Applying the Secrets of Effective Online Facilitation

A seasoned technical trainer in the medical field was participating in one of my Train-the-Virtual-Trainer classes to further develop her facilitation skills. Although a very experienced in-person trainer, she was new to virtual training. As one of the assignments for this class, participants were required to select a training topic from their profession and facilitate a teach-back via a virtual training platform. Participants were also required to incorporate a few virtual tools into their learning activity, and be prepared to explain their rationale for why those tools supported their learning objectives. After finishing her teach-back to a small group of mock learners, I asked, “How did that go for you?” Her reply was telling. She let out an exhausted sigh and said, “There’s a lot going on.”

Indeed, virtual facilitation has many moving parts, and perhaps one of the biggest challenges to doing it well is managing everything all at once. Her honest assessment highlights the inherent complexity, even for the seasoned practitioner. Online facilitation can be a perfect storm of managing technical surprises, virtual tools, learner participation, instructional content, and more. The online format has a different feel, interpersonal dynamic, less available sensory input, and many more distractions. There is no denying that to keep things running smoothly, facilitators in online synchronous environments require a high level of knowledge and skill—and, ideally, a producer to assist you, which we will discuss later in this chapter.

The good news is virtual facilitation is a skill. Because of this, you can improve both your proficiency and comfort level through rehearsal and repetition. Even time spent shadowing a seasoned facilitator as a mentor or coach can be invaluable. Over time, you can become adept at managing the moving parts. The more experience you gain, the more automated some of the facilitation and engagement tasks become. And the more automated some tasks become, the easier it is to manage the different elements.

When I was helping teach a teenager in our family how to drive, I thought I was being helpful by pointing out things while they drove. For example, I suggested when to apply the brakes, where to come to a full stop at an intersection, and how to pass cars parked along the roadside. By the time we fully stopped at an intersection, the learning driver’s comment to me was “I didn’t hear a word you said.” In that moment, I was reminded that new skills as demanding as driving require a novice’s complete mental attention. Here the pupil became my teacher. Going forward, I offered verbal comments only when we were pulled over or parked. Eventually, as their driving proficiency improved, I observed some of those tasks becoming more automated. This allowed for more verbal conversation and processing while driving, which only continued to grow with experience.

This story offers valuable lessons for virtual facilitation as well. For novice facilitators, this role can require all your energy and full attention. You can easily experience cognitive overload and be overwhelmed by the sheer number of concurrent activities to manage. However, the more familiar you become with managing the platform, tools, and tasks through preparation, repetition, and experience, some of these tasks—like remembering to frequently scan chat throughout the session—will become more automated.

Fortunately, you can carry over some of your in-person facilitation skills too. For example, online facilitators still need to ask good questions to gauge where a group is, dig deeper with follow-up prompts when learners share, ensure everyone has the opportunity to contribute, and provide clear transitions between sub-topics. However, there are also skills unique to virtual facilitation. As virtual training expert Jennifer Hofmann (2019) affirms, “Even seasoned traditional classroom facilitators need to build their skills to be successful in the virtual classroom. Your new skill set will include new tricks that build upon your existing facilitation toolset.” These special skills are the focus of this chapter.

When I ask clients what they most want to learn about live online learning, the most common response is, “How can I engage virtual participants?” Naturally, this is very important, but we also need to remember that there is a marketable difference between learners clicking for the sake of clicking and engagement. It is not physical busyness like learners voting in frequent polls. Engagement means learners are actively investing themselves both emotionally and mentally in what they are doing. Ruth Clark (2020) notes that “engagement is essential, but it is psychological engagement rather than physical engagement that counts.” To aid learning, we want learners deeply invested emotionally and cognitively. To expand this concept further, we strive to engage learners with all four learning dimensions as discussed in chapter 2; that is, cognitively, emotionally, socially, and behaviorally. And because we design learning experiences, we also lead them as learning experience facilitators.

One of the best ways to deeply engage participants throughout virtual training is to guide them to be co-creators of their own learning. To do this, we need to fully develop our capability in the area of online facilitation. Let’s explore the secrets to effective online facilitation now, so you can facilitate your virtual sessions with aplomb.

Navigating the Black Hole

When the telephone was first patented in 1876, the technology was so new that when the phone rang and people answered, nobody said anything. There was only silence on both ends. With all visual cues removed, it is possible they just didn’t know what to say, or, more importantly, when to say it. Hard to imagine, right? This seems humorous now, because answering a phone and saying hello is so automatic. And, of course, we now have advanced technology that lets us know exactly who is calling. Back then, however, it must have felt a bit like being in a black hole.

It was Thomas Edison who eventually urged people to say “hello” when answering a telephone, which was the first time this word became equivalent to “hi” (Krulwich 2011). This way both parties knew when the conversation should begin. Scottish-born inventor Alexander Graham Bell—Edison’s rival—patented the first working telephone and thought people should say “ahoy” when answering instead (Krulwich 2011). Ironically, Bell refused telephone installation in his own study because he felt it was an intrusion from the outside world and would distract him from his professional work (MacLeod 1999). Flash forward to our modern era where telephony and electronic voice transmission are integral to professional work. If only Edison and Bell could observe the world at work today!

If we apply this black hole metaphor to live online training, there are certainly times when learners might feel like they are in a bit of a black hole. This is especially true when facilitators and co-participants are not on camera. With only audio cues and a visible onscreen platform, learners lack sensory cues to which we are normally accustomed. In physical environments, we rely on these cues to help us fully interpret our surroundings. So, there are specific techniques you can apply to help learners adjust to the virtual classroom. In this chapter we’ll look at five techniques to aid learning:

1. Verbalize the unseen.

2. Leverage announced silence.

3. Wait before filling uncomfortable silences.

4. Apply the pausing principle.

5. Employ the testing effect.

Verbalize the Unseen

In traditional classroom training, longer periods of unexpected silence are acceptable because they can still be visually understood and interpreted by physically present learners. For example, in-room participants see for themselves what is happening as a facilitator searches for supplies in the front of the room, switches from slides to video, troubleshoots a laser pointer, or pauses to connect to a SMART Board. However, in virtual training facilitators may not realize when they inadvertently create periods of unannounced, extended silence when no one can see what they’re doing.

