By Rai Chowdhary

In this blog I am sharing what we have found over the last several months as an abrupt transition took place – going from live in person meetings, training / coaching sessions to holding these online. These lessons are a compilation of my first hand experience, and many others who have willingly shared theirs as well.

Be mindful of the technology and its limitations

1 – Many parts of the world are still operating with 3G networks. This means the pace of screen transitions for the audience will lag yours. Therefore – adjust your pace lower as needed. Preferably run a test with a smaller audience beforehand to get a handle on how fast you should move from one page to another

2 – While graphics are great, they can also make a page slow to load; this can easily result in you speaking about a topic that the audience is not even seeing on their screens yet. Manage your page size so it loads quickly (watch the MB of your page / graphic). Find a way to announce unobtrusively what page you are on; this will alert and align the audience

3 – You might not know what device is being used by the audience; many will be using a smart phone. The visual display real estate in that case is limited. If your font sizes are small, they will constantly have to enlarge the view – this becomes a distraction and robs the message / learning

Audience Management

4 – Often you will not be able to see the audience; as such you have no idea of their level of engagement. Asking them to speak up, and participate in various ways is one approach, however, the extreme introverted types may not be comfortable with this. You can use private chat, or ask for responses via text. This could become challenging when groups are large. Regardless – effectiveness of communication will not be the same as being present live face to face.

5 – Specify who needs to speak and when; else – multiple folks will speak up at once.

6 – Periodically announce where you are in the presentation / training; for example you may indicate that we are half way through, and the upcoming points are “….”, and “….”, followed by a 5 minute break

7 – When you have a co-presenter – let the audience know who will be covering that topics and the sequence. This will prepare them ahead of time to expect transitions to different person and voices

8 – Turn off the camera if you want the audience’s full attention on the material being presented. A window showing you speaking could use up precious real estate on the screen, without adding much value. Once they have seen you in the introduction, they get an idea of who you are.

9 – Divide the audience into teams and engage them with suitable assignments if this is amenable to the topic, then let them present their work. This will add variety and spice to the session.

10 – Periodically summarize what was covered, and its relevance. Link it to upcoming material the audience will see.

Continuously Improve

11 – Periodically check with the audience (one check should be early on – within the first ~10 minutes) how is the presentation / training working out. What are key points they are picking up? Let them speak up, or respond by text / chat. This is vital feedback you can use to ensure they have a good experience

12 – Last – but actually one of the first things you must do: In the beginning itself – let them know what to expect. If you have the time / flexibility of accommodating their specific requests, let them know about that as well so they can respond with questions. Invariably – this personal touch is a UX booster!

I am sure you my reader has something you can share as well – please do so. You can leave your inputs in the comment box, or write me at: rai_chowdhary@yahoo.com

Thanks for your time – and please share the link to this blog with others – let’s make living with COVID-19 a better experience for all.