Ten Tips for Creating Engaging Remote Training

Audio Transcript Auto-generated

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  Hello. Hello.

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  Welcome to 10 tips on creating engaging remote training.

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  I am Dr Kerry Ullrich.

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  I'm the CEO of Abrashi Group, and I'm the co

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  author of The Way of HR Warrior.

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  I have been doing HR and training for over 20

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  years. So much training from kids in high schools, which

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  that's tough.

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  Thio junior high schools tougher two adults, tougher sales, super

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  tough have been doing training for a long time in

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  person, and my business partner and I were starting to

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  do some remote training based on our on the book

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  and even before covitz.

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  So we've been really working with this medium and trying

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  to figure out some of the best tips to do

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  in the best ways to do remote learning.

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  So I'm excited to share them with you.

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  We'll do it in all crisp less than 15 minutes.

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  So let's get to it.

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  Number one.

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  Think of it as in person, and when I say

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  this, I mean, when you used to design training, perhaps

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  in person, or maybe you've never designed it in person,

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  but typically you had a lot of structure to it.

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  You had learning objectives you might have had an evaluation.

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  You had multiple activities to get people moving to get

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  them engaged.

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  Think of that for your remote training as well.

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  So it's easy to get a bit lazy.

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  I know I have.

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  You're like, Well, it's just 16 minutes.

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  It's online and just just tell them kind of, you

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  know, just just give them information.

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  It's more of an information push than being engaging, and

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  you need to be engaged.

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  Treat it like the in person, pretend they're all there.

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  What would you dio then figure out how the tools

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  can help you do it.

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  So from that from that, use all the tools.

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  It's a critically important to know all the tools that

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  the platform you use have like a zoom or go

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  to meeting and make sure you use them.

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  The white board, the sharing of screen, um, the chat

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  features the raising, the hand, the sending, a motive.

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  Emojis, do all of this make sure people are putting

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  in their full names if they can, so we can

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  network and we'll get to that in a few minutes.

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  But use all the tools because then once you design

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  it and you know all the tools.

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  You can actually have more engagement so many times I'm

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  on a zoom meeting.

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  That's the platform we use.

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  And I hear constantly.

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  Oh, I didn't know they had that.

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  Oh, they have that.

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  Oh, they didn't know that.

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  And this is months into co vid now, and we

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  still are learning about some cool new tools.

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  And one of my favorite tools is the breakout rooms.

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  This does give you 100% the field that you're in

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  a real training that in person training kind of this

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  riel in person training.

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  I can put five people in this breakout room.

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  I can put five over here.

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  They can have a small group discussion and then come

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  back to a larger group that is so key in

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  creating engagement and creating those connections critically important.

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  So use those breakout rooms, create your training so you

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  have the opportunity to a breakout rooms.

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  Think about it so it's just not an information push

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  for 60 or 90 minutes.

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  Network Network network.

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  One of the great things about training, and a lot

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  of times when you hear people talk about training, they

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  might not even remember that much about the training, but

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  they remember who they met.

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  It's very easy on remote to kind of skip over

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  that, because everyone is very busy.

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  And you're like, Well, we only have 90 minutes.

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  We have no time to network.

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  Try it even for five or seven minutes.

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  Ask people to talk about why they're excited to be

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  here. Where are they from?

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  If you have a small group of people, maybe everyone

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  could actually say it and they could speak in the

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  count to the camera.

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  Maybe if they're too shy, they could type it in

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  the chat.

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  Maybe if you don't have 100 people on your training,

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  you could at least do it for five minutes and

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  say, Hey, here, put in the chat and you can

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  have lots people put in their information the chat.

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  You want that networking ability because you want them to

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  make those connections.

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  It'll be engaging for them tangible documents.

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  What is this?

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  I don't need more documents.

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  Yeah, you dio in a remote training when when you

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  had a nen person training, you often had a participant

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  guide and it would guide them along.

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  Now, not everything.

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  That a 60 minute call not a 90 minute call,

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  maybe needs a participant guide, but what can you give

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  them that either?

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  If they're looking through on their computer, they're not going

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  to print it out.

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  But as they're looking through on their computer, they could

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  maybe fill out.

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  This is the people I want to meet here.

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  The learning objectives.

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  Here's where I go for more information.

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  Maybe there's an article you can send them anything to

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  keep them continually engaged.

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  Give them something because otherwise that that's what they dio

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  go to the next meeting.

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  They'll forget by five oclock that they even talk to

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  you. But if there's a document, there's something that you

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  give them.

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  Ah ha!

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  That could be very interesting and they could remember it

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  Now close with action actions or next steps.

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  Be sure again.

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  Part of that engagement is continual engagement.

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  What are they going to do next?

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  What are they gonna do with this?

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  You want them to do something with the training, so

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  remind them here's the actions to take Take.

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  If anything, take these top two.

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  Be sure to sign up for this X, y or

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  Z. Be sure to go to this link.

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  Be sure to network with these three people.

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  Anything to get them again Engaged in action.

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  It's very hard to sit there and just stare at

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  the screen and listen, and you can kind of zone

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  out. But if I'm telling you actions, if I'm triggering

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  that ad this year development plan, do these things that

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  helps it become more engaging.

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  Okay, I know it's hard looking into the camera that

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  freaked you out.

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  Maybe it's really difficulty, because here's the problem.

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  You wanna look at the screen, you either get distracted

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  by your own face, which we all dio or I'm

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  looking down and I'm looking at everyone has their talking.

