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Establishing learning goals is important to ensure the lecture is well-prepared before delivering it to the learners. There are several things to consider when preparing a lecture that students will easily retain. It is not a good idea to cover too much material as it can become difficult for learners to retain the new information. Make sure that the lecture is straight to the point and focuses on analyzing issues. This will encourage critical thinking and discussions. Make the lecture more engaging by adding interactive activities such as breaking the class into groups, including short videos, or having learners answer a poll.

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Lecturing Strategies | Center for Teaching & Learning

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Lecture-style learning can work well for communicating course goals and content. If you are to use a lecture as a way to communicate information to your students, consider implementing the following tips:

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8 Evidence-Based Tips to Make Your Lectures More Engaging—and Memorable

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8 Evidence-Based Tips to Make Your Lectures More Engaging—and Memorable

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A good lecture is well thought out and planned before being delivered. This includes having students become familiar with the topic before receiving the lecture. A few ways to do this are to have them take a pre-test, ask an engaging question that encourages discussion, or play an introductory video before the lecture. These help elicit curiosity and, in turn, attract the learners' attention.

It is crucial to provide short breaks every 30 minutes. Learners often struggle to pay attention during class, which affects their ability to retain what they are learning. Breaks will help prevent cognitive overload.

Another important factor to make lectures more engaging is to provide visual aids and infographics when applicable. Students learn better with visual aids than lectures without visual aids.

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When done right, lectures remain an invaluable tool for building student knowledge. Here's the research on how to optimize your time in front of the class.

"Lecture is not a dirty word," writes education professor Jess Gregory, pushing back on the idea that only student-centered learning has merit. While it's true that lengthy, uninterrupted "sage on the stage"-style monologues are increasingly outdated, guiding students toward specific learning goals by using a whiteboard and prepared notes is often the most efficient means to build content knowledge and tackle complex topics. It's really a matter of getting the right pedagogical mix.

There is a sweet spot, according to the research. In a large-scale 2017 analysis of PISA scores for over half a million students, researchers concluded that "the students with the best outcomes receive a blend of inquiry-based and teacher-directed instruction," with direct instruction making up a slightly greater part of a successful learning mix. Meanwhile, a 2014 study found that when students attended classes that emphasized traditional lectures, they were 1.5 times more likely to fail the course than their peers in classrooms that buttressed lectures with a diverse range of activities such as low-stakes quizzes, group discussions, and projects.

While direct instruction and lectures are not entirely synonymous-teachers impart knowledge directly during group activities and demonstrations, for example-the lecture remains a useful mainstay of direct instruction in classrooms around the world. Still, lectures have some obvious drawbacks: They can rapidly become boring or overwhelm students with information, causing them to lose focus and tune out. Here are eight tips to make your lectures more engaging, and the material more memorable, based on the research.

1. Review Background Knowledge

It's hard for students to engage with your lecture if they can't make sense of it to begin with. In a 2019 study, researchers discovered that student comprehension of a topic was severely hampered if they didn't meet a "knowledge threshold"-being unfamiliar with 59 percent of terms in the topic resulted in "compromised" comprehension.

A simple review of key vocabulary terms and concepts before the lecture is a useful scaffold, but there are more structured ways to bolster background knowledge. Before jumping into new material, Jeanne Wanzek, a former elementary school teacher and current professor of education at Vanderbilt University, suggests a " comprehension canopy," a review activity that involves making connections to previously covered material before posing a broad, engaging question that hooks students. You can also show an introductory video to help build interest in a topic, and then debrief with a short discussion before jumping into your lecture.

Finally, pretests are surprisingly effective, a 2018 study shows. When students are quizzed before they're exposed to new material, they make the kinds of productive mistakes that pique curiosity and lead them to seek out the correct answers as the lesson unfolds.

2. Take Breaks-They're More Important Than We Think

The longer you talk, the more students will struggle to pay attention. In a 2016 study, researchers concluded that elementary students were unable to focus for more than 10 minutes. Middle and high school students can hold on a little longer, but a landmark 2011 study reveals the same linear relationship between time and retention: Material presented earlier in a lecture is retained more reliably than material presented later.

Brief brain breaks -such as a short bout of exercise, a mindfulness break, or a fun off-topic activity to stimulate conversation-can reset students' attention and provide space to process new learning.

Such breaks are more fundamental to learning than we assume. In a 2021 study, neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health concluded that "'much, if not all' skill learning occurs offline during rest rather than during actual practice." After learning a new skill, downtime allows the brain to process the information, resulting in improved skill acquisition and memory consolidation. Instead of cooling off, brain activity actually spiked during breaks: The researchers observed a 20-fold increase in neural activity between the hippocampus and neocortex, brain regions responsible for memory and higher cognitive functioning.

3. Check In to Make Sure You're Getting Through

Periodically, take a few minutes to check for student understanding. These probing exercises help unearth gaps in student understanding, briefly change the dynamics of your lecture, and provide an opportunity to review the materials and make the information stick.

You can try quick dipsticks like the popular Muddy Moment, during which you ask students, "What about this information so far frustrates or confuses you?" or ask students to use hand gestures like an up, down, or sideways thumb to signal their understanding of a concept.

Brief, low-stakes quizzes are also extremely effective. In a 2014 study, middle and high school students who took practice tests shortly after a lesson scored an average of 18 percentage points higher than their peers who didn't-the equivalent of almost two full letter grades. When quizzing, it's better to get all students to respond and to ask a mix of questions, ranging from factual to higher-order complex ones, researchers suggest in a 2013 study, because "repeatedly asking the same type of questions might intimidate students"-or bore them.

4. Slow It (Way) Down

It's easy to fall victim to the curse of knowledge, writes high school teacher Christopher Reddy. You may be an expert in the subject you're teaching, which can lead to assumptions about the clarity of your lessons. Try putting yourself in the shoes of your students, and explicitly walk them through connections that may be obvious to you.

Every new concept requires students to grapple with new vocabulary, connect information to previously learned material, and then formulate a coherent view of the topic. "A major threat to learning during lecture is cognitive overload, which occurs when the cognitive demands of the situation exceed students' cognitive capacities," explains psychology professor William Cerbin in a 2018 study, pointing to the "sheer volume of new information in lectures" as a common source of strain.

Students will follow your lecture at different paces-many will still be mulling information as you introduce a brand-new concept-so avoid going too fast, and build in pauses to let them catch up, ask questions, finish their notes, and process the material.

5. Provide Recorded Versions of Lectures

Traditional lectures can create a bottleneck, says high school math teacher Kareem Farah. "One size does not fit all in learning; there's no replay, rewind, or fast-forward button in a lecture; and a large group of students are all dependent on one teacher to access learning."

So instead of lecturing in front of his class, Farah creates his own instructional videos. Because student engagement drops after the 6-minute mark, he chunks videos so that each one covers a single learning objective or task, and to ensure that students aren't just passively watching his lectures, he embeds questions throughout the video using Edpuzzle.

Farah's approach-which can be used to replace or merely supplement in-class lectures-is based on a large body of research showing that instructional videos have a significant impact on student learning, largely because they are flexible and self-paced. In a 2022 study, for example, researchers discovered that the presence of a simple pause button on a video may "prevent cognitive overload if the complexity of the video increases." Meanwhile, a 2021 study found that while in-person lectures were often riddled with digressions and distractions, videos were condensed and thus "more time efficient."

6. Incorporate Visual Aids and Graphic Organizers

Lecturers can become too reliant on words-a mistake that may lower engagement and comprehension. Sprucing up your lecture by presenting information in multiple ways, such as verbally and visually, can help students see connections more clearly. Imagine trying to explain how an engine works without a visual aid: What may take a few minutes to explain verbally takes a few seconds with a diagram. In a 2015 study, students who listened to a physics lecture and were given visual aids scored nearly 70 percent higher on a follow-up test than their peers who listened to the lecture without the visual aids.

In addition to visual ways of representing information, you can also organize lecture information in different ways to boost student understanding. For example, while a model of the solar system can help students remember the order of planets, an anchor chart can serve as a reference point to help students learn the differences between terrestrial planets, gas giants, and ice giants.

7. Relate the Work to Students' Lives

Students are more receptive to lectures when they see their backgrounds and cultures reflected in the materials used in class.

In a 2019 study, researchers discovered that Black students were more responsive to lectures when the materials included clear references to Black people-leading to academic performance that was almost a full letter grade better than that of their Black peers who were exposed to materials that focused on White people. A 2014 study, meanwhile, demonstrated that a lack of diversity in the role models featured in school signaled who did and didn't belong, revealing a blind spot that had "far-reaching consequences for students' educational choices and achievement."

Before lecturing, audit your prepared materials and consider whether they reflect the diversity of your classroom. You can use a student interest survey to determine student passions and then incorporate relatable materials into your lecture-articles, song lyrics, speeches, or short video clips, for example.

8. Be Yourself-and the Rest Will Follow

Be careful with tone and disposition: Projecting an authoritative demeanor can come across as aloof and cause kids to tune you out. Students prefer teachers who have an authentic, conversational style, a 2017 study finds, and passion for the material goes a long way. Not only do students report richer, more meaningful learning in these environments-they're also more willing to invest time and effort into a lesson, stepping outside of their comfort zone to engage with the material.

Being authentic is more than just being yourself, however. It's also about signaling to your students that you care about their well-being. Avoid treating lectures as merely a transfer of information, and focus on making plenty of room for your common humanity: Promote dialogue, take brief breaks to relax together, ask questions about how students feel as you progress through lessons, and show concern if they struggle. "The process of teaching authentically need not be more complicated than making simple and direct statements regarding the level of concern and care that a teacher holds for their students," the researchers say.

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8 Evidence-Based Tips to Make Your Lectures More Engaging-and Memorable

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When done right, lectures remain an invaluable tool for building student knowledge. Here's the research on how to optimize your time in front of the class.

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To Lecture or Not to Lecture... How About Maybe?

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To Lecture or Not to Lecture... How About Maybe?

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There is always a way to customize and implement other learning strategies into a lecture according to the needs of learners. It is important to understand that no lecture is the same. All lectures are customized in some way because of the topic and the needs of learners. Lectures need to focus on important topics, provide an overview, and be straight to the point. It is also a great idea to include personal stories that are not present in course materials.

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The lecture has long been a topic of rich debate in the field of education. Questions about should we, or shouldn't we lecture persist. I'd like to argue that it's not quite so simple, and a reductionist approach to determining the value and use of lecturing eliminates insight into good pedagogical practice overall, and the real value of the tool itself as a mechanism to promote student learning. I'd like to adapt the lyrics of the recently popular Carly Rae Jepsen song "Call Me, Maybe?" to mirror much of the traditional approach to the lecture - and, as an aside in some small way, bring us all a bit closer to the pop culture knowledge and references of today's student:
Hey I just met you And this is crazy But here's my lecture So learn something, maybe? It's hard to teach you But here's my lecture So learn something ... maybe?
Yes, this would be a very bad thing. A strict lecture approach that does not consider integrating other pedagogical methods, and does not seek to customize learning for the students in this iteration of the class, will generally lead to failure on our part and by our students. However, if we trouble the lecture debate by not defining it as an either/or (e.g., either I lecture, or use active learning), and instead as a both/and (e.g., what happens if I couple together a lecture with active learning?) something very different emerges - an understanding and appreciation for the complexity of employing lecture as a teaching tool. The essential component of its success is in recognizing that there is no one way to lecture, and not all lectures need to look alike in form, function, or duration. In fact, there is an entire body of literature on "Interactive Lecturing" that brings together aspects of active learning, formative assessment, and others to move lecture away from a monologue towards a dialogic experience where students actively engage in the lecture component of the course.

