Coronavirus continues to disrupt life and has had a major impact on business travel, meetings and events. You may need to change your approach – not just due to current health safety measures, but also in other unexpected circumstances such as weather or political unrest. While you still need to reach your audiences and communicate your messages, you may need to pivot quickly. Padilla and its sister agencies through AVENIR GLOBAL regularly help clients navigate these kinds of unexpected developments.
Here are 10 tips from our experts on how to deliver virtual events and meetings with impact, and you can check out “Holding Virtual Events and Meetings” for more details.
- Brief your speakers ahead of time: ensure they remember to speak to and ask questions of online participants; speaking to the camera intermittently
- With group viewings, use remote facilitators to continue the conversation locally (with briefings and guides)
- Consider the best timing for meetings to take place if people are joining from different countries/time zones
- Keep sessions < 1.5 hours and throughout the event provide time to allow for discussions and breaks
- When developing content, consider that your audience may be joining from smartphones; carefully consider layout and what information will be shared
- Offer different languages through dubbing/captioning (this also provides transcripts for later use)
- Ensure regular opportunities for engagement to keep attendees connected to the meeting (e.g. live polling, Q&A’s, breakout sessions)
- Plan ahead, test all technology in advance, and ensure Wi-Fi (particularly at “host site”) is strong enough; have technical support on-hand to troubleshoot
- At the start of a meeting, acknowledge all online remote participants and set ground rules on when and how to ask questions
- Use professional filming, lighting and sound when possible or appropriate – including filming KOLs locally if they can’t travel
Even when the best laid plans change unexpectedly, there are ways to adjust your approach in a way that delivers impactful content and a great experience for all. Learn more about virtual meetings best practices here.
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