tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61683780876889363622024-03-12T20:03:43.214-04:00Web Conferencing ZoneDesigning and delivering first rate web conferences.Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-76787033274689135652010-03-11T13:59:00.008-05:002010-03-16T17:06:12.863-04:00A New Blog Home<div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S5k-f5D_yuI/AAAAAAAAAnE/RP3ir5hALvg/s1600-h/webconferencegurubanner.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447453941895776994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 29px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S5k-f5D_yuI/AAAAAAAAAnE/RP3ir5hALvg/s200/webconferencegurubanner.gif" border="0" /></a> March is here, and as the old saying goes, 'in like a lamb, out like a lion.' After two years of blogging on this site, I've decided to move to a new platform. Please visit <a href="http://www.webconferenceguru.com/">http://www.webconferenceguru.com/</a><br /><br /><div></div></div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-66705855394027909032010-02-19T14:36:00.005-05:002010-02-28T17:29:15.126-05:00Using Your “Peripherals” When You Facilitate a Web Conference<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S37pTMeokBI/AAAAAAAAAm8/FpSOUpAYodI/s1600-h/frog.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440041915886637074" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S37pTMeokBI/AAAAAAAAAm8/FpSOUpAYodI/s200/frog.jpg" /></a> <p class="MsoNormal">In one scene in the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405422/">The 40-Year Old Virgin</a>, Jay (Romany Malco) gives advice to Andy (Steve Carell) about spotting women in a bar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He starts by explaining that you have to “use your peripherals” by looking straight ahead, yet observing what is going on all around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He describes this subtle, yet important technique that allows you to spot interesting women in the bar on either side of you, in addition to women right in front of you.</p><p class="MsoNormal">What in the world does this advice have to do with a web conference?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As Jay explains in the movie, if you are only focused on what’s directly in front of you, you may miss something important on either side of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Similarly, if you are presenting material in a web conference, there’s a tendency to focus intently on your slides or whatever is showing on the main part of the screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Meanwhile on other parts of the screen, participants may be asking questions in the chat area, changing their status to indicate they have a question or responding to a poll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Therefore, it’s important to continuously scan the screen and take in the entire landscape of the meeting room throughout a web conference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">At first, it will take practice to move your eyes away from the material you are presenting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You may need to write reminders in your notes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Initially, you will need to pause, scan your screen, address chat comments or other relevant participant interactions, then pick up where you left off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Eventually, this technique of scanning the room will become much more natural and you’ll be able to simultaneously present your material and notice chat texts and other interactions by participants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A skilled web conferencing facilitator can weave in chat comments, poll results and other participant interactions seamlessly into a presentation at the appropriate moments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This skill is the result of continuously monitoring the entire screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Just as Andy learns in the bar scene in the movie, when you start using your peripherals, you increase your chances of more interactions and it will make you look like a pro!</p>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-35369529737976957672010-02-09T22:44:00.002-05:002010-02-09T22:53:06.776-05:00How to Gather Participant Feedback in a Web Conference<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S3IsFeO8l5I/AAAAAAAAAm0/3A1f0JJB7SE/s1600-h/feedback.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 135px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S3IsFeO8l5I/AAAAAAAAAm0/3A1f0JJB7SE/s200/feedback.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436456172716332946" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gathering evaluation feedback from participants in a web conference can be easily done through an online evaluation conducted at the conclusion of your training. The importance of soliciting feedback and making adjustments cannot be understated: since we cannot see our participants, their evaluation of the training is critical. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Just as in a physical classroom, it’s important to leave few minutes at the end of your session to conduct an evaluation.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Participants in a physical classroom generally tend to scoot out the door quickly when a session ends, and this holds true in a virtual classroom as well, so build in time for your evaluation.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As the session concludes announce that you would like feedback from participants, then describe what you would like participants to do and approximately how long the evaluation will take.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For example, “We would like to know what you thought about this session.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Please take a few moments to complete an anonymous 10-question survey.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It should only take you about 5 minutes and that’s how much time we have left before the conclusion of today’s session. To access the evaluation go to…”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Some web conferencing tools have an evaluation tool built into the system that lets you pre-load questions and presents them to participants at the moment of your choosing, or as participants exit .</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If your web conferencing tool does not include a built-in feedback mechanism, you can build an online evaluation on a web based tool (such as SurveyMonkey, Question Pro, etc) and send the link to participants by posting in the chat box or “pushing” the link to participants which will open a new browser on their screens.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">An evaluation of a training course delivered via web conference is very similar to an evaluation of a course delivered in a physical classroom.