Of the several definitions of interactive lecturing, I tend to favor the ones that frame it as student's involvement with the material or the content of a lecture so that they are no longer passive in the learning process (Snell, 1999; White, 2011). So, how does one do this?

A few quick examples may be: (1) Start class with a small group discussion that will inform the lecture, (2) Use of a response system (like clickers) interspersed throughout the lecture to gather feedback and assess the level of student understanding (ideally at a conceptual level), (3) Position the lecture as a precursor to class debates and reaction panels in which students will need to draw on the content presented.

Ultimately, it's about keeping the lecture flexible and not pre-programmed. It's about customizing it for the class, and for these students. It's about being clear in your objectives, and preparing students for their role in an interactive lecture - meaning, what do they need to do while you're lecturing in order to be prepared to engage in the interactive pieces. Do they need to pose questions, explain or utilize a concept, synthesize topics and analyze something novel, or even problem solve?

Every pedagogical method or approach has its pros and cons. This is why an integrated approach is ideal. By strategically balancing methods, as in interactive lecturing, we can draw on the pros, and reduce the cons. Lecture can be highly efficient, can draw focus amongst complex ideas, and is helpful in laying a knowledge foundation. But, it can be one-sided, passive, and in no way help skill development in actually doing the work. To help determine the most ideal spaces and places within a class to utilize a lecture, think about the value it can add at any given time. Is the value in laying a knowledge foundation that students can then use to actively build skills and applications? Is the value in explicating and synthesizing insights from an interactive discussion or group work (think mini lecture debrief to pull disparate ideas together cohesively)?

In deciding about the form and function of lecture in your class, situate the kinds of things you want students to do by the end of the course along the content-to-skill continuum. Lecture is great for content coverage, but lacking for skill development (I can tell you how to do the tango via vivid and illuminating lectures, but if my goal is for you to actually tango, the teaching method is a poor choice if it stands alone). In making the decision about when to lecture, what to lecture on, and how to lecture, use the following 6 ways and reasons to lecture as a helpful guide. If a lecture is doing anything else, stop and reflect on whether it's really the best tool for the job - you wouldn't use a screwdriver to drive in a nail if there's a hammer readily available.

Lectures can/should (list adapted from Brawer, Lenner & Chalk, 2012):

Let's stop blaming the tool for user-error, and start approaching our use of pedagogical methods more deliberately in ways that first determine the desired outcome, and then determine the best tool, or tools, to reach that outcome.

Still hesitant to let go of your grasp on the fully developed lecture course and embrace interactive lecturing? The most common source of trepidation I have heard stems from a very reasonable fear: "I (teacher) know this stuff and they (students) don't, so why let the students talk , and teach each other? They'll just end up more confused?" The fact remains, as a seasoned Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) once told me, "If the students aren't understanding it, or getting it wrong anyway, and all you're doing is lecturing, then it's obviously not working. So, what do you have to lose?"

References:

Brawer, J.R., Lener, M., Chalk, C. (2012). Student perspectives on the value of lectures. Medical Science Educator, 19 (3).

Snell, Y. (1999). Interactive lecturing: strategies for increasing participation in large group presentations. Medical Teacher , 21 (1), 37-42.

White, G. (2011). Interactive lecturing. The Clinical Teacher , 8 (4), 230-235.

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To Lecture or Not to Lecture... How About Maybe?

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The lecture has long been a topic of rich debate in the field of education. Questions about should we, or shouldn't we lecture persist. I'd like to argue that it's not quite so simple, and a reductionist approach to determining the value and use of lecturing eliminates insight into good pedagogical practice overall, and the real value of the tool itself as a mechanism to promote student learning.

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Presentation is a great teaching tool to use. However, a presentation can make or break a learning experience. To avoid cognitive overload, keep the presentation short, using the "rule of three," where you divide the topic into three main ideas. To interest the audience at the beginning of the presentation, do a warm-up activity by making the activity interactive.

To make the PowerPoint effective, make sure to face the audience and avoid reading texts in the PowerPoint verbatim. Use an image related to the topic or a chart relevant to interest the learner. Visuals help the audience retain information thoroughly and faster. It makes presentations interactive, memorable, and more enjoyable for them.

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A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. Using visual aids in presentations helps you pass a lot of information in a relatively shorter time. With the right visual aids, you can create the desired impact that you want your presentation to make on your audience. Learning how to use visual aids effectively will boost the quality of your presentations. We discuss some of the top visual aids in our recent YouTube video:

Visual Aid Definition

What are visual aids? Well, simply put, visual aids are things that your listening can look at while you give your speech or presentation. Visual aid mainly appeals to the audience's vision more than any other sensory organ.

Why use visuals for presentations?

Source: PropelGrowth

There is no such thing as a perfect speech. However, there are ways to make a presentation that is closer to perfection. What are they? Simple: Visual aids. Visual aids can bring life back into a tedious speech, and they take less time to come up with than long notes. In this article, we discuss how you can use visual aids effectively and conquer an audience. Before that, we discuss how visuals can help you achieve a better presentation.

They help you structure your work

Using the right types of visual aids can help you create a perfect picture of what you want your audience to see in your presentations. Instead of struggling to condense a lot of information into a long text, you can present your information in one straightforward image or video and save yourself the stress.

It is easier to engage the audience.

An excellent visual setup can help you elicit audience interest and sometimes their input in the presentation. When the audience is engaged, they tend to be more interested in the presenter's work. Also, an interactive audience can boost your morale and give you some encouragement.

You save time on your presentation.

When presenting, time is of the essence. So, you can effectively reduce your presentation time if you have useful visual aids, and use them properly. Would you prefer to go on and on for minutes about a topic when you can cut your speech down by inserting a few images or videos?

A visual aid is any material that gives shape and form to words or thoughts. Types of visual aids include physical samples, models, handouts, pictures, videos, infographics, etc. Visual aids have come a long way to now include digital tools such as overhead projectors, PowerPoint presentations, and interactive boards.

Different Types Of Creative Visual Aid Ideas To Awe Your Audience

Have you ever been tasked with making a speech or a presentation but don't know how to make it truly remarkable? Well, visual aid is your answer.

Giving a presentation or speech is hard. You have to strike a balance between persuading or informing your audience while also maintaining their attention. The fear of your audience slipping away is very real. And a visual aid can help.

We sent out a survey to the Orai community to vote for their preferred visual aid. Here are the top ten creative visual aid ideas that you could use in your next presentation:

Videos emerged as the clear winner in all our surveys. We ran these surveys on all our social handles and reached out to successful speakers. 27.14% of all respondents prefer visual aids because they are easy to understand, can be paused during a presentation, and can trigger all sorts of emotions. That being said, it is also very tough to create good videos. However, there are more and more tools available to help you create amazing videos without professional help.

Hans Rosling's TED talk, titled 'the best stats you have ever seen,' is one of the best speeches we have seen. He uses video pretty much for the speech 's entirety while not diverting the audience's attention away from him. He does all this while also bringing out some optimism for the future of the world. We highly recommend this TED talk to learn how to use videos effectively as a visual aid and inject some positivity into your lives during these trying times.

2. Demonstrations

Demonstrations, also known as demos, are undoubtedly among the most effective visual aids available to you for communication. You can use demonstrations in two ways. One as a hook to captivate your audience. Prof. Walter Lewin was famous for using demonstrations as a hook during lectures. In his most famous lecture, he puts his life in danger by releasing a heavy pendulum to show that a pendulum's period remains constant despite the mass.

Prof. Walter Lewin's Lecture

Demonstrations also can be used to show how some things are done or how some things work. We use demonstrations to showcase how Orai works and how you can use them to improve your speaking skills.

18.57% voted for demonstrations because they are unique, interactive, up close, and have a personal touch.

3. Roleplays

Jokes aside, why do you think comedy shows are memorable? You guessed it right. Roleplays! Role- play is any speaking activity when you either put yourself into somebody else's shoes or when you stay in your shoes but put yourself into an imaginary situation!

Nothing is more boring than a comedian delivering lines straight out of a joke book. Legendary comedians like George Carlin, Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, and Bill Burr use roleplays effectively and makes a mundane joke genuinely memorable.

Jokes aside, you can use roleplays in business presentations as well as speeches. Use real-life stories or examples in your role plays to make them authentic.

15.71% of the survey respondents voted for Roleplays because it is very close to real life and does not take the audience's attention away from the speaker.

With 12.86% of the votes, Props is number 4 on the list. A prop is any concrete object used in the delivery of a or presentation. Props add another dimension to our speech and help the listeners visualize abstract concepts like vision, milestones, targets, and expectations. It ties verbal to visual. That being said, introducing a prop into your speech or presentation should not seem forced. Use them sparingly to highlight the most critical points or stories in your address.

People voted for props because they feel that 3D visualization is much more useful than 2D visualizations. Props will make your presentations stand out because very few people use them today.

When we sent out the survey to the Orai community and some highly successful speakers, we were sure that slides/presentations come out on top. However, we were surprised by the results. With 12.86% votes, slides are number five on our list.

Presentations are effortless to create and, therefore, the most commonly used visual aid in business communications. Today, there are dozens of software programs available to help you make beautiful presentations. Microsoft PowerPoint is the pioneer in the space and continues to hold a significant market share.

Whatever is your preferred software, you need to keep your audience at the center while making presentations.

People described the ease of creation and the ability to incorporate other visual aids when asked why they chose presentations as their top visual aid.

The inclusion of Audio to this list can appear controversial. But it got a significant vote share in our survey and cannot be ignored. Audio can add a new dimension to your presentations where the audience is hearing your voice and other sound cues that can trigger various emotional responses. Especially when coupled with other visual aids, audio can be a powerful tool for making impactful presentations.

Audio aid is number six on our list, with 4.29% of the votes.

What is a handout?

A handout is a structured view of your presentation or speech that you can distribute amongst the audience.

What are the benefits of a handout?

Like how this blog gives more information than our YouTube video on the different visual aids, handouts can be used to furnish more information than your discourse itself. They give your audience something to take away after your presentation, making you and your presentation more memorable.

Are you going to be speaking about something overly technical? Then handouts are your friends. Handouts are also an opportunity to facilitate follow-ups if you specify your contact details.

Handouts are tied with whiteboards and got 2.86% of the votes in our survey.

8. Physical & Online Whiteboards

What is a whiteboard?

