If you think face-to-face training is the best way to do training, think again. New research shows that a combined approach produces 35 to 69 percent better results than face-to-face alone.

What is a combined approach? It is a mix of delivery modes, combined in a pattern to create the best result. For example, a blended course may involve a full day of face-to-face, followed by several hour-long webinars delivered sequentially over several weeks. Another example might include a self-paced DVD program followed by three two-hour webinars, followed by a one-on-one live coaching session.

The combined approach offers even greater value than its impact on workplace outcomes. It is also an important part of reducing the need to travel for training. Time in training sessions is time away from work, so many employers are happy with desk-based training that lasts only an hour or two. Additionally, corporations around the world are eager to eliminate travel, weather across town, or across the world. So when your company offers some or all of its training online, you have a competitive advantage that companies that hire you will value.

So if your company offers training services, it’s important to take another look at how to restructure your training offerings to deliver significantly more impact. If you are planning to conduct live online training via web conferencing technology, here are some success factors that will help you.

• Keep your online learning session short. For training webinars, limit each session to one to two hours. An hour is best, but two hours works well when the training is interactive enough.

• tell the students No take notes, but enjoy the experience of learning together. Promise participating students to hand out a handout at the end of the session that captures all the notes on the slides. If your slides are proprietary, you don’t have to give them a copy. Instead, give them a high-value brochure detailing the pain points, checklists, and actions required for your participants to be successful. In an online learning environment, a short, focused PDF booklet is better than a long, comprehensive book.

• Design your training webinar for vigorous, relevant and ongoing interaction. The toughest audience in the world is the one linking from the desktop. At any given time, people are secondary to multitasking. The only way to stop people from multitasking is to create (1) extremely high value content, (2) delivered at a fast pace, (3) interspersed with constant interaction that adds value to the learning experience at that moment. When online trainers fail to see students’ nonverbal cues, they must be even more deliberate in building high-quality interaction throughout the session.

• Have students meet from individual desks, not from a conference room. For the highest level of interaction, it is best to have each student link separately to the online learning session of the web conference. This allows all students to easily and quickly participate in polls, chat discussions, mock comments, and voice interaction. When students meet in a conference room, sharing a computer inhibits the quick interaction needed to keep everyone else interested. No one should be disadvantaged by location from being a full and equal participant in learning.

• Design your slides to engage the brain. Your students can’t see your face. But they may be very interested in the PowerPoint slides you use in your training webinar. Avoid standard Microsoft PowerPoint templates. Instead, look for business templates that best express the topic of your training. Avoid clip art. Instead, use commercially available photographic art and photographic images. Avoid the standard format. Instead, skillfully learn how to create and design slides that grab the attention of your desktop students.

• The team conducts online learning sessions when they can. With experience and training, one person can manage all aspects of an online learning session. But it’s better to teach as a team in your initial training webinars. For example, while one person instructs, the other annotates, administers polls, sets up chat discussions, observes student engagement, and asks questions to keep things engaged.

• End with an online version of a standing ovation. You know this when you have delivered an excellent learning session. Students are eager to say how much they enjoyed learning with you. In an online learning environment, many trainers don’t get that feedback. Before ending the online learning session, have students use chat to tell you what they learned and apply it. Encourage them to make multiple entries. Then, a moment later, ask them what they enjoyed most about the class. They will be able to share their comments with the group or with you privately, as you specify. If you ask your participating students to share their comments publicly in the chat, everyone will see dozens of positive comments that reinforce the high value of your content, as well as a very nice interactive session.

• End the online learning session with a three-minute online survey. Most web conferencing platforms will allow you to drop the student off on a website where you can poll them on metrics that show the value of your online learning session or program. If you were hired by a company (rather than individuals), summarize the information from the feedback form and send it to the customer. If the students registered independently, neutralize the comments and post the data on your website, along with citations (with permission, of course).