Bring your virtual audience into the room
Hybrid events (when an event has a physical and online presence) continue to be a popular communication tool for multinationals who want to share their message from a central location – whether an internal, employee audience, or an external, customer/client audience. During COVID, we were all subject to being online guests – talked at, rarely acknowledged – an after thought.
It’s vital that companywide messaging lands, regardless of audience size or location. Disregarding an online audience can seriously impede knowledge transfer. So rather than the obligatory Q&A session, how else can we communicate with our virtual audience?
3 ways of making online audiences feel included
Interactive presentations
Polls, questionnaires, and quizzes – simple audience interactivity can go a long way to help an online audience feel included. They need to be considered at the very beginning of the event planning/content creation for maximum impact. Teams has some built in interactivity, tools like Mentimeter offer more advanced functionality.
Featuring them in the room!
Bringing remote callers into a live session does add a level of complexity, however it’s a really powerful way of actively including them in a meeting. Whether an SLT member providing a remote business update, or an employee asking a question live during a Q&A, it’s a really positive way of boosting inclusivity. Build in testing time before go live!
Content focused on your online audience
Video content that puts a spotlight on your online audience will boost engagement, whilst educating the wider business on activities happening outside of HQ. Introducing individuals/teams in a human, engaging way makes for powerful content and
remote recording tools make capturing the content quick, easy and cost effective.
Elevate production, make the audience feel special!
Nothing says afterthought more than a single, static, poor quality webcam at the back of a room. Bad sound just adds to a poor experience…
Consider elevating the production with multiple cameras, dedicated sound and even a light or two. Honestly, the response from your online audience will be worth it.
It doesn’t stop there!
When we’ve worked on events where the online audience has really been considered, the feedback speaks for itself. Remote content creation doesn’t need to be expensive and the massive jump in production that can be gained with just a few extra pieces of kit is a worthwhile investment.
We regularly produce content for, and also live stream internal events for a number of our clients and the response from their audience continues to be hugely positive. If you’d like to know more, get in touch.
Have a good week!