Traditionally, whiteboards are white, shiny, and smooth boards on which texts and diagrams are made using non-permanent markers. It is widely used in professional presentations, brainstorming sessions, and group discussions. Post-COVID, more and more companies are moving to online whiteboards. Online whiteboards are software that provides a space where individuals across the globe can collaborate online. Many companies have already moved beyond the whiteboard and started using online whiteboards for their meetings and discussions.

What are the benefits of a whiteboard?

A whiteboard helps listeners better visualize thoughts, concepts, and ideas. It is also a better alternative to the blackboard for a smaller audience as it is tidier and easier to use. Online whiteboards can be used instead of traditional whiteboards without being limited by space constraints. Online whiteboards will transform virtual meetings into a collaborative experience.

With 2.86% of the votes, whiteboards stand at number 8 on our list.

9. Blackboard

What is a blackboard?

Blackboard (aka chalkboard) is a surface on which texts or diagrams are made using chalk, made out of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate. Blackboards are typically used in classrooms for large groups of students.

What are the benefits of blackboards?

Blackboard is one of the foremost and most popular teaching aid. Blackboard is useful for teaching as it helps instructors move from easy to complex topics in an organized manner. Diagrams, symbols, charts, and drawings can be introduced between a discourse to bring life to rather dull topics. Blackboards are highly interactive, where both the teacher and students can participate during a speech.

With 1.43% of the vote share, blackboard stands at the bottom along with flipcharts.

10. Flipchart

What is a flipchart?

Flipcharts consist of a pad of large sheets of paper bound together. It is typically fixed to the upper edge of a whiteboard or canvas. Flipcharts are easy to create and inexpensive fit for small groups of people.

What are the benefits of presenting using a flipchart?

Nowadays, everybody seems to be only interested in making presentations that are powered by computer-generated slide decks. However, the flip chart has its charm. Since most presentations consist of less than ten people, flip charts can be a refreshing change to the standard slide deck. Moreover, flipchart does not require electricity. No electricity and no software means less of those last-minute hick-ups.

Flipchart got 1.43% of the vote and shared the bottom position with its counterpart, which we will discuss in the next section.
Master the art of speech, practice with Orai
How to make an informative speech with visual aids in presentations

If you have a presentation coming up soon, you can follow the instructions below to learn how you can take advantage of visual aids:

Determine your overall objective

The aim of your presentations depends on you, what information is being presented, and your audience. The motivational speaker and the classroom teacher may approach the same types of visual aids differently due to differences in overall objectives. For instance, if you aim to inspire and remind your audience of salient points, a poster template should serve well, infographics work well when you are trying to show relationships between complex information. A chart will be quite effective if you seek to explain a given set of data.

Choose appropriate visual aids in presentations

After identifying the overall aim of your presentation, you have to match it with the right visual aids example. Will a graph, picture, or video suffice?

If you are using the PowerPoint Presenter, ensure you focus mainly on the media that best conveys your message. Make sure that the notes you add a bold and brief. Try to keep your sentence in one line of text.

Source: Business and public speaking

Prepare thoroughly

You will spend some time preparing your visual aids before the day of your presentation. It is good to allow yourself enough time to prepare so you can perfect your work accordingly. Take note of when, where, and how you are going to use your visual aids. If you discover some inconsistencies, you can compensate for them by adjusting your choice or use of visual aids in presentations.

After you have a final draft of your visual aids, run a series of sessions with them. Let your friends or colleagues be your audience and ask for their honest feedback. Make appropriate adjustments where necessary.

During presentation

First, you need to be comfortable and confident. A neat and appropriate dressing should boost your confidence. Follow the tips below during presentations.

Keep your face on your audience. It may help to look a little above their heads while presenting.

Only point to or take the visual aid when needed. When you do, explain what you mean immediately.

Do not read texts on your visual aids verbatim.

Once a visual aid has served its purpose, you should keep it away from your audience's view.

If you need more help with boosting your confidence, we have written a detailed piece on how to conquer your fear of speaking in front of people.

What is the importance of using visuals in giving a presentation?

Visual aids in presentations are invaluable to both you and the audience you hope to enlighten. They make the job way easier for you, and the audience leaves feeling like they learned something. Apart from their time-saving abilities, here are some reasons why you need to incorporate visual aids in your presentations:

Visual aids can help your audience retain the information long-term.

The human brain processes images faster than text, so visuals make us understand things faster

Using visual aids makes your presentations more enjoyable, interactive, and memorable

Visual aids help your audience connect and relate with you better

Presentations with visual aids are less likely to be misunderstood or misrepresented. They are usually easier to understand and leave little room for confusion

Visual aids are great for people with learning disabilities

Visual aids act as key cards and pointers for the presenter and help you keep track of what you're saying

Source: Slideshare

What are the ideas for speech topics using visual aids?

Use a picture or image that closely represents the topic. A one-hundred-dollar note can suggest topics revolving around money and finances

Use a chart showing trends or statistics that your audience finds appealing. You can use popular sayings or quotes to generate topics your audience can relate to.

Newspaper headlines on related issues can be good starters for opinion-based topics.

The visual aid definition is very clear on how much impact using visual aids in public speaking has on an audience. With a great selection of visual aids, you can transform your presentations into a pleasant experience that you and your audience will always look forward to.
Become a confident speaker. Practice with Orai and get feedback on your tone, tempo, conciseness, and confidence.

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Visual Aids In Presentations: The Complete Guide - Orai

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Using visual aids in presentations helps you pass the right information in a relatively shorter time. Read on to find out how.

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How To Turn A ‘Boring’ PowerPoint Into An Engaging Presentation

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How To Turn A ‘Boring’ PowerPoint Into An Engaging Presentation

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There are many ways that you can tweak your presentation to make it more engaging.

1. Include a little bit of color, not too much, to add a personality.

2. Use a unique font to make the titles stand out. Make the titles large, too.

3. Use icons rather than bullet points to break up text when applicable.

4. Crop images to custom shapes to make it unpredictable.

5. Use animation to go with the story.

6. Add short videos and GIFs.

7. Make the layout unique for each slide.

8. When you want the audience to focus on you, create a black slide so they will look at only you without distractions.

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Rows of bored faces. Someone checking their phone. Everyone visibly checking out from your Powerpoint presentation and the message you're trying to convey.

It's a presenter's worst nightmare! But what actually makes the difference? What separates an interesting presentation from something deadly dull?

Structure. Content. The presence of the person doing the presenting. These things all have a huge impact on audience engagement.

But sometimes even we have to admit that our topic just isn't the most inspiring. And there are few of us out there with the TED Talk charisma to really captivate an audience.

Luckily, at times like these, presentation design can come to the rescue.

Even if your topic is dry and/or you're not uber-confident in your public speaking skills, design has the power to attract and maintain the attention of your audience.

Check out the presentation design ideas below. And don't worry if you've already created your slide deck. These design elements are easy to apply at the last minute of your presentation process - no major re-do required!

1. Add a splash of color

2. Make your titles stand out

3. Use icons to bring your text to life

4. Crop images to custom shapes

5. Introduce compelling slides with transitions

6. Create a story with animations

7. Grab your audience's attention with videos and GIFs

8. Vary your slide layout

9. Review your white space: is there enough?

10. Fade to black to refocus the attention on you

11. Feeling stressed out by your presentation design? Apply a ready-made template!

10 easy tweaks to make your presentation much more engaging

#1 Add a splash of color

Color adds visual interest to your presentation. It can be used to convey meaning too:

Blue is seen as trustworthy

Green is calming

Red communicates confidence and excitement

Before you go wild with your presentation color palette, bear in mind that you don't need to use much color to get the desired effect.

You can add subtle, colorful detail; an icon in the corner of a slide, a square of color next to your title, or a colorful border that graces just one side of your slide.

These small splashes of color are enough to engage a viewer. Extra points if you use color theory to find a color that supports the message of your presentation too!

Whatever template you use, in either PowerPoint or Google Slides, it's super simple to change up your color scheme with the palette tools. This is a quick and easy presentation alteration that makes a big difference.

#2 Make your titles stand out

The typography you use will have a significant effect on your audience. And, alongside your color palette, will help your audience understand what you're really saying.

Keep a simple and easy to read font for your body copy, but go a little above and beyond in order to make your headings stand out. Try out unique fonts and big sizes for your titles, thus differentiating yourself from all the other presentations using the same default system fonts.

Serif fonts seem classier and more elegant. Sans serif fonts are known to be more contemporary and informal. But even within these groupings, the shape and texture of your type can make a big difference. Round, soft fonts convey a friendly tone, while more geometric, angular fonts are seen as more outgoing and modern.

There are tons of choices! Don't know where to start? Try some of the trending typographies on Google Fonts, all are high quality and totally free.

#3 Use icons to bring your text to life

A slide filled with nothing but boring text will have your audience falling asleep in their seats. Add in a few simple but striking icons and you're much more likely to grab and hold their attention.

Icons break up your text and make it much more digestible. Visual elements like this can also convey a lot about your brand and your message whilst taking up very little space.

So how should you add icons to your presentation?

Incorporate icons in places where you would usually put a bullet point. Pick an icon that represents the information included in the bullet text. Choose colorful icons and you'll add some much needed color to your slides too.

A great place to find some free, well-designed icons is The Noun Project and here at SlidesCarnival we also have some free and ready-to-use icons for PowerPoint and Google Slides.

As long as your icons are all of a consistent style, size and color scheme, you really can't go wrong.

#4 Crop images to custom shapes

Your slide design has to be something special if you're relying on a slide of just text and a square image to engage your audience.

This traditional layout is predictable and it rarely looks impressive. We've all seen it time and time again.

Thankfully, using PowerPoint or Google Slides, it's easy to crop images into a more interesting shape. By doing so you can transform the look of your slides. Even cropping your image into a simple circle looks great and differentiates your presentation from others.

Once you've mastered cropping you can take things a step further by using custom shapes to mask your photos.

Try original options like slanted shapes or brush strokes and you'll create a really unique design that looks totally contemporary and professional.

#5 Introduce compelling slides with transitions

Transitions help you to segue smoothly from one slide to another. A bit of movement catches the eye, they look good and they're super easy to insert. (They've got their own menu heading in both PowerPoint and Google Slides.)

Both PowerPoint and Google Slides have multiple options for slide transitions

Keep them simple and use sparingly. Flashy options - like draping curtains or paper airplanes - irritate audiences and damage your credibility. Simple transitions, on the other hand, carry momentum and can look really impressive.

#6 Create a story with animations

Surprise and interest your audience by adding a few animations to your PowerPoint slides.

Animations create a story within a slide. They allow you to introduce new slide elements at a time that suits your narrative.

The benefits? You get to control where the focus of your audience is directed. And keep other content hidden until the right moment.

It's really simple to implement. Just pick a slide where you have both text and a graphic element (a chart, a diagram or an image, for example). Then animate the graphic element to appear after the text.

Animations are intuitive and easy to use in both PowerPoint and Google Slides

As with transitions, simple animations - like a fade in - tend to be more effective than complex options. And it's a good idea to stick with the same animation effect on any given slide.

Whichever animation you choose, use it sparingly. Overuse of animation and sounds make your presentation feel cutesy and unprofessional.

