| PARTICIPANTS IN VIRTUAL TRAINING: HOW MANY IS TOO MANY? |
| How many participants should be in a virtual training? As with many aspects of virtual training design and delivery, the answer to this question is, “Well, it depends.” In determining the capacity of a particular training, consider the following: |
 How much technical support might your participants need? Will some trainees be learning to use the technology as well as learning the training content? If so, a smaller number of participants may be advantageous. Will the training team include both a presenter and a producer? Whenever possible, virtual trainings should have a producer. The producer can admit participants into the session, check attendance, offer technical support, monitor the chat box, set up breakout rooms, etc. Larger trainings will be more successful if the presenter is less challenged by multitasking both the presentation and the production. How might the interactive features of the training be most effective? If breakout room discussions are planned, any number of small groups of 3-5 participants may be formed. If, however, primarily whole group discussion is anticipated, fewer participants will increase opportunities for interaction. Depending on the computer, Zoom will display up to 49 participants (thumbnails) in gallery view. The pictures, however, are quite small. Displays of 20-25 participants are preferred. In her The State of Virtual Training 2020 survey, Cindy Huggett found that 77% of virtual trainings have less than 25 participants. While there is no absolute right or wrong answer to the group size question, trainings of 25 or fewer may be more manageable from a logistical standpoint. More importantly, they may increase opportunities for active participation and interaction. |