Without access to visual cues online, learners do not know what is happening. If there are unannounced pregnant pauses, they may wonder if they lost audio, the facilitator’s audio dropped, the facilitator accidentally muted themselves, something is wrong with the connection, or the platform is experiencing technical issues. The reality is the facilitator may simply be performing an unseen task. For example, they might be glancing at the LMS roster to compare names with everyone listed in the participant panel, or trying to locate a second PowerPoint deck that wasn’t where they thought it was, or relocating chat because it was undocked and disappeared when they closed something else.

Not knowing what is happening or why it is taking so long not only interrupts the flow and cadence but calls attention away from content. In some cases, it can even create learner anxiety. As facilitators, we need to minimize anxiety to support learning. According to educational neuroscientist Janet Zadina (2014), “Anxiety has a negative impact on thinking and higher-order executive functions … we must take measures to reduce anxiety.” When individuals become anxious or their fight-or-flight response is triggered, blood and resources are diverted away from the brain to extremities like hands and feet. This equips people to fight (hands) and run away from danger (feet). So, the ability to think well, make decisions, and acquire new knowledge takes a hit for a higher purpose—survival. Clearly, virtual classes are not dangerous or life threatening, but our body’s physiological reaction to stress is the same and can trigger panic and anxiety. The bottom line is that anxiety and learning do not mix, and feeling like you’re in a black hole does not help. So, what can facilitators do?

One technique is to verbalize what learners cannot see. I call this “talking your task.” This means commenting aloud during pregnant pauses to briefly explain the reason. Do this when you need to attend to something that takes longer than it should. Here are a few examples of talking your task:

• “OK, I’m bringing up the PDF here.”

• “Just one moment please, while I open the whiteboard for us. You’ll see it shortly.”

• “I’m switching over to my next slide deck. Please go ahead and read the scenario on page 12 of your digital participant guide and then we’ll take a look at the slides for this next section.”

• “I just had a window close on me. It’ll be just one moment here while I bring this back. Appreciate your patience.”

• “Let’s clear these annotations before we move on … there we are.”

Making the invisible audible with professionalism and brevity keeps learners connected and informed. These auditory cues replace lost visual cues. Most importantly, when you talk your task learners are not left in the lurch wondering whether something went wrong. You can liken this to when you schedule a medical appointment via phone that is not a video call. If you call and request a preferred date for a medical appointment with a receptionist, but only hear silence, you wonder if the scheduler even heard you. If, however, the receptionist says, “I really appreciate your patience. Our system is running a bit slower today … after all, it’s Monday! It’ll be just another minute please,” you’ll settle in knowing all is well. The reason is because now you are informed. You received verbal confirmation as a replacement for the absence of visual confirmation. As facilitators, we want to do the same for our learners at key junctures.

We may not think to narrate through the silence, because we know what is happening. It’s easy to get locked into our own insular perspective. However, in these unseen moments, learners may not understand what is happening, what just happened, or what is about to happen. They are left to wait and wonder, and perhaps even become anxious or think something went wrong. It’s important to note this absolutely does not mean to share everything ad nauseam. Some things are best kept behind the curtain. However, you can provide just enough to give the rationale for the current silence and to assure them all is well. Intermediate and advanced-level facilitators lead the effort to professionally verbalize what participants cannot see. As part of our job, we bring them along every step of the way.

Let’s examine another technique that is part of verbalizing the unseen. This strategic practice can be used to influence learners when we need to persuade them to do something different or take new action in their workplace. In this technique, facilitators speculate what learners’ objections might be, acknowledge those objections aloud, and then address them. The key is to bring up those potential objections at the time you think learners might be thinking them. From there, you address the concern. An example of this might be if you said, “Some of you are probably wondering how this new project management system we’re learning to use today is going to make the process more efficient.” Although you cannot hear learners’ thoughts—except for what they share in chat—you can still guess what their objections, reactions, or questions might be.

Say, for example, you are training leaders virtually on different types of behavioral styles. You explain that they will be assessing the behavioral styles of their direct reports, so they can adapt their own styles to their employees’ preferred styles when they work with them. In this context, let’s look at an example where you might explore potential objections. You might say something like, “Now some of you are thinking why should I have to change my preferred style when I work with my direct reports? Isn’t that the point of having a variety of styles?” When a facilitator speaks aloud what a learner was just thinking, it can immediately grab their attention. Next, you move ahead to address their concern. You might say, “Those are legitimate questions. As leaders, it’s our job to inspire and bring out the best in our employees. We adapt our style to theirs so we can lead them more effectively.”

I use this technique when internal managers or an external client contact lets me know before a virtual training that there may be resistance with a few participants about moving to a new process or embracing change in the workplace. If you acknowledge aloud some potential objections they’re thinking, it can be very powerful. This is also an attention-getting technique. There’s an element of surprise at play as they wonder how you knew what they were thinking. Guaranteed, they’re listening to the next thing you say.

Leverage “Announced Silence” to Aid Learning

If you are familiar with radio broadcasting, you know that silence during a broadcast is called dead air. In the radio industry, dead air is never good. Some professionals suggest the same is true for virtual training. They advocate virtual facilitators avoid silence at all costs. However, I see this quite differently.

I believe silence can be used to aid learning. In the previous section, we explored how unannounced extended silence is problematic unless we make the invisible audible. Otherwise, learners will be left in the lurch and often automatically assume something is wrong. Let’s now look at how announced silence can be leveraged to aid live online learning.

Silence can be used strategically if certain boundaries are in place. For example, participants need to know it’s coming, what their task is during the silence, and how long it will last. By providing advance warning about silence, learners are assured everything is OK. Most importantly, you give learners time to think without a competing voice in the background. This way, they can complete reflections or other thinking tasks in quiet. This is what I call “announced silence.” It allows space for cognitive processing and can promote deeper learning. You simply need to provide fair warning.

According to cognitive load theory and evidence-based design, it’s more effective for trainers to initially reveal a complex visual, pause, and let participants process it. This helps learners create a mental framework that your verbal commentary will fill in later. If you show learners a complex visual, it is important to pause and allow them to briefly digest the visual first before you explain it (Schnotz 2014). Otherwise, it can be too challenging for them to listen to your commentary and study a complicated visual at the same time. It also helps reduce cogitative load. Once you start explaining it, focus first on the visual’s structural elements. From there, gradually delve into its more detailed aspects. In this way, you create space for learners to process, focus, and think without the distraction of a facilitator’s voice in the background. For example, you might say aloud, “I’ll be quiet for the next few minute while you study this diagram. When we come back together, let me know how you think it could be improved by applying the principles we’ve discussed.”