#7 Grab your audience's attention with videos and GIFs

As human beings, we can't help it. When we see movement, our eyes are drawn towards it. It's instinctive.

What's more, we're now very used to getting our information from videos and moving images. Information delivered in this way is easy to digest and often very memorable.

So if you want to really capture your audience's attention, make the most of moving images - like videos and GIFs.

Animated GIF from Joonasjoonas

Short videos can be used to create emotion and convey your point quickly. It also gives you a welcome break from talking!

GIFs can be used to add humor or highlight an idea. They can also be used as a slide background. Just be sure the humor and informality GIFs bring to your presentation is appropriate to the setting.

It's important you use GIF and video in the right context. You certainly don't want to feature them on every slide of your presentation.

But use them where they fit in nicely and they'll have a big (and very positive) impact on audience engagement.

#8 Vary your slide layout

Variety is essential to any presentation. Present the same layout with bullet lists on slide after slide and your audience will be bored to the bone.

There are lots of ways you can add in a little variation - even to a presentation that's nearly finished! Just review your presentation and add in:

Title slides to divide different sections - these should be colorful and image-heavy

A little variation to your content slides - include some with just text, some with text and an image, some with a full background image, etc..

A final slide that encourages participation

These simple tweaks will help to vary and break up your content. In doing so, they'll keep your presentation eye-catching and engaging throughout.

#9 Review your white space: is there enough?

White space - the (not necessarily white) bits of your slides that don't feature any text or images - is really important. It's the golden rule of any graphic design work.

Negative space is good for consistency and readability. What's more, it prevents your audience from feeling overwhelmed by all of the information they're getting.

Review and try to increase the proportion of space you include in your slides. The easiest way to do this? Start by using a slightly smaller font size (as long as it's still readable!) and opting for wider margins.

A good amount of white space will make your presentation look more professional and help prevent your audience from zoning out.

#10 Fade to black to refocus the attention on you

The point of your entire presentation is to deliver a message.

If you're making a point that requires a lengthy explanation, you want all eyes on you. At times like these, fade your slide into black.
This removes any distractions from the screen and encourages your audience to focus on you and what you're saying.
It also breaks up the presentation. This can act as a bit of a wake-up call for any audience members who have become disengaged from your presentation and its message.

Feeling stressed out by your presentation design? Apply a ready-made template!

Now you know what to do to improve your presentation design and audience engagement too.

But what if you don't have the time to implement these tips and tricks? Or you want to be 100% confident that your presentation looks as professional as it possibly can do?

If you're feeling stressed by your presentation design, the simplest option is to use a pre-made, professional template from SlidesCarnival.

Our templates will save you tons of time and make your presentation attractive, with the visual impact to really engage an audience.

Use our slides as a jumping-off point, taking our template and personalizing it to your brand and message. Or treat your chosen template as a ready-made presentation and just add in your text - this approach requires minimum effort whilst creating maximum effect. Visit our presentation library to discover your ideal template today!

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How To Turn A 'Boring' PowerPoint Into An Engaging Presentation

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What separates an interesting presentation from a dull one? Even if your topic is dry, design has the power to attract the attention of your audience

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Make your PowerPoint Presentation more Memorable – 4 Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load

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Make your PowerPoint Presentation more Memorable – 4 Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load

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When creating a PowerPoint presentation, it is crucial to consider cognitive load. Cognitive overload can reduce the audience's ability to concentrate and retain information. It does not matter how well the speaker presents or how pretty and entertaining the presentation is; cognitive overload can still happen.

Four ways to prevent cognitive overload:

1. Build the presentation around 3 key messages

2. Reduce the complexity of the content

3. Keep visuals such as charts and statistics simple as it can cause cognitive overload

4. Use imagery to help recall

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To make your presentation truly memorable you need to consider the limits of working memory and use some techniques to reduce cognitive load. Most people don't appreciate how little our working memory can handle at any one time, let alone recall it later. And presentations continue to be overloaded. It doesn't matter how charismatic and entertaining you are whilst presenting, if you overload the brains of your audience, they simply won't remember your messages.

Here are 4 ways to "Reduce cognitive load in PowerPoint"

1. Build your presentation around your key messages

This often gets overlooked. When designing your PowerPoint presentation you first need to think about what you want the audience to take away with them. What exactly are your key messages (think in 3s)? If you aren't sure, I like to ask a presenter what they would need to get across if they only had 1 minute. A bit like an elevator pitch. Think of 3 essential things and make sure these points are explained simply without any extraneous "noise".

Likewise, what do the audience want from your presentation? Is it to learn, to be entertained, to feel motivated, or something else? Keep that in mind also when planning (and before you build any slides!).

It might also be worth including a menu at the start of the presentation, this helps audiences know where they are and what's coming. Others prefer to keep an element of surprise, but either way: reduce the text on your slides as much as possible. If you are presenting live you do not need to have every word on the screen - your slides should be a visual aid.

2. Reduce the complexity of your content

One consideration is the complexity of your content. Is your subject matter difficult to explain and therefore difficult to learn and remember? As a presenter it is your job to keep your message simple in order to keep your content memorable. This may mean that you are required to break down more complex information into smaller, simpler parts.

Similarly, with charts and diagrams, break them down into smaller pieces and use animation and slide transitions to accentuate how everything comes together. Highlighting key numbers is also a nice technique to direct attention.

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Memorable Powerpoint Presentations | Reduce Cognitive Load

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How to make Powerpoint presentations more memorable and reduce the cognitive load- respecting the limits of human memory will make your content easy to remember

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What Is a Subject Matter Expert? (With 5 Steps To Become One)

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What Is a Subject Matter Expert? (With 5 Steps To Become One)

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Subject matter experts present insight regarding a specific topic to companies looking to solve an issue or accomplish a goal. They ensure that employees correctly use a resource the SME is an expert in. They teach employees how to perform tasks. They also make recommendations on what changes need to be made regarding technology infrastructure, software, and equipment.

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Working With Subject Matter Experts: The Ultimate Guide

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Working With Subject Matter Experts: The Ultimate Guide

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While Subject Matter Experts are much needed, working with them can be challenging for several reasons, one of them being that they can be know-it-alls. It is important to know how to get along with Subject Matter Experts as they are the experts on the subject. One of the best ways to work with them effectively is to study and research the topic before meeting with a subject matter expert because it will save a lot of time and avoid confusion. Another way is to ensure you and the subject matter expert understand each other when communicating. Make sure that you and the SME are on the same page about expectations, scheduling, and deadlines, and if necessary, create a sign-off document of their approval. It is also important to understand that the SME has a very busy schedule, and you must be flexible with them.

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How To Work With Subject Matter Experts

Uhh, the usual problem: How to work effectively with your Subject Matter Expert, your ultimate frenemy, throughout the eLearning development process? More often than not it seems you are coming from different planets; you both want your eLearning project to be perfect, and yet it seems you always follow completely different approaches towards the same goal. But here is the thing: The relationship between you and your Subject Matter Expert will determine whether your eLearning deliverable will be a success or a failure. In this article, I'll share a few things that might help you build a strong, trustworthy, and productive relationship with your Subject Matter Experts, whether they are engineers, college professors, salesmen, policy makers, doctors, etc., so that you can ensure that your are equipped with the right skills and mentality for working together successfully and making every single process run faster and smoother than even before.

5 Challenges Of Working With Subject Matter Experts

So, what could be problematic about working with someone who has great knowledge and experience and is there to help you create an effective eLearning experience? Here are the most common challenges that eLearning professionals and Instructional Designers face when working with Subject Matter Experts:

1. They are not part of your project team.
As they all have full-time jobs, they usually don't have a lot of time to spare and are difficult to find. Moreover, because they don't work closely with your eLearning team, they are not always committed to the success of the eLearning course and they can get a bit territorial about their stuff.

2. They know it all.
Their vast knowledge and many years of experience make it difficult for them to accept that maybe, just maybe, not all content is equally important.

3. They resist change.
Because Subject Matter Experts have invested time in existing presentation material, they are usually unwilling to change things like , clip art, and , which took them hours to select.

4. They are very fond of linear approaches.
Which makes it difficult for you to try new things and follow more interactive ways to engage your learners.

5. They don't like bells and whistles.
Neither do you, but sometimes bells and whistles are necessary to grab your audience's interest, and them to learn. Mind you, "bells and whistles" might even include interactive branching scenarios.

Design the Best Learning Experience for your Learners with the Most Engaging Branching Scenarios!

Discover, choose and compare the top eLearning Authoring Tools with Branching Scenarios Functionality!

The Number 1 Top Skill For Working Smoothly With Subject Matter Experts

What that might be? It's easy: Active listening. Developing your active listening skills will help you in all areas in your life and not only working effectively with Subject Matter Experts, so pay attention to this incredible ability. No matter how "pompous" the Subject Matter Expert may appear in your first meeting, listen to them and ask questions. Ask them about any stories they may have about big challenges they faced throughout their career and how they overcame them, and have them share their successful moments. When the ice has broken, reflect on what they are telling you and ask them specific questions about their material: Why did they choose these particular images? What are the design elements in their presentations that they like the most? How do they feel about converting their case studies into engaging, fascinating, interactive eLearning experiences? Show interest in your Subject Matter Experts' work and make sure that it is clear you respect where they are coming from. Let them be heard and it will be easier for you to analyze and handle their resistance.

9 Ways To Work Effectively With Subject Matter Experts

Check the following easy ways that will facilitate the development process of your eLearning course material when working with your Subject Matter Experts:

1. Make a good start.
A good start is half the battle, so make clear from the beginning that while you appreciate your Subject Matter Experts' contribution, your roles are equally important; they provide the material, and you craft it in order to create effective and meaningful eLearning experiences together. When starting off a project, take the time to discuss with the Subject Matter Expert how you both relate to the project and what are your learning objectives. Do not take anything for granted; stating these things from the beginning will help build familiarity and a more clear picture of the team as a whole.

2. Do your homework.
Needless to say, while you are not expected to know everything about the subject matter, knowing a few things will make a world of difference. Take the time to do a little research, such as looking up terminology and jargon that is not familiar to you, before you meet with a Subject Matter Expert for the first time; they will greatly appreciate it. Furthermore, this initial research will help you create your eLearning course's glossary; if you are not familiar with all the terms and acronyms, it is also likely that neither will be your learners.

3. Keep things clear.
To facilitate the process and make sure that your Subject Matter Experts are on the same page with everyone on the team throughout the development experience, consider doing the following things:

Establish expectations.

Write a schedule with dates for online content reviews.

Decide upon deadlines.

Find ways to track progress.

Have your questions ready before every meeting and make sure they are answered.

Make notes and record your conversations, with your Subject Matter Expert's permission of course, to avoid misunderstandings.

Create a signoff document that ensures their approval of your eLearning course content.

4. Get them involved.
The sad truth is, your eLearning project is not your Subject Matter Experts' top priority. This is why you need to find ways to engage them by getting them interested, so that you will be able to easily find them when you need them. While identifying your goals in the beginning, ask them to answer questions such as why they think this eLearning course needs to exist, how it will improve learners' lives or employees' professional lives, and which is the best way in their opinion to measure the success of the program. This will not only help clarify the learning objectives, but also get your expert more involved in your eLearning project. Finally, during the process, ask them to help you find online activities that offer learners the opportunity to apply the knowledge they acquire.

