This guidance only applies if you are running live events. If you have pre-recorded your induction, skip this section.

Whether you are running your online or face-to-face, this is likely to be the first real impression people get of your programme. Making sure your induction sessions go smoothly is important.

Considerations for running events

When running your events, you should consider:

Testing your equipment beforehand

You may have dozens or hundreds of people attending each of your induction sessions; you’ll want to ensure the session goes smoothly. Arrive at the event space or log in to the call 10 to 15 minutes early, test your equipment and – if you’re using a presentation – have it on-screen from the start. This will mean your induction session can start on time and you can focus on the content, not the tech.

Asking someone to moderate online chat or Q&A

If your video conferencing software has a chat function or you are using Q&A tools like Slido, participants are likely to make comments or ask questions throughout the event. You might want to ask someone to act as a moderator during each session to help with this. This could help you to address questions or comments more quickly, and mean you can keep focused on presenting your content.

Take notes of any questions you are asked

You are likely to have written extensive guidance about your programme and feel like your induction programme answers lots of questions participants will have. Even so, you will still gets lots of questions about how the programme works and what people need to do.

In some cases, these questions could be an indication that your materials aren’t clear: make notes of them, so you can think about improvements you can make later.