Chapter 11
Mastering Media and Other Visuals
IN THIS CHAPTER
Selecting the best media or visual to do the job
Selecting and using visuals
Using powerful visuals that add to the learning
Exploring the possibilities in the other media: social
Looking like a pro using specific media techniques in training
A picture is worth a thousand words. Of course, this is a cliché, but it tells you exactly what this chapter is all about. I touch lightly on visuals in Chapter 5, but in this chapter, I focus entirely on visuals: what types are available to you, why you should use them, how to design them, and most important, how to use them with your learners.
Before you begin this chapter, consider the expertise you already have by using the self-evaluation form in Table 11-1.
How’d you do? If you’re thinking about upskilling, read on for a few tips and techniques.
TABLE 11-1 Evaluate Your Audiovisual Expertise
Use this scale to evaluate your expertise when using visuals in the classroom.
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Selecting the Best Visual to Do the Job
You have a number of choices available with regard to the type of media — everything from computer displays to paper. The media should support your training session and make it easier for the learner to acquire the skills or knowledge intended.
Knowing what’s available
PowerPoint presentations have taken over the training world. They are easy and fast to create. The tools to design them reside inside everyone’s laptop. They can be changed or updated on the spot. They add color automatically and may include animation and sound effects, or video clips.
They may, however, also be boring, overused, and less effective than other forms of media and visuals that are available. This list of media and visual support provides an overview of what’s available to you:
- Computer projection systems: Such systems include PowerPoint presentations and SMART Boards. Both use computer technology to project images. PowerPoint presentations are convenient, and most trainers use the technology. Prezi is being used more. SMART Boards are a combination of a giant computer screen and a whiteboard on which you can write; your hand can act as a giant cursor to move items from one place to another.
- Videos: You may show a video clip to demonstrate a skill, illustrate behavior, or have an expert deliver content in a way that you could not. You may decide to show a video in its entirety or just a segment that makes the point. You may also use videos to record participants’ practice session, which allows them to critique themselves. Most people are their own best critics. Join the most recent trend and make your own videos.
- Participants’ Devices: Participants come to your class loaded with equipment: laptops; iPads or other tablets; phones and watches that connect to the Internet; wearable devices; pens that record action; and many other tools. Tap into this abundance of resources that your participants are usually happy to use.
Flip charts: Flip charts are large pads of newsprint mounted so that individual sheets can be torn off and hung on the wall or flipped over the top of the pad. The pad is mounted on a large easel about six feet high. Trainers can write on them with markers. Flip charts work well for creating on-the-spot lists, capturing ideas generated by the group, and creating real-time plans. They impart a sense of immediacy and spontaneity to the information presented. Flip charts are valuable when you’re called in to do some spur-of-the-moment facilitating.
Flip-chart packs of paper are available in a preglued format that acts like a giant sticky-note pad. Pages stick directly to the wall — no masking tape needed.- Whiteboards and magnetic boards: Whiteboards are making a comeback! In fact, you can use a new paint that has magnetic properties and cover an entire wall with it so that you can use magnets. In addition, some training rooms still have boards on walls or on a movable stand. They are useful for a small group to record ideas.
- Electronic whiteboards: This type of whiteboard is combined with a copier mechanism. It translates whatever you write on its 3-x-5-foot surface to an 8½-x-11-inch piece of paper. Participants can each walk out the door with whatever ideas were captured on the board.
- Props:Props usually don’t plug in, turn on, make sounds, show animation, or have glitches. They may include samples, models, demonstrations, or any article that a trainer holds to drive a point home. Although props have nothing to do with media, they may be great visuals and can capture or refocus attention. They may serve as a metaphor for any aspect of the content. The best prop I use is a $20 bill that I borrow from the leader in the group. I ask whether participants can provide examples of the cost of waste (arising from poor communication, poor quality, or whatever the topic is) and begin to rip it up as I restate the examples and throw the pieces on the floor. It drives the point home that waste costs money. By the way, I always return the leader’s $20 offline. It’s a small price to make an important point.
I examine augmented reality, virtual reality, and other futuristic media in Chapter 18.
