The Secret to Hosting a Super Engaging Virtual Meeting

With virtual events becoming the new normal, companies are hiring virtual event companies for hosting online meetings, conferences, product launches, and AGMs. Making your virtual meetings engaging could be challenging. If you are wondering what is the secret sauce for hosting super engaging virtual events, read this virtual meeting guide thoroughly.

Co-Create The Meeting Agenda

The meeting agenda or meeting rules are the set standards or the set practices that apply to every meeting. Co-creating the meeting agenda and the meeting norms will help ensure that the ideas and insights of the team members are integrated into it. When you create the meeting norms together with your team members, they will find it easier to own them and follow the rules. This will help everyone to stick to the agenda at all times.

Arrange a Virtual Ice-breaker

Having a virtual ice-breaker is the best way to increase engagement in the virtual meeting. There is a possibility that the attendees at the meeting do not know each other. Therefore, organizing various ice-breaker activities is the best way to make them comfortable with each other. It is important to make sure that the attendees feel comfortable speaking and are not hesitant. Ice-breakers are a great way to overcome this hesitation. Therefore, you must develop group ice-breaker activities. You can either ask a general question or play games like Never Have I Ever.

Choose a Virtual Meeting Platform

Selecting the right virtual meeting platform is probably the most important step in planning an engaging virtual meeting. With so many options to select from, choosing the most appropriate one requires a lot of research and thinking. Keep engagement features at the top of your priority list while selecting the best online meeting software. Some platforms provide advanced engagement features like live chat, live polls and Q&A sessions. You can also select a platform that allows you to add games to your virtual meeting.

Keep the Sessions Short

Online attendees can lose interest very quickly if made to look at the screen for too long. With so many distractions on their plate, virtual attendees are very likely to click exit if they don’t find the meeting interesting. Researchers suggest that the average human attention span tends to be as short as 20 minutes. Therefore, you must keep the sessions as short as 20 minutes. Try to divide the entire meeting into small sessions focused on different topics and subjects. This will help keep the attendees, and alert and engaged.

Conduct a Technical Check

A virtual meeting requires a lot of technical equipment and software to run smoothly. Audio/video devices play a crucial role in ensuring that the meeting does not encounter any problems. Checking all the equipment and the software in advance is a good way to ensure that everything is working fine. An unstable internet connection can hinder the success of the entire meeting. Therefore, you must always conduct a thorough technical check before the actual event. Always have a plan B in case you still face technical issues. You can also consider getting a technical support team in place. This will ensure that even if technical issues arise they are fixed immediately.

Analyze the Meeting Data

Almost all the virtual meeting platforms provide the data analytics and reporting feature. Data analytics helps you gather and analyze the meeting data to identify the attendee’s behaviour and other metrics. Conducting post-event analytics is a great way to increase engagement at your virtual meeting. This feature helps you collect real-time data from the meeting. It helps you track the number of attendees, the least and most liked sessions, likes, views, and shares of the meeting. It helps you analyze the effectiveness of your current strategies and make improvements for the future. Post-event data analytics is one of the most important secrets to hosting a super engaging virtual meeting.

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Take Feedback

Feedback is an integral part of any virtual meeting. Don’t forget to ask your attendees about their event experience. Taking feedback makes the attendees feel like their opinions are valued by the organization. It helps create a positive image of the company among the employees. You can use the data derived in the form of attendee feedback to make improvements in your future online meetings. In addition to taking feedback, make sure you follow up with the attendees post-event. Send them reminder emails with snapshots of the event. You can also provide the major topics discussed in the meeting or simply update the attendees with the latest developments and changes in the event.

Live Chats

Live chats are a great way to increase the engagement levels at your virtual meeting. Live chats provide the attendees with the opportunity to interact with others. Therefore, live chat is a must-have feature for your virtual meeting. This feature is a boon for introverts. Introverts are often shy to speak in public and can feel left out during meetings. Live chats provide such people with an opportunity to ask their questions.

Q&A Sessions

Q&A sessions help establish two-way communication and let the attendees interact with the organisers. Therefore, question and answer sessions are a great way to promote interaction and engagement among the attendees. It allows the attendees to ask questions and share their insights into the subject matter.

Customization

Many virtual event platforms allow customization of online meetings. The customization feature lets you add the elements that your employees like. You can add your brand logo, modify the icons, design and play around with the layout of the meeting. It will help attract the attention of the attendees and provide them with a better meeting experience. Customization is a great way to keep the attendees engaged in the meeting.

Summing Up

While everyone is working remotely, the importance of meetings cannot be ruled out. Meetings play a crucial role in enhancing collaboration among the attendees. While everyone is working remotely, the importance of meetings cannot be ruled out. Meetings play a crucial role in enhancing collaboration among the attendees. If you are also planning to host a virtual meeting, the tips and tricks mentioned in this article will be of great help.