When you ask thoughtful questions for participants to respond to in chat, you also might say, “I’ll be silent for a bit here while you think and respond to that question.” As the axiom goes, silence can be golden. Intermediate and advanced-level facilitators leverage announced silence with parameters. It’s a powerful tool. Use announced silence to promote deeper learning when participants are:

• Actively engaged in thinking about a response (this can be individual prep time before entering a breakout activity)

• Reviewing an assignment’s instructions in the participant guide

• Looking at a complex visual for the first time

• Viewing a slide that is more text-heavy that they can read on their own

• Reflecting on something they’ve learned by typing responses in a digital participant workbook

• Filling out an action plan

• Thinking about a rhetorical or open-ended question you’ve posed

• Working independently on a task or exercise

• Completing their digital evaluation in class

One of the virtual training programs my company offers is how to design effective visuals for deeper learning. In this class, we explore the pillars of good visual design. When some virtual platforms did not yet support shared whiteboards, we used to show learners an example slide with bulleted content and ask them to complete a real-time drawing assignment to find a more effective way to illustrate the content. By either using a digital pen and tablet or a pen and paper in their remote locations, they drew visuals that more appropriately depicted the sample content. This was an opportunity for learners to individually practice and apply the visual design principles we had just discussed. I asked them to email their drawings using their smartphones or tablets and to let me know whether I had their permission to share a few of them with the rest of the class. During a break, I reviewed them and pulled a few examples to share when the class at large reconvened. This way, we could discuss them and use their work to reinforce key learning points.

To set up this independent drawing exercise, I told them: “I will be silent for several minutes while you work on this. Then we’ll come together again and talk about your design process and your rationale for depicting this content differently.” It’s also important to communicate that if participants have questions while they work, they can privately let you know in chat. The point here is to give them quiet space to think. By giving learners silence to think, reflect, and work, you enhance their ability to practice and apply what they’re learning.

Here are some things facilitators can do during silence while participants work independently:

• Keep an eye on chat in case participants have individual questions that come up while they’re working.

• Mute yourself to remove any background noise from your environment.

• Review the roster names to pre-select a few participants I’ve seen demonstrate leadership so far who I think would be a strong facilitator for an upcoming breakout. Before the breakout, I always ask those individuals if they would be willing to lead, and they almost always respond “yes.”

• Review notes made on the roster about who made some “golden nugget” comments or insights. I like to do this so it’s fresh in my mind and I can tie back to their contributions again later when it makes sense in the content.

• Scroll up and review chat comments from the virtual training session so far.

• Chat privately with your producer about how it’s going, if they need anything or if there’s anything they need you to know (like they need to leave for a bit and be right back, or if there were any critical questions you missed in the chat).

• Check the time estimates on your facilitator guide to determine if you’re behind, ahead, or on schedule. This helps me determine whether I need to take out a section, speed up a little bit, or slow down and take more time.

• Review speaking notes to see if you left out anything critical so far that you could bring in later, and if there’s an opportunity to do so with impact.

• Get a drink of water.

• Take a standing break and move around to increase circulation and keep energy levels heightened.

Note, too, that silence should be used judiciously. This is not a technique to overuse as it can weaken its effect. Overall, strategically leverage announced silence for deep-thinking work and be sure to always prepare learners for it ahead of time.

Wait Before Filling Uncomfortable Silences

It’s fine to admit feeling uncomfortable during prolonged silences, announced or not. However, when you pose questions and nobody speaks at first, remember it always takes longer for the first person to share. If you wait long enough, someone will usually step up to fill the void. Do your best to hold your tongue (yes, it’s a trainer’s occupational hazard to fill silence with talking). Or consider placing yourself on mute for the moment.

In the late 1960s, Mary Budd Rowe (1986) discovered an instructional variable referred to as “wait-time.” She found that while teachers tended to wait only one second after posing a question to learners, waiting up to five seconds was optimal instead. When educators and virtual trainers apply this wait-time principle, it can transform virtual class discussions because it gives learners increased thinking time and reflection for active learning. Although this study was conducted in-person and with younger learners, it still has application for online adult learners. By simply waiting longer (five to six seconds instead of one to two seconds), we afford learners the opportunity to think, reflect, process, and then respond. Hold your tongue before quickly moving on or answering your own questions aloud. Give learners a bit more time to think and respond.

Apply the Pausing Principle

We’ve discussed announced silence and the wait-time principle, but what about using pausing in general as an active learning strategy? Strategic pausing is also deep seeded in evidence-based research. It is referred to as the “pausing principle,” and has been well documented in educational research since the 1980s (Di Vesta and Smith 1979). What is most important about this active learning strategy is that pressing pause, opens space for learners to think, reflect, and refocus their attention. If you use the right type of pausing activities, you can increase learner engagement and retention. Gail Taylor Rice recommends regularly asking learners to look back at what they’ve learned and apply it to their specific contexts. For example, a closing pause activity gives learners time to process what they’ve learned and decide how they will use the content (Rice 2018). At the end of my virtual training classes, I ask learners to pause and identify one takeaway they can apply as a next step based on their role, and then type it anonymously on the whiteboard. This way, they’re thinking about it and sharing it with others.

There are a variety of activities and techniques you can use during pauses to enhance learning. One technique is to ask questions during the pause. For example, you can pause to ask learners a difficult, probing question, which allows you to check for understanding. You can also pause to ask learners to think about how they might apply what they just learned or discuss content. Pausing occasionally to ask a question triggers learners to actively think, not tune out. For example, you might say, “Let me know in chat or feel free to come off mute to let us know how you can apply these negotiation skills in your internal customer meetings.” Strategically weave in questions where it makes sense to stop and pause to reflect or interject curiosity. This not only creates a space for learners to find ways to relate to the content, but it’s also an opportunity to practice recalling the information. Of course, if learners have questions at any time during the session, you want to stop and at least briefly address them, even if you elaborate on it more later, because when they ask the question is when they care most about the answer.

When I train virtually, I prefer to plan for multiple pause points throughout. This is an opportunity to welcome questions, insights, and additional comments. A powerful tool at your disposal here is the open-ended question. As we’ve discussed, it’s far better to lead with open-ended questions than closed-ended questions. For example, you might ask “What questions do you have at this point?” This opens up the field more broadly and keeps the conversation on topic versus asking “Do you have any questions?” A closed-end prompt is limiting and can simply be answered with a yes or no.

