Online coaching is the next multi-million dollar business in the market. It utilizes the use of the internet to hand on the skills and knowledge to online learners. The pandemic has shifted us to adapt to this new style of learning.
The virtual setup of learning has made everyone opt to become a visual learner and an online coach. We had to develop effective ways to communicate and interact with one another. The conventional ways to teach are no longer feasible.
Here are the five best practices visual learners online want you to do as a coach:
It is obvious to say that we are situated in learning at the comfort of our homes in this pandemic. We can get too confident and too comfortable when we are inside our houses. We are exposed to unwanted sounds like a dog barking, babies crying, or even half-naked family members roaming inside our house can be seen and heard during a virtual meeting.
Make sure that you have established an example for a conducive learning environment. Inform all the members of your household about the virtual meeting you are in to prevent any offensive or unattractive circumstances that may arise during the presentation. Establish this rule also with your audience in their homes to prevent distractions to you and others.
A good rule when it comes to a discussion is to establish only one speaker at a time. Never let an argument arise with all loud and overlapping voices talking in the presentation. Suggest to your audience to mute their microphones. If they wish to speak, encourage them to virtually raise their hand (if the software you are using has this function) and practice giving others a chance to speak first.
A wide variety of virtual communication software and apps are booming. Each of them has different unique functions from which a user can choose. It may be complicated to use them first, so you have to learn the primary functions before using them. The more knowledgeable you are about the platform, the easier you can navigate from essential functions to the tool's more advanced features.
Learning the advanced features can also help you enhance the quality of the presentation and virtual experience, stimulating your audience's interest.
After learning the process of using the platform you are utilizing, make sure that you teach your audience how to use them. We may expect that younger audiences are natural-born experts when it comes to using digital technologies and software, but it is not always the case. Establish a time where you can orient them to the virtual tool you are using so that the audience can feel settled and ready to learn.
You have to know that there are different attention spans to a specific audience. Attention span is the time a person has their full attention or concentration. The time will differ mainly with the age and cultural backgrounds of the audience.
A younger audience will give you a shorter attention span compared to a more mature audience. Young audiences have tendencies to be distracted by their surroundings easily. Distractions become evident in the comfort of their homes.
Always make sure that you know the demographics of the audience. Identify which languages are mainly being spoken for people who are from a foreign country. Do not want to use scholarly English words to an audience that is not a primary English language speaker. Use relevant and straightforward words so that they are engaged with you as the discussion progresses. The tendency for them is to lose interest and attention when they feel they are left out and having a hard time following the subject matter.
Make sure that your lesson plan is diversified. Do not let your audience focus on the slides or visual aids the entire time. It would be best if you planned so that the presentation will also have ample time for them to focus on different presentation elements. Let them focus on you, your hand gestures, your facial expression, interactions with fellow participants, and lastly, on the visual aids/ slides.
Visual learners are primarily being stimulated to get engaged with their sense of sight. The more movement and elements they see, the more hooked they will be in the discussion.
Always make sure to add flowcharts and diagrams incorporated in your presentation. Audiences can use the images to easily understand and follow the flow of the discussions. The best visual aid tool can exponentially help the effectiveness and quality of your discussion.
Summarize each segment of your topic with a visual representation that can help your audience to remember.
Although the primary process of the discussion is lecturing, since you have the expertise of the topic, inserting dynamic activities for your audience can help. Specific virtual meeting software will let you post a task or a question where the audience can be grouped and discussed with each other. Activities like this will help foster an ambiance of trust within the group as they exchange their ideas virtually.
Never leave the question-and-answer segment of your presentation. The mere fact that an audience raises questions and inquiries is a significant indicator that your presentation is interesting. When your audiences are sparked to get curious about deepening their knowledge of your topic, you should be able to prepare for an answer. You should take note of their question with sufficient knowledge to answer them at a different time if you have difficulty answering it.
Conclusion
In summary, We have to focus on making everything presentable in the eyes of our learners. Following these steps will make the course run smoothly. A course running smoothly means happy customers. Innovate the basic steps and become the brilliant online coach you are destined to be.