5. Be flexible.
You are probably very busy, but your Subject Matter Expert is most likely to be even busier than you. Because the information they provide is critical for the success of your eLearning course, try and work around their schedule. If you are not able to find them, track down their assistant; if it is impossible to meet with them in person when you absolutely need to, invite them to a Skype chat. Last but not least, make sure that you are easy to find when your expert is looking for you.

6. Avoid existing Power Points.
Taking a distance from existing content will help you start from scratch, as pre-existing content may dictate how to design your eLearning course. Instead of using existing Power Points during your meetings with your Subject Matter Expert, begin from a blank screen in a starter . This way your expert will become more flexible and innovation will be promoted.

7. Show them examples of good eLearning.
It is difficult to persuade anyone of anything without providing specific examples; you know that from your learners. Your Subject Matter Experts only know what they have experienced, so be prepared to show them examples of good eLearning courses that are similar to the one you want to create. Also, make sure that you explain how your learners will get all the information through a non-linear approach.

8. Send them feedback.
Show your Subject Matter Experts that you appreciate their work. Contact them frequently not only to get them in synch with your eLearning project, but also to acknowledge their work and time. will help maintain a positive atmosphere and also motivate them to get them more actively involved in the eLearning project. And don't forget to send them a thank you email when your work with them is done.

9. Make it easy for them.
The biggest problem you will probably face while working with Subject Matter Experts is to persuade them to chop information they cherish in order to create an effective eLearning course. First, realize that it is very difficult for someone who has spent hours creating material to just throw it away. Then, make sure you find ways to turn this situation into a less painful one. What about creating in your eLearning course an "additional information" space with the chopped material?

Now that you know how to work effectively with Subject Matter Experts, you may be interested in learning whether the roles of Subject Matter Experts and Instructional Designers should be autonomous, identical, or interconnected. Read the article Is It Necessary For An Instructional Designer To Be A Subject Matter Expert? and find all the possible answers to this very interesting question.

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Working With Subject Matter Experts: The Ultimate Guide

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Uhh, the usual problem: How to work effectively with your Subject Matter Expert , your ultimate frenemy, throughout the eLearning development process? More often than not it seems you are coming from different planets; you both want your eLearning project to be perfect, and yet it seems you always follow completely different approaches towards the same goal.

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Understanding the Role of a Subject Matter Expert (SME)

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Understanding the Role of a Subject Matter Expert (SME)

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Subject Matter Experts are deeply appreciated and in high demand due to their in-depth understanding of their chosen field. Their role is to fact-check and correct details in a project with the topic they are an expert in to ensure they meet the requirements and policy and follow the best practices.

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What Are Smile Sheets? Understand How It Works With 5 Benefits

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What Are Smile Sheets? Understand How It Works With 5 Benefits

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Smile sheets are used to gather feedback or evaluate how much learners have retained in a learning program. They help the organization dictate the areas that need improvement and make data-driven decisions. There are two commonly known smile sheets, which are traditional and performance-based. Traditional smile sheets ask open-ended questions and provide generic satisfaction rating scales and demographic information. Performance-focused smile sheets focus on learning achievements and behavior change to dictate the effectiveness of the training program. It provides a deeper insight into how effective the program is.

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What Are Smile Sheets? Understand How It Works With 5 Benefits - Risely

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Are you tired of traditional evaluations that fail to provide meaningful insights? Well, say hello to smile sheets – an innovative approach to evaluation that goes beyond measuring mere satisfaction.

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Performance-based Smile Sheets: Their Benefits and How to Create Them

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Performance-based Smile Sheets: Their Benefits and How to Create Them

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Performance-based smile sheets are more desired than traditional smile sheets for several reasons:

Although traditional smile sheets are useful for qualitative feedback and open-ended responses, they only evaluate the participants' overall satisfaction, which is limiting as it can be dishonest.

Performance-based smile sheets present specific questions with the goal of measuring the performance of participants and collecting data. This will give insight into what changes must be made to make a training program more effective.

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Feedback and honest evaluations go a long way for businesses to understand their position in the market and analyze their performance which consecutively helps them grow and evolve into something better. However, handing out feedback forms often generates no or unsatisfactory results as those filling them out do so half-heartedly or, as seen in most cases, ignore them altogether. To clear out this sense of tedium, the idea of 'Smile Sheets' was introduced, which was an innovative approach to evaluation, taking into account the satisfaction of those filling it. These sheets are also known by other names such as, 'Happy Sheets', 'Response Forms', 'Reaction Forms', 'Level 1s' ( named after the Kirkpatrick Model), and so on.

How Performance-based Smile Sheets Sum Up Against Traditional Evaluation Sheets?

Traditional sheets use smiley faces and numbers as rating scales for assessing the overall satisfaction of the participants and are useful for collecting qualitative feedback, open-ended responses, and knowing overall impressions. Performance-based Smile Sheets, on the other hand, target specific performance outcomes through clear and concise questions, invoking objective and measurable responses from the participants. They aim to achieve a deeper understanding of a program's effectiveness by collecting more targeted and actionable data. They provide generous insight into fields like the evaluation of a training program, presentation, or workshop, effectiveness of leadership, and team collaboration.

Steps Involved in Crafting a Performance-based Smile Sheet

Identification of Objectives: The first step to designing a Performance-based Smile Sheet is to determine the objectives that are to be considered for assessment. This might include skills, actions, behaviors, and experience with a particular event, job role, or training program.

Selecting Appropriate Metrics: While curating a smile sheet, it is important to select measurable performance metrics, that provide rich insights, and are pertinent to the objective in question.

Forming the Questionnaire: The questionnaire must be crafted keeping in tune with the chosen performance metrics. Clarity and brevity are your friends in this aspect and the questions must be crafted to compel the participants to give clear-cut assessments and specific feedback.

Choosing Response Formats: There is an array of acceptable response formats to be chosen from, based on the requirement of the metrics: multiple-choice options, open-ended answers, and rating scales. Choose the format that ensures the most impactful response and insight from performers. The key is to ensure that the format chosen is user-friendly and engaging, without putting the participants in a spot or making them confused or frustrated. A logical flow of questions, clear headings, and an aesthetically pleasing layout are pointers to be taken into consideration.

Balancing Data Types: The evaluation should strike the right balance between quantitative and qualitative data to ensure a comprehensive view of the objective in question.

Confidentiality: Often participants shy away from putting in their honest opinions out of fear of bias and creating a negative impression, thereby rendering the assessment process futile. Assuring them of confidentiality and attaching an anonymity clause in the smile sheet can encourage participants to be more open and generate honest responses, which can benefit the organization.

Experimentation: As with any new product or strategy, after creating a smile sheet, pilot-test it on a small group of participants, and depending on how it is received and the result it yields, the next steps can be determined. If it generates the desired results, it can be implemented on a larger group, and if it does not, it means that the sheet ought to be tweaked, edited, and refined.

People often skip filling out evaluation sheets or take them casually because they are not aware of the impact their responses have. It is therefore important to communicate the purpose of the smile sheet and how their responses help enhance performance and bring improvement.

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Performance-based Smile Sheets: Their Benefits and How to Create Them

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Feedback and honest evaluations go a long way for businesses to understand their position in the market and analyze their performance which consecutively helps them grow and evolve into something better. However, handing out feedback forms often generates no or unsatisfactory results as those filling them out do so half-heartedly or, as seen in most cases, ignore them altogether.

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Research shows that traditional smile sheets do not show learning results. They only show the learners' opinions, which can be dishonest. Instead of using Likert-like scales and numerical scales, provide concrete answer choices and questions related to how effective the training program was.

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Update January 2018: To see my latest recommendations for smile-sheet question design, go to this web page.

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The Original Post:

The response to the book, Performance-Focused Smile Sheets: A Radical Rethinking of a Dangerous Art Form, has been tremendous! Since February, when it was published, I've received hundreds of thank you's from folks the world over who are thrilled to have a new tool - and to finally have a way to get meaningful data from learner surveys. At the ATD conference where I spoke recently, the book sold out it was so popular! If you want to buy the book, the best place is still SmileSheets.com, the book's website.

Since publication, I've begun a research effort to learn how companies are utilizing the new smile-sheet approach - and to learn what's working, what the roadblocks are, and what new questions they've developed. As I said in the book in the chapter that offers 26 candidate questions, I hope that folks tailor questions, improve them, and develop new questions. This is happening, and I couldn't be more thrilled. If your company is interested in being part of my research efforts, please contact me by clicking here. Likewise, if you've got new questions to offer, let me know as well.

Avoiding Issues of Traditional Smile Sheets

Traditional smile sheets tend to focus on learners' satisfaction and learners' assessments of the value of the learning experience. Scientific research shows us that such learner surveys are not likely to be correlated with learning results. Performance-focused smile sheets offer several process improvements:

1. Avoid Likert-like scales and numerical scales which create a garbage-in garbage-out problem, which don't offer clear delineations between answer choices, which don't support respondent decision-making, and which open responding to bias.

2. Instead, utilize concrete answer choices, giving respondents more granularity, and enabling much more meaningful results.

3. In addition to, or instead of, focusing on factors related to satisfaction and perceived value; target factors that are related to learning effectiveness.

New Example Questions

As new questions come to my attention, I'll share them here on my blog and elsewhere. You can sign up for my email newsletter if you want to increase the likelihood that you'll see new smile-sheet questions (and for other learning-research related information as well).

Please keep in mind that there are no perfect assessment items, no perfect learning metrics, and no perfect smile-sheet questions. I've been making improvements to my own workshop smile sheets for years, and every time I update them, I find improvements to make. If you see something you don't like in the questions below, that's wonderful! When evaluating an assessment item, it's useful to ask whether the item (1) is targeting something important and (2) is it better than other items that we could use or that we've used in the past.

Question Example - A Question for Learners' Managers

My first example comes from a world renowned data and media company. They decided to take one of the book's candidate questions, which was designed for learners to answer, and modify the question to ask learners' managers to answer. Their reasoning: The training is strategically important to their business and they wanted to go beyond self-report data. Also, they wanted to send "stealth messages" to learners' managers that they as managers had a role to play in ensuring application of the training to the job.

Here's the question (aimed at learners' managers):
In regard to the course topics taught, HOW EFFECTIVELY WAS YOUR DIRECT REPORT ABLE to put what he/she learned into practice in order to PERFORM MORE EFFECTIVELY ON THE JOB?
A. He/she has NOT AT ALL ABLE to put the concepts into practice.

B. He/she has GENERAL AWARENESS of the concepts taught, but WILL NEED MORE TRAINING / GUIDANCE to put the concepts into practice.

C. He/she WILL NEED MORE HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE to be fully competent in using the concepts taught.