Understanding the benefits
The benefits of visuals to you and your participants are clear. Your participants learn through their five senses. Research suggests that the proportion of learning that occurs visually is much higher than the other four senses combined. The percentage of learning that takes place through each sense is approximately as follows:
- Taste: 1 percent
- Touch: 1.5 percent
- Scent: 3.5 percent
- Aural: 11 percent
- Visual: 83 percent
Most of us have visual preferences for how we learn, which means that adding visual support to your verbal message is a major benefit to your participants. By using visuals in your training sessions, participants grasp the information faster, understand it better, and retain it longer.
Recalling some of the key guidance from Ruth Clark in Chapter 5 with regard to visuals, evidence demonstrates that you should
- Use relevant visuals to illustrate your content
- Keep visuals simple depending on your goal
- Explain complex visuals
- Avoid seductive visuals
Be sure that your visuals add value and make it easier for your participants to learn.
Creating Your Own Powerful Video
Have you joined the latest craze of creating your own instructional videos? Doing so can be fun, satisfying, and practical. Recording your own videos to use as examples, models, demonstrations, or another teaching purpose can be done on your smartphone. After you catch the recording bug, you may want to invest in a camera. You will likely be able to purchase one for your needs under $500. In the meantime, practice with your smartphone.
The reason you might want to create your own instructional videos is that video may be more effective for learning than many people realize. Recent research examined 105 prior studies with a combined sample of more than 7,000 college students. It found that students who received video instruction outperformed their in-person class grade only slightly — moving from a grade B to a B+. However, students who paired video with the in-person class outperformed the in-person learning even more, moving from a B to an A. One reason that video learning is effective is that it edits out much of the irrelevant content. Videos are more concise. Also, learners have more control because they can skip the parts of the content they don’t need.
Videos can be a useful tool to accompany your ILT. You can use videos for follow-up, reminders, refreshers, or introductions. The best part of using videos is that after you have recorded something that meets your needs, you won’t need to create it again.
If you haven’t experimented with this do-it-yourself trend, try it out. Who knows? You may be a budding Spielberg. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Review other examples. YouTube offers an easy way to scrutinize how others make videos. You can learn from the good ones as well as from those that are less than stellar. Don’t watch for content; instead, watch how the shots are framed or what effective editing looks like.
Go for engaging and concise. Aim for a bit of drama to get your point across quickly. A short demonstration can be less than a minute long or up to 4 minutes if necessary.
Keep it short. Nothing makes me crazier than when I’m watching a video about a new recipe and the video goes on for more than 2 minutes about how to beat an egg! Just say, “Beat the darn egg!” That shouldn’t take more than 5 seconds!- Write a script. Keep it succinct, even if it consists only of bullet points to start. Writing a script will help you get organized.
- Storyboard your plan. A storyboard is an outline of what each scene will cover. A good storyboard provides an idea of the action that will occur and where your camera should be placed.
- Plan an engaging video. You’re creating a video to help your learners; therefore, you want to engage them long enough to watch it. This means focusing on content that is relevant to them, keeping it simple but learning good recording techniques such as focusing on headroom, keeping your camera stable with a tripod, getting close shots, and paying attention to all the surroundings.
- Keep the background simple. If you’re demonstrating something, you want the attention to be on the demo, not a busy backdrop — no matter how beautiful it might be.
- Lighting is critical. Lighting is the one factor that can affect the professional results of the video the most. Shoot a trial to see whether you’re satisfied with the amount and kind of light available.
- Record horizontally. If you use your smartphone, place it on a tripod for stability and record it horizontally.
- Use a mic. Using a mic is one of the most important things you can do to ensure quality.
- Be yourself. If you’re speaking on the video, a conversational voice with a bit of enthusiasm is most engaging. As you decide what you will record, keep it simple. Keeping it practical and straightforward adds a level of authenticity that resonates with your learners.
- Don’t ramble. Plan your presentation and record your vocal part.
- Edit your video. Most videos can benefit from some editing. This may be in the form of clipping or simply adding visual cues or slides.
- Add captions. You will probably need an opening and a closing caption. Use bullets to make other points or emphasize steps. Leave words up long enough to read through twice.
- Get feedback. Share your final product with a candid colleague to learn what you can do better.
