Online Engagement in the Era of Coronavirus
Five Recommendations to Elevate Your Virtual Events
The global pandemic is here. With horror, the entire world wakes up every morning to check the news and find out how many more are diagnosed with #covid19 #coronavirus. We wonder how many are dead, how many new countries are reporting new cases, and if it is safe to travel. Hand sanitizers are sold out and people everywhere are nervous.
Across the globe, thousands of industry related conferences like Amazon, Google and Facebook are cancelling and restricting travel. Workshops, retreats, board meetings and events far and wide are left scrambling to pick up the pieces. Dismantling a conference is a nightmare; yet turning on a dime to salvage some of the keynote and breakout sessions online can be done relatively quickly. Yet for many leaders, the idea itself is overwhelming and most lack the general awareness of how to structure, organize and host such events.
If you are in HR, event planning, C-Suite executives, board chairs, thought leaders, or subject matter experts, gaining skills in digital/online facilitation and execution is critical.
In addition to understanding the tech options and how to use them, there are a series of critical facilitation elements that have to be addressed in order to create high quality online events. These skills are tangible and teachable. Organizations, coaches and experts who can innovate right now to create high quality interactive and engaging digital events, workshops or gatherings will be on the leading edge of where we are headed as an increasingly interconnected global village.
Not only do moments of global pandemics make this a reality, the ongoing awareness of climate change and impending carbon tax is forcing all of us to rethink the old school model of investing millions of dollars into a conference venue. We ask thousands of people to spend money on tickets, planes and hotel rooms, take time off of work, and assume side costs while there. It is not sustainable.
The downside of attending conferences is running around trying to catch as many sessions as possible, collecting hundreds of business cards that are shoved in a drawer, waiting in line for five minutes with a keynote speaker, staying up late seeing friends later at the bar, and coming home exhausted. The upside is the level of human interaction that occurs we all crave and need to network, connect and grow in business and life.
This is the time when we have to use the tools available and explore how to connect across the globe in a way that leaves us feeling both informed and connected. We have to innovate beyond live. It is possible to engage with colleagues, make new friends, and learn valuable industry information, all without leaving our homes.
Designing effective online events is entirely different from live. It requires a few skills to help participants, speakers and conference coordinators determine how to cross the digital divide into a new paradigm of interactive online event planning and speaker training.
I have put together two LIVE leadership level mastermind events next week to help address some of these concerns in real time on March 9 and 13. I will teach how to construct, design and execute a highly engaging online event, and work directly with participants on their particular situations. More information about this can be found in the link below.
I will also be releasing three articles with video tips and tricks in the coming days. In the meantime, here are a five tips to innovate online events, create true community and engage your group, team or members in a way that is energizing, productive and sometimes surpasses the results of traveling to hotel conference.
1. Use Zoom for large group meetings, and make them fun. Webinars suck, lets face it. People deserve better. Use the features in platforms like Zoom to allow for large groups to be divided into “Rooms” and take advantage of the different viewer perspectives allow for seeing the speaker in full screen, or the entire group in a giant grid.
2. Use Interactive Tools to Match Normal Social Behavior. This one tool mentioned above of switching the viewpoint to “gallery view” to see all of the participants has been misused over and over again. It has the capacity to energize a group, get them engaged with each other, wave, make silly faces, and see each other’s body language. It is like showing up for a conference and chatting with your colleagues in the lobby before shuffling into the break out’s.
3. The Audience Matters More than You Do. When we don’t have the bonus of physical contact, creating visual contact with participants is critical. Everyone knows the energy of stepping into a huge ballroom event and then picking out a few friendly faces. It gives an uptick in energy, and sitting near someone you know releases tension or anxiety. This can also happen in virtual space if you make the audience matter. Create an online “lobby space” for socializing, connecting, and icebreakers. It is a game changer.
4. Storytelling is More Important than Information. No one remembers facts. Everyone remembers stories. In online events, storytelling is critical to engage the group and elevate participation.
5. Agenda Design is Critical. Sadly, humans currently have the attention span of a goldfish. I like to coach my speakers when planning events to shorten their message to their highest idea and include a personal story- and make it less than ten minutes. It is a gold standard for online attention.
The world is truly becoming smaller as we grow more connected. This can be sometimes scary, but ultimately it is incredibly exciting. I have gained powerful friendships with colleagues all around the world through my work hosting global summits, world tours, town halls, round table discussions and even cocktail parties: all digital. It is fantastically energizing to see folks from around the world just being ordinary people.
