging and even fun Virtual classroom. Remember to keep things interactive and start (and end) with your delegates. After all, they are the people who the training is all about!