This is a blog series. You are currently in Part 2 of 4. Part 1: Online trainings Learnings by Yannic - equipment and organisation Part 2: Online trainings Learnings by Yannic - Start of the online training Part 3: Online trainings Learnings by Yannic - Continuously during the online training Part 4: Online trainings Learnings by Yannic - completion of the online training
At the latest at the beginning of the online training, the next course is set for success or failure. Therefore you should pay attention to the following points when opening the online training.
Create an open and pleasant atmosphere
Right at the beginning you should try to create an open and pleasant atmosphere for each participant. Don't forget, you will spend a few hours together. One way to create such an atmosphere is to introduce yourself and activate your camera. At this point you should ask your participants to activate their cameras. Getting to know the trainer and the participants will be much easier. If you also say a few words about your hobbies, you can give the online course a personal touch despite the distance. Don't be afraid to bring in a little humor to ease the process of getting to know each other.
Presentation round and expectations of the participants
Now that you have introduced yourself and the participants know who their trainer is, let them catch up. Ask them to introduce themselves briefly as well. In addition to their name, they should also mention what experience they already have in the field and what expectations they have of the online training. Make notes in your note-taking tool so that you can take up and fulfil these expectations during the course. This also gives you the chance to make your online trainings more individual and tailored to the audience. However, make sure that you do not deviate significantly from the intended course content and stick to it, which brings me to the next point.
Present training contents and agenda
After the round of introductions you should definitely present the content of the online training. If you see parallels to the expectations of the participants (which you have noted down), comment them. For example like this: "As you can see, we will cover the topic XYZ in module 3, where I will go into the expectation01 of Hans Muster and explain the connection.". Further you should go directly into the schedule when presenting the agenda. Especially for online trainings of several days you should include your participants in the planning. Find yourself as a group regarding the starting time of the following days, break regulations, etc. Does your audience include smokers who require regular smoking breaks? Try to meet the needs of the majority of the participants and try to reconcile these needs with your training in the best possible way.
Explanation of the tools used
Regardless of which tool you prefer to use for your online training, you should explain it. Everyone must be able to use it. Make sure you understand the features you want to use and set a few rules. Mention that you allow yourself to mute the participants if necessary. The more participants you have in your online trainings, the more important this function and agreement is. For example, you can also specify that not everyone should shout into the microphone when voting or asking yes/no questions. The participants should use a "Yes" or "No" button, depending on the tool, or "Thumbs Up" and "Thumbs Down" buttons. This indirectly increases the participation of the participants, because not everybody wants to talk in front of strangers via the microphone. If you also use other tools such as LAB environments or similar for your online training, explain them carefully.
Continue with Part 3: Online trainings Learnings by Yannic - Continuously during the online training
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