Traditional training videos don’t have the best reputation. They have a tendency to be monotonous and don’t really provide any great value. If you’ve ever worked in an office and sat through a health and safety video, you’ll understand what I mean!
Fortunately, in a live setting, you have much more opportunity to grab your audience’s attention and keep it focused on the content. Sadly, people are still easily distracted.
The key is to design live video training that ensures the audience remains engaged throughout. And, there are lots of ways you can make this happen.
The challenges of live video training
It’s widely agreed that you have less than 10 seconds to capture a person’s attention online. Even if you manage that, holding the person’s attention for the duration of the session is harder.
The thing is, it’s often impossible to know if a person is paying attention or not.
With the barrier of a screen in the way, a person could be looking at their phone, and you’d never know. Even if the individual is gazing right at you, their mind could be elsewhere, thinking about an upcoming meeting or what they need to get from the supermarket later.
Once you lose that focus, it’s very difficult to get it back. Your audience quickly falls behind and loses interest in what’s going on.
The result is a group of bored individuals who can’t wait for the session to end.
Key tips to keep the audience focused
Here are eight tips that I’ve always found to work great:
1. Break it up with multimedia content…
You already know the value of incorporating multimedia into training, but it’s especially key for live video sessions.
Switching things up gives the audience something fresh to look at, and well-chosen media will emphasize points and make complex concepts easier to understand.
Choose your media types wisely, though. And don’t go overboard with it. The aim here is to support learning, not to distract your audience.
Here’s what each media type is best for:
- Videos: Great for demonstrating real-world examples or scenarios.
- Infographics: Used to simplify data or other detailed information.
- Animations: Works well for demonstrating step-by-step processes or abstract concepts.
- Slide decks: Best for structured content and reinforcing key points.
- Audio clips: Effective for sharing expert opinions and real-life testimonials.
2. …But avoid death by PowerPoint
The term “death by PowerPoint” exists for a reason. We’ve all seen it before – text-heavy slides that echo what the facilitator is saying.
Instead of enhancing the training, it turns it into one big snoozefest.
Really, the slides should contain minimal text or, better still, no text at all. Their job is to add value to the session, not serve as a script for the facilitator to read from.
If you must create slides, follow these best practices:
- Focus on a single key message per slide.
- Use high-quality images and graphics that are relevant to what is being said.
- Avoid overuse of animations, wacky fonts, bad clipart, and anything else that might serve as a distraction.
- Above all, brutally assess every slide and ask if it really supports the lesson. If it doesn’t, ditch it.
3. Use live demonstrations
Live demonstrations are highly effective because they provide a tangible, real-time application of the concepts being taught.
For instance, you wouldn’t watch a video of someone explaining the steps required to bake a cake, you would seek out a tutorial demonstrating how to do it.
In a live environment, practical examples allow learners to ask questions about techniques, see mistakes corrected in real time, and better understand the methods of execution.
For instance, live demonstrations are particularly beneficial for:
- Step-by-step processes
- Software tutorials
- Hands-on skills
- Physical techniques
- Role-playing scenarios
It’s also worth noting that a demonstration doesn’t have to be elaborate. It can be as simple as someone using an interactive whiteboard to draw diagrams or walk learners through a process.
4. Make the content relatable
Nothing will make your audience switch off faster if they can’t relate the content to their own world challenges and circumstances. Participants need to see how the information applies to their specific roles and how they can use it to help them.
Instead of blank looks, you want the audience to be nodding enthusiastically and saying “yes, yes – that exact thing happens to me!” Or “Oh my goodness, I experience that issue all the time!”
Make the content resonate and it will naturally engage.
5. Incorporate storytelling
Another way to make your content relatable is to weave a story throughout it.
Using personal or real-life anecdotes is particularly powerful because they come from a genuine, authentic place.
There’s a reason we listen so intently to gossip. It’s interesting and filled with emotional responses. And, by nature, people are curious. They invest in the story and want to know what the outcome is.
Use this to your advantage. The storytelling narrative will make your content more memorable, helping learners relate to the material and retain the key points.
6. Involve the audience
If you don’t get the audience involved in the session, the video training will remain a passive experience that is easily forgotten.
Understandably, it’s harder to incorporate audience participation during video training, but technology is on your side and there are several ways to manage it.
Enable the chat function
Don’t switch off the chat function! It serves as a handy way for the audience to raise points or ask questions without disrupting the flow of the session.
Similarly, you can quiz participants and invite them to drop their answers in the chat box.
At the end of each segment, you can address particular points or questions, which becomes a nice way to round things off.
Ask for their input
Encouraging participation is the best way to open up healthy debates and raise new topics for discussion. So, if the group is small, ask for your audience’s thoughts and ideas throughout the session.
However, take care to keep the conversation on track, as it can easily stray into irrelevant subjects and eat up your time.
Also, this generally doesn’t work for larger groups because it’s too difficult to manage the conversations and people end up talking over each other. In this case, consider using the chat function or use breakout sessions instead.
Set mini-tasks and challenges
Incorporating small tasks or challenges throughout the training keeps people on their toes and provides a break from staring at the screen. Learners also get time to absorb and apply what they have learned.
For example, setting a short assessment or providing problem-solving exercises encourages critical thinking and ensures learners are actively participating rather than passively observing.
Use breakout sessions
Most modern video-conferencing software allows you to split the group into separate breakout sessions. Use this to your advantage to get people talking and bounce ideas around.
For example, you could set an assignment where the groups look at a scenario and how to approach it. Get them to discuss what they would do and what the potential outcomes might be.
Then, reconvene and get each group to talk about their findings. This usually generates a buzz around the topic, which makes individuals eager to continue.
7. Regularly check for understanding
This is so important because people can easily get lost during video training. All it takes is a couple of individuals to lose focus, and they will quickly fall behind.
Incorporate checkpoints during the training – typically after each segment – to make sure your audience is all on the same page.
You can do this by holding a quiz, conducting quick polls, or prompting participants to summarize key points, ensuring that everyone grasps the material before moving on to the next section.
8. Set aside time for Q&As
Add in plenty of time to answer the audience’s questions, since it’s likely there will be many.
As mentioned earlier, the chat function is a great way to receive questions because you can scan them and look for common queries that can be answered in one go.
Ignoring questions will make the audience feel like they are not being heard or that their concerns aren’t important – a sure-fire way to lose their attention.
Extra tips for designing engaging live video training
- Choose your equipment wisely. The video and sound quality must be excellent. Your audience will quickly lose interest if they can’t see or hear what’s going on properly.
- Ensure the background of the video isn’t distracting. Keep it neutral or use the background blur feature if available.
- Set clear expectations upfront. Outline the objectives of the session and communicate the schedule and any rules the participants must follow (like keeping their mic on mute). This way, your audience knows what to expect and what is expected of them.
- The facilitator should maintain eye contact with the camera and act as if they are talking to the audience face to face. This creates a personal experience, making participants feel directly addressed and connected.
- Lastly, be mindful of pacing. Break up the session with short breaks to prevent fatigue and help participants reset their focus.
Final thoughts
As more and more training moves into a virtual environment, instructional design must adapt to address the challenges that come with it.
But by keeping content engaging and interactive, we can help learners stay focused – and maybe even resist the lure of those mid-session distractions. Well, most of the time, at least!
By Janette Bonnet
Janette Bonnet is an experienced L&D professional who is passionate about exploring instructional design techniques, trends, and innovations.