Learn fun ways to engage your digital audience and establish an online community feel during your next virtual event. 2020 proved itself to be the year of online meetings. Due to COVID-19, we have all gone through an incredible transformation and while the pandemic won’t last forever, it is safe to say that online events and meetings are here to stay. In fact, 93% of event marketers say they plan to invest in virtual events moving forward. But spending too much time behind the screen can be draining. So what steps can event pros take to make online participants feel more connected and boost audience engagement? During Virtual Shake-Up 2.0, Nadia Vratna and Juraj Holub from Slido shared creative ways to engage virtual event attendees in order to establish a community feel throughout a digital event. Below are 9 of their audience engagement strategies that can help promote audience interaction during your next online event! Engagement Tip #1: Set the Mood with Music
Engagement Tip #2: Chit-Chat with Your Online Audience as They’re Waiting
Engagement Tip #3: Have a Co-Host
Engagement Tip #4: Re-Engage Your Digital Audience Throughout the Entire Event
Engagement Tip #5: Experiment with Different Virtual Event Formats
Engagement Tip #6: Use a BIG Timer
Engagement Tip #7: The Wheel of Names
Engagement Tip #8: Group Photos
Engagement Tip #9: Be Intentional About the Q&A Session
Additional Highlights From Nadia and Juraj’s Presentation: Audience Q&A Question: What if your company management is afraid of live engagement? What arguments would you give in favor of live engagement? Answer: We have undergone an incredible transformation, as an industry and as companies, so people really need to build up the confidence to use these new tools. Start with something simple and do not overdo it from the get-go. Use one straightforward poll to break the ice at the start and ask for feedback to wrap up the session. The next step would be to find an ambassador who works for your company, someone who is eager to experiment. There is always (trust us) one brave soul who will want to try something new. The moment people experience a great engaging presentation delivered by a brave soul, it is a snowball effect. People will say “I love that, I want to try that as well.” Question: How useful do you think it is to engage with your audience before the event? Do you have any tips for doing this well? Answer: One thing you can do is start collecting questions from attendees before the event, but it really depends on the format of the session. If you are running an “ask me anything” or a webinar it is easier to collect questions before the event and give presenters more time to prepare answers, but if you are running a large event it might be more complex. When it comes to live polls, you can also use them beforehand to feel out crowd expectations. An example would be to send out a poll asking “what would you like to learn at the event?” and let people answer beforehand so you can use those answers to shape the agenda accordingly and make sure that what you’re talking about is actually what the audience wants to hear. Question: How long should virtual sessions be to keep the audience engaged? Answer: Try to not go over 45 mins if possible, but if you need to make it longer make sure you incorporate those interaction points that we discussed. Poll Results Want to watch the full session recording? You can do so here. More About Nadia Vratna & Juraj Holub:
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February 2021
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2/1/2021