How to Socially Thrive at Virtual Networking Events

Attending events, from a conference or a summit to a training session, can be nerve-wracking. Questions like who you are supposed to talk to and what you should say might flit through your mind. Fear not!

This useful little guide is inspired by the book ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ and brings together key reminders to enable you to successfully work with people and make the most of the events that you attend.

 

Engage Beyond Expectations
When we go to events (virtual or otherwise), there tends to be an expectation that we interact with certain individuals or attend talks that closely relate to the work that we do. For example, if you are in HR you may attend a Learning and Development virtual networking event.

It is important to consider attending sessions that you find interesting even if it doesn’t directly relate to the work you do. While it may seem counter-intuitive to attend a talk on marketing if you work in human resources, events are more likely to be memorable if you can learn something new.

Not only will this help you to get more out of the session but, when you are actively engaged in content, you become memorable participants who are more likely to have ideas and input remembered in the future.

This is great when considering professional development but, by engaging with content beyond our fields we can also gain insight into the workings of our business or company that we potentially did not have.

This can enhance how we interact with ideas and processes in our business because we perceive beyond our corner, seeing the ‘big picture’. Thus, placing us in a better position to influence any development or implement any changes.

Sincerity
When you are attending virtual events, it can be easy to get lost in the digital environment. After all, you aren’t ‘actually’ meeting these people so, if you present a slightly different version of yourself, who’s going to know? You may play up certain parts of your persona but resist others.

Similarly, you may exaggerate the truth or withhold opinions or ideas when you are at events or networking with others.

Ultimately, being true to yourself is important. Being real and authentic makes long-lasting impressions and means you don’t have to try and keep up a ‘fake’ version of yourself in the long term (should networking or conversation continue). Maintaining a persona over a prolonged period can increase negative emotions or exacerbate an experience with imposter syndrome.

People value honesty and want to talk to you; you are more than enough. Being true to yourself can increase your influence as you become known for your sincerity and may even become the ‘go to’ for help, advice and opinions.


Need complete knowledge about virtual events then visit us.

Checklist of 5 Key Items for a Successful Virtual Training Session

In virtual training, who doesn’t love a list?
 
There is something incredibly satisfying about crossing things off a list, or putting a nice, neat tick next to it if that is more your thing.

A friend recently told me that he purposefully puts items on his to-do list that are really simple so that he can get the pleasure of marking them as complete really quickly; it brings him a sense of achievement which motivates him further as his list shrinks easily.

When preparing to deliver a successful virtual training workshop, a checklist is useful to ensure nothing is forgotten.
Here’s 5 items that are vital to excel as a virtual trainer.

Have Pre-communications
It’s important that your participants are prepared for your virtual training session.

Do they know what the topic is and why they are attending it? Do the participants have clear instructions as to when the session(s) are and how they join? Are there any expectations you have of them, such as pre-reading or a short exercise, or that they need to have their cameras on?

Our coaches often record a short video for the participants to introduce themselves and share any information that would be helpful. Prepared participants makes for a better experience for the trainer too.

Create a Coach pack
Do you have everything you need as a coach, trainer, or facilitator? We recommend creating a coach pack for you to keep everything you need. Think about including the following:

•    Dates & Times
•    Platform & Links
•    Slide deck for delivery
•    Documents to be shared with participants
•    Contact details of client
•    Participant list including job title, country & time zone
•    A feedback form/survey link
•    Briefing document (see next point)

See complete check of training session at virtual training.

Why you Need to be Talking About Hybrid Working!

As we come out of Lockdown 3.0, Hybrid Working is a term that seems to be gracing everyone’s lips! Pre-pandemic, organisations avoided flexible working and working from home, mostly because it was unknown whether their employees could be trusted with such flexibility and they just didn’t think it was impossible… but when the pandemic hit organisations had no choice but to give home working a go, and guess what? Most have now concluded that it has many benefits to both the business and the wellbeing of their employees.

With restrictions slowly lifting, organisations now need to make a choice about what their working environment will look like for the future… and this is where hybrid working comes about!
So what is ‘hybrid working’?

Whilst many employees want to work from home all the time after the pandemic, many would prefer a balance where they are in the office for a few days of the week and at home for the remainder - this is hybrid working.

What are some of the benefits of hybrid working?

1.Work-life Balance:
With any healthy working environment, comes a great work-life balance! Organisations that allows their employees to choose what that work-life balance should look like, sustain a healthier and more productive workforce, whilst saving money on office running costs. Hybrid working is a perfect fit for this module, as it achieves this balance offering employees with the option to work both from home and in-office.

If you want to know more benefits about hybrid meeting then visit us.

Instructional Design Guide for New Virtual Designers

Stepping into the world of virtual instructional design can be a pretty steep learning curve. There are clients to meet, theories to learn, materials to create and objectives to deliver. When this is a whole new world for you, it can be difficult to know where to start!

At The Virtual Training Team, we work with instructional designers at all different stages in their careers- from those taking their first steps into Learning & Development to those who have been living and breathing virtual training for years.

We asked around and have put together an instructional design guide for new virtual designers. If you’re looking for some handy tips on how to be an instructional designer, or how to impress your clients (and your boss!) no matter your previous experience, we’ve got you covered!

 

1. Get to know your client
When you’re getting started on a new project, it can be tempting to dive right into design. After all, you’re an instructional designer, right? Yes, but making time to get to know your client and identify their needs and objectives can make your job a whole lot easier.

If it’s possible for you to sit in on client meetings, do! If not, speak to the people who are responsible for this. It’s important to get a sense of what your client wants to achieve and the style of delivery they prefer before you can get started on your training course design.

2. Know your learning outcomes
Once you’ve got a grip on who your client is and what they’re looking to achieve, it’s time to get down to specific learning outcomes. Ask yourself “What do the learners need to get out of this?”.

Every single piece of information you include in your materials should relate to these learning outcomes. Keep them in mind as you research, design and finalise every step of the project.

Remember, as an instructional designer, a workshop is not about you or the information you want to deliver. It’s all about the learner and the outcomes they need to achieve.

Find out more about VTT’s 6 Principles for Virtual Design.

Virtual Meetings: 5 Ways to Create Engagement

The past year has brought us many things – a greater sense of community and neighborly awareness, distanced picnics and exercising, an increase in video calls in the older generations and my favorite… the Tiger King on Netflix!

We’ve seen numerous changes in the way we work; the vast majority of us are working from home for the first time and for many of us, this will be a permanent change. Organizations have realized that there are countless benefits of going virtual too.

One of those benefits comes in the form of Virtual Meetings – these help businesses to save time and create efficiency, reduce cost of travel and overnight stays and by reducing travel Virtual Meetings are kinder to the planet. It also connects us with more people around the globe than ever before.

Whether you’re using MS Teams, Zoom or GoToMeeting, I’m sure that we can all agree that we’ve been faced with challenges transitioning to Virtual Meetings.
Having worked virtually for over 5 years in education and L&D, I’d love to share with you some tips and tricks for creating engagement in your virtual meetings.

 

1. Virtual Icebreakers
Let’s think about it… if we met someone face to face, would we head straight into our sales pitch or agenda? No! It’s really fun to start a meeting off with a Virtual Icebreaker and it builds the foundations for great relationships, especially if you are meeting with a new client for the first time.

An icebreaker whether virtual or in person helps relax your participants and eases everyone into the group meeting or learning situation, ready to engage. You can pretty much do any traditional icebreaker in the virtual environment, so get creative.

See complete 5 ways of virtual meeting, visit us.