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  And so while you're doing that, you're pulling focus away

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  from looking at someone directly in the face.

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  It is very difficult.

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  Think about when you're in person.

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  You could walk around.

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  You could kind of engage people.

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  I could maybe touch your shoulder.

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  I could say, Hey, how are you?

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  I could get really close.

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  I can't do that.

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  So all I have is this little screen, and I've

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  seen so many meetings where people are reading their script.

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  You've gotta walk away from the script you can have.

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  Some of it may be scripted out, maybe some notes,

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  but you've gotta hold focuses much as you can with

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  the camera.

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  I know it's incredibly difficult.

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  I have a hard time doing it when I talk.

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  I don't necessarily.

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  Most people just don't stare at one spot, right?

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  You look around, you use your hands.

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  That's okay.

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  But I'm still trying to kind of hold focus as

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  much as I can with that camera.

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  It is weird.

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  I get it.

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  Do it, though, because if I did this presentation like

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  this, looking down at my notes the entire time and

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  just reading so these air the 10 ways you could

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  create an engaging power, it's not gonna be very good.

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  You guys are not gonna be happy with that.

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  And you probably won't even listen.

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  You say What's wrong with her?

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  Just like we have hall monitors in school.

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  Have a chat monitor, find someone who will look at

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  the chat function, use your chat function.

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  It's really hard to present.

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  And then also look over and say, What's going on

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  in the chat?

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  Okay. All right.

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  I don't know.

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  That's what you need to dio you really need to

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  have someone who's gonna use the chat for you.

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  Monitor that chat.

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  It's really important.

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  It's a great way to get engagement as well, stated

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  people. Hey, can, Why don't you put your ideas in

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  the chat and we can talk about it having someone

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  monitor that And then when you ask, Hey, Kelly, can

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  you tell me about what's going on in the chat?

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  Then Kelly can tell you, Hey, here's the five themes

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  that are popping up in the chat.

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  Can you please address those another way to get people

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  engaged? The great thing about remote learning is that lots

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  of people are now giving their opinions, whereas before you

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  are with maybe 100 or 200 people, no one asked

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  a question in front of everyone.

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  That's a little too scary.

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  I get it.

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  I probably didn't do it that much either.

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  But in chat, I might ask that question.

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  What's a presentation if you can't put a dog picture

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  in it?

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  Hmm. So cute.

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  Okay, Exhaustion.

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  It's really it's not a joke.

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  People are more tired staring at a screen all day

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  than they are up and about.

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  So think about some of the trainings you might have

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  done in person.

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  Oh, my goodness.

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  You went for eight hours and you had some breaks,

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  but people like they got to move and get up.

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  They got to walk across the room because their back

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  hurts. They could get up.

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  It is so difficult now to get up to move

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  around. So that's one part.

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  The other part is we're not really quite made to

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  just look at little boxes of people.

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  The brain doesn't quite operate that well.

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  They want to take in more information, read the body

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  language. I can't do it.

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  So I get pretty exhausted trying to figure out everything

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  that's going on from your face.

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  So no, that it's tiring.

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  Know that maybe you have to have some more break.

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  So if you do the breakout room, give him a

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  few extra minutes to go stretch Thio do a bio

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  break to do anything just to look away from the

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  screen, do something but know that it's a really thing.

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  It's a really thing.

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  Okay, last, but certainly not least have fun with it.

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  If you're not having fun, I guarantee they won't have

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  fun again like I was joking about the camera.

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  If I started this thing, this talk going high, I'm

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  Carrie and I'm here from abroad.

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  She group.

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  Come on, now.

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  That's not very I'm not having fun.

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  I'm nervous.

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  I'm a little nuts about it.

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  And no one is gonna, Well, maybe a few people.

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  But now many people are going to really engage with

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  that. You have to have fun, and you have to

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  be vulnerable.

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  And this is this is the hard part about not

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  having a script once you have a script or you

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  practiced it so much.

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  Do you make that many mistakes?

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  No, but guess what?

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  On Zoom, you might get distracted.

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  I don't know.

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  The dog barks.

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  A delivery person shows up.

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  Whatever happens, you say the wrong word.

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  I do it all the time.

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  You forget something?

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  It's okay.

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  We're all humans.

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  It's okay.

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  And I think something about remote learning makes it a

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  little more intimate and makes it it's okay to be

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  a little more vulnerable.

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  So do it.

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  It's okay to do it.

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  I told you, I I don't do well with the

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  camera. Sometimes looking at the camera and I look all

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  over and I have too big a hand movements.

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  I get it.

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  So be vulnerable with your audience to It'll be more

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  engaging because they'll hear something like Wait, What?

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  That? I don't think that was scripted.

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  What's going on there and engage?

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  You just have to keep engaging.

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  And like I said, Look at that camera.

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  Talk to people.

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  Ask them questions.

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  Say, I know you're tired, but let's do it.

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  Acknowledge what's going on.

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  And so with this Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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  First of all for listening.

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  And if you went through all these 10 tips and

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  said, I do all of them good for you.

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  Awesome. This just reinforced.

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  You're killing it.

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  You're doing a great job.

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  If there are a couple of tips that you're like,

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  I'm going to try those good triumph every time I

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  listen to something.

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  I think if there's just one or two little nuggets

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  that I could pull from it on that much better

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  and especially this is only 15 minutes or so you

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  can grab one or two nuggets.

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  I'm around on LinkedIn.

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  Please contact me if you want to talk some more.

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  I love talking about this stuff and now you are

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  ready to create your amazing training.

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  Thank you, everyone.