When delivering face-to-face training courses with just a few delegates, it’s easy … What’s your name? What’s your experience of (insert name of software app here)? What do you want to get out of today?
However, a common scenario for me these days is delivering a training course via WebEx and having with 30+ delegates from all corners of the globe. What then? It’s not feasible to ask 30 people to introduce themselves. For a start, by the time you’ve done that, you’ve probably used up 30 minutes (and some of my courses are only 60-90 minutes long).
WebEx and other web-based conferencing tools such as Adobe Connect and Citrix GotoMeeting have a “chat panel”. Ask the delegates to introduce themselves by typing into here. Where are they from? What department are they in (more relevant for an in-house or single company course)? What are their aims for the course?
Another technique that I’ve seen successfully applied is to put up a slide containing a map of the world and ask the delegates to use the annotation tools to mark their location.
Whatever methods you use, it’s a great way to get some interaction, break the ice and set the scene for the training.