SPECIAL SECTION: EDUCATION
Educating Clients And Employees After The Pandemic It’s hard to beat a quality live webinar or pre-recorded video BY MICHAEL FARACI | SPECIAL TO NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL
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or the last 15 years, I’ve been developing and administering educational programs within the mortgage industry. Program topics have ranged from simple pricing overviews to full-blown, multi-day new-hire orientation programs that touch on the whole of a company’s policy, procedure and product offering. In that time, one thing has become clear: most companies view employee and/or client education as a necessary evil, not as an opportunity. “Make it mandatory” is a good way to get info out to everyone who needs it, but there is a big difference between distributing information and educating. If you want that information to be retained, you must go the extra mile. Below, we will explore the most popular forms of corporate education, and how this “new norm” we find ourselves in actually presents an opportunity to improve your educational strategy.
Our “new norm” seems to be phasing this option out. Thank goodness for that! Let’s focus on the next option as an alternative.
LIVE CLASSES AND ‘LUNCH AND LEARNS’
1. Keep it short and sweet. Stick to high-level overviews. Fine details will put people to sleep. 2. Engage your audience. Don’t demand their attention … earn it. Make your webinar the single most entertaining thing going on. 3. The presenter must be authentic and not take themselves too seriously. Fake energy levels and robotic speech also will turn people off quickly. 4. Time management is huge. Keep topic-specific webinars to 45 minutes max, with a 20-minute presentation and a 15-25 minute
Let’s be completely honest - once the free food is consumed, nobody wants to be here. Many people believe in-person training is the most effective way to get their message across to a target audience. I challenge them to take a close look at what they are presenting. If the best way to get your point across is by traveling from place to place (or flying your audience to you) so you can hold people captive, then your presentation is probably lacking.
WEBINARS AND LIVE STREAMS This is one of my favorite ways to educate. It’s live, so it allows you to relate to your audience in real time. Plus, you don’t have to give up the Q&A session at the end, which usually ends up being the most valuable part of the entire session. Webinars are also a much more effective use of your time, as you can reach anyone, in any location, unlike in-person classes. Plus, the cost to hold one is almost nonexistent.
5 TIPS FOR CONDUCTING THE MOST EFFECTIVE WEBINARS AND LIVE STREAMS:
Michael Faraci is senior manager of specialty products at American Financial Network, Inc.
interactive Q&A session. Attention spans are short, so use that to your advantage. 5. Record the webinar for distribution after it’s over. Attendees will appreciate having the option to re-watch the parts they missed or want to dive more into. It’s hard to beat a quality live webinar, especially if you have a stream that allows your audience to see you while you’re speaking to them. Just don’t forget this isn’t simply for informational purposes. If you make a legitimate effort to entertain your audience, you message will be received (and retained) much more effectively.
PRE-RECORDED VIDEO This is the next best thing to a webinar or live stream. It may not educate your audience as effectively, but it can come close. It’s more convenient, as your audience can watch at any time. Personally, I’ve CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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