In virtual training, you can also build in pauses to do more than just open the floor for questions. Another way to look at the pausing principle is that it can facilitate reflection time for learners to think back about what was discussed. Amusingly, I once attended a virtual session focused on the topic of reflection. The speakers talked about how important it was and how instructors should incorporate reflections into their online training sessions. The irony was that the instructors never initiated an opportunity for all of us to stop and reflect on reflection during the virtual training session on reflection. Easier said than done!

Watch for opportunities after meatier content sections or breakouts to pause and reflect by giving learners writing, thinking, discussion, or debriefing activities. Ideally, these exercises can help wire their neural networks. If learners don’t find course content naturally exciting, their body may not signal their brain to be alert and devote their full attention to it. However, as educational neuroscientist Janet Zadina (2014) explains, learners can also wire their brain’s neural networks by doing something with the content, such as when learners “think about it, talk about it, read about it, or use it.”

Employ the Testing Effect

Another facilitation technique you can use to aid learning is to pause and quiz learners with polling questions. Interestingly, the beneficial effects of incorporating polling questions have more to do with the pausing principle than with the polls. By actively pausing, you create a buffer space for learners to process, review, and recall. It is this underlying method of pausing or stopping that is responsible for aiding learning because learners are thinking deeply.

This active recall to aid learning is called the testing effect. “A wealth of empirical research has found that the retention of studied material can be enhanced by testing” (Kang, McDermott, and Roediger 2007). Simply, the testing effect shows that when learners are asked questions about the material covered and then receive immediate corrective feedback, it can make a significant difference in learning and memory. The point here is that learners are practicing recall in their neural networks and solidifying those paths in their brain. This is analogous to pioneering a hiking trail. The more often you hike on the trail, the more trodden the trail becomes. The more you practice recalling something in your brain, the more you wire that recall path.

One of my learners in a virtual training class on virtual training conducted a teach-back where she taught mock learners how to read sonograms. Afterward, she used polls to quiz us on the content. If our answers were not correct, she immediately provided corrective feedback in the moment. As a result, we learned more during the polling because it employed recall and we received immediate, corrective feedback. The more learners practice recall, the better able they’ll be able to recall in the future.

By using natural or planned pauses to test for knowledge, you’re turning what can be seen as dead time or the black hole of silence into deep learning opportunities.

Creating a Conversational Space

In chapter 3, we explored how virtual learners can feel like they’re entering someone’s home as a guest at the beginning of a session. Learners understand they were the invitee, not the inviter. But what if they knew they were more than guests? What if we invite them to become co-creators of their own learning? In part, this means we talk less and allow them to talk more. It means releasing some control to ask where they would like to go next. It means empowering them by reducing our spotlight. Creating a space where all in attendance are on equal footing, equally respected, and all invited to contribute begins with establishing a safe, co-owned conversational space. As virtual facilitators, we start where learners are and bring them along from there.

Make the Virtual Space Inclusive to All

Online, both public and private spaces exist. Private messaging in chat is an example of private space because a single message is intentionally directed to one person by selecting their name only. This can be useful when a learner wishes to direct a message to a facilitator in private, the facilitator wishes to return a message to a learner in private, or when a producer and facilitator need to send messages back and forth to each other. For example, some of my producers post me private messages about time checks, such as when we are 10 minutes away from ending time. This message is for my eyes only, so we don’t distract learners. Another example of private space is when learners enter individual breakouts where they may be tasked with working on a small sub-project alone, or when two people are in a breakout together and able to share a private conversation.

Public space, then, exists any time the group at large is live together. It is when comments are shared that all can hear or see. For example, this could be through group chat, a whiteboard activity, or coming off mute and speaking aloud. And in this public space, ensuring everyone feels included and able to contribute to the conversation is a key virtual facilitation skill. Remember, any pre-discussions before class begins can set the tone for your virtual training class.

One context where public space can inadvertently turn into private space is during the pre-session welcome. If you engage in conversation with people when they first join and before class begins, be wary of the sole participant who may dominate the space and use it for private conversation. Novice facilitators might allow whatever conversation happens to unfold as-is. However, intermediate or advanced facilitators are strategically mindful of creating a space that welcomes all, and do not allow one learner to dominate the conversation, get too in the weeds about personal items, or speak exclusively to a producer or trainer without realizing the broader audience listening as well.

As session leader, you or your producer can intervene to keep the public space public. One way is by inviting others into the conversation. For example, if one person is talking about the virtual platform they use for training and not allowing anyone else to speak, you might ask, “Josie, Shameka, and Matthew, what platforms do each of your organizations use?” This way you direct targeted questions to other participants. What is the experience for other learners if one participant monopolizes the conversation before virtual training begins? As online facilitators, we need to intervene to create a conversational space conducive for all.

Another way of ensuring all feel respected and comfortable is inviting them to include their gender pronouns after their typed name. This can display near their live video feed if the platform allows the option to rename or edit—for example, “Seth Smith (he/him/his).” If they are comfortable sharing this information, it can be helpful for facilitators. In past years, I made the mistake of accidentally assuming a masculine-identifying learner’s name was feminine (they were not on video and had not come off mute yet); thankfully, he came off mute to correct me, which I was grateful for and naturally apologized for, while making a careful note to myself. So, be respectful by noting participants’ pronouns, calling learners by their first names if that’s the convention for their culture and organization, and using a gender-neutral group greeting like “everyone” when addressing the crowd (rather than “ladies and gentlemen” or “guys”).

Part of skilled facilitation also requires ensuring all participants are learning and have an opportunity to be included. If one learner begins to overrun a conversation, steer the conversation off point, or share comments that are too personal or irrelevant to the group at large, it is your responsibility as the facilitator to get the conversation back on track. This can be done with a paired response that includes a polite closing prompt and then a question to transition to the group. For example, you might say “Sounds like you’ll be very busy. That’s a great application example. Thanks, Leita. OK, let’s hear from someone else. Qiang, how do you think you could apply this to your role?” In this example, the facilitator’s response respectfully includes a reaction, summary, and appreciation. This closes the original conversation. Then the question prompt clears a path for participation from others to keep the momentum going forward.

You can also intentionally create a public conversational space when a learner posts a message in chat to which you respond aloud. As you scan the chat, you might laugh agreeingly and say, “You are so right, Pablo!” and then move on to discuss something else. However, remember this is a public space. Now there are 19 other learners who are wondering what was so funny about Pablo’s comment and what was he so right about. Because of their natural curiosity, they may shift their focus to chat. Then you’ll have participants trying to scroll up and down the chat queue, looking for Pablo’s name, only to discover he posted lots of comments that day or there are multiple Pablos in the class. By now, your learners have missed everything you might have said for the last several minutes.