Acquiring the skills to create a high-quality instructional video doesn’t happen instantly, but requires some trial and error and a willingness to learn and innovate. For more information, check out Jonathan Halls, a former BBC learning executive, who offers several books: Rapid Video Development for Trainers; Rapid Media Development for Trainers; and Video Script Writing.
Ensuring That Visuals Add to the Learning
In the “Knowing what’s available” section, earlier in this chapter, I list several types of visuals and equipment that you may want to use in your training session. In this section, I examine situations in which each type of media or visual performs best. You may also decide to use visuals in other situations, depending on your learning objectives and your training session’s curriculum.
If you’re conducting a virtual ILT, you’ll be more limited in your options. On the other hand, if you’re conducting a video conference, you can use all the options.
Computer projection systems
PowerPoint presentations are useful for guiding your participants through the training session. They will probably be the foundation of your media presentation with others added, as appropriate. You use PowerPoint or Prezi slides to do the following, at a minimum:
- Provide the outline to the session
- Cue that you’re switching to another module or topic
- Provide introductions to topics
- Present new information in any format
- Present processes in sequential order
- Show relationships; for example, pros and cons, or parts to a whole
- Display charts and graphs; for example, bar graphs for change over time or as a comparison, or pie charts to display the division of a whole
- Show pictures of new products
- Illustrate sketches and diagrams
- Diagram organizational relationships
- Give directions to complete an activity during the session
- Offer mini quizzes or challenges
- Show cartoons (with appropriate copyright approval) or mindbenders
- Exhibit video clips of a message from top management or subject matter experts (SMEs)
- Close the session with a statement, call to action, quote, reference to the introduction, or a rhetorical question
Nancy Duarte, author of Slide:ology (O’Reilly, 2008), Illuminate (Penguin, 2016), and Resonate (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), is recognized as one of the top leaders in presentation design. Her books demonstrate how to create visuals that connect with your learners, and graphics that enable them to process information easily.
SMART Boards have a more unique use. They are not appropriate for a large group because most have only a small screen. Still, they may be useful for some of the same things. Because of their capability to interact with you, SMART Boards may also be used to
- Create or revise a document as a small group
- Brainstorm
- Problem solve
- Change a process
Videos
Videos work well when re-creating a scenario in the training session is difficult. You may show a clip to do any of the following:
- Demonstrate a skill
- Illustrate behavior
- Deliver content by an expert
- Set up a scenario
- Show the wrong way
You may tape participants’ practice session to
- Allow participants to review and critique their own skills
- Obtain feedback from other participants and the facilitator
- Facilitate comparison to later-developed, more improved skills
Participant devices
Participants are going to bring their devices with them anyway, so you may as well find opportunities to put them to good use. Personal devices might include laptops, iPads or other tablets, phones and watches that connect to the Internet, wearable devices, pens that record action, and many other tools. Here are some ideas of how to involve participants’ devices:
- Record a practice session
- Conduct an Internet scavenger hunt
- Allow new employees to locate information on the company intranet
- Download TED Talks or other defined resources as learning tools
- Send Twitter follow-up content after the session
- Download tips and hints for ease of implementation after the session
- Encourage participants to take photos of flip charts or other group work
- Record an activity and encourage critique afterward
When facilitating a presentation skills class, a tennis lesson, a debate team, or anything that entails a visible or verbal skill, utilize the recording device that participants have on their tablets, phones, pens, or other items. Have someone else record the practice session on the individual’s device so that they have a record for the future.
