How do you keep online workshop participants motivated and interested throughout the session?

Make sure to let participants know how they should use the chat and ask questions. I will often start with only allowing chat to be to the moderators and then will open up to the group during breakout discussions. It’s important to keep a safe space and bring in heart centered norms that everyone can agree on as well.

Here are my 3 highlights for setting goals and managing expectations. 1. Clarity: Make a list of specific, measurable, and achievable goals. Make it clear. Make it catchy. Highlight the benefits. 2. Interactive Goal-Setting: Encourage participants to set their own goals for the workshop. What do they expect to learn. Which points on the list are the most important to them? 3. Continuous Reinforcement: Recap and remind participants of the workshop's goals throughout the session.

Incorporating physicality into activities is a game-changer. As Sharon Bowman highlights in "Using Brain Science to Make Training Stick," movement boosts brain function: “Physical movement increases oxygen and glucose flow to the brain, needed for brain activity.” Imagine team members not just sitting but moving in their space, engaging in physical 'skills activities.' This breaks monotony and energizes the session. Adding gamification further transforms learning into a fun, memorable experience, reinforcing skills in an interactive way. Physical activities combined with playful challenges create a dynamic and effective learning environment that is both enjoyable and impactful.

If I'm doing a 60-min online workshop, I try to switch activities every 2-7 min. For example: 3 min.: Personal intros 3 min.: Warm-up, getting minds activated 2 min.: Overview, goal-setting, expectations 3 min.: How do they see the problem (which the workshop will help them resolve) 2 min.: Quick-win skill description 3 min.: 1st task (make it practical, offer options, trigger responses) 5 min.: Discussion 5-7 min.: Deeper-level content block 7 min.: 2nd task (more complex) etc. ... During short online workshops, keeping a fast pace and heightening engagement is more difficult and more crucial than in offline / real-life settings (where you also often have more time.)

Believe it or not - the leader’s energy can be felt through the screen. Remaining passionate and upbeat will help people participate and they will feed off your energy and confidence. Using music and fun and engaging questions helps to keep the spirits up especially during more serious zooms. Change the flow. Get people up and out of their seats for either stretching, dancing, or doing a little scavenger hunt. Asking participants to get a material and bring it back helps the flow as well!

Here my 6 highlights - things I believe are key to getting people to actively participate during online workshops. And to get them into a collaborative mindset: 1. Create a safe space for diverse perspectives. 2. When you ask people to interact, clarity is super important. Provide easy-to-follow, step-by-step guidelines for your activities. 3. Use group exercises, give room for discussions. 4. Encourage attentive listening and respect for all contributions. 5. Show that you acknowledge and appreciate active participation. 6. Use what tech you have at your disposal. Use interactive tools.

There are some cool things you can do in a video call that you can't do in an offline setting. Everyone's already at their desktop/laptop, so use the digital tools at your disposal. Video, surveys, polls, screen-sharing, etc. But don't overuse them. Make sure that direct face-to-face communication is the main form of engagement.

Definitely agree that online is more demanding than face-to-face. And usually shorter. I've held all-day online workshops, but seldom. (Feels like you've run 3 marathons at the end). Most are 60-90 min. One important thing is to make it clear, even before you start, that you expect everyone's cameras to be on. If you can't see people, it's likely they're not engaged. I've done gvmt workshops online where the rule was: If you're video isn't on, you'll be dismissed (kicked out). Why? Because these people participated during working hours, so they were getting paid, and the gvmt expected as fully immersive a participation as possible, i.e. with video. To me, this clarity felt good. No half measures. Either do take part, or don't.

Having ready made polls can help you guide and personalize the workshop. If we are open to being flexible and meeting the participants needs - the workshop will provide more value.