So, when you reference something in chat as facilitator, you certainly do not need to read a post in its entirety or verbatim unless it’s short, but do briefly summarize for the group at large to bring everyone in on the comment. For example, a facilitator might say, “Pablo says he’s used this attention getter in some past presentations, and it works every time. You are so right, Pablo!” Beginning with Pablo’s name grabs his attention. It also grabs the attention of other learners because they’re wondering if you’ll say their comment out loud too. And it clarifies that the words coming next are not the facilitator’s own words but from a learner. Treat public space as a forum where all can be included and find a place in the conversation.

Prime Learners for What Is Ahead With Verbal Signposts

Did you ever play the game as a child where you had a handkerchief around your eyes, and someone led you around a living space to find hidden treasures? You may have tripped over toys or stubbed your toes on furniture all because you were motivated to discover the prizes on the obstacle course. You likely performed better if you had a guide to navigate you, perhaps someone who said, “Watch out for the couch on your left” or “there’s a dog toy in front of your right foot.” These signposts are helpful when you can’t rely on the sensory cues you pick up yourself.

In the online space, learners have fewer sensory cues and feel better if they receive guidance. This guidance might consist of letting them know where they are headed, what’s coming next, or what you’ll soon be asking them to do. Even providing a heads-up that a potential quiz is coming can incent some learners to pay closer attention. Verbal signposts can also be used to call out the most important points. Here are some examples:

• “In a few minutes, we’re going to work on independent assignments.”

• “I’m going to ask each of you to share one thing in just a bit.”

• “If there’s one thing you need to remember most, it’s this …”

• “Later on, we’ll take a brief quiz on these principles to check your knowledge.”

• “In a little bit, you’ll be asked to improve how this graph displays.”

• “After we look at some non-examples, I’m going to call on a few people to hear your thoughts about how to make these more effective.”

• “As you watch this video, notice two things Fredrik does that really make a difference in the conversation.”

• “In a moment I’m going to ask you to share one of your takeaways from today.”

In your virtual training classes, calling on learners by name is also a wonderful way to get their attention. Learners will immediately sit up a little straighter when they hear their name called. And guaranteed, you will have their undivided attention for the next five to 10 minutes as well, because they will be listening intently to see if you say their name again. If you are going to call on learners though, I recommend letting learners know up front you may call on them to provide advance warning. In your netiquette at the beginning of training, you can even warn learners you will be calling on them at times, so they can prepare accordingly.

I also believe it’s helpful to give learners a heads-up that an activity is coming where they may be called upon to share. This allows them time to begin thinking about it. For example, I might say, “A few slides from now, I’m going to ask everyone to share one principle they will apply on their job tomorrow and why. All of us will be typing these on the digital whiteboard.” Again, this buys them some advance time to think and prepare for what they might share, so you can appropriately set them up for success and their responses will be more thoughtful.

The Value of Instructional Clarity

Inevitably, once you place learners in breakouts, the first thing they will say in their small group is, “What are we supposed to do again?” This is not unique to online training. Even in traditional classroom training, you must make sure you are crystal clear about instructions and expectations for small-group work. I often ask for a volunteer among online learners to paraphrase back the instructions they heard before releasing everyone into their small groups. This is a check to ensure they are very clear on their group task.

Other ways you can clarify instructions include providing at least one example of what you’re expecting and sometimes a non-example. These examples can head off any misunderstandings. I am continually surprised by people who teach online, give an assignment, and never include an example of what’s expected from learners’ work. Examples not only equip your learners for success but are also part of good communication and help to clarify the desired outcome.

One of my golden rules that has served me well in the virtual space is to give instructions for more complicated exercises three ways, three times. For example, with a breakout activity, I might provide a visual anchor where learners can read the assignment summary in text; second, I’ll verbally explain it; and third, I’ll post a brief reminder in chat or a post a link to their digital participant guide where the instructions are. This way access to instructions is readily available and there is plenty of opportunity to clarify instructions before and during the exercise.

Empowering Learners

As skilled facilitators, we can use multiple techniques to encourage, prompt, and empower learners. For example, you might challenge them to lead discussion, identify and commit to their own application of the training, require them to submit and follow-through on an action plan, or give them difficult decisions to make in scenario-based learning. All of these activities can help empower learners.

As author and speaker Michael Bungay Stanier (2021) says, the more learners grow in power, the more your power is reduced. It’s about releasing command and control at pivotal points for the benefit of learners within guided structure. However, if we allow them to do whatever they like, it can result in floundering. “We have a great deal of evidence showing that pure discovery learning is both inefficient and ineffective” (Clark 2020). According to evidence-based research, guided instruction is needed to improve both performance outcomes and learning outcomes. We can empower them to make decisions within a guided structure.

Where you can provide the most impact is by modeling how something should be done as well as providing feedback to learners (Clark 2020). When I train participants on how to give constructive feedback, I always ask for a volunteer to help me role play. First, we demonstrate how not to give constructive feedback. The participant has the easier role and usually goes along with it and has a lot of fun. Then I ask for another volunteer and together we model how to give constructive feedback while the other learners watch us demonstrate the principles we just discussed. Afterward, we debrief as a group and discuss feedback. This sets learners up for greater success because their next step is to practice it themselves in paired breakouts. This modeling is what many trainers tend to leave out before asking learners to practice something in small breakout groups. So, we can empower learners to practice what they’re learning by providing expert modeling beforehand and feedback afterward.

What Gets Rewarded Gets Repeated: Spark Discussion, Don’t Extinguish It

Another way to empower learners is to genuinely acknowledge and affirm their contributions and build on them when they engage with the content. This is because what gets rewarded gets repeated. When we say “Claudia, that’s a really great point! Have you also thought about …” it can motivate participants to stay connected. As author Jennifer Hofmann (2019) notes, “It feels great to answer a question correctly and to receive positive feedback from facilitators and peers.”