Flip charts
Flip charts are a reliable, no-computer-glitch, flexible tool that trainers find useful. They are the only practical tool that allows the trainer to capture information as people discuss the information. The trainer can remove the pages and hang them on the wall. Flip charts are portable and serve as an instant resource. One drawback, however, is that flip charts are best for groups of 40 or fewer participants. Otherwise, flip charts are useful for many other situations. Here are some specific ways to use flip charts:
- Use for spur-of-the moment facilitation requests
- Record input and ideas generated by the group
- Create real-time plans
- Track action items or next steps generated during the session
- Brainstorm ideas
- Reinforce or supplement a presentation
- Track participants’ questions or concerns
- Make a decision by voting with sticky-back flags
- Prioritize a list of items by having the participants vote with stickers
- Use in small groups to organize their results
- Keep as an emergency backup when any technical equipment fails
Boards of all types (including electronic)
Whiteboards, magnetic boards, and all other boards can be useful in these situations:
- The same situations as a flip chart
- Building a description step by step
- Holding, displaying, or moving sticky-back notes for discussions
- Creating an affinity diagram by a group
- Grouping ideas into categories
Props
Props include a diverse assortment of three-dimensional items that the participants use to discuss or practice with. They may be used as practical hands-on support to
- Display samples of product, errors, and so on for participants to examine
- Introduce models of actual equipment, locations, and buildings
- Practice skills using actual tools, equipment, or materials
- Demonstrate a correct process or procedure
- Use as a metaphor to make a point visually
- Make a closing statement
Presenting Like a Pro
A trainer is a professional. Using visuals can enhance your image and increase the confidence that participants will have in you. On the other hand, if you don’t have professionally designed visuals, if you haven’t practiced, and if you don’t know the best way to use them, your participants may lose confidence in you. Visuals are effective only when
- They are relevant to the subject.
- They are visible and understandable to the participants.
Use the tips in the following section to ensure that you look like the professional you are. First, attend to the general tips that are useful for all visuals and media. Following those tips, you find guidelines for using each of the types of media discussed.
Using visuals in general
Try some of the upcoming tips to ensure that you provide the best learning experience for your participants.
Make sure that participants can see the visuals
Some of the best presentations are doomed for failure if the participants are unable to see the visuals. These tips will prevent that from happening:
- Don’t block the view.
- Reveal only one point at a time.
- Limit the number of ideas on one visual to four.
- Use a pointer or laser pointer to focus attention.
- Turn projection lights off when not using visuals.
PowerPoint presentations can dissolve to a black slide so that participants aren’t distracted. You can also force a black screen by touching the B key.
Orient the visuals for the learner
It’s helpful to imagine that you’re one of the participants and are seeing the visuals for the first time while considering these tips:
- Tell learners what they’re looking at: “Here are four criteria for perception checks.”
- A good visual may not need words to describe it.
- Allow enough time for people to take notes.
Be well practiced
It should be comfortable and natural to use your visuals. That comes with practice. Here are ways to be ready with your visuals:
- You know how to operate the equipment.
- You have prepositioned your equipment and organized your supplies beforehand.
- You have arranged the room so that you don’t have to step between a projection light and the screen.
- You turn off the projector at the end of the last slide.
- After using the equipment, you leave it alone until after the training session has finished. You owe your time to your participants.
Ensure that your visuals enhance your performance rather than replace it
Your visuals should not take center stage, but they should help to explain or clarify the concepts you’re presenting. This is what Ruth Clark means when she refers to avoiding “seductive” visuals!
- Visuals should become an extension of you as you use them to explain the content of your presentations.
- Visuals share a common element; for example, a graphic, a color, or a picture.
Be prepared for an emergency
Emergencies that occur during the presentation don’t have to be a complete disaster. These ideas may help to reduce the effect on your participants:
- Have an extra bulb, an adaptor plug, and marking pens.
- Know some basic troubleshooting tactics.
- Know where to obtain an extension cord or travel with one.
- Have an alternative plan if the electricity fails.
- Call a break as you address the emergency.
And finally, in the words of that famous trainer, Anonymous: “Keep it simple, keep it simple, keep it simple.”
Using specific media and visuals
Perhaps you have read the preceding general tips to ensure success with using the media and visual. This section offers a few more guidelines for each specific media type.
Projector guidelines
Keep flexibility in mind when using projected PowerPoint. To design PowerPoint slides that incorporate effective techniques, flip to Chapter 5. In addition, try some of these guidelines:
- Email the presentation to yourself as a backup.
- Turn off instant messenging, Outlook, and other communication tools loaded on the computer.
- Don’t overuse animation; select one type and use it throughout a module. I don’t recommend sound effects, but if you use them, keep them brief and make sure they add impact.
- Use a wireless advance control and try it out ahead; have extra batteries available for the control.
- Set up before the training begins; review the suggestions in Chapter 9.