D. He/she is at a FULLY COMPETENT LEVEL in using the concepts taught.

E. He/she is at an EXPERT LEVEL in using the concepts taught.

Question Example - Tailoring a Question to the Topic

In writing smile-sheet questions, there's a tradeoff between generalization and precision. Sometimes we need a question to be relevant to multiple courses. We want to compare courses to one another. Personally, I think we overvalue this type of comparison, even when we might be comparing apples to oranges. For example, do we really want to compare scores on courses that teach such disparate topics as sexual harassment, word processing, leadership, and advanced statistical techniques? Still, there are times when such comparisons make sense.

The downside of generalizability is that we lose precision. Learners are less able to calibrate their answers. Analyzing the results becomes less meaningful. Also, learners see the learner-survey process as less valuable when questions are generic, so they give less energy and thought to answering the questions, and our data become less valuable and more biased.

Here is a question I developed for my own workshop (on how to create better smile sheets, by the way SMILE):
How READY are you TO WRITE QUESTIONS for a Performance-Focused Smile Sheet? CIRCLE ONE OR MORE ANSWERS AND/OR WRITE YOUR REASONING BELOW

A. I'm STILL NOT SURE WHERE TO BEGIN.

B. I KNOW ENOUGH TO GET STARTED.

C. I CAN TELL A GOOD QUESTION FROM A BAD ONE.

D. I CAN WRITE MY OWN QUESTIONS, but I'd LIKE to get SOME FEEDBACK before using them.

E. I CAN WRITE MY OWN QUESTIONS, and I'm CONFIDENT they will be reasonably WELL DESIGNED.

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Thoughts?

Note several things about this question. First to restate. It is infinitely more tailored than a generic question could be. It encourages more thoughtful responding and creates more meaningful feedback.

Second, you might wonder why all the CAPS! I advocate CAPS because (1) CAPS have been shown in research to slow reading speed. Too often, our learners burn through our smile-sheet questions. Anything we can do to make them attend more fully is worth trying. Also, (2) respondents often read the full question and then skim back over it when determining how to respond. I want them to have an easy way to parse the options. Full disclosure. To my knowledge, all CAPS has not been studied yet for smile sheets. At this point, my advocacy for all CAPS is based on my intuition about how people process smile-sheet questions. If you'd like to work with me to test this in a scientifically rigorous fashion, please contact me.

Third, notice the opportunity for learners to write clarifying comments. Open-ended questions, though not easily quantifiable, can be the most important questions on smile sheets. They can provide intimate granularity - a real sense of the respondents' perceptions. In these questions, we're using a hybrid format, a forced choice question followed by an open-ended opportunity for clarification. This not only enables the benefits of open-ended responding, but it also enables us to get clarifying meaning. In addition, in some way it provides a reality-check on our question design. If we notice folks responding in ways that aren't afforded in the answer choices given, we can improve our question for later versions.

Question Example - Simplifying The Wording

In writing smile-sheet questions, there's another tradeoff to consider. More words add more precision, but fewer words add readability and motivation to engage the question fully. In the book, I talk about what I once called, " The World's Best Smile Sheet Question." I liked it partly because the answer choices were more precise than a Likert-like scale. It did have one drawback; it used a lot of words. For some audiences this might be fine, but for others it might be entirely inappropriate.

Recently, in working with a company to improve their smile sheet, a first draft included the so-called World's Best Smile Sheet Question. But they were thinking of piloting the new smile sheet for a course to teach basic electronics to facilities professionals. Given the topic and audience, I recommended a simpler version:
How able will you be to put what you've learned into practice on the job? Choose one.
A. I am NOT AT ALL ready to use the skills taught.
B. I need MORE GUIDANCE to be GOOD at using these skills
C. I need MORE EXPERIENCE to be GOOD at using these skills.
D. I am FULLY COMPETENT in using these skills.
E. I am CAPABLE at an EXPERT LEVEL in using these skills.

This version nicely balances precision with word count.

Question Example - Dealing with the Sticky Problem of "Motivation"

In the book, I advocate a fairly straightforward question asking learners about their motivation to apply what they've learned. In many organizations - in many organizational cultures - this will work fine. However in others, our trainers may be put off by this. They'll say, "Hey, I can't control people's motivations." They're right, of course. They can't control learners' motivations, but they can influence them. Still, it's critical to realize that motivation is a multidimensional concept. When we speak of motivation, we could be talking simply about a tendency to take action. We could be talking about how inspired learners are, or how much they believe in the value of the concepts, or how much self-efficacy they might have. It's okay to ask about motivation in general, but you might generate clearer data if you ask about one of the sub-factors that comprise motivation.

Here is a question I developed recently for my Smile-Sheet Workshop:
How motivated are you to IMPLEMENT PERFORMANCE-FOCUSED SMILE SHEETS in your organization? CIRCLE ONLY ONE ANSWER. ONLY ONE!
A. I'm NOT INTERESTED IN WORKING TOWARD IMPLEMENTING this.

B. I will confer with my colleagues to SEE IF THERE IS INTEREST.

C. I WILL ADVOCATE FOR performance-focused smile sheet questions.

D. I WILL VIGOROUSLY CHAMPION performance-focused smile sheet questions.

E. Because I HAVE AUTHORITY, I WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

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Thoughts?

In this question, I'm focusing on people's predilection to act. Here I've circumnavigated any issues in asking learners to divulge their internal motivational state, and instead I've focused the question on the likelihood that they will utilize their newly-learned knowledge in developing, deploying, and championing performance-focused smile sheets.

Final Word

It's been humbling to work on smile sheet improvements over many years. My earlier mistakes are still visible in the digital files on my hard drive. I take solace in making incremental improvements - and in knowing that the old way of creating smile-sheet questions is simply no good at all, as it provides us with perversely-irrelevant information.

As an industry - and the learning industry is critically important to the world - we really need to work on our learning evaluations. Smile sheets are just one tool in this. Unfortunately, poorly constructed smile sheets have become our go-to tool, and they have led us astray for decades.

I hope you find value in my book ( SmileSheets.com). More importantly, I hope you'll participate along with some of the world's best-run companies and organizations in developing improved smile sheet questions. Again, please email me with your questions, your question improvements, and alternatively, with examples of poorly-crafted questions as well.

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Smile Sheet Questions -- New Examples July 2016 " Work-Learning Research

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Update January 2018: To see my latest recommendations for smile-sheet question design, go to this web page. =================== The Original Post: The response to the book, Performance-Focused Smile Sheets: A Radical Rethinking of a Dangerous Art Form, has been tremendous! Since February, when it was published, I've received hundreds of thank you's from folks the [...]

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Build Powerful Employee Training And Development With eLearning In 2020

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Build Powerful Employee Training And Development With eLearning In 2020

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eLearning is beneficial for training programs for several reasons. It provides flexibility for busy people who have families to take care of. It allows people to take training courses anytime and anywhere with minimal limitations. It is also known to reduce learning time and costs, which is a bonus for both companies and employees. On top of that, eLearning allows the company to track progress, receive feedback, and catch any gaps that need to be filled. Ensuring that the eLearning training program delivers materials relevant to the job roles is essential.

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Employee Training And Development With eLearning

Now, more than ever, organizations have prioritized eLearning to provide effective, guided training for their remote teams. These EdTech solutions are among the fastest-growing areas in the Learning and Development (L&D) industry and are projected to reach over USD $300 billion by 2025. In 2020, 57% of L&D professionals are expected to spend more time on online learning on a global scale, according to the latest LinkedIn workplace report [1], and this figure is rapidly growing. Companies are increasingly looking for online solutions to be an important link between business growth and employee training and development.

eLearning remains a proven method of digital learning and we'll talk about what you should be aware of when developing online workplace training so you can provide better and more powerful results for your business in 2020.

When Is An Investment In eLearning Worthwhile For Decision Making Stakeholders?

Think back to the days where companies would send their employees away for weekend seminars or clear out entire workday schedules for classroom training. Online courses and Learning Management Systems have now pushed L&D to the forefront for workplace training priorities. Developing your workforce no longer carries the same risky investment.

The technology itself overcomes many of the past limitations. Online learning now provides constant access, is paced for individual learners, and it adapts to organizational schedules, not the other way around. That resolves typical obstacles such as being too costly, inefficient, time-consuming, impossible to scale, and difficult to measure.

But when do these advantages line up to make an investment worthwhile?

An Overview Of The Importance Of eLearning For Employee Training And Development

We know self-paced digital learning is extremely flexible and can be adjusted and updated to meet changing skill requirements. It's scalable and easy to provide training in a standardized system across large organizations. It's essential for training a remote workforce. Plus we've seen a move in this direction result in reduced learning time and costs for companies.

With eLearning, organizations are able to accommodate their workforce in their increasing request for "opportunities to learn and grow" [2] far more easily than with traditional methods.

What's more, you can scale employee development while delivering direct and personalized training throughout your organization. This gives the organization a chance to receive individual feedback about the wellbeing and performance of all employees at a cost that's far less than training exclusively at brick-and-mortar schools or Instructor-Led classes.

These low barriers for use show that eLearning could be the key to bridge the gap between main business goals and workforce satisfaction and performance. This is especially advantageous because online solutions match the need for overall training, which is emphasized according to a PWC survey [3]. In the report, 79% of CEOs worldwide are concerned that a lack of essential skills in their employees may negatively impact future growth. The LinkedIn workplace report [4] had similar findings. Because of this, digital solutions are increasingly a priority for businesses.

Does That Mean eLearning Has Turned Into A Vital Priority For Organizations?

Well, according to LinkedIn's report [1] only 27% of L&D professionals report that their CEOs actively get behind learning across their organization even though they spend 20% more time learning soft skills themselves compared to their employees.

While a lack of training and retraining is seen as a major challenge overall and the focus on eLearning is expected to grow even larger in the future, there's still a gap in getting complete executive support in the implementation of eLearning programs today.

This means the challenge of securing buy-in for a digital learning solution is likely still a major obstacle.

Often It's About Whether eLearning Provides Unique Solutions For Business Growth

How often have you seen a manager who believes they can slap a PowerPoint together and deliver sufficient training?

(no comment)

It's difficult when you're managing talent development because you care about creating quality learning solutions. However, the conversation needs to be one step above the trenches of learning.

For example, marketers often talk about meeting the customer where they are. The same can be true in L&D. If decision-makers are concerned with company growth, they don't want to hear about how a training program is structured and what technology it uses. Instead, they want to hear how the eLearning program is connected to revenue or other variables for future growth. With this business perspective, you're more likely to get a seat at the decision table.

Based on that, we need to bridge the gap in measuring performance.

And That Easily Turns Into A Clash Of Hard Goals Vs. Soft Skills

The conversation about justifying training often leads to questions around soft skills and hard business goals-so how do we prove our worth?

Measuring a hard goal, like an increase in sales or cutting production cost and time, etc., is fairly straight forward and desirable for deciding stakeholders. But when it comes to soft-skill development through eLearning, that equation gets much more complicated.

We know that great communication, inspiring team members, and improved decision making are all things that make for better and more fulfilled employees-and therefore better business. Yet how do we put a number on it? And are they part of those essential skills that CEOs around the world see as important for future growth?

The challenge is that a Return on Investment (ROI) in soft skills usually takes a longer time to show results. So, while CEOs see value in developing soft skills of their own, they don't necessarily see the same value for employees.