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">However </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in addition to</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> the questions you typically include in your course evaluation for training in a face-to-face session, consider including questions that will provide feedback on:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Pace of session</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Facilitator’s skill</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">The level of engagement/interactivity of the session</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Effectiveness of delivering [your course name] in a virtual classroom</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Interest in receiving more training in a virtual classroom</span></li></ul><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Once you’ve gathered feedback from participants, share it with the facilitation team and see what you can learn from the evaluation.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised by the ratings and comments.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You may even be able to pick out a testimonial or two to help you attract participants for your next web conference.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-5515620355546688452010-01-30T21:30:00.010-05:002010-02-09T09:57:50.914-05:00The iPad’s "Disruption" Potential for Virtual Learning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S2Tt1JOkL0I/AAAAAAAAAmU/0whRjZOlXMg/s1600-h/ipad_hero2_20100127.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 128px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432728547781521218" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S2Tt1JOkL0I/AAAAAAAAAmU/0whRjZOlXMg/s200/ipad_hero2_20100127.jpg" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S2TsudMuAAI/AAAAAAAAAmM/qzkvAjrjs5c/s1600-h/20148_1264817794777_1659741717_675374_1467743_n.jpg"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" class="Apple-style-span">All eyes were on Apple this week with the release of the</span><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none" class="Apple-style-span"> </span></a><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20000020-37.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0">iPad</a>, the new tablet PC. Apple CEO <a href="http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/1001q3f8hhr/event/index.html">Steve Jobs announced</a> the iPad will be ideal for watching video, reading newspapers, browsing photos. "It's so much more intimate than a laptop."<br /><p class="MsoNormal">Chadwick Matlin of Slate.com wrote an interesting <a href="http://www.windsorstar.com/business/fp/iPad+important+businesses+named+Apple/2495012/story.html">article</a> that focuses on the “disruption potential” of the iPad and how this new device will affect various industries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Since virtual learning such as self-paced e-learning and learning delivered via web conference often takes place on a laptop, I’m wondering what iPad will mean for the world of virtual learning?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Right now it’s difficult to tell what the iPad will do to e-learning industry, and any seismic changes to the industry are a long way off for many reasons. First, the iPad does not currently support Flash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Many self-paced e-learning programs are built with Flash and Adobe Connect Pro, a leading web conferencing tool, runs on Flash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It also lacks a webcam and only runs on AT&T’s network, so its web reach is limited right now. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">The device is currently marketed as a consumer product, which means that workplace learning programs will not be affected by the iPad for the time being. Right now, a crowd of early adopters is busy trying out this new device and it has a long way to go before becoming mainstream. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">However, the iPad and similar tablet PCs are definitely devices to keep an eye on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>With e-learning courses (mobile learning) and training delivered via web conference (such as WebEx) quickly moving onto iPhones and smartphones – just imagine what that experience would be like on a tablet PC like the iPad.</span></p>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-87452154813638466112010-01-13T08:36:00.008-05:002010-01-23T22:27:19.050-05:00Ten Resolutions for Webinar Instructors<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S03NkJjJ_pI/AAAAAAAAAmA/pwPikNRaAz4/s1600-h/january1.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426219146973675154" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/S03NkJjJ_pI/AAAAAAAAAmA/pwPikNRaAz4/s200/january1.jpg" /></a> <div>It’s January so it must be resolution time. Here are ten ideas to think about as you get ready to facilitate <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">webinars</span> and other online events this year.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>1. </b><b>Focus on your voice</b>: The facilitator’s voice carries extra weight in a virtual environment, so focus on inflections, pace and rhythm. Speak clearly and purposefully. No slang or muttering allowed. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>2. Engage your audience early</b>: Set the tone for an interactive session by engaging your audience early. Weave early interaction into the first few minutes of your session by asking participants to type their location into chat, respond to a poll about their background, and “raise” their hand if they can hear the audio clearly.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>3. Annotate while you speak</b>: Most web conferencing tools include a pointer as well as annotation tools like a highlighter and other writing tools. Use these annotation tools generously but wisely as you speak to emphasize key information. Bob <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mosher</span> from <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">LearningGuide</span> Solutions is a master of this technique. You can feel Bob gesture as he uses the annotation tools to circle or highlight parts of the screen while speaking. I highly recommend observing Bob deliver an online session if you ever have the chance.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>4. Use interesting slides</b>: Add images and color to your slides to make them visually appealing. As a rule of thumb I like to cover one concept per slide. This means that you may <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#006600;">increase the number of slides</span> as you spread out your content over more slides, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#006600;">but not increase the amount of content</span>.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>5. Rehearse your session:</b> Practice your session with a mock audience to fine tune the timing and flow of your material. Try recording your session and listening to yourself if you cannot rehearse with others.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>6. Know your audience:</b> Learn as much as you can about your audience before you begin your <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">webinar</span>. Information such as their experience level with the topic, native language and experience with <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">webinars</span> will help you shape how you deliver your information. If you can’t find out this information ahead of time, run polls at the beginning of the session or post questions in chat.