Melissa Kruminas

In my final semester of graduate school, I took a virtual adult education class from a professor who required us to do a virtual introduction. At the time I was not especially interested in being on camera. I had been training software both in-person and virtually for years. I had never shown my camera because I was always showing the software or slides. Begrudgingly, I recorded my introductory video and didn’t give it a second thought.

A few weeks later I received a video response where the professor had recorded herself responding to my questions and contributions. This was a game changer in terms of making me feel engaged and part of the classroom environment. I felt like I was in a classroom again. And it made me want to learn and meet her expectations.

With Covid-19 still affecting the educational experience at universities as well as in the software industry, I thought I would try out video introductions before trainings with my customer. Last fall I decided to give it a try. I got ready to record, introduced myself, provided an overview of the training structure and needed materials, and sent it off to my next customer the week before their online training.

It was a hit! The project manager from my company as well as the team lead from the customer both responded positively to the video introduction. The students were all prepared and engaged from the first day of training the next week. This interaction was the closest to an in-person training experience that I have had, and I have continued the practice. By putting a face with my name, my learners were better prepared, more invested in the training, and ready for the educational experience ahead.

Have you ever used video introductions for training? How did it go?