This positive reinforcement can be very motivating. However, praise must be genuine. When a comment is disingenuous, people can tell. If a learner shares and then, right afterward, the facilitator says, “Anyone else?” or “Thanks for that” or “Thanks for sharing,” without any further input, is the participant really motivated to share again? These trite, generic phrases from the facilitator can come across as rote, sterile, and distant. Better to dig deeper, ask follow-up questions, offer a genuine compliment, or expand with an additional comment. So, you might say their first name, comment on what they said, and then expand on it a bit with a follow-up. For example, “Ahh, yes, Amalia, that’s so insightful. It’s those little things we do as leaders that really make a difference, isn’t it? What do the rest of you think are important leadership traits?” If a participant answers incorrectly, provide correction in a non-punitive way. For example, you might say, “Tell me more about how you arrived at that,” or “You’re so close. Let’s unpack this a bit more.” Even empathy statements can demonstrate you’re listening and spark deeper conversation, such as “That must have been so frustrating. How was it eventually resolved?”

In chat, for example, it can also be rewarding to call out the first names of some participants and summarize their posts briefly. However, be wary of being too deferential. You should not read every comment from the chat aloud. That gets old quickly. Learners can read too. Instead, choose three to five posts that hit the mark or serve as great transitions or steer the discussion in a fruitful direction. The point of reading a few names and their posts aloud is to affirm participation, check knowledge, reward effort, and allow space for participants to be co-creators of the learning experience. If participants feel rewarded, it encourages more of the same behavior.

Connect Back to Learners’ Previous Comments

Beginning facilitators may see chat comments and say “I see the chat blowing up here,” or “Many of you are commenting about XYZ.” Although this is a good starting point, facilitators can expand on it even more. One advanced technique is to continually refer to previous learners’ comments by drawing connections as you go. Link previous comments to discussions going forward where appropriate. By this, I don’t mean just acknowledging the comment at the time it is shared by a learner, but later and throughout the session, referring back to something a learner said and referencing it again in context. For example, “As Finn mentioned earlier, positional intimidation can be an obstacle to communicating assertively. What else might be an obstacle?”

To help you effectively bring back a learner’s comment, keep a physical notebook nearby. There is so much happening digitally in front of you, with many screens and many tools. So, keep an analog paper pad and pen nearby to jot down a running list of first names and what I call “gold nugget comments.” Sometimes the quickest way to remember what someone said is to glance down and see it on paper. I like to keep a printed roster of all the names in my class, and when someone shares a gold nugget, I write it next to their name to remind me to reference it later. This way, you’ll be able to quickly find it when your brain prompts you. These references show your attentiveness, which subtly invites theirs, communicates you care, builds rapport and trust, reinforces content, rewards participation, and invites learners to co-create and co-facilitate. They will feel proud that you highlighted and tied back to something they said earlier and this can motivate them to continue contributing in meaningful ways.

Allow for Learner Agency and Voice

Learner agency is when learners are given the space and responsibility to make choices in a learning experience. They have the freedom to take initiative and decide which of several activity options interests them most. Although training can sometimes feel like it’s being levied on you, ultimately you have to choose whether you’ll learn (Cross 2007). Choice can embolden learners by giving them confidence. Not only can it create a deeper level of engagement with the subject matter, but it can also fan the flame of intrinsic motivation. By increasing learners’ choices and options, we increase intrinsic motivation (Zuckerman et al. 1978). Optimizing learner agency gives learners more investment, and when someone places a stake in the ground figuratively, they become naturally more vested.

In their book, Let Them Choose: Cafeteria Learning Style for Adults, authors Jillian Douglas and Shannon McKenzie propose a facilitation and design technique where trainers allow participants to choose from among various activities and options. Although there may be multiple learning activities available, in the end, learners attain the same learning objectives. “When learners are in charge of their own learning and have the freedom to make their own choices (that is, experiencing a greater sense of autonomy), it means that not only can they do their jobs better (gaining competency and moving toward mastery), but they also have the opportunity to discover the intimate connection between their everyday tasks and the company’s larger sense of purpose, mission, and values (fostering a deeper sense of purpose)” (Douglas and McKenzie 2016).

Learner agency also ties into self-determination theory (SDT), which is one of the most influential frameworks for motivation and emerged from the work of psychologist Edward Deci (Miller 2014). According to professors Edward Deci and Richard Ryan (2000), self-determination theory posits three major areas of motivation for individuals: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. “We strive to be good at things, to develop bonds with other people, and to make our own choices. People are the most intrinsically motivated and experience the most growth in environments that support these three basic needs” (Miller 2014).

With SDT, it’s also important to note that one of the best ways to boost intrinsic motivation for virtual training is to explain the rationale for why. For example, in chapter 3, we discussed the importance of including the why in your pre-communication messaging and at the beginning of training classes. As a skilled virtual facilitator, you must continue looking for ways to increase learner agency and build in motivation, which is the emotional dimension of learning. In addition to the emotional dimension, building competence ties into the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of learning, and relational bonds tie into the social dimension of learning.

This isn’t to say learning is all freeform, because you still provide a structure in which participants make choices. One example is to let learners choose how to communicate with you. For example, after posing a thoughtful discussion question, you might say, “You can either let us know in chat or feel free to come off mute and share. Would love to hear from you either way.” Most tend to respond in chat, but sometimes you’ll get a few who prefer to speak aloud. The point is they get to choose. It may seem like a minor point, but the more ownership learners take, the more this can blossom for them. Making their own decisions within the context of guided structure can increase independence and co-ownership.

There are many ways you can incorporate more choice and learner agency into virtual training programs. For example, when your training requires learners to do a teach-back or a presentation, request they select the topic. As you explain concepts, you can also give them license to select which sub-topic they would like to discuss first. For example, you might say, “We’ll be covering three key areas today, which you see on this visual. Let me know on the poll displaying now, which one would you like to address first?” Another way you can incorporate choice is to allow them to choose which review method you’ll use. For example, you could say “We can either do an online bingo review game or a gameshow-like course review,” and ask which they would prefer. Of course, both games need to be ready to go just in case. As you offer the choice, make it clear their voice matters and you want to hear from them. They could either respond in a poll, in chat, or raise their virtual hand for review game A and then review game B. You might say, “Everyone has a vote today in which review game we’re going to play. I want to hear from you. Here we go, the poll is open.”

For additional options outside the platform, you could also use online surveys such as Poll Everywhere, to display live learner responses. This way participants can vote on which subject area they want to learn about first, as long as a linear structure isn’t required to learn certain information. To do this, facilitators must chunk their sections by topic so they can quickly pivot appropriately or have their producer ready to do so on their behalf. Let’s look at a few more virtual training examples where you can incorporate more choice and learner agency.