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>7. Start and end on time:</b> Most of us are working on overdrive these days so respect your participants' time. Plan to start and end your session on time and think about the factors that will allow this to happen. For example, send clear instructions and reminder emails to participants, join the session early to get everything prepared and rehearse so that you can ensure the material + interactions can covered in the time allotted.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>8. Observe other facilitators:</b> Whenever possible, observe other online facilitators and note what you like and don’t like about their facilitation technique. Note how they engage the audience, how they present information on the screen and what they do in general to maintain your interest. I’<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">ve</span> also gathered many great ideas from in-person presenters who use techniques that can be translated to the virtual meeting room.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>9. Try something new:</b> By observing other facilitators you will undoubtedly come across new ideas and techniques. Take a chance and try something new in your next session. If it works, you’<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">ve</span> added a new idea to your toolkit. If it <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">didn</span>’t work as planned, gather feedback on what happened and how to improve next time. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>10. Celebrate your successes:</b> Just like traditional classroom facilitation, mastering the art of online facilitation is a continuous process. Sometimes it may feel that participants don’t appreciate all of the planning and behind the scenes work that goes on to design and deliver a successful <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">webinar</span>. Celebrate your successes by reviewing the positive feedback participants may have posted in the chat area or in the session evaluation and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. </div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-39091779513730145472009-12-31T17:51:00.008-05:002010-02-09T10:02:12.866-05:00Webinar Case Study: Meeting a Urgent Need in the Pharmaceutical Industry<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/Sz0rTycCteI/AAAAAAAAAl4/Ctivs36FLXc/s1600-h/medicine.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421537145380845026" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/Sz0rTycCteI/AAAAAAAAAl4/Ctivs36FLXc/s200/medicine.jpg" /></a> <div>I recently interviewed a colleague who designed and delivered a webinar to meet an urgent training need. She works for a Boston pharmaceutical start up of 20 employees and used <a href="https://www2.gotomeeting.com/">GoTo Meeting</a> to deliver training to nurses in a call center in Dallas. </div><div><br /></div><div>The purpose of the webinar was to train the call center nurses to answer questions about a new cancer drug developed by my colleague’s company. If you’ve ever read the package insert on prescription medicine, you’ll notice a phone number to call with questions, which is required by the FDA of pharmaceutical companies. Small pharmaceutical companies typically outsource this work to a call center. </div><div><br /></div><div>To help develop the training, my colleague interviewed the manager at the call center for two hours. Using this information she developed a 90-minute session with 25 slides. The slides included a large number of patient photos to illustrate before and after affects of the medicine. A journal article about the disease that the drug treats was sent as pre-reading to participants to help provide context for the presentation and maximize the time spent during the session. After the presentation the senior medical advisor from the pharmaceutical company (who is based in North Carolina and joined virtually) reviewed an FAQ and answered additional questions.</div><div><br /></div><div>The result was an efficient training session delivered in real time, plus a recording made available to those who could not attend. Had this training been delivered the traditional way, my colleague and the senior medical advisor would have flown to Dallas to deliver two sessions (since some nurses needed to staff the call center). Additionally, a secondary audience in the Boston office (employees and contractors) attended the webinar and learned first-hand from company experts and from the questions raised by the nurses. </div><div><br /></div><div>In total, 3 sessions (2 sessions for nurses and 1 for staff/contractors totaling 4.5 hours) were consolidated into 1 session (1.5 hours) and several hours of travel time were eliminated. In a small organization where resources are stretched thin and staff are in various locations, replacing face-to-face training with training delivered via web cast is a great way to save time and gain efficiencies.</div><div></div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-76835465499077286642009-12-12T21:09:00.003-05:002009-12-12T21:21:30.634-05:00How to Keep Your Cool Online<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SyRPoZchj1I/AAAAAAAAAlw/ngKNPFnt0zA/s1600-h/zen.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SyRPoZchj1I/AAAAAAAAAlw/ngKNPFnt0zA/s200/zen.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414540207450066770" /></a><div>Picture this: A project manager with a geographically dispersed team, who was somewhat new to conducting meetings via web conference, decided to facilitate a project kick-off meeting using a web conference. Her goal was to get the team on the same page and make a good first impression. As the meeting started, she lost her Internet connection and lost her virtual meeting room. In a panic, the project manager blurted out that “I guess we won’t have a meeting. Why do these things always happen to ME?” in an exasperated tone. Sound familiar?</div><div><br /></div><div>A skilled online facilitator knows that from time to time, there will be technology glitches, and she knows how to keep her cool and deal with these issues with confidence. Ideally, you should partner with someone when facilitating an online meeting so that one person can run the meeting and a second person can handle technical issues. I also always make sure I can access the meeting agenda and handouts outside of the meeting room (either printed copies or a copy on my computer) so that I can continue the meeting on a phone line if needed. Even better if you can email all meeting documents to participants as a back-up. </div><div><br /></div><div>In this case, the project manager was using a separate phone connection, and everyone was still connected to the audio bridge. She also had a second person helping with the technical issues. Instead of panicking she could have muted the phone, told her partner that she would start the meeting without the visual and request a signal or a note to her to let her know the status of the virtual meeting room. A comment such as “We are working to restore the meeting room and can actually start without it by introducing the agenda and first topic, etc.” would have appeased her audience. </div><div><br /></div><div>As it turned out, in this meeting the internet connection was restored within minutes. The project manager lost credibility with her team by sounding the alarm bells and losing control of the situation. If she had been better prepared and planned with her co-facilitator, she could have seamlessly shifted from plan “a” to plan “b.” The participants would have certainly noticed that things weren’t going exactly as planned, but they would have also observed a professional who was well prepared, confident and kept her cool in a difficult situation. </div><div><br /></div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-49515102473143160662009-11-29T21:12:00.007-05:002009-11-29T21:50:02.107-05:00Collaborative Book Writing and Learning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SxMyyF4wj0I/AAAAAAAAAlg/nPq05Czpp6Y/s1600/books.