⚡Hosting Welcoming Virtual Events and Meetings
7 Recommendations for your next online gathering
Over the past ten months, I’ve hosted 100+ online events for fun and professional purposes. These gatherings range from bringing people together for important milestones to culture-building initiatives.
Once upon a time when events were in-person, one of my favorite roles, both professionally and personally, was greeting guests. From a young age, I was trained in this technique as a Southerner to always nod your head and say “how y’all doing” to passersby.
My greeting has been adjusted over the years, depending on the context and location. This is why at events or meetings, I always volunteered to stand at the front of the room, welcome everyone who came into the program and strived to set the tone for how people experienced the gathering. First impressions matter.
Now, as I host online gatherings, it’s definitely different: everyone can enter at the same time, it’s not as simple to have a one on one conversation and it’s way too easy to blend into the crowd without participating. Yet, there are similarities.
So I spend a lot of time thinking about how to intentionally make online events and meetings welcoming for attendees. Here are a few of the recommendations that I’ve learned along the way. I share them with the hope of adding value to your next virtual gathering. While many of them are Zoom specific, these can be adapted for most video meetings.
Encourage Virtual Backgrounds
This is a quick way to energize participants even before they arrive by encouraging a virtual background. If computer technology permits (you have to have a certain level of computer memory), this simple strategy can spark conversation and connection by sharing details about “your location” a.k.a. your background. Consider selecting a broad theme and host a background contest to incentivize participation. Topics such as seasons, nature, food and cities provide a common connection with a lot of room for creative interpretation by individual participants. The contest could be as simple as inviting attendees to vote on their favorite backgrounds that they see or selecting a few winners at random to spotlight during the event.
This year, I’ve “travelled” virtually to a lot of places — a ski lodge in Idaho, the Alps of Switzerland and the kitchens of my future dream house. If you don’t have a photograph of your own, try a site like Unsplash which offers great high quality images thanks to the generosity of photographers sharing them with the community. When someone joins with a unique virtual background, it’s easy to engage them by asking about it. Others may also be curious or share an interest in the selected background. It also ensures that cameras are turned on, which can transform a virtual experience in a positive direction right from the start.
Ask an Opening Question
Get to know your guests and help them get to know each other by asking a broad question with the opportunity for anyone to answer. Topics such as: “where are you dialing in from” or “what is your favorite food, hobby, book or tv show” are easy ways to break the ice. There are great resources to search for open ended questions, including this list from Museum Hack and Snack Nation.
Encourage attendees to share their responses in the event chat and read it out loud for them, then ask who else might have that in common. It’s fun to help people discover common interests. While they can’t walk away to discuss their shared love for libraries, ice cream or podcasts, there’s always the potential to pair them up later in a break out room.
Greet, Repeat, Greet
While the number one role of a host is to listen more than talk, in the case of virtual gatherings, I recommend that you talk a lot more at the beginning to ensure that there are no “awkward” silent moments. I refer to this as “greet, repeat, greet.”
I have a series of phrases that I repeat: “welcome, please turn on your video, let us know where you are dialing in from, answer this question in the chat” and so on until an event begins so that it always feels like the same experience for someone, whether they join 10 minutes early or right at start time.
Spotlight Guests
The spotlight feature is a fun way to invite a few guests to introduce themselves and foster a sense of community on a call. As a host, I recommend having your event on gallery view so that you can get a pulse on everyone in the “room.” If it’s a large gathering, there won’t be time for everyone to say hello, but this is a simple way to recognize those who already have their video chat on before everyone else and showcase attendees at events.
I borrowed the idea from the “Kiss Cam” at sporting events, but this is much less intrusive. For cooking events, I call this the “Kitchen Cam” where participants can introduce who is cooking along with them. For events where there might be a lot of dogs or cats, I call it the “Pet Cam.” You can have a lot of fun with the naming of this. One disclaimer: try to ask permission right before you click the spotlight feature to let someone know they are having a chance to say hello to the group, just in case they might be in the middle of something else.
The Zelfie
At the Oscars in 2014, Ellen Degeneres took the epitome of all selfies. I remember this image vividly. While I’ve never been much of a selfie taker, I do love the combination of Zoom + selfies = the Zelfie.
I channel my inner Ellen every time I start an event, asking attendees to turn on their cameras and flash their biggest smiles. Then, I countdown and take a few screenshots of our smiling faces. These Zelfies make great post-event memories. Plus, it gets everyone to turn on their cameras and hopefully keep it on for the duration of the event, leading to a more engaging event where we can all see each other.
Engage the Audience with Pop Up Polls
Instead of that feeling of sitting in the bleachers, involve guests in an event. One simple way is to ask attendees questions by offering them the chance to answer a question and invite everyone to participate. By using the Zoom specific polling function, a poll pops up on screens and can be set to be anonymous.
The meeting host can measure the participation level and call it out to guests — we’re at 50%, 75%, 85%, etc. This polling feature can be used for trivia or live feedback (try it instead of sending a post event survey). It helps guests feel a part of the program and not just in the bleachers.
Click Virtual Reactions
When you’re at a live event, you can see the audience when they smile and you can feel the vibe in the room. It’s definitely not easy to show emotions via Zoom. But, people can see a virtual reaction. Currently, there are a few options, such as applause, hearts, thumbs up and a party hat.
This is a simple way to let someone know you are enjoying the topic. Don’t be shy to invite all guests to show emoji reactions in appreciation at key times during an event. If you plan ahead, you can DIY custom cue cards or order in advance from creatives on sites like Etsy.
I hope these tips and tricks help set your next online gathering up for success. Even if you try to incorporate one of them, it will make an immediate impact. Let me know if you’ve discovered other great ideas to add to the list. I’m always interested in learning more and hope to see you in an online meeting or event soon.