An engaged audience is a happy audience, whether right there in front of you or participating remotely. So, how do you ensure you create an engaging event with opportunities for audience engagement or interaction? Here are some tips from the Innereactive team!
Choose an Engaging Speaker
Select a speaker with experience and great reviews to present to live and virtual audiences. The speaker you choose can truly make or break your event! If you are looking for help selecting the perfect event speaker, we can help! Beyond a wide connection of industry speakers, we are lucky to have Samantha Toth, ABOC, as the President of Innereactive. Samantha is highly praised for being a highly engaging speaker, lecturing internationally, and teaching executives proven marketing and company culture strategies.
Presentation Tips to Create an Engaging Event
The presentation they are giving to your audience is just as crucial as your speaker. Add live or virtual polling to keep your audience engaged throughout the entire event. The key to this is to ensure all attendees can see the results after everyone has had a chance to answer.
Spotlight Vendors & Sponsors
When hosting a live in-person event, you are presented with many touchpoints to build an engaging event. From how you set up the classroom, brand signage, provide presentation takeaways, and highlight vendors, you have ample opportunity to improve audience engagement.
For example, if your live event includes vendors selling/promoting their products and services, help them create a more engaging event with these ideas.
- Provide ad space within the handout or share their takeaway with the audience from your vendor.
- Allow your vendor to share a product sample with attendees.
- Have your vendor host a short workshop on utilizing their technology.
- Highlight your vendor’s name and contact information within the presentation.
- Give your vendor time before or after your presentation to introduce themselves and allow the audience to ask questions.
Breaks Can Help Create an Engaging Event
If your presentation lasts 2+ hours, don’t forget to allot time for breaks. Let your virtual and live attendees know when to expect the next break. Providing a timeline in the event reminder email so they know the schedule can help improve engagement during the event.
These breaks are a perfect opportunity to answer audience questions or discuss more individualized recommendations based on your specific audience. Don’t let your audience sit in silence! Move around, introduce yourself, and meet your attendees to boost engagement. During your break, don’t forget to share an event-specific hashtag so they can take pictures and share them online!
Handouts & Breakouts For Virtual Events
Prepare your virtual event by distributing handouts or helpful materials ahead of the event so attendees can print them ahead of time or view them electronically during the live stream session. Another option, if you can’t email ahead of time, is to create a QR code for downloadable handouts at the beginning of your presentation.
Breakouts aren’t just for live sessions anymore! Zoom has developed opportunities for virtual attendees to split up into virtual breakout sessions, too. For more detailed information on how to execute virtual breakouts, read about it here.
How did you do?
Your event is complete. Now what? We recommend always measuring the success of your event by surveying all attendees! Add a QR code on your presentation for easy link access allowing participants to provide candid feedback about their experience. Use this information to learn and improve all future events!
If you prefer to hand off the event planning to experts, our team is well-equipped with the experience needed to ensure your engaging event is executed successfully.