Using technology to connect people for events, conferences and work meetings over the last 2 years of COVID has helped bridge the isolation gap and allow big gatherings to occur on a virtual platform.
Thousands of events are hosted online each day and work just as well as a full-contact event. The good thing about webinars is they can be held anywhere, any place and any time. They save on venue hire and travel expenses and can be much more inclusive just by the nature of online hosting.
Businesses can use technology to hold staff meetings and training sessions for remote staff. Community groups can use online hosting platforms to connect people and service providers. Arts organisations can host ticketed virtual events or promote artists and galleries within the tourism industry.
5 tips to make your online event successful
- Choose a digital hosting platform that is secure and with an easy to navigate dashboard for you and your participants.
- You and your participants will need a computer, tablet or mobile phone with a good internet connection.
- Check your microphone and webcam are working and advise your audience to make sure their devices have a working camera and microphone.
- Familiarise yourself with the interactive tools you need as support material. These include desktop sharing, slides, graphs, tables and all other visual material that will guide your audience through your presentation.
- All participants, including you, will need a quiet place where there will be no disruptions and external noise.
Plan and schedule your webinar/event
You have your topic for the event and the time you wish to take to present and follow up with questions and answers. The good thing about online live events is that your audience can communicate with each other or ask you questions and contribute in real-time via a chatbot.
To schedule your event, you need to create the event in the dashboard of your app or hosting platform. Set it for the date, time and duration you require. You can also tailor your event to appeal to your audience and include support material to inform them of the topics for discussion.
Tips for Hosting an Online Events
To build your participant list you will need to email them a link to your event. At the start of your webinar is important to:
- begin your event with introductions
- give an overview of the planned schedule
- define the topic of discussion.
Once you have the introductions and overviews out of the way, then you can begin to present your speech. Participants can watch and listen while communicating on the chat forum. You won’t be able to see the participants, but you can hear them and see the questions and discussions in the forum.
It is important that you make time at the end of your presentation for question and answers or input and contributions. If your hosting platform allows for it, you can send attendees a recording or the slide presentation. This helps them catch up on something they may have missed.
At the very end, you can send your participants a survey to gauge their experience with you and where you can improve for future webinars.
Rob Jennings