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SxMyyF4wj0I/AAAAAAAAAlg/nPq05Czpp6Y/s200/books.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409723413557186370" /></a><p class="MsoNormal">Over the weekend I heard an interesting story on NPR about the future of the book industry called <a href="http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2009/11/27/01">Book It</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Host <a href="http://www.onthemedia.org/about/brooke.html">Brooke Gladstone</a> spoke with various guests about the changes occurring in the book industry including the growth of self-publishing and e-books. One section of the interview was with Bob Stein of <a href="http://www.futureofthebook.org/">The Institute for the Future of the Book</a> who spoke about "books 2.0" and how the future of books will be a collaborative process between authors and readers. It sounded far-fetched at first, but as he described the process, I was intrigued.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The discussion about books 2.0 had me thinking about the learning industry and how technology has changed and will continue to change the industry. Many of the ideas that Bob Stein discussed can be applied to the learning industry, for example, readers influencing books by collaborating with authors as they write books. This sounds like learners contributing to learning programs by participating in interactive learning experiences such as wikis and web conferences. "Learning 2.0" has come about as a result of technology that allows for more interactive and collaborative learning experiences and it's good news for adult learners. Adults learn best when they are engaged and contributing to the learning experience. The pace of change in the learning industry has definitely picked up and I predict that adult learners will continue to benefit from new learning tools and techniques that focus on collaborative learning.</p>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-73119230202927806292009-11-15T15:29:00.004-05:002009-11-16T08:38:09.311-05:00Stream 57's Panel Discussion on Online Training<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SwFVtCI741I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/s3leXV5c2RA/s1600/stream57.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404695259978130258" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 78px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SwFVtCI741I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/s3leXV5c2RA/s200/stream57.jpg" border="0" /></a> Stream 57 recently hosted a webcast panel discussion on “<a href="http://www.stream57.com/news/s57acrucialcurriculum20091102.html">E-Learning and Online Training in the Face of the Flu, the Recession and the Demand for Better Education</a>.” The panel shared a variety of insights on how to use technology for learning events and best practices for interacting with online audiences. <div><br /><div>Throughout the discussion, a live audience participated by responding to polls and asking questions via chat. One interesting poll question was “What is the best way to successfully keep the audience engaged during teachings and trainings?” The audience responded that polling (42%), testing (38%) and chatting (17%) are good ways to engage an online audience. Only 4% of the audience thought that live video of the presenter is enough. I couldn’t agree more. In my experience those who are new to the area of delivering training via web conference will focus on the live video feature of a web conference. While it’s certainly helpful to be able to see the person who is speaking, if your interactivity starts and stops with a live video, you will quickly lose the attention of your audience.</div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>The panel discussed a related question on how to prepare your instructors for teaching online. Brian O’Donnell from Centocor Ortho Biotech commented that teaching online is a teachable skill. Andrej Petroski from Harrisburg University suggested that instructors need to practice teaching online and think about the learner experience. He suggested attending webinars and paying attention to what you like and don’t like about the experience. I have utilized this method of attending webinars and observing the teaching techniques. There are so many creative ways to engage a learner in an online audience, and from every webinar I attend I can either pick up a new technique to try out or note something that didn’t work well in a session. Step-by-step, this is a great way to master the art of teaching to an online audience. And best of all, you can usually do this for free on your lunch hour.</div><br /><div></div></div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-9723955837225406262009-10-24T20:20:00.005-04:002009-10-24T20:30:42.965-04:00Two for One<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SuObfCvZrzI/AAAAAAAAAlA/uGmfphtHaz0/s1600-h/two.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 143px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396327736133922610" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SuObfCvZrzI/AAAAAAAAAlA/uGmfphtHaz0/s200/two.jpg" /></a> This week I had a unique opportunity to attend a web conference with <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/01642656911087012833">Bob Mosher </a>of <a href="http://www.learningguidesolutions.com/index.php/usa/">LearningGuide Solutions</a> where I also served as the session producer. He presented a session for <a href="http://www.dcastd.org/">Metro DC ASTD</a> members on “Informal Learning – Are We Missing a Huge Opportunity.” Bob encouraged us to think about how to establish a "holistic learning ecosystem" that supports dynamic learning. A key component of a learning ecosystem is training was performance support “in the moment of need.”<br /><br />Not only was the material of the presentation extremely relevant for training professionals, but he also demonstrated best practices when delivering training via web conference. During his 45-minute session he included four chat exercises and a poll exercise interspersed throughout the session so the audience was continuously engaged. His slides were rich with images, graphs and concepts and not overloaded with the usual bullet points of text. Furthermore, when speaking, he annotated the screen non-stop using white board tools. I felt as if I could see him gesturing as he annotated and it added tremendous energy to the presentation. It was a very valuable session where the audience had a two for one experience: excellent content and an exceptional demonstration of how to make material come alive in a virtual classroom.Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-29854379345449330272009-10-23T21:22:00.003-04:002009-10-23T21:43:59.429-04:00PREP for Web Conferencing Success<div><br /><div>With training budgets tightening everywhere, more organizations are turning to web conferencing to deliver training programs online to save money and time. According to the <a href="http://www.astd.org/content/research/stateOfIndustry.htm">2008 ASTD State of the Industry</a> report, the percent of training hours devoted to live instructor-led online training is growing rapidly. Between 2006 and 2007, the amount of live instructor-led online training jumped by 50 percent, from 4.24 percent to 6.39 percent. