How to not fail at hosting a Zoom event
How to not fail at hosting a Zoom event
APRIL 22, 2020
Photo: Canva Studio from Pexels
In a recent post we explored ‘The evolution of events in a Covid-19 world’ and explored the staggering statistics that according to MarketWatch, Zoom has seen daily users more than quadruple during the coronavirus pandemic proving that while physical events are on hold for the moment, digital events are soaring. While in that post you can read about our advice on how brands can be heard above the noise in digital events, in this post we’re giving you a lickety-split guide on how to not fail when hosting a Zoom event with some super simple rules of thumb to follow. Let’s go.
Content
Before anything else, really think about what content you’re delivering to your audience and why. We delve deeper into how to offer value and not shameless promotion in another post here. Figure out what the purpose of hosting the digital event is and work from there. Is it to stay connected with clients? Create content to entertain them or show you are thinking about issues they are currently facing. Is it to encourage traffic to your site and perhaps even sales? Don’t hard sell to your customers, offer them something free of value that will build trust. Also consider that your content doesn’t have to be boring presentation slides, think outside the box - perhaps you are able to handover to another host halfway through the event, or you have the two or even three (we recommend you test this first) of you engaged in a debate or conversation? Check out some more ideas here.
Example: Shopping Centre
You are looking to host a digital event to encourage consumers to sign up for invites to your events later on in the year. Instead of using the call to pitch a presentation as to why they should subscribe for an invite, perhaps host an event to entertain their children with a quiz or game, or even invite a comedian or Princess character to do a Q&A, showing that you care about your customers (the parents), and are aware they are running out of ways to entertain their children in lock-down. At the end of the digital event, you can then invite them to subscribe.
Lighting
Think about the time of the day you are hosting the event, if in the daytime, try to position yourself by natural light (but ensure there is no glare). If during the evening or night, test different lighting set ups in advance - avoid being lit by the blue light of the computer screen, and don’t sit in a shadow as it won’t look professional and may put off some viewers.
Backdrop
Hosting a digital event needn’t cost the earth, in fact in most cases it’s completely free - which means that if needs be, you could spend some resources, time or money, ensuring that your backdrop is professional. Match your surroundings to the style of the content and your audience.
For example, if your digital event or Zoom call is to talk through clients’ concerns during the current crisis, ensure your background is a clear wall - not your unmade bed or busy kitchen. Whereas, if you are doing a product demo of a skincare product to an audience of millennials - it is perfectly acceptable to present this with a (tidy!) bedroom or kitchen background.
Just make sure you are in a room where you won’t be interrupted by housemates, family members or pets. If you are looking to impress, then it is easy enough to procure a textured or coloured backdrop to pin against the wall behind you online as many professional YouTubers do.
Rules of engagement
Decide in advance whether you will be accepting comments, if participants should be muted, whether they can join in or if they can show their videos too. Be clear on the time that the event will ‘open’ and when it will ‘start’ - you can have a digital waiting room to facilitate this or a slide on the screen with information until the event starts - this stops you from having to ramble to fill the time until it starts, it is also a nice way to avoid the much-heard “We’ll just wait for more people to join”, as this can make your existing audience feel unimportant.
As long as you decide this in advance, you can advice your attendees of the rules in the invitation and remind them at the start of the event. This will help you avoid awkward interruptions where somebody has not muted themselves.
Structure
It’s a good idea to set out the structure of the event in the invitation and promotion so that your guests know what to expect - it also gives you a clear structure to follow when hosting as well. Also we have noticed a trend where most digital events are being held over an hour - ask yourself, realistically how long can you expect somebody to sit in front of their screen and listen to you? Especially when they are surrounded by the distractions of WFH (Working From Home) and have the luxury and anonymity of leaving the event at any time. Try dividing your event into sections, Part 1 and Part 2 in two 30 minute segments. That way, you’ll know that in Part 2 the audience are those who are highly engaged. Just make sure to promote Part 2 at the end of the first segment with a
Example Structure: Digital event held at lunchtime (1.30-2PM)
1.25-1.30PM: Waiting room.
1.30PM: Event start, sharp.
1.30-1.35PM: Greet your audience and quick and concise introduction (avoid lengthy introductions as your audience will lose interest quickly).
1.35-1.40PM: Event structure recap and upcoming content introduction.
