When the covid pandemic first struck, everything moved online overnight.
Meetings that would have been carried out in person were suddenly taking place on Zoom.
Schools, gatherings with friends, shopping and gym classes quickly followed and became part of the new ‘virtual normal’.
And, so did our training. We went from delivering around 10 per cent of our training remotely to delivering all of our bespoke face-to-face media training, crisis communication and presentation skills courses through Zoom and Teams.
But we also developed a range of purely online courses that our clients and their delegates could access whenever and wherever they wanted.
This included presentations and personal impact skills, essential crisis media management, how to film and edit video on your mobile phone, how to write content that generates leads and media training refreshers and theory courses that can be taken ahead of our videoconferencing sessions.
A year on, and as the country begins to contemplate emerging from the latest lockdown, we believe these training options are here to stay.
Of course, training in our TV and radio studios will return, but the convenience of online courses and training delivered through videoconferencing means they are both going to remain crucial and popular options.
So, how can your delegates make the most of them?
Don’t multi-task
There is always a temptation with online courses to quickly check your social media or to take a look at the email that has just popped into your inbox.
But if you are multi-tasking, you are not fully focusing on the information being taught.
So, step away from distractions. Turn off the notification on your phone and computer. Let the people you work with, and anyone in your home, know you will be unavailable for a while and get into your training. Put your out of office on your emails.
Don’t binge
All our online only courses take around an hour to complete. But that should not be viewed as a target – you don’t need to do it all in one go.
This is always a temptation with online learning and it is something I have succumbed to in the past. You see how long the course will take and think you can push through it.
But that approach does not necessarily mean you learn what is being taught or put into practise the theories learnt.
Consider doing a section and then taking some time to think about what you have learnt and how you could use that information to do things differently.
Make notes
With our online courses, once a delegate has got a licence, they can revisit the training as many times as they like.
But rather than going over the training repeatedly, making notes is a great way of ensuring you absorb the learning.
This encourages you to engage with the material and put it into your own words.
If you want to go further, set yourself a challenge of writing a paragraph after each section on what you have just learnt and how you might use it.
Embrace the flexibility
The great advantage of an online course is that it is available when you are.
So, take the training at a time that works best for you. You don’t need to do it at the end of the working day when energy levels might be low or when the children have got back from schools and are causing chaos.
If your mind works best first thing in the morning, start the training then.
If you are more of a night owl and like working late at night when everyone else has gone to bed, that could be the best option for you. And, if you are back in the office, you might want to do it while you are on your commute.
Don’t leave it to the last minute
Let’s say you’ve decided to take our online presentations and personal impact skills course because you have got a key presentation coming up.
Don’t leave it until the night before to complete the training. You’ll rush through it and won’t take much in.
Give yourself time to absorb the learning, think about how you can use it and the changes you want to make.
Space
Whether you are doing an online course or taking part in training through videoconference software, give your learning space some thought.
Ideally, you should choose somewhere away from other distractions that is tidy and comfortable and that has a good wi-fi connection.
There may be a temptation with online courses to take the training from the comfort of your bed. But the chances are that is unlikely to put you in the best frame of mind to learn.
Ask questions
The bespoke training we deliver through Zoom and Teams is practical and interactive.
But, for some, it can still feel a little more awkward asking questions in this environment than when learning takes place in a classroom.
It is crucial delegates overcome this unease and contribute to the learning by taking an active part in discussions and asking questions when they are unsure or need clarification.
Treat it like you are in the classroom
Your home or office may not look like our classrooms and TV and radio studios.
But you should try and treat your online courses and training on Zoom and Teams like you would if you were with us.
Remind yourself of why you are doing the training and what you want to achieve from it.
Find out more about our online training courses by clicking here. And you can find out about our training by videoconferencing options here. If you have any questions about online training that we have not covered here, get in touch through hello@mediafirst.co.uk and we will help you.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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