In their virtual shoes
How many online training sessions, keynotes or workshops have you joined in the past week?
At last count, I was up to about 20 – the majority as a participant or audience member. I’m usually facilitating or speaking, so the shoe has definitely been on the other foot.
The shoe feels different if I’m a participant or in an audience.
It’s an important distinction.
As a participant, it feels like I’m wearing a pair of shoes that I can move about in easily. Joggers, flats or walking shoes. I’m ready to play.
As an audience member, I can probably get away with wearing a pair of heels, dress shoes or something a little special. I’m comfortable sitting back and absorbing the content.
In the virtual world, it feels like there’s a lot of ‘in between’. Tango shoes, for instance, have killer heels but their carefully balanced design means you can respond quickly and pivot easily.
And not every running or walking shoe is actually that comfortable. If you’ve ever had shin splints, you’ll know what I mean.
If you’re leading a session online – as a facilitator, trainer, teacher or speaker – it can be easy to get caught up in our own content or getting familiar with the platform we’re using.
Recently, I’ve had lots of conversations with experienced facilitators and trainers worried about their ability to use different online platforms. While it’s important to be able to drive the car, I think your groups are pretty forgiving and don’t mind if you’re on P plates.
What people do mind, I think, is if you forget to put yourself in their shoes.
Align your approach to what shoes people are wearing. If you want them to play with you, lean in, involve them from the start, reveal something about yourself if you are encouraging them to share.
If you want participation, then get familiar with the chat function of zoom, rather than focusing on the design of your slides – if you use them.
If you ask a question, pause. Give people time to think and respond. This is just as important online as it is live.*
Keep up a running commentary. Tell them that you’re looking at the chat, so they know to keep typing and why you’ve stopped talking.
Run with some of the ideas and suggestions offered – deviate from your script.
It works. As a participant told me recently, my use of the chat section in Zoom, “…kept the flow and we felt a part of the conversation.”
If your purpose is to instruct or to convey information, your audience may be in shoes that don’t lend themselves to jumping in and playing with you.
If you ask, the response could be stunned silence. Some people will shift a little uncomfortably in their seats, a bit like how audience members respond at a play when an actor suddenly calls for ‘audience participation’. It’s a little unexpected. Some love it, but probably not if they are in high heels and you’ve invited them to come up to the stage or join you in the aisle.
Neither is better than the other. Just fit for who is in the virtual room with you.
Working remotely? Give this week’s #Facilitography exercise a go.
Text or call a few friends or colleagues and get them to join in. Here are your instructions:
📷 Take a photo of a favourite pair of shoes.
📷 Share it in a what’s app group with your friends.
📷 Compare your photos.
Do the shoes look new or old? How long do you think the owner has had them? If you had to describe these shoes with one word, what might that be? What might they tell you about the owner?
* Kirk Fisher has some really helpful tips on taking time to respond in online training and facilitation.
If you’d like to work together, here are 2 ways to get started:
1. Join me for a virtual #Facilitography walkshop Experience how to use street photography with your stakeholders and communities, from your desk. Comment below and I’ll send you the details.
2. Working on your own and need an online sounding board? Say YES below and I’ll get back to you with the details of my online Spark your Thinking program – 1:1 and group options available.