- Prepare your participants for what they should be learning and seeing.
- Allow reading time per slide. Viewers’ eyes should have time to move over the entire visual but not become “fixed” on it. Interject your comments accordingly; otherwise, hypnosis may set in.
- Set up your computer so that you can easily glance at the computer screen, not at the screen on the wall.
- Your slides should be designed to help your learners focus on the content. Use one primary transition method; select graphics or stock photos whose theme is related to the presentation; and reveal text one line at a time.
Video guidelines
Use video judiciously. If you include a film clip, take care that it uses up the right amount of time. Also, always preview the video before showing it in your session. Here are more things to consider:
- Plan for Internet connection if you have an embedded clip.
- Verify that there are no copyright or intellectual property rights to consider.
- Cue the segment to the exact starting point.
- Check the sound.
Before playing the video, provide an introduction that tells why you’re showing it.
Trainers sometimes encounter participants who claim they can’t relate to a setting or video because it’s not the same occupational setting as the one they are in. Diffuse this issue in your introduction by stating up front that they will see a setting that’s different from theirs, but it shouldn’t make a difference because the goal is to learn a technique that’s transferable to any setting.- Show only the portion needed to make the point; provide a brief explanation about what happens up to this point.
- Before you show the clip, tell participants what to do during the viewing; for example, take notes or look for a specific behavior.
- Test to be sure, but you will rarely need to turn the lights off.
- Follow the viewing with at least one specific question to get participants quickly involved again.
- Allow for discussion and highlight key points.
- Ensure that participants are clear about the objectives of the video and what they should have learned.
If you’re actually recording, remember these guidelines for a smooth training session:
- Test the camera or device beforehand; learn zoom, turning on/off, tripod adjustment, and other techniques.
- Determine whether you need an additional person to assist with the recording.
- Be prepared for cameras that automatically shut off after a time period.
- Do a microphone check beforehand.
Participant devices
Involving participants’ devices is a great way to ensure buy-in from your learners. Encourage them to turn their devices on instead of turning them off. What a novel idea! Here are some tips:
- Always ask for volunteers.
- Create small groups for activities so that everyone doesn’t need to have a device to use.
- Do a spot check to ensure that everyone in the room has access to a device, whether their own or by looking on with someone else.
- If participants will need to connect with the Internet, be certain that you know the password.
- Ensure that participants have checklists or guidelines if they are to visit another site.
- Assign a clear timeline for the completion of the activity.
- Post URLs on a flip chart or at the tables to respond to repeated questioning.
Flip-chart guidelines
Flip charts may sit patiently waiting in the corner of a training room. When you pull one out, however, be prepared with these guidelines to look like a pro:
- Charts for displaying information should be to your dominant side; charts for writing on should be to your nondominant side (which ensures that your back is to the fewest participants when you’re writing on the chart).
Write on every other page so that participants can’t read through to the next page; this approach also gives a page to absorb pen marks that may bleed through.
Select and stage the color of marker you will use before the session. Mr. Sketch makes the best markers for flip charts. They don’t bleed through the paper, are washable (even out of your clothes), and, as a bonus, smell great!- Bend the lower corners (two pages together if you’ve written on every other page) closest to where you will stand up so that you can reach down without looking to turn a page.
- Practice rolling the pages over to the back of the easel.
- Use sticky-back tabs to locate specific information on predesigned charts.
- Don’t try to talk, write, and spell at the same time.
After writing, pause and turn toward your participants before you begin to speak.
Clear the visual: Provide an overview of what’s on the entire page in one succinct statement before beginning discussion on one individual point. Giving an overview helps participants stay focused as you explain the content.Talk to your participants, not to the chart, using a touch, turn, tell process.
Lined pads are available if your writing strays from horizontal.- Put the marker down when you’re not writing.
- Turn pages out of sight when they’re no longer pertinent.
- When appropriate, tear off sheets and hang them on the walls with masking tape or, better yet, blue painter’s tape, which is safer for paint.
- Place two-inch strips of tape on the back side of the easel to use to tape pages to the wall.
