Can I have your (virtual) attention please?
I was recently involved in a Slack channel discussion lamenting the difficulties of sales reps not being engaged during virtual trainings (cameras are turned off, multi-tasking, non-verbal and not participating, yada yada).
As a public speaker, trainer, or a sales rep doing a demo, if you can’t keep your online attendees engaged, take a look in the mirror. The problem is likely you, not them. I like the saying, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” So here are a few great suggestions some of my colleagues and I use to keep virtual attendees awake and alive during virtual meetings (thank you Coker Prosser, Jonathan Kvarfordt, Aniket Patel and Ritika Jain):
Facilitate for 10 minutes, then send everyone to a breakout room for a specified time with an exercise and simple instructions. Bring everyone back for a group discussion around their learnings.
Record a micro training or module and send it to the team before the live training. This way they consume the knowledge beforehand and you can use the live training for hands-on practicing and role playing.
Do a kahoot.com activity at the end where everyone competes to test their knowledge. This is great for sales pitch training. Reps are very competitive. No one likes to lose or come in last.
Incorporate live polling and Q&A during your session. All the major virtual meeting platforms have these capabilities.
Start your meeting with some trivia, like “This Day in History” (www. history.com/this-day-in-history). I always start my weekly sales rep meeting this way and craft a joke around the historical event I pick. It’s a definite staple of our meeting and everyone looks forward to it.
What other cool and effective ways have you used to keep your virtual attendees engaged and energized? Comment below. ⬇️