Presenting online? Here’s a great way to keep audience attention.
Do you present or teach courses? Do you give listing or buyer presentations? You probably have done most of your presenting or teaching ‘live’–in the classroom or homes/office . Though sometimes it’s hard to keep your attendees’ attention in the ‘live’ setting, it’s much harder when you’re online.
Going from ‘Live’ to Online
In a few days (June 11), I’m doing a webinar on how to take your classroom online. In the pre-webinar survey, I asked attendees their biggest concerns. About 70% of the concerns were
how to hold the audience’s attention online.
No wonder. Because we’ve relied on instructor-focused training, we attempt to merely turn on the camera and talk as though our audience were with us in the classroom. We’ve found out that doesn’t work to keep an audience’s attention online. Instead, in these blogs, I’ll offer specific ways to meet that challenge.
One Great Method to Re-Focus Your Audience’s Attention
Think back through a ‘live’ course or presentation you gave recently. Remember a question you asked to launch a discussion? How could you get your audience’s attention and interest online with that question? Use the question as a poll.
How to Insert a Poll
Polls are a great way to gather information about your audience and use that information as a ‘bridge’ from one section of your course to another. It’s also a good way to capture an audience’s attention toward the beginning of the online session. (See my webinar for tips on constructing the opening of that webinar, too). You can even have some fun with it, if you’re presenting to 2 or more people (like a listing presentation). Ask each person to answer the poll question independently and then compare answers. You’ll get some stunning results!
Where to place your poll:
At the beginning. You can start your course with a poll that will let you and your audience know important facts or opinions about your subject.
As a bridge between sections of your course. Think of a section of your course where you could gather information. For example, when I’m doing the webinar I’ve mentioned here, I ask attendees the amount of time they can concentrate online. Then, I use those poll results to start the section on ‘how to hold attendees’ attention online’.
Important: Be sure to relate the poll results to the topic you’re exploring.
How Many Polls?
In a 45-minute webinar, you’ll want to use 3-5 polls. You’ll also want to use other attendee-involving strategies like
- Questions
- Chat
- Games
- Small groups
- Activity plan
Translating your Classroom or Presentation to Online Success Takes Some Work
By answering my questions above concerning your course, you can prepare that course for online ‘translation’. You’ll gain audience participation, audience accountability, and great feedback on your presentation.
Free Webinar June 11
If you’re facing challenges of translating your ‘live’ classroom to online, join us for Masterclass: How to Go from Classroom to Online.
When: June 11 (Thursday) Time: 10-11 am PDT
Click here to register.
You’ll learn how to create a great course structure, how to hold your audience’s attention, how to add variety to your course, and tips to present your classroom course for a successful online event.
This webinar is created especially for those trainers presenting to real estate professionals–and valuable for anyone who wants to ‘translate’ their classroom course to a professional online experience. I’ve added a worksheet for you so you can instantly ‘translate’ the webinar information to your own online course.
As a three-decade trainer of real estate trainers, I’ve learned the special presentation methods needed to keep and hold real estate professionals’ attention. I’ll show you how to include these in your online course structure.
Bonus for attending: A 2-page detailed checklist to use to take your classroom course online with verve.)
Click here to register. (By the way, when you register, you’ll get a survey to let me know what you want me to address, so the webinar will be most valuable to you.)
