Virtual vs. In-Person

by | Nov 8, 2021 | Mindset

In October, for the first time since the pandemic, I have finally started giving in-person trainings.

After staring at my screen for almost two years, my first reaction while giving my first in-person workshop was, “Who are all of these people and why are they here?” and “Why are there so many people here?” 😊 It felt like I’d been backpacking in the woods for weeks, returning to a town or a city and experiencing culture shock from being reintroduced to humans and civilization again.

So far this year, I am on par for giving about eighty presentations; 85 % of these have been virtual and 15 % in-person. Here are some thoughts on the pros and cons of facilitating workshops virtually vs in-person.

Pros and Cons:

  • Pro/Virtual- It’s definitely very convenient. I save so much time not having to drive, park, prep my to-go snacks and tea, or dressing myself, the shirt matching my pants and shoes. All of these take up a lot of time.
  • Pro/Virtual- As long I can get about a 15-to-30 minute break, I can easily schedule 3 or 4 webinars per day. In-person, it’s so much more challenging due to time and distance.
  • Pro/Virtual- Due to less interaction and distraction, the pace of these workshops normally goes faster than in-person, so I can cover more topics.
  • Pro/Virtual- During breaks, or when I put participants into breakout rooms, I can take breaks, too. In-person is harder because I am still standing in front of the participants and people come up to talk to me during breaks.
  • Con/Virtual- When the camera/video is not required to be on or when everyone’s camera is off, I can’t see people’s faces and it definitely feels like I am talking to an invisible wall all by myself. Sometimes I feel kind of silly and wonder if there are real people on the other side. This stifles my creativity and energy.
  • Con/Virtual- When the energy is low and participants are not engaging, it’s so much harder for me to boost up the energy. This is because there is a layer of invisibility that participants can hide behind.

  • Pro/In-Person- We humans are social animals. Even an introvert like me who enjoys working from home gets tired of staring at my screen and I need to be around people once in a while. I do miss and enjoy the vibrant energy on college campuses.
  • Pro/In-Person- I might be old-school, but nothing beats the awesome energy of active engagement and intersection with a live audience.
  • Pro/In-Person- When participants say something very inspirational or deep, it just hits me very differently in-person than virtually. I don’t know exactly how to describe this feeling. Virtually, when someone says deep stuff, I feel it in my head. When it’s in-person, I can feel it within my whole body and it moves me emotionally.   
  • Pro/In-Person- I get to meet and chitchat with different folks. I do enjoy these little moments.
  • Con/In-Person- Depending on the host organization’s COVID policy, most places require participants to wear masks. In some places, I (the speaker) have to wear a mask, too. In this case, I feel like what’s the point of having the in-person training when I can’t really see the participants’ facial expressions and I’m having a hard time talking due to the mask. *
  • Con/In-Person- Of course, there is the time commitment. Using the University of Colorado Denver as an example, I live about a 10-minute drive from the campus without traffic. My own personal prep time for being in public is about 30 minutes. Once I get on the campus, finding parking probably is going take about 10 minutes. The walking time from the parking lot to the building/room might be another 10 minutes. Normally, I have to be in the room about 15 minutes early to prep my materials and PowerPoint. Factoring all of this time in, it means an hour and 15 minutes have gone by before I start speaking. Compared to virtually, I just need 15 minutes before turning on my camera.    

My projection is that the trend is definitely moving toward a hybrid model with the scale tipping heavier toward more virtual trainings. We will still have plenty of in-person trainings, and I think these in-person trainings will reserve for longer workshops. My 2022 goal is striking a balance between 70% virtual presentations and 30% in-person.    

*I do not like to wear a mask at all, and I support mask requirements 100 %.