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Instructional designers and facilitators new to web conferencing may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of converting live instructor-led courses to courses delivered via web conferencing. While tempting, simply placing the slides used for classroom training into a web conferencing tool and launching a training event will not result in an optimal learning experience for your audience. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>For web co<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SuJbsFx0kBI/AAAAAAAAAk4/o0ddXQUh0Lg/s1600-h/Updated+PREP+Model+Sept+2009.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 110px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395976116566790162" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SuJbsFx0kBI/AAAAAAAAAk4/o0ddXQUh0Lg/s200/Updated+PREP+Model+Sept+2009.jpg" /></a>nferences to be successful, instructors need to devote time to planning the event, including optimizing the content and exercises for a virtual classroom, getting the right facilitation team in place, rehearsing for the live delivery and finally, evaluating what happened. These steps are the key steps of the PREP (Planning, Rehearsal, Execution and Post Mortem) Model for Web Conferencing. For more information on this model, view an article in <a href="http://www.astd.org/lc/2009/1009_christopher.html">ASTD Learning Circuits</a>. </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://www.astd.org/lc/2009/1009_christopher.html"></a></div></div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-38481177557684336662009-09-24T11:59:00.004-04:002009-09-24T12:35:37.066-04:00Converting Chat Text into an FAQ<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SruY2-1ieCI/AAAAAAAAAj4/t4id5HpAnbg/s1600-h/keyboard2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385065849799473186" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 135px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SruY2-1ieCI/AAAAAAAAAj4/t4id5HpAnbg/s200/keyboard2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>The chat feature of a web conference is a great way to interact with the audience. At the end of a web conference, the chat box is typically full of a variety of great comments, questions and answers. This text is a gold mine of information that can be reused by converting it into an FAQ. To do this, copy the entire text chat into Word. Delete text that is just “chatter” and whittle the chat text down to the important questions or comments. Then, start writing your FAQ, using the chat text as the foundation, but rewriting or rewording to provide context and clear information. Generally, this conversion process is best accomplished by someone who participated in the session or is knowledgeable about the topic.<br /><br />Now that you have a well-crafted FAQ, what’s next? One technique I’ve used is to email the FAQ to attendees and those who signed up but couldn’t attend the web conference. This technique works well when you deliver the same course or session more than once and you develop a comprehensive FAQ from all sessions so that attendees in one session can benefit from the questions and answers from another session on the same topic.<br /><br />Another technique for sharing your FAQ is to integrate it into your web site or online collaboration space. Depending on how and where you post the FAQ online, you can create a more permanent home for your FAQ and also make the FAQ visible to others who did not attend your session. For example, posting FAQs online from a virtual orientation program for new hires benefits all new hires, not just those who attended the session.</div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-72256873898251969622009-09-15T11:41:00.009-04:002009-09-24T11:14:30.239-04:00Logistics for Global Audiences<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/Sq-9puMcQjI/AAAAAAAAAjw/oW38BIQLWEY/s1600-h/globe+2.jpeg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381728604203532850" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 113px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/Sq-9puMcQjI/AAAAAAAAAjw/oW38BIQLWEY/s200/globe+2.jpeg" border="0" /></a>Reaching out to a global audience with a web conference is an effective way to deliver training or hold a meeting. When planning synchronous events for global audiences here are a few key questions to ask regarding the logistics of your event and online resources to help find answers:<br /><br /><strong>What are the time zones of the participants?</strong><br />Make sure that you schedule your event during a time that's convenient for participants.<br /><a href="http://www.worldtimeserver.com/">http://www.worldtimeserver.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>What are the national holidays in the countries of the participants?</strong><br />Check these online resources so you don't schedule an event during a public holiday in another country.<br /><a href="http://www.qppstudio.net/publicholidays.htm">http://www.qppstudio.net/publicholidays.htm</a><br /><a href="http://www.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/dpl/63099.htm">http://www.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/dpl/63099.htm</a> (US State Department list of national holidays)<br /><br /><strong>What is the legal work week in the countries of the participants?<br /></strong>Monday - Friday is the work week in the US, but not the entire world. In Muslim countries the work week is different to allow for Friday as a day of prayer. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workweek">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workweek</a>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-24009374255372811862009-08-28T08:20:00.003-04:002009-08-28T08:38:38.780-04:00Podcast and Job Aid on Web Conferencing<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SpfODzT9cXI/AAAAAAAAAjo/H_yJLAd-uvc/s1600-h/podcast.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374991244998832498" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 134px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SpfODzT9cXI/AAAAAAAAAjo/H_yJLAd-uvc/s200/podcast.jpg" border="0" /></a>Recently I was interviewed by Charles Gluck for a podcast by the <a href="http://www.dcastd.org/">Metro DC Chapter of ASTD</a>. The podcast covers suggestions and ideas for improving web conferences, the roles of the facilitation team, and how to calculate carbon emissions savings when traditional training is delivered via web conference.<br /><br />You can listed to the podcast by going to <a href="http://dcastdpodcast.org/2009/08/21/episode-10-tips-for-conducting-webinars-webinar-expert-darlene-christopher/">Metro DC ASTD Podcast</a>.<br /><a href="http://dcastdpodcast.org/2009/08/21/episode-10-tips-for-conducting-webinars-webinar-expert-darlene-christopher/"></a>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-28011135008484692652009-08-24T10:08:00.002-04:002009-08-24T10:48:58.609-04:00Chatting It Up<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SpKhrWrI0lI/AAAAAAAAAjg/dh14QgSlQGc/s1600-h/keyboard.