WHY THIS COURSE?

What's the difference between teaching/presenting online and teaching/presenting in person? It's probably not what you're thinking... The answer is: online we don't have to be polite. You see in an in-person classroom even if we feel there is:

no value in the lecture
it's boring
it’s not engaging

because there are other people in the room we have to be polite and pretend that we are listening. In the same class online, however, we could just turn off our camera and microphone, watch YouTube and still "be in" the class. We could keep our camera on and check email and no one would ever know. This is not just a harsh truth but more importantly, it is also the future.

I’m on a mission to end boring; when we are presenting online and in our virtual classrooms and meetings.

I designed this course to make our online communication and presentations much more:

interesting
engaging
dare I say it fun

MY GOAL

…is to teach you practical and simple tactics that can make you a much more engaging person online, no matter the subject, when you are communicating online. Virtual communication, remote delivery, online training, etc... Whatever you want to call it, is going to be an increasing part of the way we communicate whether we like it or not. So why not be awesome at it?

THIS COURSE WILL TEACH YOU TO:

DEVELOP interactive seminars using chat, video, and mini/breakout rooms
CREATE pre-recorded lectures with the tools you already have
IMPLEMENT on a variety of icebreakers to get people energized and talking
APPLY tool belt of interaction techniques to keep people engaged
USE other services (i.e. google forms) to keep learners interacting with you and each other
BECOME a dynamic online communicator

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?

Anyone who has to speak or present virtually on zoom, Microsoft teams, etc.
Anyone who runs and participates in regular meetings online
Teachers who are teaching virtually
Speakers and trainers who want to create interaction in online workshops
Students & researchers who need to present remotely

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO START?

Nothing, if you are reading this then you already have everything you need.

COURSE PROJECT

Design a Presentation or Class for an Engaging Virtual Session:

STEP 1 – Choose a topic

What is the topic of your presentation? Pick something you know a lot about or do a lot. Some ideas are:

· A hobby you do that we should all do

· The importance of your job

· An explanation of an idea you know but others don’t

· A tutorial on how to do something

· Pitch a show or movie we should all watch

· Pitch a product or service you love

· Anything else you can think of

Examples:

· How to start salsa dancing

· Why you should all be watching Narcos

· 2 things you have been doing wrong your whole life

· What is a purchaser and what do they do

· Why Loot Crate is awesome

· How to get discounts on Uber Eats

STEP 2 – Design the class elements

Use this template and the questions below to design your outline.

****** IMPORTANT *******

As often as possible please highlight what principles you are using from the lessons (i.e. variability, accountability, uncertainty, specificity)

*

PART A - Before the session officially starts

· What music will you play and why?

· What activities will you have them perform and how?

Example:

Song “Roses” via iTunes to save on bandwidth. It’s a morning session so it’s the right balance of energy, but with mellow vocals.

For 2-3 minutes I will ask everyone to please tell me what city they are in and if they could live somewhere else where would it be. I will ask them to write in the chat. As they do this I will call out what names and places with my opinions.

*

PART B – Icebreaker

What icebreaker will you use?

How will you give the icebreaker relevance by relating it to the session?

Example:

In the chat we will play Categories. I will ask everyone to list fruits or veggies, but they cannot write something that has already been written. I will make sure to call out if people aren’t participating to create accountability.

Relation to the topic: I will say that today is about creativity and coming up with as many options as possible.

*

PART 3 – During the session

Which of these elements will you use to create uncertainty & variation (include an example for each one you select)?

· Presentation

· Group Work

· Google Form

· Show and Tell

· Watch Something

· Other

Example:

Presentation - I will start off with 4-5 slides describing what salsa dancing is.

Video Interaction - I will demo a hand movement that is done in salsa dancing and ask everyone to show me the hand movement on camera

Group Work, Watch Something, They present - I will place everyone into breakout rooms everyone to find a video of salsa dancing that they really like. I will tell them when they come back I will pic a random group to show us the video and discuss what they liked it so much for 30-1minute.

*

PART 4 – Evaluation

Which of these elements will you use to create accountability (include an example for each one you select)?

· PM Challenge

· Google Form

Example:

PM Challenge - I will ask everyone to send me a private message with the address of a local dance school they could take classes from.

Google Form - I will share a google form link with these questions:

1. Before this presentation, on a scale of 1-5 how likely were you to try dancing?

2. After this presentation, on a scale of 1-5 how likely are you to try dancing?

Here is what your completed project should look like:

**********************************************

TOPIC

Why you should all learn how to salsa dance

PRE-SESSION

Music:

Roses by SAINt JHN via Spotify

Why:

It’s a morning session so it’s the right balance of energy, but with mellow vocals.

Pre-Activity:

For 2-3 minutes I will ask everyone to please tell me what city they are in and if they could live somewhere else where would it be. I will ask them to write in the chat (specificity). As they do this I will call out what names and places with my opinions. This will boost the energy and create uncertainty.

ICEBREAKER:

In the chat, we will play Categories. I will ask everyone to list fruits or veggies, but they cannot write something that has already been written. I will make sure to call out if people aren’t participating to create accountability.

Why:

I will say that today is about creativity and coming up with as many options as possible. I am going to talk about salsa dancing, but they will have to come up with ideas quickly about dancing and post things in the chat. Just like they did with the icebreaker.

MID-ICEBREAKER (optional)

After 5 slides about dancing, I will ask everyone to do a “Hair Comb” which is a hand styling in salsa. I will ask everyone to turn on their cameras and demo it (accountability). I won’t say this, but if someone does it really well I will ask them to demo to the group (uncertainty).

SESSION VARIATION

Presentation - I will start off with 4-5 slides describing what salsa dancing is.

Video Interaction - I will demo a hand movement that is done in salsa dancing and ask everyone to show me the hand movement on camera

Group Work, Watch Something, They present - I will place everyone into breakout rooms everyone to find a video of salsa dancing that they really like. I will tell them when they come back I will pic a random group to show us the video and discuss what they liked it so much for 30-1minute.

PM Challenge - I will ask everyone to send me a private message with the address of a local dance school they could take classes from.

Google Form - I will share a google form link with these questions:

1. Before this presentation, on a scale of 1-5 how likely were you to try dancing?

2. After this presentation, on a scale of 1-5 how likely are you to try dancing?

***********************************************

Ivan Wanis Ruiz

I am on a mission to end boring!

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