You might offer learners more choice through breakout activities. For instance, virtual platforms like InSpace allow participants to move themselves into a breakout of their choice, Zoom has an option that lets participants choose a breakout, and Microsoft Teams and Zoom allow renaming breakouts. Additionally, instead of assigning one scenario for all breakouts to work on, you might include options from which they can choose. For example, list three different challenging scenarios in the digital workbooks for participants as a reference. Allow time for everyone to briefly review them all. Then place learners in breakouts by asking them to choose one of the three. All scenarios challenge their application of the content and accomplish the same objective, but they have a choice in which one they’ll tackle. Be sure to allow extra time for the team to make their selection, in addition to the time needed to complete the activity and to decide how they’ll address the scenario they chose.

Although it may be easy to assume all will benefit from working together in small breakout discussion groups, this is not always the case. Some introverts may feel more comfortable doing independent work. If you poll learners ahead of time or find out their preferences for working in small groups or working alone, you can plan appropriately for your live online learning. For example, if one of my learners lets me know ahead of time that they feel more comfortable working independently, then I might place them in their own breakout to work on an assignment. Don’t make a big deal of it or call attention to it, just allow some to work independently because they feel less anxious on their own and may learn better than if grouped with others. As Jillian Douglas and Shannon McKenzie (2016) also observed, “Certain activities worked better for some learners and not for others—some thrived in group activities, while others preferred to be alone. If learners felt uncomfortable about speaking aloud in a group setting or competing against others, it ended up hindering their learning.” By incorporating choice in how breakouts are used for small groups or independent work, allowing some introverts to work independently can also help support autonomous learning.

Giving virtual learners more space and freedom also encourages them to take more initiative, which will help them use their voice in assignments, on whiteboards, in chat, or verbally in the group at large or in breakouts. The variety of activities will also help foster engagement. As Jennifer Hofmann (2019) notes, “Facilitators need to spend a lot of energy to make sure that learners are consistently engaged. From my experience, well-designed virtual lessons encourage learner communication every three to five minutes.” By encouraging communication, engagement should only grow with more comments, reflections, insights, and questions from learners. To ensure you’re empowering learners and not reducing them to the role of passive recipient, welcome their thoughts and questions at the times in which they voice their question and not just during prescribed times at the end of a segment.

Be the Force That Changes Learner Inertia

Inertia is the initial resistance to move from one state to another. It applies to all objects and all things. In other words, when you move from a state of rest to a state of action, the transition period will be difficult. It can feel like you are going against a river’s current or climbing uphill. Think of the last time you went on holiday for one or two weeks. When you returned to work, what was the morning of your first day back like? Did you require more cups of coffee? Did you have a hard time getting into a productive flow? Your answer most likely is yes. Meet inertia. The transition from a vacation mindset and restful state to a workplace state was probably a bit rough at first.

This applies to virtual training too. Before logging into an online class, consider what learners may have been doing beforehand. They may have just logged off a meeting. They may have been working independently, writing, or scanning email. Remember, when they first join, their inertia resists moving from the state they’re currently in—a state of inaction. To move into a participatory state requires an uphill shift for them. Therefore, the very first time they unmute and speak aloud, post a chat, or write on a whiteboard will require the most effort on their part. However, once they have successfully done this and find it emotionally rewarding, you will notice their participation increase and they will notice it becomes easier.

As a facilitator, you want to be the force that changes their inertia. Do this by encouraging them to use virtual tools right away when they join. One way to prompt this is to give learners a platform tour. When my producers give a brief platform tour at the beginning of every virtual training, we prompt participants to raise their virtual hands as we talk about the hand-raising feature and where it’s located. When we highlight the chat, we ask them to post something easy like which city, province, territory, state, or country they’re connecting from. When we first ask them to participate and invite them to move to action, we understand there may be a little resistance initially.

Light, fun, easy warm-ups are also important at the outset for this reason. Learners, like athletes, need warm-ups. You will find that once they unmute and talk aloud, they are also more likely to talk again. The ice has been broken, so to speak. Novice facilitators place a group discussion where it seems to fit with content overall. Intermediate and advanced facilitators strategically place group discussions after participants are warmed up, like shortly after a breakout and breakout debrief if they are well prepped for the discussion by then. Once you help learners transition from any initial resistance, you’ll begin to see them feel more comfortable in the space. Observe how frequently they participate and the depth of their participation so you can keep a pulse on how to encourage them to open up even more.

Facilitators are the force that can help transition passive observers from a “sit and get” mentality to active participants. “Session interactivity is the single most important priority for success in the virtual classroom” (Clark and Kwinn 2007). We guide learners be co-creators of their own learning.

Partnering With a Producer

One of the most helpful best practices for live online facilitation is to partner with a producer. The producer manages the technical aspects like troubleshooting, monitoring the chat, and assisting as needed so the facilitator can better focus on learners and the instructional content. There are just so many duties with live online learning that it can be incredibly challenging and stressful to manage alone, can require more testing ahead of time, and can take more time to resolve and work through issues. I love working with a producer because I know the producer has my back. They support learners’ use of the platform and resolve technical issues so I carry less stress load and, as a result, I can be a better facilitator.

While an official producer might seem like a luxury to those who are learning departments of one, this does not need to be a full-time role. There are creative solutions. For example, you can ask a summer intern, a trusted confidant, a colleague, or a succession planning candidate who is looking for an opportunity to step into an entry-level L&D role. Back before our field formally recommended producers, I occasionally asked my business partner to sit next to me to help with the technical aspects of virtual training or webinars. Sometimes, I asked a client contact to serve in this assistive role. Partnering with a producer helps virtual training be successful, whether it’s managing time, assisting with multiple tasks, or even carrying out facilitative tasks.

Time Management

Carefully managing time throughout your virtual training session is a must. Virtual training pioneer Jennifer Hofmann identifies time management as a critical competency to becoming a masterful facilitator, noting how surprisingly difficult this can be for facilitators. As Hofmann (2019) explains, online time management is the “ability to manage a virtual event in such a way that learners are engaged and desired outcomes are met, and the event is kept to a strict timetable.”

