← Blog

Webinar Recap: Think You’ve Nailed Online Delivery? Think Again

Recently updated on January 24th, 2025

In the first of a three-part webinar series, ‘Is your training really meeting the needs of your learners?’, the first webinar, titled ‘Think you’ve nailed online delivery? Think again’, international training expert Tammy Banks and Transform Your Training Facilitators Becky Dawson and Noel Moran laid out fresh strategies that training providers and facilitators can use to make their online training as impactful as possible.

In this recap blog, we’ve compiled a selection of the top tips shared by Tammy, Becky, and Noel.

Keep reading to discover them or watch the full webinar below. 👇

Virtual Training Tips for Trainers

1. Start with Inclusive Introductions and Encourage Interaction Early on

When you start a session, you want to make sure that all of your participants have the opportunity to share who they are, and their expertise.

For example, at the beginning of the webinar Tammy, you’ll notice how Tammy asked the attendees to share what type of training they deliver, where they are located and if they wished to, to share their LinkedIn profiles in the chat.

Exercises like this help participants get to know one another, which is particularly useful if they will be working together later in the session. They also help Tammy tailor examples and scenarios to the information the participants share.

2. Define Clear Objectives at the Outset

You’ll notice that in the first few minutes of the webinar, Tammy clearly outlines the title of the webinar, introduces the other training professionals who are sharing their expertise, and explains what will be covered during the session.

A facilitator or instructor should do the same for every virtual training session. They should take the time to clearly communicate what will be covered, the learning objectives, and any other expectations participants need to know.

For example, they should outline how the session will be structured, what activities participants will engage in, what they can expect to learn, and any resources that will be shared.

3. Make Camera Use Optional

During the webinar, Tammy ran a poll asking participants, “Should participants have their cameras on or off during training?”

Eighty-three percent of respondents answered that participants should have their cameras on. However, Tammy advises that the decision to have cameras on or off should ultimately be left to the individual.

The reasons for this are as follows:

  • Not everyone is comfortable being on camera due to personal, technical, or environmental reasons.
  • The primary goal of training is to achieve specific learning outcomes, not to enforce camera usage. The focus should be on participants feeling equipped, inspired, and capable of applying what they’ve learned—not whether their cameras were on.
  • Instructors can gauge engagement through other means, such as active participation in chats, polls, or verbal contributions.

Tammy’s approach of making camera use optional has resulted in her company, Transform Your Training, receiving glowing feedback from participants, best summed up by the following quote:

Quote explaining how having a camera off helped a learner with their online learning, and created more comfortable virtual environment for them.

4. Use Interactive Elements Regularly

None of the training sessions that Tammy or her company run go longer than 20 minutes without an interactive activity taking place. Examples of the interactive techniques Tammy uses are:

  • Sharing an interactive whiteboard with participants where they can share their thoughts on a topic, or complete an activity
  • Splitting participants into small break-out rooms where participants can work together, or simply to just get to know one another.
  • Using scenario-based activities such as case studies that participants can answer questions on or discuss in pairs or small groups.
Quote on how interactive elements can help make virtual learning and virtual instructor led training as immersive and engaging as in person training

5. Create a Safe Learning Environment

If you’re delivering training on sensitive topics, then creating a safe learning environment is key to helping participants as comfortable as possible.

This can be done in a virtual setting by creating a breakout room that participants can enter should they need to, as Tammy explains:

6. Use Different Techniques to Gauge Engagement

Testing participant engagement in online training sessions can go beyond visual cues, especially when cameras are optional.

There are several techniques that Tammy suggests using to gauge participants engagements levels:

  • Incorporate frequent polls or quizzes, including non-anonymous ones, to gauge understanding and ensure participants are actively following along. These can also serve as informal knowledge checks throughout the session.
  • Send private messages to participants who appear less engaged, either to check on them or remind them of the session’s engagement expectations.
  • Facilitate small group discussions where participants are encouraged to interact with one another. This provides an opportunity to observe engagement at a more personal level.
  • Maintain an engagement checklist to track participants’ involvement, such as their contributions in chat, polls, or breakout rooms, and use it to assess understanding throughout the session.

