Tips And Techniques For Designing Interactive Webinars

Tips and Techniques for Designing Interactive Webinars Julia Young, Facilitate.com

Design Principle 1: Start with interactive learning objectives 1.

Start with what you already know from face-to-face workshops – the principles of designing a good interactive workshop still apply.

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An existing workshop agenda is a good place to begin – remind yourself of your learning objectives for each interactive exercise.

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Ask how a virtual learning format can provide added advantage. What can you do now that you couldn’t in a face-to-face format?

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Increase number of people who can participate Include people from multiple locations at the same time Engage participants from different cultures and backgrounds Link learning to on-the-job experience and practice Extend learning process in short bursts over a period of time Include participants on a need-to-know basis with modular events Reduce travel costs Extend the reach of training and learning professionals Provide consistent delivery across a global organization Extend the reach and impact of face-to-face learning events in a blended solutions

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List out your biggest worries or concerns about running a webinar – identifying the problem is half the solution.

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Participate in five free webinars on topics you care about – make notes about your experience as a participant. What interactive methods worked? When did you lose focus and start multitasking? What would have kept you engaged? What grabbed your attention – why?

Design Principle 2: Divide Learning Content into Three Areas 6.

Identify content materials and information that participants can read and review on their own – this is potential pre-work material.

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Identify knowledge and information that benefits from listening and questioning a subject matter expert – this is likely webinar material. Could you create a podcast or video snippet to share ahead of time or during the webinar?

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8.

Identify areas of shared knowledge and experiential learning that benefits from interaction between participants – these are areas for the pre-work and/or webinar were you need to create virtual interactive activities.

9.

Look at your existing content materials – workbooks, case studies, team exercises, tests, discussion topics. How can these be adapted to facilitate the virtual learner?

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Turn a slide presentation into a more detailed article for pre-reading Provide a slide presentation in a workbook ahead of time with space and prompts for notes Create the solution to a case study as an example to read later Prepare a series of questions to go along with pre-reading that can be discussed in pairs or triads by phone  Find out what the subject matter expert is going to say and solicit questions from participants ahead of time  Create a self-assessment survey that conveys key points and applies them to the individual learner 10. Plan on 60% of your webinar being interactive – that is, with all participants actively engaged in doing something rather than listening to someone (while doing their email).

Design Principle 3: Utilize both Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Methods 11. Assume a webinar is 60-90 minutes in length. Determine how many webinars you can comfortably schedule. Everything else needs to be done asynchronously. 12. Divide learning content into distinct learning modules – expect a full day course to convert to two or three webinars with pre- and post work. 13. Brainstorm different ways of building in interactive webinar components (see #15). Prioritize the ideas that you would find most engaging and effective if you were a participant. 14. Be creative – brainstorm different ways of creating connections and interaction between participants, in pairs or threes or as a whole. Define what an effective “learning group” would mean for your program. 15. Explore some of the following interactive webinar activities:

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Moderated panel with Q&A Problem solving exercises with online brainstorming, categorizing, prioritizing Ideation activities prompted by images, graphics, video clips Storytelling and reflection Quick polls and pop quizzes Team building discussions Ice breakers Breakout groups for Virtual World Café or round-robin discussions on one or more topics Case study analysis Appreciative inquiry Cross-table talk Online debate – point/counter-point Team challenges and competitions with voting for the best ideas/solutions

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16. Select which of the following asynchronous pre/post webinar activities would add value to your webinar:

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Pre-reading of materials, including slide presentations Online introductions – sharing of photos, web sites, bios Expectations exchange Self-assessment survey Partnering activities in twos or threes Online brainstorming & prioritizing of ideas for later discussion Pre- and Post surveys or tests Prioritizing session content – student focused learning Action research – practice and reporting back Small group exercises locally or with virtual teams Individual and small group coaching Session feedback survey

Design Principle 4: The importance of pre-work 17. Describe the ideal “prepared participant.” How can you get all participants to this level of readiness? How will you know if they are? 18. Solicit questions ahead of time. This helps prepare participants for a good conversation as well as help you adjust your material to match the interest of this particular group. 19. Determine the importance of trust and social capital (willingness to engage as a group) that is needed to support your learning objectives. How can you create connections head of time to build the right kind of trustworthy environment for your interactive webinar? 20. Pair up participants for a 15 minute phone conversation about the pre-reading to build in accountability and improve the quality of preparation. 21. Get to know the participants yourself and establish your own virtual facilitator personality. Establish the equivalent of your “front of room” presence through the content, tone and individuality of your communications.

Design Principle 5: Include Individual, Small and Large Group Activities 22. Interaction before the webinar sets the expectation for interaction during the webinar. 23. In a workshop, participants often learn as much or more from each other as from the presenter – this applies to webinars also.

 Design your agenda with a distracted participant in mind.  Be sure to design your agenda with: tight content; lively speakers; no more than 10 minutes or three

slides of talking before a fully interactive exercise; and, more than fifty percent of time spent collecting and responding to ideas, questions, perspectives from participants. 24. People are more likely to be typing than listening – give them something to type about. 25. There is little air time when one person talks at a time – use online meeting tools to allow everyone to talk at once and then summarize and reflect on what you have collectively created. © 2009 Facilitate.com

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26. It’s OK to have silence on a webinar. Quiet, individual thinking time gives participants a chance to absorb ideas and apply them to their own scenarios. Time to type ideas into a shared online flip chart gives everyone a “voice” and can be much more engaging than sitting and listening to one person talk at a time.

