Читать книгу Virtual Training - Blount Jeb, Jeb Blount - Страница 21

If your primary means of training has always been face-to-face, it's natural to fear that you won't be able to communicate effectively, connect with your learners, or make the same impact in a virtual classroom. You fear that virtual training will lower your effectiveness as an instructor.

This fear is not unfounded. The truth is, the most effective way to build relationships and trust, resolve conflict, brainstorm ideas, collaborate, gain consensus, present ideas, and teach is with physical face-to-face interaction. You know this, and I know this, because we are human.

This is why so many trainers feel out of sorts in the virtual classroom. It's as if their sense of sight has been suddenly taken away—and, in reality, it has.

The eyes manage roughly 80 percent of the information and communication you take in. Visual interpretation of the world and people around you consume at least 50 percent of your brain's computing power. In fact, a far larger part of the brain is dedicated to vision than to hearing, taste, touch, and smell combined.¹ In a virtual classroom, though you may see learners on video, it's cloudy, and never as clear as when you are training face-to-face.

When people lose their sight, their brains rewire to improve and enhance both the sense of hearing and touch.² Studies indicate that in response to sensory deprivation, “dramatic cross modal neuroplastic changes in the brain” occur.³ That's the scientific way of saying that your brain can adapt to better fit your environment.

To truly “see” in the virtual classroom, you must go through a similar rewiring of the brain. This is accomplished through practice and repetition and requires time, effort, and pain to make this mindset shift. The good news is that science is on your side. Studies are emerging that indicate that you can rewire your brain to be more perceptive and emotionally responsive in the virtual classroom.

For example, one study showed that you can train your brain to glean insight from body language and micro-expressions though peripheral vision.⁴ That's an important skill for trainers, especially when your sight line is pointed toward the camera so that you are making eye contact with learners. The same goes for audible clues. For example, as you become more perceptive of changes in voice tone and inflection, you become nimbler and more responsive to your learners.

The key to rewiring your brain for the virtual classroom is a commitment to getting past insecurity and doing it—again and again. The more you teach in a virtual environment, the less daunting it feels and the more comfortable and intuitive it becomes. Although virtual training is made possible by technology, it is still a uniquely human endeavor. Training and learning are woven into the imperfect fabric of human emotions. That's why it's so important to shift your mindset.

Before you can get comfortable with the technology and overcome your tendency to be camera shy, you need to commit to making a positive impact by helping people learn, grow, develop, stretch, and win. This gives you the resilience to leverage technology to create the highest level of virtual learning experience. This is what separates average trainers from true professionals.

No matter what you teach, for you and your learners, emotions play a crucial role in the outcomes of your virtual learning experiences. And emotions are driven by your mindset. Your commitment to the mission matters. Relationships matter. Interpersonal connections matter. That is why virtual training, through the lens of human emotions, matters.