Gerry Brimacombe musing on Learning, Technology, and Life...

I have been doing a lot of training with the web-conferencing tool Microsoft Live Meeting, both teaching people how to use the tool, as well as using the tool to teach. One question that comes up repeatedly is "how do you make sure people are paying attention?" I call this "engagement": are people following along with the PowerPoint slides, checking their email, or better yet, hanging off your every word? Since participants (also known as attendees, learners or your audience) are sitting at their own workstations and you can't (usually) see them, many of the common face-to-face engagement techniques aren't available to you.

As my friend Jeffrey used to ask "so what?" Why do I care about people paying attention or not? Well, first of all, most of my clients have paid for learning and therefore it behoves me to make sure they are getting their money's worth. If I have "lost them" they are not learning. That aside, let's face it: people just want to have fun! (kudos Cyndi Lauper) If I can make the material interesting and exciting, then it becomes fun and engaging for me as well as the people in the room or online. Finally "why bother?" If we're not having fun and learning together, then why teach or attend the session? Let's not waste anyone's time!

So, how do I keep people engaged? Let me use bullets so it's easier for me to write, and you to follow:

• Be engaged yourself. Be excited about what you are discussing, before and during your presentation. Everyone picks up on the energy in the room.
• Use vocal variation. Speak loudly and softly. Make funny voices. Sing if you feel like it. Laugh whenever and wherever you can!
• Include visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic learning. I do a lot of technical training, which tends to involve colourful graphics and frequent movement of the mouse cursor. This appeals to the visual learners, but it is important to let participants speak and consciously ask for feedback to engage the auditory learners. I also like to introduce little rhymes or memes for the auditory folks. (In the SharePoint class, I tell them "there's no place like home".) For kinaesthetic learners, have them stand up and turn around to ask a question of the person behind them, do high-fives, or just use flipcharts to incorporate more body movement into the lesson. I also use a wooden pointer stick to add more interaction – I swing it around, tap the screen or board, and threaten to hit people with it (as a joke for course!).
• Here's a simple one: when someone asks a question, rather than walking closer to them, walk to the other side of the (front of) the room. This way, more of the room is between you and the asker, and you are more likely to draw others into the discussion, rather than excluding them.
• Ask Questions! One well known training-trainer, Blair Singer, asks about two questions a minute. Even if you don't pause for an answer, you have still engaged a different part of the brain, and people are more engaged.
• Respond to questions, respectfully. Be grateful for the question, it shows that the asker is curious about what you are talking about. Allow them to ask it fully (without letting them ramble) to ensure you understand the question. Then, ask the class if they have an answer to the question! This may seem like a dodge, but it is very empowering to the class that you can facilitate and not just be a "talking head." If the question is off-topic, make a note of it on a flipchart (or OneNote) and come back to it at a more appropriate time.
• Stay Humble. Avoid the temptation to be power-tripping in the class. You are not there to show off your knowledge but to make sure that everyone benefits from the experience as much as they are able.
• Tell stories. People relate to people. And just trying to cram in a bunch of content without showing your human side is, in my experience, a mistake. I usually slide a few personal stories in, preferably humorous, in an unplanned and spontaneous way. A little chit-chat goes a long way (for most people) to make the class more interesting and engaging.
• Be human. I tell people up front that I don't have all the answers and I always learn something new in class. And it's true! This sets the example that "hey, there's nothing wrong with learning, all the time!" And if you make a mistake, don't try to con them, come clean right away and laugh about it!

And here are some specific items for engagement in on-line meetings:

• Slow down. If you are demonstrating computer skills or doing any kind of screen sharing you need to take the time to allow people to keep up. Be explicit and go slow, and then you will be less likely to lose them. Because once lost, it is much harder to get them back on track!
• Keep them busy. Every 5 or 10 (max) minutes, give people something to do. Click on a button, answer a question, respond to a poll, or take over the screen. It doesn't matter much, as long as they are "doing something", not just sitting there listening (or not!)
• Be explicit. As your voice walks through the PowerPoint, use on-screen annotations to highlight the bullets as you discuss them. Use your mouse to point to things. Talk about everything you are doing. Unexplained silence is the second quickest way to lose an online group. (For the first quickest, see "slow down" above.) And once lost, they are hard to get back again: some people are quickly alienated.
• Test and support the technology. It's important that you know all the common things that can go wrong with the meeting software, audio and video systems. Practice techniques to explain and resolve issues remotely. You can't walk over and look over anyone's shoulder, so a technical problem can become a downward spiral very quickly.
• Check-in frequently. This might overlap with "keep them busy" above, but worth emphasizing. This is where silence can and should be used. Ask them if they have any questions or comments and make sure you allow enough time for people to unmute their phone, compose themselves and start asking. If you're too fast you might cut them off before they start! Remember, when people are lost or confused they often go silent so you may need to draw them out.
• Use two presenters. This is both to handle all that technical support stuff, as well as to give a variation in voices which makes it easier for attendees to pay attention.

I have outlined my thoughts here, and some recommendations, but I know that you have ideas and expertise, many of you far greater than mine, so please comment so we can learn together!

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Gerry Brimacombe