7. Give Participants Regular Breaks & Encourage Physical Activity to Combat Zoom Fatigue

Tammy and her team make sure that participants get a break at least every 90 minutes during an online training session.

Alongside scheduled breaks, they incorporate activities designed to keep participants moving and engaged, such as standing up to answer questions, finding objects in their environment that relate to the topic, or using emoji reactions to interact.

8. Weave Accelerated Learning Principles into Your Training

Another effective way to make every training session engaging and ensure it meets different learning styles is to implement accelerated learning principles.

Accelerated learning involves incorporating practices that engage all of a participant’s senses—sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste—to improve information retention.

Follow Tammy’s tips to start getting accelerated learning into your virtual training sessions 👇.

Quote on how accelerated learning can help with the delivery of effective virtual training programs.

9. Use a Virtual Training Platform for Effective Delivery

The last thing facilitators or instructors should need to worry about is the systems or processes required to manage all the behind-the-scenes tasks involved in running a virtual training program, and that’s where Arlo comes in.

Arlo is a training management system that streamlines and automates virtual training processes, such as registration, scheduling, sharing training materials, attendee management, and more, so training providers have the time they need to focus on delivering great training.

That’s exactly what Arlo has helped Tammy and Transform Your Training achieve.

The Challenge

Before adopting Arlo, Tammy’s team manually handled all their training management tasks—attendance sheets, evaluation forms, certificates, invoices, and communication with learners, facilitators, and organizations. The workload was overwhelming, and when Covid-19 forced them to transition from face-to-face to live online training, the additional manual administration became unmanageable.

Tasks like setting up courses in Zoom, sending joining information, contacting delegates and facilitators, and sending reminders consumed valuable time, leaving Tammy unable to focus on growing and developing the business.

The Solution

Tammy sought help from a business consultant, who recommended adopting Arlo. With Arlo’s comprehensive training management system, Tammy quickly noticed significant improvements:

“Arlo has helped us to grow as a business and allows us to focus on creating high-quality training. We can’t imagine being without it.”

The Results

Arlo drastically reduced Tammy’s manual workload. Tasks that previously took hours, such as setting up courses, sharing Zoom links, sending reminders, certificates, and follow-up information, can now be completed in minutes.

Integrations with tools like Zoom and SurveyMonkey further streamlined the process. Using Arlo’s scheduling tools, Tammy’s team can easily create live online courses or blended sessions. Once scheduled, these are automatically created in Zoom without requiring manual input.

Course registrants automatically receive join instructions, calendar appointments, reminders, follow-up emails, and surveys. Upon course completion, attendance is automatically recorded in the Arlo CRM, reducing administration and providing a seamless experience for learners.

With less time spent on administration and a smoother experience for learners, Tammy’s team can focus on what they do best: delivering essential, high-quality training.

Quote explaining how a virtual training and virtual classroom platform like Arlo has helps transform training businesses.

Free Training Materials and Resources to Check Out

These tips are just a few of the many that Tammy and her team shared during the insightful webinar, so if you want to learn more, do make sure you watch the entire session.

Alongside all of the tips, Tammy also shared three free resources with attendees, which are linked below for you to access:

Assessing Delegates’ Understanding and Examples
A resource offering a variety of methods and examples to assess participants’ knowledge, understanding, and retention during training sessions, ensuring effective learning outcomes.

10 Tips to Stay Alert and Awake During Training
A practical guide filled with actionable tips to help trainers and attendees stay engaged, focused, and energized throughout any training session.

Example Joining Instructions
A ready-made template for joining instructions that can be adapted and used to provide clear, concise, and professional communication to delegates attending live online training sessions.

×