12 Virtual Training Best Practices: How to Keep Your Team Engaged and Motivated

If you’re second-guessing your ability to run a virtual training session at work, you’re not alone. Even experienced facilitators find the transition to online training challenging sometimes.

To be an exceptional virtual trainer, you need to really know your tech, be an active listener, and take feedback like a champ. But, since you’re here, you’re probably already on your way to hosting engaging online sessions that leave attendees feeling empowered to put what they’ve learned into practice.

From choosing the right software to finding allies in your trainees, we’ve compiled a list of 12 virtual training best practices and tips to get you started.

12 virtual training best practices to upgrade your sessions

To make your virtual training or employee onboarding sessions noteworthy, you need more than just a cool, eye-catching slide deck design. It’s virtual training best practice to:

1. Choose a platform that's easy to navigate
2. Have a central hub for resources
3. Use technology to your advantage
4. Get a good camera and microphone
5. Write notes and rehearse
6. See attendees as your allies
7. Communicate classroom rules
8. Make the most of in-app engagement features
9. Check understanding as you go
10. Divide the attendee list into smaller groups
11. Set up some practice activities
12. Check your engagement analytics

1. Choose a platform that’s easy to navigate

You may be familiar with the frustrating experience of trying to join a virtual event on a website that’s not at all intuitive. You spend 10 minutes figuring it out, downloading the app last minute, and end up joining late.

The best way to make sessions easy to access is to use a browser-based online training platform - so attendees can join in one click, with no need to download anything or make an account. It also helps if you host training on the same video conferencing platform that your company uses for other internal communications, so everyone’s already familiar with it.

For example, we recommend using Livestorm as your all-in-one internal communications app because it’s flexible enough to support small internal meetings as well as huge webinars with up to 3,000 attendees. Plus, if you’re using Livestorm, you can check if you’re using a compatible browser for minimal audio or video lags.

2. Have a central hub for resources

Your employees need to be able to use and apply what you taught them after the session is over, especially if you’re running onboarding for remote employees.

Build a knowledge base and add links to the relevant materials so trainers can access them at any time and refer back to what they learned. You can create your knowledge base in a cloud storage app like Google Drive, a project management tool like ClickUp, or no code-app builder like Softr or Bubble.

3. Use technology to your advantage

When you train employees online, your virtual training platform is your classroom. So, pick one that comes with all the tools you need to give attendees a memorable, interactive session.

For corporate online courses, you need high-quality video software that:

• Supports the expected number of employees
• Is packed with engagement features (like live polls or built-in chat)
• Can share media and send extra resources live
• Allows you to customize your speaker settings
• Is easy to use and access

But you also need other tools to provide a seamless learning experience, like:

• A knowledge base to upload and host all the training materials
• Interactivity apps for group collaboration (e.g. Miro or Visme)
• A quiz tool to test employees’ understanding

4. Get a good camera and microphone

The quality of your video and audio determine the level of your presentation. If attendees can’t see you or listen to you properly, they’re likely to leave the (virtual) room. Use a good microphone and a high-resolution webcam in a well-lit, quiet room for a more focused and professional experience. Just make sure you have a backup plan in case one of your devices stops working!

5. Write notes and rehearse

Facilitating training can be stressful. What if someone asks you something you don’t know? Or you lose your train of thought? You can’t predict everything that will happen in a training session, but you can practice your answers to frequently asked questions.

Write notes but use them as a guide only - avoid memorizing them word by word or else your presentation could become a little stiff and boring. Use visual and audio media like an embedded video or some infographics to break up your presentation and give your speaking voice a rest.

6. See attendees as your allies

Try and think of your trainees as allies that can help you improve the quality of your online learning sessions every time you host one. Not only can they give you insightful feedback about your presentation style, but you can also leverage their experience as you go.

Allowing others to pitch in with their perspectives will help vary the training dynamics and keep everyone engaged. For example, if you’re an HR manager running a workshop on career conversations, ask a manager from another department to explain how they do it with their direct reports. Use this as a springboard for further discussion and knowledge sharing.

7. Communicate classroom rules

The idea behind sharing classroom rules isn’t to call anyone out or punish them - it’s to set your attendees up for success. If they know how and when to interact with you and their colleagues during the session, they’re more likely to do it in a productive way. However, if someone is unsure whether they can ask a question in the middle of your presentation, they might not ask the question at all.

8. Make the most of in-app engagement features

Encourage attendees to ask questions and use the platform’s engagement features to simplify (and even improve!) the way they interact with you. If you’re using Livestorm to host virtual training sessions, take advantage of these features for peak engagement:

• Polls
• Call to action (CTA) buttons
• Q&A tab
• Virtual whiteboard
• Handouts plugin (for sharing resources)
• Breakout rooms
• Simultaneous speakers
• Emoji reactions

9. Check understanding as you go

Don’t wait until the last minute to check in on your audience. Set rules at the start of the training session to avoid constant interruptions, but allow them to ask questions or “raise a hand” to speak. You can also use the live poll feature to quiz trainees on the go and make sure your content meets them at their level.

10. Divide the attendee list into smaller groups

This was one of the most requested features by Livestorm users and it’s super popular for large training sessions. Breakout rooms allow participants to collaborate in smaller, less intimidating groups. Get creative and use this feature

• To create a circuit: Assign a speaker and a topic per room. Allow trainees to move from one room to another, so they can learn the modules that interest them at their own pace.
• For coffee breaks: Simulate real-life group gatherings with virtual breakout rooms.
• To collaborate: If you want your employees to discuss a case study or work on problem resolution, divide them into smaller groups.

11. Set up some practice activities

If you want to learn how to make bread, you’ve got to make bread. You can memorize a recipe, but that doesn’t mean that you know how to make a baguette. The same is true for most skills.

