Online training hints and tips

It has been a year since my last article seeking out volunteers to join the newly formed ‘Online Branch’. Since then, we have held several online meetings and are working hard to build anew stream of online tax technical content, presented by a range of talented tax professionals from across the UK.

The committee’s objective outside of delivering tax technical content is to promote new talent and diversity in all its forms. So, what do I mean when I say new talent? Quite simply, the online committee is open to speak to tax professionals who are well established in their roles or areas of specialisms and who have not previously been involved in delivering a tax technical lecture for the CIOT or other training provider.

We offer supportive conversations, tips and training, as well as the opportunity for a practice run through so the speaker is not left in the dark as to how the session will go on the day.

Over the years, CIOT has provided lots of great opportunities to new speakers, who are now more established and well known in the tax arena. This is not only a great personal development opportunity for your business or employer; it’s also a great marketing opportunity, as well as self-brand promotion.

My first CIOT online webinar was a few years ago. I received great support from the CIOT team and the run through was super helpful. On the day, I felt relaxed as I was at home and in my space, which kept me calm.

Below I have shared some of my own tips but also advice from other more established speakers:

• Turn off any computer notifications, including work emails and teams chats, etc.
• Try your best not to move or swing around in your chair – for the attendees that could get a little distracting or dizzying!
• Always ensure that you finish on time and ideally with some time for Q&As. If you’re part of a panel, definitely do not be the person that overruns and steps onto another person’s allocated time slot.

Sarah Hewson, UK Employment Tax Technical Lead at Vialto Partners and a CIOT council member, says:

• Try not to overcrowd your slides with text. This will distract the participants and may result in your point being missed.
• Incorporate some break slides to give you some breathing time. This will give you a chance to sip on a drink or control the pace of your delivery.

Sofia Thomas, Head of Tax at Juno Sports Tax and a member of ATT’s Technical Steering Group, says:

• Think about the three main things that you want the audience to take away from you talk and make sure these are covered.
• Where possible, use real life examples to bring relevance to the talk.
• Engagement online can be harder than in a room. Consider using polls or asking non-technical questions with a multiple choice answer to encourage participation.

These tips are super useful even in your day to day working life. We hope you can see that we really are here to help and support new tax talent. I would strongly recommend reaching out to have an initial discussion with myself or one of the committee members of the Online Branch.

Reshma Johar is a Tax Consultant at Mazars and is Chair of the ATT/CIOT Online Branch.