How do you develop an effective online workshop?

I use the agile approach when planning curriculum. I use personas to ensure I capture a diverse audience. I ensure the user personas are very relevant to the workshop.

Developing an effective online workshop begins with a thorough audience analysis, pinpointing their needs, goals, and preferences. Incorporating pre-event meeting/s adds a personal touch, identifying specific needs and gaps, enhancing the overall experience. By prioritising inclusivity and accessibility, your workshop becomes a tailored, engaging journey for a diverse audience, fostering a deeper connection and learning.

When designing an online session for a client - request to speak to a couple of participants before. Ask about their blockers and opportunities and check the design concept with them. Recognise those people in the session letting the wider group know that you took more perspectives into consideration than just the direct client. Other things to consider... Have you designed for different audience engagement approaches. Diversify the way people can contribute. What is the predominant culture of your audience - how do they like to engage?

More importantly, who are you trying to serve overall in your business and brand. Start first with broader alignment, and then move into the specific workshop audice. Tip, they should be the same.

Doing a thorough needs assessment is critical. Oftentimes, the person contacting you may have very little information about those participating in the workshop in terms of their skill level, needs and interests. For the workshop to be effective, you want to design it knowing what the current skill level is so you don't create something that only reviews what they already know or is too advanced. This also helps you to use more relevant examples and case studies when you know who your participants will be.

The content and variety of content is important, but when conducting an online workshop, it is generally harder to connect and engage with your audience as opposed to in person. As soon as the meeting starts, spark a conversation, get the momentum going so that those that arrive after will also feel that, and be ready for a great start!

The number one tip I have for an engaging workshop; if it can be asked, don't tell. Ask questions and engage your audience. They will remember more and be more engaged throughout the experience.

An important addition that many of us remember from the horrors of the PowerPoint generation: Everything I use must fit in with the central theme of my presentation and lead to my punchline! Please don't use flashing high-tech tools and attention-grabbing effects just because they are great. Everything should be supporting the content and fit together.

Design an emotional journey. Ask yourself how are people feeling as they join? Are they curious, Check-in quickly as they land with a simple question. Get the chat going. Within the first couple of minutes hear a few voices - setting the tone for how you mean to go on. Avoid presenting at them for more than 5 minutes in the first half of the session - this will avoid participants entering into a passive space. If the session is presentation heavy change the energy dynamic every 10 minutes. Give people a chance to breakout and discuss what they heard. Before returning back to presenting.

The platform selection is crucial, go for something reliable and user friendly. Butter is a good one, and more fun than the usual zoom, google meet etc. At times you cant choose the platform as the client has a preference, be familiar with that, go and try before the meeting so you are prepared and familiar with it.

Mentimeter is my goto tool for big online groups - it is visual, engaging and can allow you to capture insights quickly and effectively from teams. Depending on the topic and the group you can invite 1-2 people to comment on the insights captured in the menti.

Less about the platform think about tools you can use to engage. Slido, Miro, Jamboard, etc. But also, will the learning curve of the tool take away from the workshop. If so, be traditional and focus on conversations.

Choosing the right platform is like setting up your room for in-person workshops: When participants enter, it immediately sets the tone for what's to come. If you have the opportunity to choose the platform (most organizations aren't that flexible, unfortunately), then I highly recommend trying out things like Butter, Welo or Gather Town. Immediately, it will make participants more creative than MS Teams or Zoom.

For an online gathering, it could be helpful to raise awareness that folx are sharing a space together. I frame this as follows: - The virtual space has a door ?? This is the electricity and internet connection, without these, one has no access to the group - The virtual space has walls. The thickness and therefore the warmth it can provide is dependent on our ‘tone of voice’ to each other. In chat and in conversation. Be kind and be clear. - The virtual space has a roof. This roof is formed by one’s presence. Be mindful how you are showing up in the space.

To have a smooth online workshop, and depending on numbers, understand if you will need help with Q&A, Breakout rooms etc. Who will that person be? Set rules for answering questions, either by raising hand or in the chat-give them options. Keep it varied, set rules and etiquette to set a safe and comfortable environment.

If possible get an additional person to assist with production and the technical side of the workshop. This will free your brain up to focus on the content and audience and not areas that don't focus on your expertise.

Figure out ahead of time how you will handle questions and comments throughout your presentation. Will participants use a q&a or the chat and/or do participants have the option of raising their hand and going off mute? This may depend on the size of your workshop. Co-creating some guidelines ahead of time as to how you will work together can make for an enjoyable experience for everyone. Having someone to assist with q&a can also be a huge help especially for larger groups.

One of the most valuable tips I can give is the following: Create a safe space for the participants, making them feel safe, seen and secure remotely is my job as a facilitator! - wellbeeing, ask if everyone has a drink and snacks nearby - your remote workshop etiquette, explain that it's okay to turn off the camera, stand up, open the window to ventilate, do stretching/back exercises during the workshop - point out that participants should take care of themselves and may pull out if needed - give contend notes and disclaimers for content that could hurt people or put them in difficult emotional situations - be wholesome with the participants

Evaluating your online workshop? Start by setting clear criteria, then gather and analyse feedback. Use methods like surveys, focus groups, and analytics to gauge impact and satisfaction. Adapting to the online environment means getting creative to capture the full participant experience.

Focus on tangible outcomes for evaluation and avoid questions that have no purpose such as; did you enjoy the speaker. Often these types of evaluations (unless you are trying to decide to use someone again or gather testimonials) waste the participants time, and take away from the experience.

One thing I have found helpful is the networking with other practioners to learn something from them I have a core group of learning and development practioners who I bounce off ideas with.

There is one thing that can help you improve your workshop. → Being open minded. When you are open minded, you are open to new ideas, inspiration, and information. I can always tell when a workshop presenter has presented the same information dozens of times without changes. It feels a little stale. But workshop facilitators who are continuously improving the content of their workshops are alive with excitement and enthusiasm. Those are the workshops where transformation occurs.

Creating and delivering a workshop needs to be an iteration process. It demands for continuous improvement. When a workshop ends, the learning journey of the participants do not end! So we need to advance for future opportunities, to continue engage people and improve the offers. We must collect qualitative and quantitative feedback. It is important to understand if the learner would recommend that workshop to a friend, and what were the best things regarding the instructor, the contents and the facilities. We can ask for written feedback, conduct interviews or focus groups and the final goal should always be to increase the learner's needs satisfaction.

I am continuously joining other peoples online workshops to learn and grow my tool kit. There are so many different approaches depending on the topic so playing with different ways of doing things will help to keep your approach fresh.

This article like many other "How to" training claims (minus mines of course) is missing the practical step process. As a course conten creation trainer, I understand that when you start with how, you end with results. I can not sit down and come out with a workshop after reading this. Be sure when creating a title, the content matches it's claims and objectives. This leaves me without proper tools to successfully end up with a workshop. .

When developing a workshop follow this structure to help you create an engaging experience: - Story that envokes imagination and introduces your topic. - Introduce yourself - Agenda - What is the problem? - Why is that the problem for them? - What is / are the solutions - Why are these solutions/outcomes - Dive into each (usually 3) - What life can be like moving forward for them and the world - Actions to takeaway and practice/summary - Questions Throughout the workshop, ask questions, create group discussion, and breakout for activities.

Half of the workshop can consist of content knowledge and exercises. However, the much more important second part of the workshop must focus on the transfer of the content to the participants' work/life situations. The aim of every workshop is for the participants to take away something that they can actively and directly integrate into their lives. The guidance for direct, practical implementation is the most valuable thing you can have in your toolbox.