Lesson 4: Developing an Instructional Strategy

SQUIRREL!!!

We all know how a squirrel instantly captures a dog's attention. That is what you want to do with your audience when your webinar begins.

The first of Gagné's nine events is to gain the attention of the learner. As you learned previously, students must pay attention to learn. This doesn't mean you should do something like shouting, ringing a bell, or other annoying actions. Instead, you want to start the lesson with something that captures their interest in what you are about to present.

Methods for gaining attention include:

• Tell an interesting story that is relevant to the topic and audience
  
• Display and explain an image related to what they are about to learn
• Use an analogy to familiarize the audience with what they will learn and provoke their interest
• Give a demonstration showing what they can achieve from your instruction
• Ask a thought-provoking question

Share your examples for gaining attention during a webinar.