Just do it: 5 tips for interactive training sessions

[vc_row height="auto"][vc_column][vc_column_text]For knowledge to truly stick, it primarily requires one thing: attention. In boring online seminars, our attention quickly drifts away, and we leave the training with few "aha" moments. Good online courses, however, succeed in keeping participants engaged and involved in the topic. Here, we present five methods you can use to design interactive training sessions.

DIY: Active Learning

It takes a bit of overcoming for a trainer, but it has a big effect: let your participants work out the content of the training themselves. After all: only what we have truly understood ourselves can we also explain. For this method, divide your training group into several small groups. Prepare your e-learning seminar so that you can provide each group with materials to work on a topic or answer a question. The participants must now really engage with the content to pass on their results to the whole group afterward. In this, you hold the role of a learning facilitator who ensures that good results are produced. This interactive training will remain in everyone's memory.

Hands up!

To introduce a topic in an exciting way, you can poll the participants. Ask five questions at short intervals; those present should raise their (virtual) hand if they agree. What do you achieve with this? For one thing, you actively involve the participants; they have to express themselves and grapple with the content of the questions. If you have a very abstract topic, you can use this to create a personal connection between the person and the topic. An example is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Here are some everyday questions that could be used in an interactive training:

• Have you ever received a phishing email?
• Do you always use the same password?
• Has your social media profile ever been hacked?

Through such questions, the topic moves closer to the participants, which increases interest and thus attention.

Pictionary as an Icebreaker

Another method to make contact on a playful level is a group game. Pictionary (Sonntagsmaler) is a game where one person draws something and the group has to guess what it is. This game is now available as an online version and can therefore be integrated excellently into an interactive training session. It is an icebreaker for the start of a session, but can also be used when the first signs of fatigue appear.

Let the audience estimate

Another tool for interactive training is the estimation question. Especially when fact-based knowledge is to be imparted, the participants can be actively involved. Invite the group to estimate, e.g., on questions like these:

• How satisfied were your company's customers last year?
• What are your company's most popular products?
• What does your target group expect most from a product like the one you sell?

Voting can be done by (virtual) hand or with a polling tool. Allow for discussion in advance so that participants enter into an exchange with each other. This process alone has a great learning effect.

Whiteboard: Thinking together

Interactive training sessions should also place value on active exchange in their design. As a trainer, you should not be the center of the training – rather, it is the content. That is exactly why you don't have to fill the screen as a full picture at all times. Use the whiteboard function and enable collaborative learning. Collect ideas on the virtual whiteboard, pin graphics, or link videos. The possibilities here are almost endless. Do you want a learning management system that provides an optimal basis for your interactive training sessions? Then get to know the keelearning LMS and discover the diverse functions with which you can bring digital learning into your organization. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]