The outbreak of COVID-19 has made traditional in person engagement and meetings all but impossible and has presented us all with some new and specific communication challenges.
At Copper we’ve delivered new ways for our clients to communicate and engage with audiences online and share project information in accessible and appealing formats that can be enjoyed by audiences from the comfort of their own homes.
To help keep your audiences engaged and make your event a success, here are ten things that will help you deliver an effective online event, manage the expectations of those attending and ultimately create an informative, engaging and positive experience for everyone involved.
1. Plan, practice and prepare
It’s important that you deliver a polished product to your audiences that reflects well on your brand. So, before you unveil your vision, carefully plan out your content, practice by holding a pilot session for some critical friends and prepare meticulously for the live event
2. Choose your software wisely
Do your research and choose your online platform carefully. There are lots of options to choose from and they all have their own pros and cons. Choose your criteria to select the right platform for your audience’s needs; understand your reasons for this decision.
3. Get your audience involved
Get your audience involved in your online event by including polls as part of your session. Not only will it help keep your audiences engaged, you can check that everyone is still listening!
4. Choose the right presenters
Make sure your presenters are passionate and knowledgeable about the topic area. Your presenters will help keep the presentation interesting and will motivate audiences to listen and engage.
5. Don’t alienate audiences
Remember not to put off audiences who may not be able to join online. Many online platforms offer a dial in option, so think about how you can maximise engagement for all.
6. Visual engagement
Make sure the visuals of your presentation are as engaging as the spoken content. Spend time art working and creating slides and invites; make sure they are consistent with your company brand. Choose your design team carefully – create powerful and visually appealing slides. Consider incorporating video content too to keep audiences tuned in and give your presenters a bit of a break!
7. Feedback
Don’t forget to capture feedback following both your pilot and real events. Feedback will help you improve your event and positive feedback is great for testimonials. Consider using a pre-event survey during the registration process to ask audiences what they are hoping to get out of the session too.
8. Questions and answers
Your session will no doubt include a question and answer session. Make sure you explain to users how the question and answer session will be run, when questions will be answered and how to use any question and answer features. Remember the software you’re using may be new to users.
9. Gather stats
You can get really interesting insights into who is joining, what time they join, even the attention levels of your audience! Make sure you gather and examine event statistics and learn from them to improve subsequent events.
10. And finally, enjoy it.
There’s something energising about a live event so make sure you enjoy it too. If you get it right, you’ll win round your audiences and build warmth and trust in your people and your brand.
Copper can help you devise online engagement sessions and slides, help you navigate through the challenges and opportunities and help you to deliver meaningful engagement events for your audiences. For more information download a copy of our Stakeholder Engagement in a Digital World guide and contact us on: info@copperconsultancy.com.
