In 2020 Covid was rife, and many in-person training programs became online training programs. I worked with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to deliver their provider training. We went from 8 people per session to 24, and we delivered ten times the number of sessions that we had before. Here are some tips I pulled together as a kind of “debrief” of what I had learnt, or what I did that others weren’t doing. I’m still flabbergasted in 2026 to find some people aren’t doing all of these things.
The key points are that this is NOT TV. You can change things. You have control over how you come across and you can come across even more professionally.
1. Set yourself up to succeed
- Background appropriate and tidy
- Real is better than virtual background
- Light from in front not behind
- Always be present to the camera if you are on camera
- Solid colours work better on camera
- 2 (or 3) screens
- If they need to know it, make it a slide
2. Model the behaviour you want
- ‘Look’ at them
- Interact every 3 – 5 minutes (they speak, type, write)
- Ask them to put their cam on (make sure yours is on too)
- Remember we can hear you too
- You are not the source of all wisdom
3. Set them up to succeed
- Questions with notice
- Ask them to put their cam on
- Whenever they do what you want, give them positive noises