1.40-1.55PM: 15 minutes for your content, whether this be a demo or presentation - or even digital panel talk / debate - this is ample time within a 30 minute event to pique your audience’s interest for Part 2 and offer value in a condensed form by cutting out the extra time usually spent waffling. This also forces you to think carefully about what the main messages are that you want to deliver in this time.
1.55-2PM: Conclusion, thank your audience, invite to Part 2 and request feedback via comments or external link.
Interaction
Here are a few ideas to consider before setting your rules of engagement with regards to comments, video and Q&A.
Comments and Closed Captioning
This is a great way to keep your audience engaging with you during the event and makes it far more personal if you are able to respond to comments as you go if possible (we recommend practicing this in advance with a colleague [assign them as a co-host], to make sure the chat window is positioned in clear view for yourself). When first starting the call it’s nice to ask everybody to introduce themselves in the comments - this is great information for you to use after the call as well to understand who your event attracted and how you can tailor future content for them.
During the event, do live polls - ask attendees to post a ✋if they agree with you or if they relate to a point you are making, for example: “Are any of you experiencing frustrations now you’re working from home? Raise your hands if you are in the comments.” A good way to get this to work is to have a colleague joining the call and posting the main points you make in the comments for others to see. This is also a great place to post links to resources of invites to future events - rather than a slide with a link that few will write down.
Tip: When replying to a comment, use people’s names to make them feel seen and a part of the event, it’s much more personal.
You can also use something called ‘Closed Captioning’ on Zoom, which can be used by the host or co-host to post captions directly on the screen of the call. This could be used to highlight important points being made by the speaker, or call-to-actions such as ‘raise your hand in the comments!’ or ‘wave to us on camera and say hello!’.
Video
Never before has it been so easy to walk out of an event without being noticed. If you don’t capture your audience’s attention early on, it’s only too easy for them to enjoy the anonymity of a digital event and just leave. A good way to hinder this - aside from great content in line with your audience! - is to invite your audience to be on video (note: we recommend adding ‘Please be appropriate, clothing mandatory’ or some similar wording to your Rules of Engagement - and have a colleague on standby to help turn off videos for those being inappropriate.)
Not only does having your audience on video hold them accountable if they turn their video off to leave the call (they will be far less likely to do so for fear of appearing rude), but it also instantly creates a fantastic community which feels like it’s a part of the event. Invite your guests to wave at each other or do a poll by raising their hands.
Presentation
If you do decide to use a presentation, use it as a prompt only and make it visually appealing (opt for images which convey your message, over paragraphs of text) and make sure that people can still see your video over the top while you’re talking as this will make it far more personal. The whole reason of joining a live digital event is to experience something that is exclusive - so ensure that you are speaking to your audience in an almost conspiratorial way as friends (depending on audience formality level).
Q&A
Holding a Q&A session at the end of the call is a nice way to round off an event, just make sure before you do this that you have stated your call-to-action or invited your audience to future events (essentially that you have ended the event), as many see the Q&A as an opportunity to leave if they don’t have any questions. Have a colleague help you sift through the comments to find questions so that the audience isn’t left waiting, watching you squint at the screen looking for a good question to answer. Again, set your rules. How long will the Q&A session be? How many questions will you take? What will the topic be? And if there are too many questions, how can they reach out to you for answers? This last point is particularly important, as it is an opportunity to build one-on-one relationships with your audience post-event. On Zoom you are able to create a ‘Breakout Room’ where you can pull specific attendees out of the main call into separate groups - great if you are hosting mini workshops, want to speak with specific clients afterwards or invite them to speak with a colleague - there are many ways to use this feature, find more information here.
Raised Hand
Invite your guests to actually participate on the call, with Zoom’s ‘Raised Hand’ feature, where guests can request to be unmuted to ask a question - this is another great way to make the digital event interactive and also learn more from your guests.
Technical problems
We recognise the reality that not everyone is a technical wizard, and sometimes technical problems do occur. But you can do your best to avoid this by rehearsing the event in advance with multiple colleagues (or friends and family) to ensure you have worked out the kinks of whichever software you choose, from how you can see your audience’s comments, to your presentation and sound quality (this is a MUST to test).
If you are looking to host your first digital event and would like some assistance or are looking to hire a comedian, children’s character or lookalike to join the call and entertain your guests, please feel free to book a free Creative Consultation or call us here, we’d be happy to help.
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