Virtual meetings have grown in popularity due to the increasing number of companies that allow a work-from-home setup. Plus, they are a great way of connecting with your colleagues while staying in the comfort of your home.
The only caveat is that virtual meetings tend to be rigid and non-interactive. That's because you can't manage to have a whisper with the person beside you.
That said, we have listed eight tips to make your virtual meetings interactive and engaging:
Use the right technology
Virtual meetings are no longer just screen-sharing sessions or teleconferences. These days, you can now use virtual conferencing apps that allow interactivity.
Some apps allow you to create a poll, field questions from attendees, or voice their opinions through the microphone. As such, you can leverage these features to encourage audience participation. Hence, making your virtual meetings interactive.
Have a plan B
When technology fails, things can quickly get out of hand.
It is vital for companies who rely on virtual meetings to have a backup plan not to lose any momentum in their work process. This way, if one of the participants cannot attend the conference for some reason, there will be another person ready to take their place and conduct business as planned.
Having a backup plan lets you get back up quickly and get the meeting running again if any hiccups happen during a virtual meeting.
Stick to a meeting agenda
Virtual meetings allow for a more engaging discussion that is more time-efficient. If a meeting is not optimized with a meeting agenda, it will be hard for participants to know what's going on.
Virtual meetings must have a plan so that the team organizing the meeting can work through it effectively and efficiently. You should create a well-thought-out program to inform your audience what to expect in a meeting. This includes telling them what you want your participants to do, such as turning their phones on silent.
This is also a way of ensuring that only those who are needed in the meeting will attend.
Start with an ice breaker
An icebreaker is a small activity played before the start of a meeting. The goal of an ice breaker is to make everyone feel comfortable and realize that you welcome casual conversations.
A good icebreaker can help participants feel more connected with each other and break down barriers. It can create an atmosphere where people can be themselves, share their ideas, and collaborate for the sake of the project they're working on.
Therefore, starting with an icebreaker can help loosen people up to smoother meetings.
Include an interactive dialogue
Having two-way communication is an excellent way to make any virtual meetings engaging.
Luckily, video conferencing tools these days have features that enable interactive dialogue. This includes poll creation, sidebar chat, Q&A panel, and a face-to-face conversation via computer audio.
As part of the plan, planning flexibility and leniency in the meeting agenda is a great way to get the dialogue going. However, it’s always best to encourage discussions by prompting responses from your audience.
Use visual elements
Another way to engage your attendees is to use visual elements. After all, no one would want to stare at a talking face for hours.
Instead of saying that your company's profit increased by 15% this quarter, you might want to show it in a graph. Doing so makes it easy for your participants to grasp what you are talking about.
However, make sure that your visual elements add to your presentation instead of taking away from and distracting from it.
Add gamification elements
Gamification uses game design techniques to engage players in solving problems. It is a way to successfully motivate people, usually through rewards when used outside a gaming context. You can apply this concept to your virtual meetings.
A gamified virtual meeting is a virtual meeting with added elements to make it more interesting for participants. The goal is to motivate them to join and participate in discussions by making them more enjoyable.
The simplest way to incorporate that is by offering a reward. For example, every time you ask a question, you should prompt everyone to answer it, and whoever answers correctly first gets a prize.
Ask participants for feedback
Adding different ways to receive feedback on a virtual meeting can help you find ways to improve it.
You can set up an anonymous form so that everyone will feel comfortable being as honest as possible when sending back their feedback to you. After you read through their input, you’ll be able to know which ones are working right for you and which ones need improvement.
Since virtual meetings are a significant part of how your organization operates, making them engaging and interactive would make sense. That way, you can keep their attention for as long as your meetings last. And you can do that by applying the tips listed above.
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- How to Make Your Virtual Meetings More Interactive - December 26, 2021
