Keeping Your Audience Engaged During Virtual Meetings

Right now, we feel like we are falling through a new sea of uncertainty every day. Information overload—new numbers! Breaking news! This just in! But as speakers, educators and motivators, we must cut through the noise to provide salient knowledge to people albeit through virtual portals.

With that being said, here are some ways to keep your audience, members, employees, or key stakeholders engaged during virtual meetings.

Set The Scene

This suggestion may feel like a no brainer but when people are telecommuting so many other factors are in play. There is no conference room atmosphere to settle them. Most likely they are working in an at-home office or dining table or kitchen.

You have to set the stage by creating a meeting that will not only inform but capture the attention of your viewer.

• Make sure you are in a tidy space with few distractions
• Have water, tea, or drink of choice at the ready
• Pen and paper should always be near to write down important questions, participants’ contact info, or a shopping item you need to pick up
• Prep your background! We all remember BBC Dad and how we got distracted by his family busting in during his interview! Choose your space well. Your employees, colleagues, or audience will be watching!

Share Engaging Content

Now that you have your water, pen and notebook, you are ready to capture the minds and attention of your audience with a killer presentation.

• Creating slides that are vibrant and colorful to capture the attention of your audience
• Use key words on your slides. This forces the attention of your audience towards your words instead of copying verbatim the slides, they listen to you

Any Questions?

We all know the feeling of dread in a virtual meeting when someone raises their hand to ask a question which kicks off a laborious process of unmuting, asking, muting, answering, unmuting, and finally thanking.

Luckily and thankfully, webinars and online meetings now have a chat feature so you can easily keep track of questions asked by the participants. Here are a few tips for answering questions during a virtual meeting

• Prioritize. If you are going to answer a question later, take note and make sure to emphasize that point when you reach that topic
• Engage. When you answer a question, call the person out by name. This small but mighty action makes them feel heard. Being stuck in a home office isn’t great but adding something special is always nice and makes them feel less distant!

Leading Authorities is here to make your virtual meetings a reality. We are offering an abundance of options to host your next meeting whether it be virtual next month or in person for the autumn. We stand ready to help.

Reach out to our sales team today or click here to learn more about our virtual meeting and webinars offerings!