In an article from the Association for Talent Development (ATD), it's argued that throwing L&D professionals into ROI calculations doesn't make sense because it could set themselves and their training program up for failure due to greater scrutiny.

With that said, the answer to when investment in eLearning is worthwhile for all stakeholders lies in this process of discovering what's expected from a given training program and how it's evaluated before jumping into an online training course.

This point is clearly highlighted by L&D's experience in Verizon [1] where they say, "Getting to clearly defined goals before creating an eLearning program makes it much easier to measure the impact after it's implemented."

If we look at the LinkedIn workplace report [4], it's not surprising that the most important, strategic focus area for 2020 has been stated as measuring the effectiveness/impact of learning programs, especially in Canada.

From the same report the most common ways to measure training are:

Qualitative feedback from employees (43%)

Course completion (38%)

Employee satisfaction (34%)

While these are common, they are not necessarily the best way to evaluate, as these are in the realm of softer or "secondary" goals. It shows that L&D has a challenge when it comes to presenting what an eLearning program delivers for the company.

Employee performance or retention may be a better approach when establishing digital learning as a business priority. Unfortunately, there's seemingly no great industry standard to measure and evaluate performance.

While we can spend time arguing how all these "softer measurements" improve revenue and business growth down the road, it makes little sense if we can't present how to clearly measure performance.

Decision-makers need this knowledge to determine if an eLearning investment is worthwhile. This information is beneficial for both the employee and the organization as it provides a solid outset to show real value in an eLearning program after implementation.

Are You Developing eLearning That Will Resonate With Employees?

After key decision-makers around the table are on board with a training budget, that's when we face the next challenge of creating a program that actually works.

While online courses by default have a simple infrastructure to assign flexible learning hours and progress tracking, it can quickly turn into a bundle of content sitting on the company's internal network collecting digital dust.

The problem is without a sharp insight into those who receive the learning, you risk creating courses that are:

Irrelevant to the learner(s)

Possibly outdated compared to their skillset and the challenges they face

Or worse, they don't seek out learning on their own because it's boring

It goes without saying that if you want to position eLearning as a significant influence on business outcomes, then you want that training to be looked forward to, appreciated, and encouraged throughout your organization.

What Matters For The Learner Receiving The Training?

To create new learning that resonates with the learner, customized solutions are foundational to the most effective form of eLearning. Do you know about their daily functions? What courses have they taken in the past? What are their ambitions within the organization?

In marketing, there are often references to a " target market" as opposed to a " mass market." The foundation of eLearning is that it will be more effective if it is focused on a group of specific people you can develop, present and deliver a better product or service to than if you're trying to accommodate everyone.

The idea is similar when developing online courses for specific teams or departments in an organization. I previously wrote about this process of developing a learner persona to get more effective learning solutions. Relevant learning is essential for employees.

For example, almost all employees surveyed in LinkedIn's 2019 workplace report [4] (94%) "would stay at a company longer if it invested in their Learning and Development."

According to the same report, most professionals want training to fit their specific roles and needs and be provided at the right time. Most seemingly, many want to learn while in a social setting. So we can assume that developing customized eLearning plays a big role in keeping and attracting the best talent.

According to Gallup [2], only one-third of millennials strongly agree that their most recent learning opportunity at work was "well worth" their time. This suggests that most eLearning programs fall short on one of their biggest value propositions-employee retention. It's not surprising that all of us want to improve our skills and knowledge to improve ways of working. The point is that this speaks for a digital learning culture.

When corporate eLearning is taken to a higher level, learning becomes a central part of growing the company.

For example, Google has made a point of creating a learning culture with a training network that includes employee-to-employee or Googler-to-Googler (g2g). With over 6000 employees in a volunteer teaching network, there are ample opportunities, from teaching courses to 1:1 mentoring. There's even continuous addition to the design of learning materials where there's input coming from every department of the company.

While this is something that has taken years for Google to achieve, they attribute investing in training programs and creating a culture of learning as a foundation for improving their entire organization.

Conquering Learner Engagement And Interaction To Succeed On Performance Objectives

What makes a difference in online training for employees often boils down to one of the crucial challenges in successful eLearning-learner engagement. Think about any online training course you've ever taken that seemed misplaced. Perhaps there was no connection with your current skill level or it lacked clear steps on how to apply what you learned. Or, maybe you needed more support and inspiration in order to complete it successfully.

Of course, there can be different reasons why a learner doesn't absorb the material in an eLearning course, but engagement is a big one, and it's one we have influence over. When driving engagement, there are two interesting factors that can push eLearning forward:

Creating a stronger learning culture by getting executives to champion learning

Looking at the data employees provide

Getting executives behind the development of training and learning programs inspires more engagement because it's more likely to connect to business goals and thus, be relevant for the learner. This means that creating a successful eLearning program starts by getting full support from top decision-makers.

Following a PWC report [3] that surveyed CEOs worldwide, it was found that "Workers need to be engaged...and that only happens if a strong learning culture is woven into a high-quality workplace."

If we look at the g2g network from Google mentioned earlier, it also shows that online learning (even when it's personalized) doesn't cover the full aspect of what matters to learners. Accountability through fellow colleagues is an important factor in making sure the training program is implemented and doesn't slide from memory. Pairing self-paced learning with an accountability strategy arguably also encourages an environment of wanting to improve yourself and the company.

If you think about the last time you took an online course, it's one thing going through all the modules on your own time-noting new techniques, approaches, or systems. It's another thing entirely to actually put all that new information to practical use. According to LinkedIn, almost half of employees say they don't have time to learn at work (49%), while 83% of online learning happens during the workweek. If that's the case, then creating online courses that are not only retained on a learning level but also engage employees enough to stick with the company is a major challenge.

Not surprisingly, the same report shows that 24% of L&D professionals on a global scale don't even measure engagement at all based on their online data. As the report goes on to say, this indicates that there's a major challenge for eLearning here.

To make matters worse, some data may not even be great signs of learner engagement. For example, what good is a high course completion if there's no follow-up to see how well it was implemented? Does the amount of "time spent learning" each month automatically mean the same as "time spent applying" what was learned?

This seems to sync up pretty well with the top 3 global challenges for talent developers, according to the LinkedIn report:

1. Getting managers to put learning as a priority for their teams (49%)

2. Creating a learner culture (42%)

3. Increasing employee engagement (36%)

Discovering When eLearning Is Not The Right Solution And What To Do Instead

Even though eLearning is stealing the spotlight from Instructor-Led training, your needs analysis is crucial in uncovering whether digital training is going to have the desired impact.

Here are a few examples of questions to uncover if eLearning is the right way to go:

Does it build on top of pre-existing skills or knowledge?

How urgent is it?

How many people are going to take the course?

How often does it need to be updated to keep relevance?

How do we make sure it's implemented?

As we covered, eLearning is a great way to provide scalable learning, but you should consider if a team or employee would benefit more from an eLearning solution compared to other training solutions. For example, if the nature of the training is so specific and narrow that you wouldn't be able to reuse the same online course for other team members or employees, then options like Instructor-Led classes, coaching, or live courses may be a better fit.

You should also consider whether using job aids and training from SMEs would accomplish the same result when challenges are more practical and require hands-on experience. It's also important to discover if the business problems you're trying to solve are something that even comes from a lack of training.

There could be an underlying problem in the structure of the company, dysfunctional teams, bad leadership, or an external factor, such as market changes, that have a negative impact on certain industries.

A lot of the needs analysis comes back to how eLearning will provide better business performance.

Find Out If eLearning Fits Your Employee Training And Development Today

Given everything we covered above, it's clear that building the right training and development program for your employees isn't something you can slap together in a single afternoon. We know that the first major challenge is matching eLearning solutions clearly to business problems, and it's arguably as important as developing the content itself.

Lastly, engagement remains something that can't be championed by eLearning content alone and may require Instructor-Led assistance. This is especially true when looking at the use of any given online course being transferred to daily practice in the workforce. But, eLearning can play a vital role in larger business impacts, keeping and developing the best talent.
References:
[1] 2020 Workplace Learning Report

[2] Millennials Want Jobs to Be Development Opportunities

[3] CEOs focus on upskilling their workforce to close the skills gap and boost innovation and trust, says PwC

[4] 4th Annual 2020 Workplace Learning Report

Originally published at www.beyondthesky.ca.

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Build Powerful Employee Training And Development With eLearning In 2020

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Read this article and discover how to build strong employee training and development programs in your organization in 2020.

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eLearning, short for electric learning, delivers education materials through electronic devices such as computers, tablets, and cell phones to provide flexibility for all learners. eLearning programs allow users to access learning materials anytime and anywhere. eLearning can be used for training programs at corporations. It can also be used to teach college, primary, and secondary school students.

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7 min reading time

It's likely that anyone who uses eLearning will tell you how impactful and convenient it is. In today's "always-on" world, eLearning offers many benefits to both learners and organizations. But what is eLearning, exactly? Whether you're an eLearning expert or beginner, there's no denying its popularity has skyrocketed over the past decade. For employers, it offers an affordable, time-efficient way to train employees. In return, employees benefit from convenient training that enhances their skills and knowledge.

It's also used by organizations to train their partners and customers to increase adoption, retention, and ultimately, revenue. The demand for eLearning solutions shows no signs of fading, with the global market expected to reach $1 trillion by 2028. Let's take a closer look at what eLearning is, different eLearning types and tools, and the benefits it offers your organization.

What is eLearning?

To get started, let's establish an eLearning definition. So, what is eLearning? eLearning, or electronic learning, is the delivery of learning and training through digital resources. Although eLearning is based on formalized learning, it is provided through electronic devices such as computers, tablets and even cellular phones that are connected to the internet. This makes it easy for users to learn anytime, anywhere, with few, if any, restrictions. Basically, eLearning is training, learning, or education delivered online through a computer or any other digital device. Check out our eLearning Glossary which is jam packed full of eLearning terms.

The History of eLearning

To better understand how eLearning benefits organizations today, it's helpful to look at its past. Elliott Maisie coined the term "eLearning" in 1999, marking the first time the phrase was used professionally. In the years since, eLearning's reputation has gone from strength to strength. But what factors have facilitated eLearning in becoming the most popular way to deliver training today? Some of these factors include:

The Internet - Prior to the rise of the internet, many relied on printed manuals, CD-ROMS and other restrictive methods for learning and training. The rise of the internet allowed organizations to abandon one-dimensional practices and utilize the flexibility of eLearning.

Development of Multimedia - As eLearning progressed, the ability to integrate elements such as images, videos, audio and graphics proved to be a more reliable way of keeping learners engaged compared to traditional learning.

Affordable Digital Devices - Considering the first IBM computer cost the equivalent of almost $5000 today, it's understandable that eLearning popularity rose as digital devices became more affordable. Mobile learning also hugely facilitated the growth of eLearning.

Well-Built Learning Management Systems - LMS's have become more sophisticated, moving from locally installed to cloud-based systems, with organizations increasingly applying them to execute many forms of training. There are many things to consider when choosing an LMS; at a minimum ensure it has the functionality and support you need to meet your objectives and those of your learners.

