In this workshop I will share my experience as a full-time trainer since the COVID-19 outbreak, discussing the techniques I tried, what failed, and what worked, how delivering workshops changed, and what must you do to adapt to today's savage training environment. This is not a sales pitch, but I really want to help you during these times. Agenda: - Impactful content type - Ideal group size - Ways to adjust the content to remote audiences - Engaging techniques that really work - Critical Timing: tricks for better time-use - The art of asking for questions - Ways to persist your impact after the session - Building trust that Online Does Work! - When and How to gather significant feedback? - Marketing your webinar Target Audience: The discussion is not technical (doesn't involve many programming concepts), so anyone interesting in delivering, facilitating or contracting effective online training sessions is invited. Also those preparing to deliver a talk at a conference can benefit from many ideas

1. @VictorRentea1victorrentea.teachable.com victorrentea.ro victorrentea@gmail.com .
Engaging Isolation
What I've Learned Delivering 250 hours of Webinars
in COVID Times

2. @VictorRentea2
me
2000 – First large program (AI-game)
2006 – Earn a living in Java
Highly-certified ☺
PhD(CS)
2012 – First internal training
2015 – First independent training
2020 – Gave up my full-time job (Lead Architect at IBM)
... 61 more followed
My Life
2016 – First conference talk ... 43 followed
> Lead 7 Projects > 500h+ of pair-programming VictorRentea.ro
victorrentea@gmail.com

3. @VictorRentea3
me
2500 training hours
2000 trainees
12 topics, very technical (list at the end)
My Passion
30 webinar days after COVID
In-house for 40 companies
victorrentea.ro
On Teachable for anyone
victorrentea.teachable.com
VictorRentea.ro
victorrentea@gmail.com

4. @VictorRentea4 4
30 webinar days after COVID
What have I learned?

5. @VictorRentea5
Preparing the training
- No of participants: 12 .. 20
- If you take less than 12 you won't have enough answers to engage the audience.
- Someone in a training with more than 20 participants might feel they are not important
- (25 if they are seniors or highly motivated to learn)
- Too few- no questions
- Less slides. More code.
- At the beginning of the training session, have the participants vote what subtopics they want us to
focus more. Start with those topics.
- Keep begging for questions.
- How to motivate them to engage: "I'll tell your boss if you actively participated. I will mention him
your name if you ask/say smth, even if it's the most 'stupid' possible idea." -- I keep saying there are
no stupid questions

6. @VictorRentea6
Key Skills
for being a trainer
real-life experience
(confidence, best practices)
comfortable explaining
(pair programming, brainstorming)
public speaking
(internal talks, communities, conferences)
avid learner
This is where you find trainers

7. @VictorRentea7
Number of Participants
12 ... 20
too few answers "I'm not important"
Harder to tailor to their need
+
if more experienced
or highly motivated
How many projects?

8. @VictorRentea8 8
Hours
4h/day 8h/day
x twice the days
 Mid-Seniors  Mid-Juniors
Never 4h PM
≤ 2h/day
for internal, informal

9. @VictorRentea9
Prep-Call
with 1+ Leads
adjust the agenda
gather intelligence

10. @VictorRentea10 10
I wanted to build a Webinar,
but it turned out a Talk
Questions / Ideas / Problems:
> type in chat [best]
> ask at the end
(Ideally with slide #)
(tight on time, too much to say)

11. @VictorRentea12 12
Crafting Slides

12. @VictorRentea13
13
Conception
Chapters
 Book TOC
 Other Agendas
Experiment
First Slides
with bullets
Research
Google around
Even about your
'strong opinions'
Copy entire agendas
Detailed Points
 your brain
Teach on other's slides
bullets
Plain text
until here

13. @VictorRentea14 14
bullets
trainee

14. @VictorRentea15
But first,
15
Let me tell you a story ...

15. @VictorRentea16 16
Moving from
to Let me tell you a story ...
Read Your Presentation!
Try to tell it to someone else ...or to yourself.
a story
MILESTONE
Speak to yourself
Out Loud!

