Attendees will not always be actively engaged in your virtual instruction. They may feel overworked, resent their boss’s making them attend your training, or not feel positive about your message in the first place. Either way, it is up to you to overcome their silence and resistance without further upsetting them. Here are some points to remember that might help you do so.
Your Mother will Always Love You
If you are fortunate, maybe you have a significant other, a dog, a cat, or a child that feels the same way. Participants are not under any contractual obligation to listen to you nor like you They are attending your session to meet their own needs. Many will exert only as they need to achieve what they want. The rest is up to you. Sometimes it will not be easy, and other times it may be downright unfair.
Always Assume that Attendees Are Multitasking
When you talk to someone on the phone, there is the illusion that both parties are sitting on the edge of seats and hanging on every word. It’s best not to think that the other person is knitting a scarf or fixing a sandwich,—even though chances are, that is what they are doing.
Multiply that by several times in virtual instruction. Participants could be reading their latest sales report or answering e-mails. Accept that you are not entitled to their undivided attention. You need to connect with the people who attend your session, motivate them out of their own self-interest, and draw them into your virtual instruction. Once this process starts, it is contagious, and before you know it, you will have a group of individuals who are communicating and sharing. It’s magic, but it takes practice.
Many People Will Hide if They Can
Remember elementary school. Some kids would sit in the back of the room, hoping that the teacher did not see them and would not call on them. It is the same way in virtual training. Quieter attendees hide from view, and they can do that very effectively. As adults, folks feel that they are entitled to be silent observers. In the first place, work hard to make your virtual instruction relevant, economical, interactive, dynamic, and enjoyable. If that is not enough, try coming up with some positive ways to involve them, such as using the types of activities covered in my book “Virtual Presentations that Work” 1 published by McGraw Hill Professional. For example, you can send an attendee a private note asking them for their valuable perspective. If you are too aggressive in trying to draw out a specific participant, they will not be happy, and you can bet that this will be reflected on their session evaluation form.
1 Gendelman, Joel “Virtual Presentations that Work” McGraw-Hill Professional, May 2010
I hope that you enjoy these ideas. I would enjoy hearing from you. Please contact me using the “Contact Us” tab on my website http://www.fttraining.com/