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373535071599383122" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 133px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SpKhrWrI0lI/AAAAAAAAAjg/dh14QgSlQGc/s200/keyboard.jpg" border="0" /></a> I remember the first time I taught a course via web conference many years ago. My co-worker and I were both new to the technology, and it was the blind leading the blind. We noticed the chat feature and promptly turned it off as we decided that we didn’t want people chatting while we were talking - that would be too distracting, we surmised.<br /><br />Now as an experienced web conferencing practitioner, I can’t imagine a web conference without an active chat panel. Do I expect participants to chat as the facilitator speaks? Yes. Is it distracting, or does it mean they aren’t paying attention? No. If you copy and paste the chat text at the conclusion of a web conference and review what participants typed, you will usually see that the majority of the text contains comments about the session, answers to questions posed during the session and clarifying questions from participants. According to the eLearning Guild’s 2008 research report on <a href="http://www.elearningguild.com/research/archives/index.cfm?id=131&action=viewonly">Synchronous Learning Systems</a>, chat ranks at the top of the feature satisfaction list and feature ease of use, and it’s the fifth most commonly used feature.<br /><br />In today’s world of texting and microblogging, participants are more comfortable than ever with the chat panel in a web conference. Encourage your audience to use the chat area early in your session by doing something simple such as typing in their location. Give feedback early by acknowledge those who are the first to use the chat area, to send a signal that you will be responding to chat comments. As you verbalize a question, post it in the chat area as well. You may receive verbal and chat responses, which means more participants had the opportunity to contribute. The facilitator doesn’t need to respond to every chat comment or example, just acknowledge that there are many good examples and highlight a few. Weaving chat comments and questions into the verbal discussion or presentation opens up a huge door for interactivity.Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-48214565913420128002009-07-31T08:30:00.009-04:002009-07-31T09:47:20.127-04:00Overt Operations in the Virtual Classroom<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SnLqKGHmdMI/AAAAAAAAAi4/zVfIzPe886A/s1600-h/arrow.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364607565313766594" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SnLqKGHmdMI/AAAAAAAAAi4/zVfIzPe886A/s200/arrow.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>My last post focused on using your mouse deliberately for any movement on the screen. What else needs to be executed in a deliberate and overt manner in the virtual classroom? Nanette Miner shares excellent tips on deliberate language in her article, <a href="http://www.astd.org/TD/Archives/2009/July/0907_Fundamentals.htm">The Non-Drowsy Virtual Classroom</a> in <a href="http://www.astd.org/TD/">T&D Magazine</a> this month. Miner suggests, <span style="color:#006600;"><em>"... language in the virtual classroom needs to be much more direct." </em><span style="color:#000000;">and </span><span style="color:#006600;"><em>"</em></span><em>To assist your participants, give written instructions for activities, preferably both on the screen and in a handout."</em></span> </div><br /><div></div>Confusion among participants when they are asked to complete a task or activity is not uncommon, but can be easily eliminated with deliberate language. Graphics and images can also support your instruction. For example, when facilitating a course with scripted role play, we asked two participants to volunteer by raising their hands and simultaneously showed a slide with instructions on how to raise your hand plus an image of raised hands. Next we assigned roles and asked the two volunteers to read the script on the screen. The role play was written like the script for a play and speaker lines were highlighted in corresponding colors to keep it straight. By encircling a task with clear instructions and images, we eliminated confusion and didn't miss a beat with this exercise.Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-60074102612220423772009-07-27T21:31:00.007-04:002009-08-05T13:56:04.933-04:00An Antsy Mouse<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SnmrfBRMYrI/AAAAAAAAAjA/W2iWz62iPTs/s1600-h/mousepointer.jpeg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366508980393501362" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 184px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SnmrfBRMYrI/AAAAAAAAAjA/W2iWz62iPTs/s200/mousepointer.jpeg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I attended a web conference today where the presenter was sharing his screen with the audience and demonstrating various features of a web product that shall remain unnamed. He was a fine speaker, however, he had a frustrating habit that I’ve seen with many web conferencing presenters – I call it antsy mouse syndrome. The presenter was constantly moving his mouse all over the screen as he spoke which was very distracting. In a physical classroom this distracting behavior occurs as well, when the speaker with a laser pointer tries to “circle” what he’s pointing to on the screen. Most speakers naturally have a tendency to gesture to support their spoken word, which is a good thing, however gesturing with a mouse or pointer tool in a web conference will leave your audience dazed as confused as they won’t know where they should focus on the screen.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">To prevent this problem, all of your mouse or pointer movements should be slow and deliberate so your audience can follow your movements. As you point or click, tell the audience what you are doing, for example: <em>“I’m clicking on the Reports tab to open up a drop down menu. Next I’ll select Manager Reports…etc.” </em></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">One way to check your mouse movements to is to log in as a participant and watch the participant view as you click through a web site or whatever it is that you will be demonstrating. Another technique is to record yourself as you rehearse. In either case, watch closely to ensure that your mouse or pointer movements are supporting your content and objectives and not taking away from your audience's experience.</span>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-17786043469531236872009-06-19T09:10:00.002-04:002009-06-23T12:43:29.699-04:00Polling: More Than Just Q&A<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SkEGKgvWb8I/AAAAAAAAAhE/sfyWWyF5_H8/s1600-h/poll.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350564609949855682" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 133px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SkEGKgvWb8I/AAAAAAAAAhE/sfyWWyF5_H8/s200/poll.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>On the surface, polling is way for a web conferencing facilitator to ask questions of the audience and gather responses. Often you may choose to open a web conference with opening or introductory polls. Responses to polls about tenure at an organization or native language provide the facilitator with essential information about the background of the audience to help guide the session.