16. @VictorRentea17
a story
vs
prerecorded video
a webinar
= guided learning
(highly time-efficient)
= self-paced, non-directed studyrequire a clear,
browsable agenda
< 20% attendees
review the slides
Support for discourse
Coursera, Pluralsight, Linda, Udemy ...
< 5% employees use their corporate license

17. @VictorRentea18
Must-have for talks
Slide Design
▪Concise ideas
- Keeps focus on your speech, not on written words
- Gives you freedom
▪4-5 rows/slide, few fonts, careful with colors
▪Evolution: bullets > progressive reveal > 1 bullet ➔ 1 slide
▪Meaningful animations
▪Use diagrams/ images / videos
https://presentationpatterns.com/glossary/

18. @VictorRentea19
Observer
Use easy-to-remember
Analogies
Careful with Multicultural Audiences!
A quite tricky
Design Pattern

19. @VictorRentea20
A Story Without Bullets
Before: 31 slides After: 101 slides
jPoint Conference Dry-Run

20. @VictorRentea21
Move from concrete to abstract
Back to code, play some more
2/3 1/3
+ = 2

21. @VictorRentea22
At start-up
Trainees vote the topics most interesting
Start with those!
[hard]
Insist on those!

22. @VictorRentea23
Rehearse!
Afraid?
Seems Hard?
it is!

23. @VictorRentea24
Rehearse!
How much?
Twice More
Than Intended!
2-3 times for a training
5+ times for a talk
Improve!Target: 90% Time
Learn <<
In Full
Voice
Expressions
Native, then Target language

24. @VictorRentea25
Rehearse!
until
It Sounds Like a Story
Curious how much work it takes?
For this 1h presentation
I worked ~20 hours
(my experience: 2000+ slides)

25. @VictorRentea26
Rehearse!
Brainstorm the Complex Parts
(exercises, pros/cons, best practices)
with
Colleagues
Communities
Conferences

26. @VictorRentea27
Performing

27. @VictorRentea28
SILENCE

28. @VictorRentea29

29. @VictorRentea30
Energetic music until start time
Where are you joining from?
Years of experience
Your last brainstorming
Bring a pen & paper and take notes.
At the end, show us them. Or your doodle :)
Monitor seniors
for confirmation

30. @VictorRentea31

31. @VictorRentea32 Source: https://www.lifesize.com/en/video-conferencing-blog/video-conferencing-statistics

32. @VictorRentea33
Virtual Tour of your Workspace
Show me your coffee
TURN ON YOUR CAMERA!
MANDATORY
You (the trainer)
should go first
Warn them
before
80 %

33. @VictorRentea34
Sometimes, the walls are stronger
Break Barriers Down!
Your Imposter Syndrome
Their EGO
Their Skepticism
Their Shyness

34. @VictorRentea35
Performing

35. @VictorRentea36
Timing
36
= Respect!
Care for Their Time!
∑ Time of participants + logistics + prod impact >>> your prep-time/fee
My
No 1
Goal
I AM TRUELY HONOURED TO HAVE YOU HERE
Don't waste any 10 seconds
Demos must work smoothly
(give a break if it crashed)
35-45 min teaching / 10 min break

36. @VictorRentea37
▪Show your face: know you, trust you
▪Change your voice to keep things interesting
- Change volume, pace, inflection
- Emulate dialog
▪Ask yourself the frequent question
Engaging Speech
Oh no, I dindn't knew
that would break!
My boy, you should handle
those NULLs more careful.

37. @VictorRentea38
▪Pauses [seconds] after complex ideas
▪Hand Gestures! Stand up if possible.
▪A pinch of suspense
▪Be calm
Engaging Speech
We'll talk about that
in about 10 minutes.
Stay tuned!

38. @VictorRentea39
at mid-interval (20mins) + when disengaged
Reduce Stress with IT-related funny:
Props
Relax Them
• Videos
• Memes
• Quotes
Follow me
for such content:
30K 4K 2K

39. @VictorRentea40
▪ZoomIt (free for Windows)
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/zoomit
+ touchscreen = ❤️
▪Windows Magnifier/Mac Equivalent
▪Paint
- For the most challenging problems of all
▪Google Forms
Engaging Tools

40. @VictorRentea41
MAIN
STOPPER
to start
teaching
▪Don't learn by heart your discourse
- You block => loose trust
▪Don't feel smart, but humble
- Your experience might be biased
▪However, Confidence gives Comfort
▪Never pretend you know stuff
Imposter Syndrome
I am a colleague, and I want
to share what I learned.
Do I know everything?
No!
But I'd Love to learn it with you!
IME

41. @VictorRentea42
People are attracted by the Learning Process,
not by Knowledge Experts
Source: TED: What Makes a Good Teacher Great - Azul Terronez
A Great Teacher Eats Apples
Aim to learn from your trainees
Let one of the trainees teach you all 5-10 mins
Google-up things openly [<10 s]

42. @VictorRentea43
Beg! for Questions
via
Voice or Chat
better for multicultural,
non-English native
Feel Safe
Wonderful question!! Thank you!
Anything! Anytime!
Complex Parts before Break
Break-time, but I'm still here for questions
5-10q/4h
Trick:

43. @VictorRentea44
"Ask any question or bring any idea,
and I will praise you to your boss,
no matter how smart the idea is."
YOU
Beg! for Questions
Trick:

44. @VictorRentea45
Thank You
For Your
Question!

