With travel at a stand-still, most meetings and conferences have been postponed or cancelled. Employees are being asked to work remotely which leaves many companies scrambling to figure out how to share key messages and to make the most of unexpected down time. Now is the time for clear communication and strong leadership. Keep your team informed and take advantage of this time to focus on training and development. By transitioning to virtual meetings and events, you’ll be able to keep your employees and your community safe, while also imparting valuable information, so your team is ready to hit the ground running later this year.
Decide How to Deliver Your Message
First, you need to figure out how to share information with your virtual attendees. Will you prerecord videos or have your speakers present live?
Filming and producing videos ahead of time can offer presenters more flexibility – they can film multiple takes to ensure a key message is getting across, and you can add supporting graphics and animations during post-production to increase a presentation’s visual appeal.
Web conferencing can be a great option for smaller groups looking to connect with one another in real time in order to share ideas and information. Meanwhile, live streaming offers higher resolution video, archival capabilities, and fewer interruptions, making it a top choice for larger events.
Focus on Key Takeaways
If you’re moving from a multi-day conference to an online event, you’ll need to condense the meeting content. To keep attendees engaged, consider producing a series of shorter videos and reducing the number of presenters. This will not only simplify planning and organization on your end, it will also help your audience focus on the key takeaways from each session without getting overwhelmed or losing interest.
Not sure what to focus on? Consulting a communications or content strategist can be a great way to craft your message and make sure your team is on the same page. Check out these top tips for communicating during a crisis.
Enhance Your Content Design
Attending a virtual event doesn’t have the same “wow” factor as an in-person conference. There’s no travel, team comradery, or Starbucks coffee to boost your attendee’s spirits, so be sure to keep them interested by delivering a well-thought-out and visually appealing presentation.
Work with a presentation designer to give your slides a fresh look. Focus on high-impact graphics rather than text in order to increase attendee engagement. Don’t be afraid to add short videos or animations into your presentation to help with message retention.
Provide Content to Attendees
Be sure to send out the agenda and any supporting materials ahead of time. If you’ll be talking about a specific document or dataset, be sure to provide a digital copy, so your audience can follow along. Also be sure to share a copy of your final presentation or video for easy reference.
It’s now more important than ever to keep your employees up to date in a rapidly evolving environment. It can be challenging to connect with a remote audience, but with these tips, you’ll be able to engage, educate, and motivate your audience in no time!