I find that if I thoughtfully prepare how long each section might take ahead of time in my facilitator guide (for example, the opening exercise, a breakout, or a whiteboard activity), I can always check time estimates as I go. This tells me quickly if I need to speed up or slow down without learners ever knowing. I have found it’s helpful to include the actual time in the guide; for example, 10–10:10 a.m. The challenge with listing time by minutes (such as 5 minutes or 8 minutes) is that with a quick glance, you are not able to gain a sense of whether you’re behind, ahead, or on schedule. In the moment, you do not want to spend the mental capacity to figure out if it’s been 10 minutes since you began an activity. Additionally, always build in a buffer of at least 10 minutes overall to give yourself wiggle room as needed. Keeping the time visible on a device, nearby clock, or smartwatch is also essential.

Skilled facilitators can also adjust estimated time on the fly as needed. For example, if participants are engaged in rich group discussion, you might make the impromptu decision to give them more time for the discussion. A novice facilitator might prefer to stick to the planned, original time estimates and cut off a rich but extended discussion. However, an intermediate-to-advanced facilitator weighs learning as the higher priority. If you determine there is greater value in lengthening the discussion, you might decide to cut the next break shorter or remove an activity near the end.

Of course, you never want to say aloud “We really need to move on now, we’ve already spent too much time discussing this,” or “We have a lot to cover, so we’ll have to leave it there.” This is the type of comment that kills conversation and would hinder future discussions with the group. Keep the juggling of time, content, and schedule behind the curtain. As Walt Disney World has taught their cast members, keep backstage items backstage. This helps make it a better experience for guests. Remember, we are creating positive experiences for learners.

Partnering with a producer makes this much easier to manage. Referencing a shared facilitator guide makes it easier to follow estimated times for each instructional segment. The pre-estimated timed segments help you adjust on the fly as needed. As mentioned previously, some of my producers even send me a private chat when we’re getting close to the end in case I need to wrap up an activity quicker.

Task Switching and Multitasking

There is no doubt that synchronous training requires managing multiple activities concurrently. This can be taxing on the facilitator. The good news is that the more experience you gain facilitating online learning events, the more automated some of the rote tasks will become (such as scanning chat, saving a whiteboard, or quickly finding the annotation toolbar). The more experience you have doing these activities, the less cognitive thinking they require. This, then, frees up precious thinking resources for other tasks that require more mental processing such as explaining your visuals, reading particpants’ responses, and listening to their questions. When facilitators try to manage all of this at once, they can experience cognitive overload, which is “the amount of mental work imposed on working memory” (Clark and Kwinn 2007). It can feel overwhelming and becomes too much to handle mentally. (Cognitive load, of course, also applies to learners, which will be addressed more in chapter 8.)

Another term that some reference is task switching. This is when the brain focuses heavily on a single task like writing a paper, but then a distraction comes up where they must switch to a different task and then come back to the original task. Concentration level and flow take a hit when returning to the original task. When we train online, we’re not so much deeply focused on a single task, but rather scanning the dashboard and keeping abreast of all that is happening. For example, you might be monitoring chat, watching the hand raises in a participant panel, sharing your screen with visuals, talking aloud, and annotating your slides. How can a facilitator manage all this at once?

Well, when your hands are full, you hire more hands. This is the beauty of partnering with a producer. When you work with a producer, you offload many of these tasks. For example, you can ask your producer to pull up the polls and broadcast results, let you know when there are key questions in chat you missed, help learners with technical issues, and bring up the whiteboard. If they mainly assist with technical issues, virtual training expert Kassy LaBorie (2021) refers to them as a technical producer. They earn their worth in gold assisting you. At the end of all virtual training sessions, I always give a shout-out to our producer because it truly is a partnership. You might say something like, “And special thanks as always to Maria, our producer, for keeping everything running smoothly today.”

Advanced Functions for Producers

Sometimes producers can even take on more advanced roles beyond the technical aspects. If they are a seasoned producer, this enables them to share more in the facilitation responsibilities. Kassy LaBorie (2021), in Producing Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars: Master the Technology to Engage Participants, calls this type of producer a facilitative producer. When I work with seasoned producers, for example, I ask them to pop into different breakouts to check on group progress if they’re also familiar with the topic, because with the two of us, we can cover more ground and at least one of us can visit every breakout. I have also worked with a producer who had a high-end camera and a very professional, blurred backdrop so I asked her ahead of time if we could use her as an exemplar when we talked about professional backgrounds for an online presence class. So, a producer’s level of involvement depends on their experience and familiarity with the training topic. Regardless, partnering with a producer is a recommended best practice.

Summary

When I referred to a client’s experience at the beginning of this chapter, she had accurately assessed that online facilitators have “a lot going on.” Facilitators truly do wear many hats. We play multiple roles: facilitator, observer, connector, communicator, and time manager to name a few. As you continue to grow in your facilitation skill set, you’ll find many of the tasks become more automated, and therefore less taxing. Of course, partnering with a producer or co-facilitator can also help immensely with task sharing and overall execution.

There are many tips and techniques you can apply to keep learners engaged and elevate your facilitation skills. Overall, we want to help learners successfully navigate the black hole of sensory input, and we want to recognize, respect, and reward their participation. Skilled virtual facilitators guide learners to be co-creators of their own learning while deeply engaging them cognitively, emotionally, socially, and behaviorally.

Not only is it important to be a skilled facilitator, but it’s also important to build your on-camera facilitator presence. In the next chapter, we’ll look at what you can do to specifically build your on-camera competence.

As you apply these pro tips with continued practice, you will be on your way to becoming an expert in the online facilitation capability. Remember, you are the force that changes learners’ inertia. As skilled facilitators we can help participants transition from initial resistance to meaningful contribution. We do not force learners, but we slowly reward, nurture, and encourage their involvement in multiple ways. So, as you go forward, may the virtual facilitation force be with you and come out of you!

Pro Tips for Practicing your Online Facilitation Skills

TIP 19	Make the invisible audible by talking your task.
TIP 20	Acknowledge and address potential learner objections aloud at the time they might be thinking them.
TIP 21	Use announced silence to give learners brief spaces to complete activities or study complex visuals, and communicate beforehand when, why, and how long you’ll be silent.
TIP 22	Treat virtual public space as a conversational space for all.
TIP 23	Give learners a heads-up when they may be called upon to share.
TIP 24	Provide instructions three ways, three times for more involved activities.
TIP 25	Genuinely affirm learners’ contributions aloud, build on their responses, and where appropriate dig deeper.
TIP 26	Draw connections to learners’ previous comments by referring to them throughout.
TIP 27	Present multiple options to learners within a guided structure.
TIP 28	Increase learner agency by creating more opportunity for their voice to be heard and guided choice.
TIP 29	Help participants get past inertia by getting them involved right away.