45. @VictorRentea46
Asking Questions

46. @VictorRentea47
▪Pulse Check every break
- A/V quality, teaching speed, next: exercises or slides
▪Quick Polls
- Rate your understanding (1 to 5)
- True/False
▪Gladiator Grading: "did you get it?"
Asking Questions

47. @VictorRentea48
▪What to cover next – Dynamic Agenda? [hard]
- Use after lunch zZzZ
▪Call on people by their names
- Don't demand, but praise or recall their ideas
Asking Questions
John!

48. @VictorRentea49
Ideal: Immediately Applicable Skills

49. @VictorRentea50
But in Reality...
Persisting Knowledge

50. @VictorRentea51
Live Slides:
➢ Real-world Analogies
➢ Images + Videos (with message)
➢ Diagrams (animated)
from scratch, live-coding (control focus)
Humble, Open, Warm, Polite
Exercises
Persisting Knowledge
Explain to us please! Real samples.
Recall concepts
(morning retro)

51. @VictorRentea52
▪Type after me: K.O.
▪Individual Coding Exercises K.O.
- Seniors=bored, juniors=dead
▪Group Exercises (breakout rooms) K.O.
- Repetition (waste of time) + Hard to trace
- Risk: blockage/monopole
30 %
Homogenous Group/
Teaching a New Skill
OK
OK
OK
Exercises
Less attentive Bored

52. @VictorRentea53
Homogenous Group/
Teaching a New Skill
OK
OK
OK
▪Individual Questions OK
- Match concepts
- Single-option, True/False
▪Find the Bug in my code OK☺
▪Remote Pair Programming OK
- Gain traction
Exercises
With opened seniors

53. @VictorRentea54
Then,
When Should They Practice Individually?
Outside the Webinar!
Before & After Work

54. @VictorRentea55
Pre-Learning: talk, article, book chapters
Pre-Assignment
A simple (1-2h) exercise requiring the target skills
➔ Raise problems
Post-Warranty: 2 weeks support
Follow-up questions, real-project advices, etc.
Post-Assignment
improve your pre-assignment
Before & After Work
30-50 %
>50 %
1 %
2 %
REMINDER

55. @VictorRentea56
▪Watch the parts you missed
- Mandatory for international/time-zoned audience
▪Re-watch complex parts
- Very useful for mid-juniors
▪Less attentive
- "Neah, I'll watch it later"
▪Copyright Infringement
- .torrent
Recording
IF DECLARED,
MAY HARM
They won't!

56. @VictorRentea57
After-Life
What do you (the trainer) do after a training?

57. @VictorRentea58
After-Life
What do you (the trainer) do after a training?

58. @VictorRentea59
Improve The Training
Gather TODOs While Delivering
Proves it's Alive
30-90 minutes
< 5 sec/TODO
After-Life
What do you (the trainer) do after a training?

59. @VictorRentea60
FEEDBACK

60. @VictorRentea61
FEEDBACK
Face It !
Improve !
All of it!
Study it the next day/
When you can use it to

61. @VictorRentea62
FEEDBACK
Report It !
Improve !
honestly to your clients/managers
+ possible causes and how to

62. @VictorRentea63
Get it during the Webinar (70%), not after (30-50%)!
Example
https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-GJ5DHF9G7/
Unexpected negative feedback = BAD
you didn't asked them enough
Haters do exist (0.5%)
FEEDBACK
+NPS

63. @VictorRentea64
victorrentea@gmail.com
victorrentea.ro
victorrentea.teachable.com
Thank You!
Questions?

64. My Curricula
Hibernate/JPASpring FP with Java
Domain-Driven DesignDesign Patterns
Clean Code + Refactoring Unit Testing + TDD
Java Performance DetailsScala❤️
VictorRentea.rovictorrentea@gmail.com
rxJava
anylanguage