Kate Kosturski and Jill Hurst-Wahl talked about some of the things that a trainer should pay attention to, noting that little things – small details – mean a lot.
For the workshop/conference organizer:
- Appoint someone who will help each presenter understand how the technology works.
- Tell people upfront how the person should bring his/her presentation. USB drive? Post it online? Should the presentation be in specific file format?
- Tell the presenter if there will be Internet access.
- If lunch is part of the session, what is your expectation for how long it well be and ho the time will be used?
For the trainer:
- Get there early so you have time to test the technology.
- Make friends with the technology person. Be sure to ask lots of questions about how that setup works.
- Have a backup of your presentation on different media and in the cloud.
- Make sure your presentation is in a normal/frequently used format.
- Make friends with the facilities person. This is the person who can help with physical resources (e.g., heat, chairs, water, room setup).
- Be clear on how you will handle questions. Do you want questions as they come up or at the end?
- Tell participants how you want them to interact (or not) with their technology during the session.
- If the session includes lunch, will it be a working lunch?
- How many breaks will you give participants?
- Test your presentation on a projection unit before the workshop/presentation. Is the font color readable? Is the font large enough? Is the background distracting?
- Bonus (not on the recording): Use fonts that are good for accessibility. For some with print disabilities, a san serif font (e.g., Tahoma, Franklin Gothic, Arial) are good to use. (No, do not use Comic Sans or any of “fun” font that can be difficult to read, even if it is a san serif font.)
You can listen to the show here, and hear details about this show title!
T is for Training 