Hang your charts in a straight horizontal line — not going uphill or downhill. To do this, the first page must be precisely vertical and perpendicular to the floor so that you can use its edge as your guide as you hang the rest. You can accomplish a straight line in at least three ways. You can position clear tape to the wall as a guide for the first chart. Or if wallpaper is in place, align the chart to the seam or pattern. When all else fails, grasp the chart with both hands at an equal distance from the top of the page, stand with your feet flat on the floor, reach the same height with both hands, and attach it.
To complete the task, step back and eyeball the first chart. Make any adjustments needed. With a little practice, you’ll be able to hang charts perpendicularly without any guide at all.
Props guidelines
You use props whenever possible to make a point or to give participants hands-on practice. Here are a few tips to make using them easier:
- Keep props out of sight until you’re ready to have participants interact with them (under a skirted table works well).
- Stretch, be creative, and find the link that allows a prop to be a metaphor for key points in your training.
- Have props readily available for use and touch during breaks.
Take a trip to your local dollar or hardware store to find props and workshop themes that help your participants learn faster and retain longer than any other media or tool you can use. I’ve listed a few prop ideas in Chapters 5 and 6.
Exploring the Other Media: Social
Maslow had it right when he suggested that people feel safe and secure when they are connected to other people and are included in a group. This feeling of belonging enables participants to more easily face the challenges set before them. When they are learning with others rather than alone, trying something new may seem easier. Certainly, small-group activities that trainers use in the classroom (or breakout rooms in the virtual classroom) are social events and the start of social learning.
Social media technology is easy to use, and today’s tools empower both the trainers and the learners. Web 2.0 technology has sent trainers in a new direction of using social media tools and social networking activities in the following ways:
- Organizations benefit by growing communities through social networking.
- Employees use social media tools to obtain information straight from the source.
- Trainers use social networking tools to continue the development of employees.
- Social media extends training and development beyond the virtual and traditional classrooms.
What social media tools have you used for learning? Dozens are available: Twitter, Facebook, wikis, LinkedIn, blogs, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram, and Internet forums on any and all topics.
The greatest advantage of social media tools is that they bridge geographical gaps around the world. Imagine that Ken Blanchard is visiting your organization to discuss ethical leadership. Skype or Google Hangouts can be set up in conference rooms in Bogotá, Beijing, Berlin, and Baltimore so that others can join in.
Using social media and technology isn’t that different from creating effective classroom training. Imagine that you’re creating a blended learning scenario and wanted to continue to share data between sessions. Can you
- Send short messages through your Twitter account reminding participants of individual key points they learned, adding a short tip?
- Post an article on Facebook and ask participants to read and comment on it before your next virtual session?
- Ask participants to use Instagram to illustrate how they are doing or what they need help with?
- Create a post on your blog asking participants to share the most enlightening concept they learned yesterday during the training session?
- Ask participants to record a one-minute video using their cellphone that depicts an example of one of the hazards we discussed yesterday?
Consider all the possibilities that social media offers and the possibilities for continuous learning.
Looking for more ideas? Jane Bozarth’s book, Show Your Work: The Payoffs and How-Tos of Working Out Loud (Wiley, 2014) is just what you need to get started. Identifying ways to use social media tools to extend your participants’ learning beyond your ILT classroom is one more exciting role for you to implement. Read about some of Jane Bozarth’s ideas in the sidebar.
Hot Tips for a Cool Ending
The tips listed in this section are ideas I’ve picked up from the best trainer of all: experience.
- When you’re given a flip chart that has lots of ragged edges at the top from trainers who didn’t know how to tear the paper off the charts, simply flip the first page to the back to cover all the rough tears.
- When conducting a training session at a hotel, be sure to ask whether your room will be used that evening for another group. If it’s being used, recognize that when you return in the morning, your visuals and equipment will be moved and perhaps even discarded.
- All markers are not created equal. Bring your own; do not depend on someone else’s markers.
Ensure that your visuals are the highest quality possible.
If you must apologize for any of your visuals, get rid of them.- Most important: Have a backup plan. The greatest cause of problems in training sessions relates to the media, visuals, or both. Have a backup plan in case something goes wrong.
Use pictures or charts instead of words whenever possible. As Will Rogers said, “People’s minds are changed through observation and not through argument.”