Posts tagged with delivery (14)

Teaching Station: Background Screen

January 15, 2021   Martin Jones
Not all screens are green
I use a background screen, it’s just not normally green. Background Screen I tried a regular hanging cloth green screen. I had some trouble getting it to be perfectly flat, but it mostly worked. Once I had it working though, I had to question why I was doing it, and I can see two reasons why: to make the background unobtrusive, and to use it to display something actively. This is a different need to many presenters. Read more

Teaching Station: OBS Setup

January 14, 2021   Martin Jones
OBS setup for instruction.
OBS is a great piece of software, but setup can be involved. This post describes my current set up for the Mk III teaching station. Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) is an essential piece of software if you wish to have control over what is seen by attendees. Without it you would be left switching cameras in your video-conferencing software and having no, or limited, ability to do things like picture-in-picture, a lower third, timers, freeze frames, etc. Read more

Teaching Station: Annotation

January 13, 2021   Martin Jones
Annotate to communicate
Remote teaching has stolen the ability to physically position yourself next to an item of interest on the projection screen. Annotation software provides an alternative. Screen Highlighting and Annotation By highlighting I mean making the position of the pointer clear. Changing the size and shape of the pointer is probably the easiest option here. I use a slightly more advanced option of a circle with transparency, as shown in the photo above. Read more

Teaching Station: Soundpad

January 12, 2021   Martin Jones
Fully use audio in your remote training.
Sound effects and noises are part of communication and can be used to great effect while training. Stream Deck Sound Pad (full) As with the Stream Deck, sound effects are a well-established technique of streamers, and I know other instructors have used it in training, including live instruction, previously. This was my first opportunity. It wasn’t until I had the Stream Deck that I even had a plan on how to access samples. Read more

Teaching Station: Diagramming

January 11, 2021   Martin Jones
Remote attendees react warmly to physical diagrams.
Both physical diagrams and digital diagrams are useful for remote training. Physical diagrams illicit a stronger, warmer response though. Physical Drawing Area Physical Drawing Area The Mk III Teaching Station, has a physical diagram area, just as the Mk I had. There have been a few improvements made, and I’ll describe them here, but before that, I’d like to talk about how physical diagrams are received. I have found that attendees enjoy seeing a physical diagram. Read more

Teaching Station: Stream Deck

January 9, 2021   Martin Jones
Get a Stream Deck and feel like you're in a studio.
The Stream Deck, and other like devices, is a great tool for remote teaching. For a modest cost and time investment, it can greatly improve the experience of instructor and attendee. Stream Deck (main controls) The photo above shows my Stream Deck XL ($290) after a lot of experimentation and customization. Something like the Stream Deck is important because dedicated buttons allow the instructor to directly control the presentation’s video and audio. Read more

Teaching Station: Teleprompter

January 8, 2021   Martin Jones
Make eye contact, even remotely.
Remote teaching implies some form of video conferencing. It does not, however, mean that we must give up all eye contact. I built a teleprompter unit for my Mk III teaching station. Teaching Teleprompter Eye contact, and reading someone’s body language, are important skills for an instructor. Arguably the need for eye contact and a feeling of a connection is even more important for some attendees given that they have been isolated by themselves for months due to COVID-19. Read more

My Remote Teaching Station

May 7, 2020   Martin Jones
I built a remote teaching station.

For most of my training career, I have delivered courses to audiences in the same room. I have always favoured local delivery because the experience is far better for all. Coronavirus has made that view irrelevant for now; delivery has to be remote.

I made myself feel better by building a remote teaching station.

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One Brain, Three Tasks

April 10, 2020   Martin Jones
An instructor's brain does three things while teaching.

When you first start training, your brain probably does just one thing — deliver the training. If you only occasionally deliver training, that’s sufficient. But, if you train often enough, you can expect your brain to potentially perform a total of three tasks.

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The Politician's Answer

March 30, 2020   Martin Jones
Don't avoid a question by answering a different question.

Have you ever been in a training session and asked a question, or seen a question asked, only to have the instructor answer a different question?

Maybe it was an accident, but there is a chance that it was deliberate. The trainer gave a politician’s answer.

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