From the first idea to implementation: Normen Ulbrich talks in the second interview via webcam about the concept of Blended Learning with his online academy. You will learn what kind of content Normen uses at imnu Personnel Development and why he spontaneously shot a short video for his clients in Venice in this article.
For trainers, networking with one another is highly valuable. Whether at conferences, in bar camps, or at private meetings – the personal exchange of experiences broadens horizons and provides space for fresh ideas. Therefore, we at blink.it also regularly seek conversations with successful trainers or coaches and ask: What does your training concept look like? What lessons have you learned in the past years? And what specific tips do you have for your colleagues? …
Normen Ulbrich is the owner of imnu Personnel Development and told us in the first part of his video interview why he chose Blended Learning as a tool for his training and what difficulties he faced at the beginning. The second part is now specifically about the type of content on his online academy and practical examples of his Blended Learning.
“The Online Academy serves as a source of inspiration”
Normen believes that pure online training, known as E-Learning, does not work very well. That's why he relies on Blended Learning, which combines face-to-face events and online content. Personal presence is still extremely important, the trainer explains, especially at the beginning. In these meetings, one can get to know each other personally and discuss all relevant factors for the further training.
At imnu Personnel Development, Normen especially focuses on very individual training, which varies according to the client's topic and budget. However, one thing is the same in all cases: The first part takes place live and in person, only after that are online contents meaningful.
Normen calls these online contents “sources of inspiration” for the actual training. In his online academy, he can offer clients suggestions and support after and between face-to-face events. This way, they feel accompanied in the long term and can actually integrate the training into their daily lives.
This is particularly important for long-term topics such as leadership development, as training often spans several months and sometimes even years. Covering such a long period solely through face-to-face events is only possible under certain conditions – both for the trainer and for the client.
It’s best to listen to how Normen describes his training concept in the webcam interview:
Note: The videos from our webcam interview have a lower resolution than one would expect for a Blended Learning experience. Unfortunately, no other form of interview was technically possible. However, we consciously decided to use the recordings in this case – after all, the content is what matters most. We did not shoot an image video, but only an interview about Blended Learning. We hope you forgive us for the below-average image quality.
“I work a lot with short videos”
When asked about the nature of these online impulses, Normen primarily mentions the medium of video. He first selects a small piece of content that he usually wants to provide to his clients after the last face-to-face event or impulse, typically within intervals of 3-6 weeks.
He presents this content in one and a half to three minutes and films himself during the process. He then uploads the finished short video to the respective course of his online academy and informs the client about the new impulse.
Trainer colleagues who want to start with video content, Normen recommends three things:
A clear focus on the individual content – according to the idea of microlearning
Brevity – not longer than three minutes
A call-to-action at the end of his video
In addition to videos, Normen also uses other content, such as his own essays or interesting articles from other authors. He also shares intriguing YouTube videos with his clients in the online academy. In the coming months, Normen also plans to delve more into the topic of quizzes.
Particularly exciting: In Normen's training, it sometimes happens that he trains different levels of leadership. This allows him to receive feedback from one level to the next higher one. In face-to-face training, it would be difficult to convey this feedback without conflict. On the other hand, through simple anonymization in the online platform, he can transform it into an impulse. Thus, the online academy serves as a kind of “communicative medium”.
“During my vacation in Venice, I came up with the idea for a new video impulse”
The practical side of an online academy: As a trainer, you can also spontaneously convey your own impulses to your participants or clients. Normen recounts a vacation in Venice when he was inspired by a gondolier to shoot a short video in St. Mark's Square:
The digital platform is not just a communicative medium, but also a kind of “communicative accelerator”: Even on vacation, Normen needs nothing more than his smartphone or a tablet to produce valuable content in a matter of minutes – and share it directly with clients all over the world.
For this article, Normen provided us with his online impulse – many thanks for that! This way, you can see for yourself how such spontaneous greetings and motivations can look in Blended Learning:
“With blink.it, I appear thoroughly professional”
Aside from ideation and conception of online impulses, the choice of a platform for the online academy is a decision trainers face when starting with Blended Learning. In the first part of the interview, Normen mentioned that initially he had very concrete ideas for a learning app. Only after he had already given up on his idea of the online academy did he find blink.it as an easy yet cost-effective technical basis for it.
In response to our final question about what Normen likes about blink.it, he mentions the professionalism on the one hand and the short paths and quick problem-solving on the other. “I just find that really great in combination,” Normen says about blink.it.
His clients are often a bit older, making an easy-to-use interface particularly important. That makes sense: after all, the client should participate in personal training and not have to take a course on how to operate an online academy first.
As a final point, Normen mentions the advantage of being able to personalize the interface so that it feels like “his academy” – including a personal color scheme:
“For my own clients, it is not obvious at first glance or even on second glance that it’s from a third-party provider – and that naturally enhances my own professionalism.”
The videos embedded in this article are just parts of the complete webcam interview with Normen Ulbrich. You can find all individual short videos in our YouTube playlist with Normen.
By the way: We recorded the interview as a continuous video and then edited it into as short clips as possible. Even if the image quality is not optimal due to the webcam's resolution – you should be able to understand Normen well and quickly get an overview through the division into short, thematically related videos.
How you can easily edit videos yourself and what else you should pay attention to in video creation, you will learn in our video guide!