How to Deliver eLearning

Now that we've outlined the definition and history (rise?) of eLearning, you'll have a better idea of exactly what it is. Implementing eLearning into your organization is beneficial and easy to do. Whether you want to use eLearning to keep your employees up to date on company policies, or to help your customers better understand your product, there are a number of eLearning methods you can use.

Using an LMS

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application that is used to deliver online training. A great LMS will go beyond this, by providing you with the features and support you need to execute your eLearning strategy perfectly. Selecting an LMS can be daunting at first, but analyzing your training needs and defining your requirements, should narrow your search significantly. There are several different types of LMS's that you can choose from, such as cloud-based, open source, commercial, and installation-based.

Cloud-based LMS's have become the default for online learning as they allow you to quickly create courses, enroll users easily, and accurately report on learner progress. A good cloud-based LMS should allow you to easily scale your training delivery and be backed by a superb customer success team whose sole objective is to ensure you succeed.

SCORM

To those new to the eLearning world, SCORM seems like a confusing concept. But we'll break it down here to help you better understand what it is. The good news is that using SCORM provides your learner with a more interactive, engaging experience, and allows you greater control over the time spent on your courses.
SCORM is an acronym that stands for Shareable Content Object Reference Model. But don't let that bewilder you! Basically, SCORM is a set of technical specifications that were developed to provide a common approach to how eLearning content is developed and used. It standardizes the way in which eLearning courses are created and launched. Most SCORM courses are developed using popular authoring tools and therefore follow a similar structure.
To use SCORM in your eLearning, you need to ensure that you have a SCORM-compliant LMS. Be aware however that SCORM adds extra expense to eLearning delivery due to the cost of using an authoring tool. However, the benefits of using SCORM within your eLearning courses makes it worth the investment.

xAPI

Over the past couple of years, xAPI has become the popular new standard for delivering online training. xAPI is often described as the next evolution of SCORM, as it has redefined some of the fundamental practices of tracking learning experiences. It adds extra performance to SCORM and removes a lot of the restrictions of older specifications. It offers a level of flexibility that suits today's fast-paced world. Moderns learners want to learn on-the-go; while commuting to work, or while grabbing a coffee.

xAPI has the ability to track these learning experiences, whether they happen within an LMS or not, in one simple, consistent format. xAPI will essentially give you a holistic understanding of your learners' experience. However, xAPI isn't without limitations. Some organizations misinterpret it's capabilities and think that using Tin Cin will result in beautifully designed course content. This isn't the case. The xAPI spec doesn't improve UX or UI, and won't modify the design of a course in any way. xAPI only governs how data is tracked and stored.

Types of eLearning Training

People use eLearning for a variety of reasons. Whether it's to develop new skills or learn remotely, the convenience and accessibility eLearning offers is huge. Here, we'll explain the 4 types of eLearning training that LearnUpon helps you deliver.

Employee Training

Employee training is the most frequent type of eLearning organizations use an LMS for. Organizations utilize employee training for numerous reasons, such as onboarding new hires and improving employee performance. Training employees using an LMS formalizes training delivery and makes it more efficient. Compared to traditional training, eLearning more effectively encourages professional development by promoting knowledge and an eLearning culture. Furthermore, your LMS should allow you to create exams, run reports and gather feedback so that you can continuously assess and improve training performance.

Compliance Training

Compliance training is a necessity for most organizations. It informs your employees on the laws or regulations applicable to their role and industry. Compliance training is mandatory and tackles topics such as health, safety, and dignity in the workplace. Some examples of compliance training include:

Diversity Training

HR Law

Anti-Harassment Training

Running a smooth compliance training program helps to minimize the risk of non-compliance and maintains your reputation. Your employees will also benefit from a safer, more productive workplace. Furthermore, keeping up-to-date with changing legislation and amending your training materials is made easier with eLearning via a reliable LMS.

Customer Training

The idea of training your customers may seem like an odd notion. But it has profound value! Customer training programs help your customers use and understand your product or service. This type of training is especially popular with software providers. As well as raising the customer experience, customer training benefits the organizations that run them too. You will experience better customer onboarding, increased engagement with your product or services, and improved customer retention.

Partner Training

Also known as reseller training, partner training gives your partners the tools they need to be successful members of your network. Types of training include product information training, sales training, support training, marketing guidance, etc. Often certified training is a prerequisite to becoming a partner. Partner training presents many benefits; it can help you engage partners, reduce support costs, scale growth, and protect your brand.

Benefits of eLearning for your Organization

The advantages of each of these 4 streams of training have been briefly outlined, and you'll now have a better understanding of what eLearning offers you and your learners. Here we'll talk in more detail about the broader benefits you'll experience when you use eLearning in your organization.

Cost Effective

This is one of the most significant benefits eLearning presents, and probably the most welcome! Traditional training can be expensive and often frustrating to maintain. eLearning removes the need for costly printed training materials and even on-site instructors. If modules within your content need to change, this can be done easily via your LMS without having to print and distribute updated training materials.

Saves Time

Time is precious, especially in a work environment, so why not save as much of it as you can? For employers, eLearning keeps any updates you need to impart simple. Whether you need to implement changes to your training content or company policies, eLearning allows you to easily add them to your LMS. This saves you a considerable amount of time on the organization of reprints, etc. Learners can also save time by accessing content where and when they need to, rather than relying on scheduled training. And you can use your LMS to automate manual tasks, making training management more time efficient.

Improves Performance and Productivity

eLearning allows learners to quickly and more easily complete their training, resulting in improved performance and greater productivity. Learners appreciate that they can participate in training at their convenience. They're likely to feel more motivated to further their professional goals through eLearning, as it gives them the flexibility to learn at their own pace and from a location of their choosing.

Lower Environmental Impact

More and more organizations are making a conscious effort to reduce their carbon footprint as part of their corporate responsibility strategy. eLearning is an effective method if you aim to have a lower environmental impact. It offers an alternative to paper-based learning and contributes to a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly workplace. Now that you have a better understanding of what eLearning and its benefits, why not learn more about what LearnUpon's LMS can do for your organization? Schedule your free trial and demo today.

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It's likely that anyone who uses eLearning will tell you how impactful and convenient it is. In today's "always-on" world, eLearning offers many benefits

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The Perfect Time To Integrate Rapid eLearning Solutions Into Corporate Training

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The Perfect Time To Integrate Rapid eLearning Solutions Into Corporate Training

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Rapid eLearning delivers educational materials through electronic devices as quickly as possible in situations that call for urgent training, frequent content updates, budget constraints, and businesses that undergo frequent changes. It can also be used to address on-the-job performance gaps quickly.

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Rapid eLearning For Cost-Effective Training

In the ever-evolving landscape of corporate training where adaptability is key, traditional methods often fall short. Rapid eLearning emerges as the dynamic solution, swiftly aligning with the changing needs of businesses. This article navigates the optimal moments to integrate rapid eLearning for training, unveiling its potential to revolutionize the learning journey for your workforce.

Understanding Rapid eLearning

Rapid eLearning stands out as a flexible methodology, prioritizing swift course development while ensuring content quality. By harnessing specialized tools and templates, it accelerates the entire process of designing and delivering training modules. Its key distinction from traditional eLearning lies in its remarkable ability to slash development time considerably. This characteristic positions rapid eLearning as the perfect solution for businesses facing urgent training needs, especially those operating in dynamic environments with time-sensitive requirements. This approach's efficiency saves valuable time and ensures that organizations can adapt rapidly to evolving industry demands.

Signs It's Time To Embrace Rapid eLearning

Urgent Training Needs

Rapid eLearning is a perfect fit when there's a pressing need for quick training deployment. Whether it's compliance updates, new product knowledge, or emergency procedures, rapid eLearning allows you to create and deliver content promptly.

Frequent Content Updates

In industries where information evolves rapidly, such as technology or healthcare, frequent updates to training materials are crucial. Rapid eLearning enables swift content revisions ensuring that employees always have access to the latest information.

Budget Constraints

Traditional eLearning development can be resource-intensive and expensive. Rapid eLearning offers a cost-effective alternative, allowing organizations to create high-quality content without breaking the bank.

Adapting To Change

Businesses that undergo frequent changes, mergers, or restructuring can benefit from the agility of rapid eLearning. It enables quick adjustments to training materials, ensuring that employees are always aligned with the latest organizational goals.

On-The-Job Performance Gaps

If there are specific skills gaps hindering employee performance, rapid eLearning can quickly address these issues. Customized modules can be created to target and enhance specific skills, promoting continuous improvement.

Advantages

Speedy Development

Rapid eLearning lives up to its name by significantly reducing development time. This allows organizations to roll out training programs swiftly, keeping employees up-to-date with the latest information.

Cost-Effective

Traditional eLearning development can be expensive due to lengthy timelines and complex processes. Rapid eLearning minimizes costs, making it an attractive option for businesses with budget constraints.

Flexibility And Adaptability

The agile nature of rapid eLearning makes it easy to adapt to changes in content, technology, or business processes. This flexibility ensures that training materials remain relevant in dynamic environments.

Engaging Learning Experience

Rapid eLearning doesn't sacrifice quality for speed. Interactive elements, multimedia, and engaging content can still be incorporated, creating an enjoyable and effective learning experience for employees.

User-Friendly Design

Rapid eLearning tools often come with user-friendly interfaces and templates, making it accessible for Instructional Designers with varying levels of expertise. This simplicity streamlines the development process and encourages wider adoption.

Best Practices For Implementation

Set Clear Objectives

Clearly define the learning objectives and desired outcomes before starting the development process. This ensures that the content remains focused and aligned with organizational goals.

Collaborate With Subject Matter Experts

Work closely with Subject Matter Experts to gather accurate and up-to-date information. Their insights are invaluable in creating content that is relevant and aligned with industry standards.

Utilize Templates And Authoring Tools

Leverage the power of eLearning authoring tools and pre-built templates to expedite the development process. This not only saves time but also ensures consistency in design.

Incorporate Multimedia Elements

Keep the content engaging by incorporating multimedia elements such as videos, animations, and interactive quizzes. These elements enhance the learning experience and improve retention.

Iterate And Gather Feedback

Rapid eLearning allows for quick iterations. Gather feedback from learners and stakeholders, and make necessary adjustments promptly to enhance the effectiveness of the training program.

Conclusion

In the ever-evolving landscape of corporate training, rapid eLearning solutions offer a timely and effective approach to meet the demands of modern businesses. By identifying the signs that indicate the need for rapid eLearning development and embracing the advantages of this user-friendly solution, organizations can accelerate learning and ensure that their workforce remains skilled and adaptable. With the right strategy and implementation, rapid eLearning can be a game changer for your corporate training initiatives, providing a flexible and efficient solution for the learning needs of today's workforce.
Editor's Note: Check out our Top Content Providers For Rapid eLearning list to find the right partner for your training program.

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The Perfect Time To Integrate Rapid eLearning Solutions Into Corporate Training

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Rapid eLearning for training swiftly addresses urgent training needs, budget constraints, and dynamic content updates.