At one recent online training I conducted, I found that none of the attendees had their video on. I had been warned that most preferred to have video off. Right at the start of the session, I laid down the ground rules, and one of them was about keeping video on. One guy turned his video on. I thanked him. I continued to encourage others to do the same. Unfortunately no one else was willing to do so. Eventually that poor guy felt awkward and turned his video off. That was an ominous start for my session.
I didn't press further. I started on my content. Speaking to a black wall of names on my computer screen was not exactly exciting. I switched to the form of engagement this audience was more accustomed to - answering simple questions in the chat box. I started with simple yes / no questions, then moved on to some open-ended questions. I picked some answers to discuss and elaborate. That worked better. Many did write in the chat box, and they wrote meaningful answers. I kept them engaged.
Then we came to the activity part of the training, when I needed two attendees to do roleplaying. I knew I was not likely going to get volunteers, knowing this shy crowd. Was this activity going to fail spectacularly? I looked at the chat box to identify attendees who had contributed the most. I invited one of them by name to take part in the roleplaying. I "volunteered" him. There was a pause. He certainly hesitated. Or possibly he was putting on clothes. Eventually he turned on his video and said hello. I then "volunteered" the next person by name, also one of the more active contributors. We were able to conduct the roleplaying activity successfully.
What would you have done if you were in my shoes? What other methods can be applied to engage a shy crowd?
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