Facilitation Tips: Five Quick and Easy Strategies To Improve Your Virtual Learning Experiences

Five Quick and Easy Strategies To Improve Your Virtual Learning Experiences

I <3 community. I love facilitating virtual group learning programs or participating in such programs myself. I believe that so much growth is possible when you bring people together for a specific purpose and put structures in place to foster growth, community, and accountability. I was so happy to kick off the virtual Elevate Fellowship for mid-level leaders who identify as BIPOC women

Here are five of my favorite quick and easy Zoom tips to keep participants active and engaged:

Drumroll….

1.     Backstage Pass!

I learned about this activity from Play On Purpose (a great resource for virtual connection) which was created by Jenny Sauer-Klein. The intention is to get to know the members of your group in a more personal, authentic way, in a short period of time. Here is how it works:

Everyone gets split into breakout rooms (typically groups of three) and is asked to share a mini-tour of the space that they are currently in. “This activity is an opportunity to share with the group a little bit more about who you are and the space you inhabit beyond the four corners of the Zoom screen.” You can decide how much time you want to give the groups (I allocated about five minutes per person because I wanted the groups to have extra time to informally connect as well). You want to invite the group members into your world, in whatever ways feel comfortable. As a demonstration, I said, “Check out my fancy office that I recently invested in with these beautiful photos in the background! My husband just installed this gallery wall!” Then, I paused, turned my camera to the left, and said, “Just kidding, I’m in my bedroom!” I showed participants my son’s crib which was literally right next to my chair and hitting my knee, and showed them the rest of our (somewhat chaotic) bedroom. This really broke the ice and everyone laughed. Later on, participants shared that the space tours really helped them get comfortable with each other and one participant told me in a coaching conversation that she felt really inspired after seeing how some of the other women had really created intentional homes and spaces for themselves. She shared a personal goal of wanting to get a place that she could set up as her own in the near future.

2.     Popcorn Warm Calling

A simple way to avoid long pauses and keep the conversation moving is to gently introduce warm calling, popcorn style. You provide a brief prompt for the group to respond to, and then ask for a volunteer to kick off the group. If, let’s say, Mei-Lin volunteers to be the first to share out, she will share out, and then select the next person to share out (i.e. “popcorn” the question over to someone else). And that person will select the next person. And so on. Another variation of this strategy is to have the facilitator say, “I’m going to call on people in the order that they appear on my Zoom screen. Feel free to pass or let us know if you need more reflection time and aren’t ready yet.” This strategy eliminates a lot of awkward wait time and the facilitator painstakingly asking over and over, “Who wants to share next?” I also really like framing whole group questions with something like, “Let’s hear from 2-3 people" because it removes the expectations that everyone needs to share out (which often takes too long anyway) and it sets the expectation that we want to hear at least two people before we move on.

3.     On and Off Camera Invitation

Very few people enjoy staring at a screen on Zoom for an extended amount of time, myself included. The truth is that many of us can feel like we have to perform because our video camera puts a spotlight on us and our facial expressions. To mitigate Zoom fatigue, I tell participants which part of the learning experience it is essential for them to have their cameras on (break-out rooms, whole group debriefs) and then I invite them to turn their cameras off when it’s not essential (teaching new content, going over some logistics, etc.). I encourage participants to go warm up dinner, or grab another snack (or two), or even listen to a part of the session while sprawled out in bed. You decide what you need in those moments, but giving adults the autonomy to feel more free and comfortable in virtual spaces goes a long way. When your participants feel more respected, they reciprocate with stronger engagement. Shout-out to Elevate Fellow Alex LeeNatali for inspiring this tip!

4.     Breaks, Breaks, Breaks

On the same theme, just give people breaks. It’s that simple. I’ve taken online classes that are almost three hours long where there are literally no breaks at all and I have found myself wondering how the instructor never needed to take a break to pee! People underestimate how much participants look forward to breaks as a natural way to break up the rhythm of learning. It’s an opportunity to pause and reset. Just build them in and try to pare down the amount of content that you want to cover so you aren’t running behind or have to cut a break as a result. I am guilty of shortening breaks when I am running behind, so it’s a strategy that I am committed to holding myself accountable to in all of my upcoming learning experiences.

5.     Break-out Rooms For The Win

The magic happens in the breakout rooms. Those small, intimate moments of deep connection where people can feel so much closer to each other. You can kick off a virtual learning experience with a quick warmup in breakout rooms. Participants get 1-2 minutes each to answer a question prompt, which can be a fun or serious question. Later on, you can send participants back to breakout rooms (multiple times!) to make meaning of new content and explore how to take action in their own lives. It can be hard to release control and send participants out to breakout rooms because we want to prove that we are holding the space and teaching important things to the whole group and providing value. Part of the dance of facilitation is maintaining the sacred responsibility of holding the space while also making room for the wisdom of the community to shine through.to

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