The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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PHOTOS: © ISTOCKPHOTO ONLINE LEARNING THROUGH THE LENS Use of webcams can be tricky, as people tend to look at their screens instead, which can make them look 'shifty' simple background applied consistently to your slides keeps your text readable and minimises any delay. Similarly, avoid complicated animations and transitions by building up your bullet points over several slides. It is also worth planning to break away from your slide deck. If you mention a piece of software or a particular website or resource, consider switching to a brief view of it. Janet Fraser, an experienced trainer, explains: 'It's important to provide visual variety by having more slides than you would normally use. With no scope for audience intervention, you're likely to need a lot more material than in a face-to-face situation. My experience suggests that a one-hour webinar will get through 1.5 to 2 times the amount of material as a one-hour face-to-face session.' Content Content prepared with a face-to-face audience in mind often needs tweaking to ensure it is effective for a webinar audience. 'Whenever I've been disappointed as a participant, it's been due to the content and the presenter, rather than the webinar format itself,' says Rubén de la Fuente, a localisation expert based in Spain. The lack of interaction between audience members and speakers is one of the biggest complaints about webinars. Despite what many participants believe, it is possible to engage and interact with a webinar audience, but it requires planning and forethought. 'It's a good idea not to take short cuts with any technical terms or unfamiliar concepts: give more rather than less explanation and give plenty of examples,' says Fraser. 'I tend to script my Vol/52 No/3 2013 webinars, which makes planning and time management easier, but it can make it difficult to make the webinar sound spontaneous. There's a fine line between scripting the whole thing and running the risk of not covering all your points.' Applying some of the tools of your webinar platform can also pay dividends in terms of increased audience engagement. Many platforms allow you to run mini-surveys during your session. Use this feature to pose single or multiple choice questions and get instant feedback from attendees. Participants can often 'raise their hand' to indicate that they require attention. You could play with this feature to run straw polls: 'A quick hands up if you can see that slide change' or 'Raise your hand if you've seen this before'. It is also worth giving careful thought to how you are going to handle any questions from the audience. Much like face-to-face events, you need to make sure you can keep a handle on your timing. Are you going to monitor the text interface for questions, or do you have a moderator who can do this for you? Will you leave all questions to the end, or address them at specific points during your session? Can you open the microphone to audience members so they can ask you questions by voice rather than text? Another method of increasing audience interaction and, indeed, interest includes asking for emails in advance, with questions, examples or solutions from their experience. With their permission, you can then incorporate these into your session. Some tried and tested exercises of the face-to-face world may also work well, such as asking participants to fill in the blanks or select their top three items from a list. 'I've experimented with having participants doing exercises on their own during the webinar,' says Fraser. 'The feedback from participants was that it worked fairly well, but it can be very disconcerting if a webinar speaker falls silent (you're likely to think you've lost your internet connection). I therefore gave audible reminders every 30 seconds of the time left, and also had a series of slides reassuring the participants that I was not speaking and giving them a visual cue as to the time left.' Finally, interaction and engagement don't have to stop when you log out. 'I miss the opportunity to network with the presenter and other participants. That can be partially overcome with follow-up messages or invitations to connect on social networks,' says De la Fuente. 'The main benefit is the size and variety of your audience. You could be presenting simultaneously to people in different continents. I find that mind blowing!' Webinars are a flexible, convenient and extremely cost effective way to access online learning. Attendees are usually open and curious, and may be dialling in from anywhere in the world. If you are asked to present, teach or speak on one, I recommend taking full advantage of the opportunity. It's well worth it. JUNE/JULY The Linguist 19