I wrote about using polls in previous blog and the feedback I got showed that a large number of people are still wary of trying webinars as part of their training provision and welcomed the tips I offered. Yes, I know that each webinar provider gives you training videos and instruction on delivering your webinar, but it seems that a seasoned training consultant can still add a useful word 😉
Often the reticence in webinar use is based on the fear of the technology itself (but it’s NOT complicated once you get used to it!). Then once you get beyond this, there is a tendency to stick with the basics and not use the other functionalities that webinar technology offers.
Hence polls last time, and RAISED HANDS this.
If you have a group in front of you in a physical classroom, it’s easy to judge if the group’s with you or not by the nods or shakes of the heads. When you’re delivering a webinar and you can’t see the participants, you have no way of knowing how your content is going down unless you ask. And you can’t always follow the chat box to see if questions are being asked either.
So the ‘raised hands’ function is very useful. It allows you to get responses from them and them to ask questions of you with a quick visual which will appear on your control panel. Explain to them how to use this function at the beginning of the session.
Here are some tips for when to use the ‘raised hand’:
- if you want to check that they agree on a point before you move on.
- if you want to see if they are following you.
- if you want to see that they are still awake!
“Just raise your hand if you agree with me.”
“Are we OK to move on? Raise your hand if you think so”.
The raised hand function also allows you to retain control of the session from the point of view of questions. If you have a prepared script (but please don’t make it sound like one!), you probably don’t want your flow interrupted so most people will have a Q&A session towards the end of the webinar when any questions can be asked and get answered.
However, you can offer the option if someone needs clarification, that they raise their hand during the input or you might be perfectly happy to take questions as you go along.
It depends on how you set the contract with them for the session but it’s important that learners feel they can ask a question at some point.
So, if you have a big group on a webinar, you may want to keep the whole group muted throughout your delivery and then unmute them for the Q&A or when you notice their raised hand and take their question.
And when you ask a question, ask those who want to respond to raise their hand (rather than pouncing on someone out of the blue).
But be aware of anyone who is consistently slow to come forward to answer a question. You may need to encourage them to contribute. Just like in a face-to-face group in fact.
How do you use ‘raised hands’?
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