<br /><br />Polling can also be used creatively to support learning objectives. For example if you want to explore a web site with your audience, turn this activity into a scavenger hunt by posting a poll or two with “quiz” question. Then ask the audience to search the web site for answers to the poll questions. If you plan to share statistics or data, an interesting way to engage the audience is to pose questions about the data prior to revealing it. After the audience has a chance to respond to a poll on data, display the poll results juxtaposed against the actual data. Integrating polls into the content of your session using these techniques is a great way to maintain the interest of the audience and support your learning objectives at the same time.<br /><br />If polling is a topic that you would like to explore in depth, join me for a free web conference on <a href="http://www.insynctraining.com/calendar.htm">Best Practices for Polling</a> on Tuesday June 23, 2009 from 1-2 PM Eastern Time.</div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-4411237047225353452009-06-03T10:22:00.007-04:002010-02-09T10:30:06.892-05:00Teaching Soft Skills: Not “Can We?” But “How Do We?”<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SkEGoddVr6I/AAAAAAAAAhM/e3hklJh0gVo/s1600-h/dream.jpg"></a><br /><div>After speaking at the <a href="http://www.astd2009.org/">ASTD conference </a>in DC this week, I was discussing with a few conference attendees whether or not you can successfully teach soft skills on a web conference. We exchanged a few good ideas including a suggestion from a participant to incorporate video.<br /><br />The discussion made me realize that it’s not a question of “can” but “how” we teach soft skills. With more than <a href="http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6589/The-Dynamics-of-Virtual-Teams.html">137 workers worldwide </a>involved in some sort of teleworking, a huge number of managers and others have to be able to give performance feedback or inspire others to follow his/her leadership virtually. Teaching these soft skills in a physical classroom is important, however when we teach these skills in a virtual classroom we simulate the real situation that many people face every day. The tools that virtual teams generally have at their disposal are the telephone and email, so they need to be taught how to deliver the appropriate messages verbally over the phone or in written communication.<br /><br />Pairing up participants to role play, scripting role plays, and asking participants to type a sample sentence for an email in the chat are just a few of the ways that we can simulate the situations for participants and make the virtual classroom reflect the reality of millions of workers.</div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-37398077326393394022009-05-26T23:54:00.013-04:002009-06-23T12:47:27.520-04:00Facilitation Dream Team<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SkEG9EN4KeI/AAAAAAAAAhU/oBOsP9RZWts/s1600-h/dream.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350565478466595298" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SkEG9EN4KeI/AAAAAAAAAhU/oBOsP9RZWts/s200/dream.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The content and complexity of your web conference will determine the facilitation team needed. In general, you need a facilitator and a producer to carry out key tasks such as:</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:0;"><br /><p><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></strong> </p><p><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></strong> </p><p><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Facilitator Role</span></span></strong></p><ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><strong></strong></span></span><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Main speaker, subject matter expert.</span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Advances slides. Engages audience verbally.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Not active in chat. Comments verbally on what others type.</span></span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Comments on poll results.</span></span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Leads and debriefs exercises.</span></span></span></li></ul></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:0;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Producer Role</span></span></strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:0;"><br /><ul><br /><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Web conferencing expert. May or may not be familiar with subject.</span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Explains technical features. May kick off and conclude the session.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Active in chat. Engages audience by posting and responding to questions/comments. Prompts facilitator to address chat questions. Types key messages to reinforce learning as facilitator speaks.</span></span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Opens/closes polls.</span></span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Explains how exercises will run.</span></span></span></li></ul></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /><p><span style="font-size:0;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">What does your faciliation dream team look like?</span></span></span></p></span></span></div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-18738169122257844162009-05-15T14:20:00.007-04:002009-06-04T15:11:33.698-04:00Using Your Voice to Convey Body Language<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/Sg20fQpQfPI/AAAAAAAAAas/atYxHPwKuR4/s1600-h/LadyJustice1.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336119582640864498" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 123px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/Sg20fQpQfPI/AAAAAAAAAas/atYxHPwKuR4/s200/LadyJustice1.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">If you’ve ever attended presentation skills training, you may be familiar with the <a href="http://www.kaaj.com/psych/smorder.html">research findings</a> that show that audiences receive the most meaning from your presentation from visual cues such as body language (55%), followed by your voice (38%) and finally from the verbal message (7%).</span> <div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Let’s assume you are not using a web cam in your web conference। How do you communicate your message and content with impact when your audience cannot see you? The trainer or presenter is left with his/her voice and content to keep participants engaged and interested. I’ll focus on voice in this posting.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">The speaker(s) during a web conference should focus on a variety of volume, pitch and rhythm in their voice. Presentations skills trainers often suggest that you think about how you use your voice when you read a </span><a href="http://www.storyhavenstudio.com/Tips.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">story</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> to your children or other kids. Clarity and focus are also of utmost importance. Finally, to keep the speaker’s voice animated, he or she should stand up during the web conference, smile and gesture while speaking. Even though the participants can’t see this body language, they will hear it in the speaker’s voice.