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Let's face it, the virtual reality we're living in isn't going anywhere!
Many people are struggling with how to best engage people on virtual platforms and even after almost a year of this pandemic, some people still don't have it all figured out.
Last week, I got to facilitate a training with some awesome staff from Safe & Sound. During our time together, I got to share with them some strategies for how to better engage their event participants on virtual platforms. Check out some of the things I shared with them.
Social Media:
Use your social media pages to share information about the event. Bonus points for #Hashtag creation that people can use to share about the event
Ask people questions like what they want to hear about or what they’re looking forward to and let them ask questions and engage on posts
Give small teasers of what’s to come to get people invested and excited
Agenda:
Have an agenda available and make sure you do your best to follow it
Even if you don't include times, having topics and focus points is important and will help your meeting to flow and stay on task
Send it out to attendees or post it on your social networks before the meeting so people know what they’re walking into
Make sure that your agenda includes the specific objectives of your meeting
Learning styles:
Be considerate of the needs of different learners
Include captions on the screen when you can
Make sure you include video and audio clips when you can to emphasis points and break up content
Include relevant images on your slides when you can to give
Have some fun:
Incorporate as many opportunities as possible for people to share
Use the chat box
Allow people to come off mute and speak
Try having check in questions or ice breakers to start your events
Use breakout rooms to allow for small group conversations
Try fun things like the whiteboard feature on Zoom or poll everywhere
Evaluations:
Get feedback on your events as much as possible
Create polls and surveys that attendees can complete virtually at the end of your events
Give people an opportunity to give you feedback
Every virtual event that you host is worth receiving feedback no matter how big or small
Some questions you can ask are below:
o Were meeting objectives met?
o How was timing?
o Was content relevant?
o What could have been better?
o Did you feel like you have a chance to participate and engage?
There are so many things you can do to keep people engaged during virtual events. Which one of these stood out to you? What other tips and tricks can you share?
If you or someone you know is interested in my virtual facilitation strategies training, please set up a call with me here and let's talk more.
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