A Quick Fix for Disengaged Virtual Participants

In our last The Art of Virtual PD Workshop, the question that surged to the very top of our Slido board*—the one participants upvoted again and again—was this:
“How do you get disengaged participants to buy in, especially in virtual spaces?”

I wasn’t surprised this question rose to the top. People are carrying so much right now—competing demands, emotional strain, and in virtual settings, the realities of “Zoom fatigue”. 

Sometimes disengagement truly has nothing to do with you. And it’s also true that virtual facilitation requires a different kind of intentionality and new skills.

Even if you are magic in a room, virtual spaces ask more of us: more clarity, more structure, more thought about how people experience the learning when you can’t see or feel everything happening on their side of the screen.

As facilitators, we are responsible for creating the conditions in which people can learn—conditions that support presence and invite meaningful participation. Online, those conditions don’t happen by accident. They have to be designed.

If you are facilitating online, here’s a simple move you can try in your next virtual session: “The Pause & Pulse” Check-In. When you sense the room drifting, try this:

“Let’s take 30 seconds.
Check in with yourself: What would help you engage more fully right now?
Make one small change that would support you.
Maybe it’s a big stretch, or jotting down a note, or closing out a program.
I’ll put the timer on the screen and we’ll restart in 30 seconds.”

Three things happen instantly:

• You remove pressure.
  
  
• You invite self-awareness.
  
  
• You open a door for people to re-enter without calling anyone out.

Over time, using moves like this creates a culture of presence and trust.

Keep Learning

• Subscribe to my Weekly Wisdom Newsletter to get content like this sent straight to your inbox
• If you want to grow your virtual facilitation skills and build the confidence and toolkit to keep participants engaged—even when energy dips—join us for the next live session of The Art of Virtual PD. We’d love to see you there! 
• Here are 7 learnings from 15 workshops.

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