Happy Virtual Classroom Producer Day!

Today marks our second annual celebration of the behind-the-scenes wizards who ensure our live online sessions go off without a hitch. They possess unparalleled superpowers – guiding learners through technical challenges, supporting facilitators as they deliver content, and helping achieve business goals in the modern classroom.

Flipping the classroom marks a big step towards truly modern learning. Organizations, for a variety of reasons, have transitioned face-to-face training content to the virtual classroom. The process, complicated by the very nature of including technology in learning, can become even more difficult without the right instructional support.

In the two decades that InSync has designed, delivered, and supported virtual training, one factor has proven essential for success: the virtual classroom producer.

A hallmark of our approach, we encourage all teams hoping to incorporate live online sessions into the blend to seriously consider investing in this invaluable resource.

Are you interested in a work from home opportunity? Are you computer literate and a detail-oriented person? Do you have experience supporting WebEx Training Center, Adobe Connect, or any other virtual classroom platform? InSync Training wants to learn more about you! 

This is the second part of a blog post from our guest blogger, Susan Bassett. To view the first post, "It's Amazing What Creating Online Energy Can Do!," click here. 

Passion and Courage
Love what you do. Whether you call yourself a trainer, instructor, facilitator, presenter; the nom de guerre doesn’t really matter. Being a great online trainer requires soft skills and a high level of motivation to share your passion about the subject being presented.

This is the complete opposite of finding yourself online with a trainer who reads the slides and notes word for word. Listen in on any outstanding online trainer and you will experience passion about using their energy to impact other people’s lives.

With that passion, comes calculated risk that requires courage. If you want people to learn before, during, and after your online training, create a safe learning environment where risk is encouraged.

Picture it: You’re a veteran virtual learning producer. You’ve arrived forty-five minutes ahead of a session, you’re well prepared…and everything goes wrong. Do you panic? Or do you put all your skills to good use?

InSync Training’s veteran producer Kathy Piazza managed to keep her cool in a high-pressure producing situation, and managed to keep the session moving and the learners on track.

In this blog post, she shares her step-by-step, moment-by-moment, rollercoaster ride of a session.

We chatted with veteran producer Brigit Michael and got her take on why she considers the virtual classroom to be a stage, herself a stage hand. Her unique perspective can help you hone your modern learning skills as you facilitate, produce, implement, and manage virtual learning events within your blends.

The role of a virtual producer is a unique one; we’re responsible for making everything run smoothly behind the scenes to ensure that learners have the best experience possible. 

I consider my role as a producer is kind of like a stage hand for a play. Some directors want the stage hands to be recognized and take a bow at the end, and some want them to fade entirely into the background, with a variety of possibilities in between.

Happy Virtual Classroom Producer Day!

To celebrate the occasion, we're honoring our own producers - the members of our instructional team who ensure our live online learning events go off without a hitch.

We asked our facilitators, project managers, and operations team what sets our producers apart, and these are just a few of their favorite things. 

In the live online learning environment, instructional teams often struggle to truly connect with learners. We don't have the benefit of greeting our online learners with a smile as they enter our virtual space. So how do we create an inviting, warm, inclusive learning environment? From experience, it really comes down to our tone of voice and our words.

As virtual facilitators and producers, we have to be cognizant of our tone and our words. Our words are often the only part of us that our learners experience. When preparing for a session, ask yourself, “How empathetic and open am I to really hearing what participants have to say?” “Do my learners tune out because my tone of voice seems disinterested or unyielding?” If you answered “yes” to either question, make a conscious effort to inject warmth and authenticity into your voice. It’s a small step that makes a big difference.

InSync Training’s team includes a group of fantastic virtual classroom producers, or assistant facilitators, who provide professional event support to our clients, and our Certificate course and Workshop facilitators. They keep learners on track, and transform virtual training programs into fast-moving, trouble-free interactive events. 

In this guest post, Helen Fong, our Lead Producer, shares her wisdom about this important, but often overlooked, role.