Design Principle 6: Take the role of moderator and facilitator, rather than presenter/speaker 27. More pull in from the participants, less push out to the audience. 28. Webinars are more interactive if the moderator is in conversation with the whole group rather than him/herself or with a presenter. 29. Five simple rules for presentations

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No more than three slides before an interactive exercise No more than 10 minutes before an interactive exercise - correction, make that 5 minutes Use slide animation to make slides more visually interesting Know your material with your eyes closed – practice to keep your delivery short and to the point Listen to yourself, know what you sound like to others on the call, vary your tone of voice to show that you are excited by, interesting in, wondering about, doubtful of, amused by… the material that you are presenting

30. Five ideas for making presentations interactive

 Hand out your slides ahead of time so participants can be ready to discuss them  Solicit questions ahead of time so that you can know your audience and focus your comments on their

questions  Ask a question on each slide – think of an example of, how does this apply to your work, what would be the impact of… – or start with a quick poll  Be interested in what your participants have to say, make their input a part of the dialogue, prompted by what you are showing on your slide  Integrate the information giving with a brainstorming or prioritizing exercise that will allow all participants to engage with the material and apply the ideas you are discussing 31. Five ways to use webinar speakers and panelists effectively

 Use an interview format with a moderator rather than a presentation format – prepare and share

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your questions with each other ahead of time, practice your interaction so that you are interesting to listen to Set up a point and counter-point between panelists to create an interesting conversation and to challenge participant thinking Use an inquiry circle technique asking each panelist to end their statements with a question – what this leaves me wondering is… Collect comments and questions from the audience during the participation – use a moderator to ask pertinent questions or open the microphone to named individuals Use subject matter experts to get a conversation or idea generation exercise started then open up to all the participants; circle back around to the guest speakers to summarize what you have heard from the group – web collaboration tools are best suited to support this kind of interactivity and idea sharing.

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Design Principle 7: Tailor the interactive experience to the size of your group 32. Mini webinars: 5-10 people

 Take advantage of the small group size to foster a conversational tone and the feeling of sitting

around a table. Assume everyone can have air time.  Provide opportunities for the group to get to know each other and build social capital that can lead to

sharing of personal stories and experiences in a trustworthy environment.  Be prepared to provide both content and process components.  Talk to people ahead of time and get to know something about them and their interest in your topic.

This gives you something to refer to in your session and a way to connect with them on the call. 33. Small webinars: 10-25 people

 Shift introductions to before the webinar using a shared sign-in sheet with photos and background  Pair participants up to connect with someone ahead of time over a pre-work exercise.  Consider whether you could use the assistance of a moderator, subject matter expert or co-facilitator

to help manage both content and process, especially if you are using collaborative meeting tools to provide opportunities for greater interaction and participation.  Use emails as primary means to connect with participants ahead of time - perhaps following up with phone calls to those who are unresponsive. 34. Medium webinars: 25-50 people

 The connection with and between participants is more distant and less personal. You will rely on

group emails to provide information, instructions and logistical details.  Team up with a moderator, subject matter expert or co-facilitator to help manage attention to content and process particularly when using chat tools to gather questions from participants.  As the two-way audio bridge starts to become more difficult to manage, consider setting up separate lines or “audio breakout rooms” to allow for small group work and discussions.  Use collaborative web meeting tools for shared brainstorming, categorizing and voting/prioritizing activities to build interactive components and enable group interaction before, during and after the webinar. 35. Large webinars: 50-150 people

 Assume that the shared learning experience will be more impersonal but may still be interactive and

engaging.  As the audio bridge will be primarily one way, team the moderator with a subject matter expert or

panel to provide verbal commentary and introduce topics and materials.  Use collaborative web meeting tools enable full participation by posing questions and scenarios and

sharing everyone's typed responses. Have the moderator and panelists review and comment on the collective input, providing feedback to deepen the learning.  Make printed output available to all participants to provide the benefit of a shared learning.

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36. Very large webinars 150+

 Webinars of this size tend to be communication devices with a subject matter expert or panel in

conversation or making a presentation. These events may best be held asynchronously, available for view and review at any time. Interaction will be limited but questions and topics may be collected ahead of time or sent in while on-air via email or Twitter.  Use live blog tools to allow listeners to contribute questions and opinions. Use collaborative web meeting tools to collect large group input before, during and after the live event.

Design Principle 8: Select the right technology to facilitate participant interaction and engagement 37. Look for technology to support your learning objectives and interactive design rather than limit your design to the most common web conferencing tools.

 Use web conferencing services for same time webinars that primarily push information out to an

audience.  Use web collaboration tools like FacilitatePro from Facilitate.com for facilitated virtual workshops and

webinars where an important component of the process is to pull ideas and comments in from participants. 38. Use collaboration technology to support both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration – good for pre-work! 39. Be familiar with your tools. If you don’t have time to practice, just use the telephone. 40. Demand that technology be reliable and easy to use. Know that there will be glitches and user error – keep a good sense of humor and have a back-up plan. 41. Be aware that technology that requires downloading something adds complexity, especially if people are signing on at the last minute. Make sure your participants sign in early, and/or complete assigned pre-work

Free Webinar… Contact [email protected] to find out about our free interactive webinars on running high performance virtual meetings. Experience the difference!

Julia Young is Vice President and co-founder of Facilitate.com, a leading provider of web meeting software whose signature product, FacilitatePro, offers collaboration tools for innovative thinking and decision making. Julia has over 20 years of experience as a facilitator and process consultant, the last sixteen of which have been focused on the integration of collaboration technology into group processes for both face-to-face and virtual meetings.

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