Come up with a set of practical virtual training activities for employees to implement what they’ve learned during the session. For example, you could get two sales reps to role-play a scenario like an upsell. Invite them to reflect on their performance while their peers give tips on what they could improve.

Pro tip: Don’t miss the chance to shadow new hires during their online employee onboarding to evaluate their understanding of important tasks. An app that has screensharing enabled (like Livestorm!) can help you assess their understanding of important processes.

12. Check your engagement analytics

Analyzing your online training engagement score is almost as important as planning the event itself. Only by reviewing your virtual meeting metrics will you be able to plan for improvement.If you’re using Livestorm, you get access to an analytics dashboard with video engagement metrics like:

• Which users are most engaged (based on polls, questions, and chat activity)
• Retention rate and time in session
• Names, contact information, and country
• Replay views
• CTA button clicks

If you’re not using Livestorm, but want to calculate your engagement rate, use this Video Engagement Score™ (VES) calculator. You’ll need to input information from your last session. Have at hand:

• Number of attendees and registrants
• Session duration and average time in session
• Chat and polls interaction numbers

Top 4 skills virtual trainers need to have

The virtual trainer plays a huge role in the quality of the sessions. This person needs to be charismatic and knowledgeable, but also:

1. Be an active listener
2. Understand the technology
3. Be an engaging public speaker
4. Take feedback like a champ

1. Be an active listener

Facilitators need to be able to listen to understand their trainees. Get rid of the predetermined response that you have in your mind when someone asks you something. Instead, listen to their question carefully and check your understanding of what they asked before you give your answer.

2. Understand the technology

It’s really common to see trainers spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to share their screens or get their microphones to work. Test the platform, tools, and devices a few times before the training to avoid technical issues.

3. Be an engaging public speaker

Use personal stories to connect with attendees. Pick the ones that are both topic-related and entertaining. To get full investment from your audience, include the stories that make you look vulnerable and avoid the ones where you sound perfect. Use it as an opportunity to explain what you’ve learned since then.

4. Take feedback like a champ

Always ask for feedback and make it as easy as possible for learners to respond. Ask them to fill out a survey at the end of the training and reach out directly to individual attendees and ask for actionable feedback.

Pro tip: Record the session and watch it afterward to judge your performance. Livestorm can record automatically, so you can evaluate your own performance or repurpose the session as an on-demand training resource.

The tech stack you need for virtual instructor-led training

Just as in-person training relies on tech like a projector or a microphone, virtual training relies on apps to keep things engaging. Here are the ones you can’t miss:

• Livestorm: This is an all-in-one video conferencing software for internal communications and webinars. You need it to create a registration page, send automated email reminders to registrants, run live training sessions, engage your participants, record it, and review your analytics.
• Miro: This is an interactive virtual whiteboard for remote teams. Use it to boost team collaboration during your training. If you’re using Livestorm, you can share the whiteboard and get attendees writing on it without switching apps.
• Notion: Use this note-taking app to create a knowledge base linked to training materials, resources, and a small blurb explaining each file. If you’re using Livestorm, use the CTA button to redirect attendees to the Notion page at the end of the training session.
• Visme: This presentation creator lets you design different types of visual assets to share with your audience. Integrate it with Livestorm so you can manage your presentation and switch slides without switching tabs.
• Interprefy: Use this tool to do real-time translations and interpretations of your training to people who speak different tongues. That way, anyone can join the training despite language barriers. Interprefy integrates with Livestorm in a few clicks.

Facilitator hacks to boost e-learning interactivity and engagement

Training people in a virtual environment means you can do things you couldn’t face-to-face – like allowing people to connect from different parts of the world. You can also offer a hybrid learning experience and by recording in-person training to share with an asynchronous, remote team later. The best way to boost interactivity during a corporate virtual training session is to:

• Divide people into small groups and ask them to work on a case study
• Get attendees to answer each other’s questions based on what they’ve learned
• Use a virtual training software like Livestorm that gives you access to meeting analytics and is packed with engagement features like:
  • Polls and CTA buttons
  • Virtual whiteboard
  • Breakout rooms
  • Emoji reactions
  • Participation report
• Make a virtual training program that includes a game or a set of poll questions

So, plan your session, write a script, use personal stories, and get ready to run a memorable and engaging presentation.

Frequently asked questions about virtual training tips and best practices

How do you engage employees in virtual training?

To engage employees in virtual training you should:

• Be clear about participation rules and allow them to intervene at any time
• Invite your attendees to answer another participant’s question based on their experience
• Use your virtual learning software engagement features like
  • Emoji reactions
  • Polls
  • Q&A tab
  • Interactive virtual whiteboard

What skills should a virtual trainer have?

A virtual trainer should have these skills:

• Be highly knowledgeable in the topic
• Understand the technology they’re using
• Be an engaging and charismatic public speaker
• Take and seek feedback
• Listen actively to attendees

What are some strategies for virtual training success?

Strategies for virtual training success include:

• Setting expectations and training rules at the beginning
• Sharing and follow a clear agenda
• Inviting people to participate
• Coming up with practice exercises
• Breaking people into smaller groups
• Using videos to make the training more dynamic

What are some tips for designing a virtual training course?

Tips for designing a virtual training course include:

• Know why. Why do you need to give training on this topic?
• Get to know your audience. Who’s this training for? Managers of others, technicians, leaders?
• Set your goals. What do you want to achieve?
• Define the agenda and topics. How extensive will this training be? How much do you need to cover?
• Determine the duration. How long do you need to go through all the topics?
• Include interactive activities. When is your audience actively participating?
• Measure success. How are you doing this? Through a survey?