<br /></span></p></span></div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-21999591447187509192009-04-29T09:12:00.009-04:002009-05-01T20:42:40.310-04:00Raising Your Language Awareness Level<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SfuWQsWPFuI/AAAAAAAAAak/9GhzhBpSKt0/s1600-h/savetheplanet.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 199px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SfuWQsWPFuI/AAAAAAAAAak/9GhzhBpSKt0/s200/savetheplanet.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331019797449610978" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">When you deliver a web conference, who are your participants and where are they from? With the reach of web, it’s possible that your audience may be more global than you think. You may spend a few minutes at the beginning of a session asking questions to determine who’s online and where are they from. You may also consider a poll question such as “Is English (Spanish, Arabic, etc.) your first language?” Responses to these types of polls give the facilitator essential information about the background of the audience to help make spoken language adjustments. For example, slang should always be kept to a minimum when the audience shares the same first language, and eliminated altogether if you have a diverse audience.</div><br />During a conference call with a team in the UK a few weeks ago, I also realized that even business words in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_words_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States">American English and British English </a>may cause confusion. The team referred to “bespoke e-learning solutions” which made no sense to my American ears. Now I know that bespoke means customized, but I got hung up on this word in their email communications and during the call until they sorted it out for me.<br /><br />The spoken word in a web conference is so essential. Practicing what you plan to say with others from different cultures is a great way to raise your language awareness level so that what you say will be understood by everyone, regardless of where they are from.Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-43434549976269356982009-04-17T09:51:00.010-04:002009-05-26T09:42:59.336-04:00Group vs. Individual ParticipationOne of my favorite courses I helped redesign for delivery in a web-conference is a workflow productivity course. During this highly interactive five-hour session, participants learn a new way of organizing to-do lists, emails and paper files. Although all participants are supposed to participate from their desk, in the most recent delivery a small group participated with laptops from a conference room. This was an unplanned twist in the delivery model, but an exception was allowed because we didn't have time to move the group back to their desks.<br /><br />A very interesting group dynamic formed and I learned a great lesson – <span style="color:#006600;">a mixed audience of individuals participating from their desks plus a group participating from a room may spell trouble. </span>The solo participants were able to connect better with the instructor and other solo participants than the group, and consequently were able to work through the material better. At first I thought the small group would benefit from being together to help each other and exchange ideas, the small group began forming a clique, alienating the rest of the participants. Next time everyone will participate from their desks and we'll try to leave those high school clique-forming tendencies to the high schoolers!Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-4033744827788928682009-03-22T20:31:00.008-04:002009-05-01T20:44:16.262-04:00Masie’s Missed Opportunity<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SfhjKrSC6WI/AAAAAAAAAaE/ppUsaZMz5K0/s1600-h/538621716_a5647f3faa.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330119194061236578" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 132px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oieZ_pSynew/SfhjKrSC6WI/AAAAAAAAAaE/ppUsaZMz5K0/s200/538621716_a5647f3faa.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>This week the <a href="http://www.i4cp.com/">Institute for Corporate Productivity</a> teamed up with Elliot Masie of the <a href="http://www.masie.com/">MASIE Center Learning Lab and Think Tank</a> to deliver a webinar on Informal & Social Learning. While the content of the webinar was interesting (a summary of findings of research conducted by i4cp with commentary/interpretation by Masie), the delivery was a missed opportunity by Masie to model best practices for utilizing web conferencing software. A few observations:<br /><br /><strong>1. The first three minutes</strong>: My first post on this blog was based on an article by Masie about the importance of the first three minutes of learning, which set the tone for the rest of an event. In this case the first three minutes consisted of an overview of findings as the audience viewed a title slide (not even a slide with key findings). A much more compelling opening would have been to turn some of the more interesting findings into questions for the audience such as, “What was the #1 practice correlated with the occurrence of informal learning?” (answer: sharing best practices).<br /><br /><strong>2. Duration of each slide</strong>: About halfway into the webinar, one slide remained on the screen for 9 minutes as the speakers talked, and the final content slide stayed up for a whopping 12 minutes! Keeping your audience engaged and attentive is an art not a science, but in this case the delivery team could have easily included a few more interesting slides to support their commentary.<br /><br /><strong>3. Q & A:</strong> The last ten minutes of the session were dedicated to Q & A. A good delivery team can weave the questions and answers throughout the web conference. If questions are collected throughout the session, the producer needs to be on the lookout for questions that map to a particular piece of content and get the speaker to incorporate questions from the audience during the entire session.<br /><br />Every time we use learning technology, even for a presentation that is not meant to be a true learning event, we have the opportunity to practice what we preach about adult learning. Masie's content was intriguing, as always, but the delivery needed more polishing.</div>Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6168378087688936362.post-66535288997032104752009-03-10T07:41:00.002-04:002009-05-01T20:44:26.579-04:00Too Much of a Good Thing?Rich and engaging interactivity is one of the reasons that events delivered via web conference are so compelling. At an online presentation for the Technology Special Interest Group of the <a href="http://www.dcastd.org/">Metro DC ASTD Chapter </a>someone asked an interesting question: can you have too much interactivity in a web conference?<br /><br />Although I tend to see the opposite problem -- too little interactivity -- I believe the answer to this question is yes. If the interaction does not support your learning objectives and you are interacting with participants merely for the sake of interacting, then it can frustrate your audience. Also, if you are using the interactive features of your web conferencing tool with your audience simply because you think the feature is neat and not to support your content, then the audience may feel like they are jumping through hoops pointlessly.Darlene Brady Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728439070392949995noreply@blogger.com0