The most important thing is strong content: if you have organized content, if you’ve got things that are of interest to people, and if you're designing it in a way that's engaging, that’s really what’s going to transcend any problems…
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A lot of us are still spending quite a bit of time on Zoom and other video conferencing platforms— a trend that does not look like it will go away any time soon. As a virtual facilitator and webinar leader I’ve found several things that help foster audience engagement so that participants are attentive and interactive while on video conferences. 

In today’s podcast, I’ll share some tips and tools you can use to immediately start engaging your audience more interactively on video conferencing. While we all know that the foundation of a great video conference or webinar is content, other things such as keeping all channels open and getting audience feedback make the difference. 

Tips

• Keep all communication channels open — different people like to work on different platforms, and building flexibility into your communication channels will ensure optimal attendance and participation when video conferencing. 


• Keep your audience engaged — keeping people’s attention for long periods on video conferecning isn’t easy, but one good way is to keep them interacting with you. Every five minutes or so, try asking them to answer a question verbally or put up something in the chat, raise their hands, or do a thumbs up/down virtually.


• Encourage feedback — a really important part of virtual facilitation on video conferencing is integrating information from the participants. You can use a poll right before or after the event (mentee.com is a good tool), and I like to ask people to put comments and questions in the chat. People want to feel heard and useful: it keeps them focused and engaged. 


• Make it personal — use people’s names. I know that sounds incredibly simple, but just saying the person’s name in a video conference makes them feel recognized as individuals rather than that as if you’re speaking into a group. 


• Content is queen, and it always has been — if your content is meaningful and engaging, it will help transcend any technological issues you or others may have when video conferencing. 

About Karen Tiber Leland

Karen Tiber Leland is the founder of Sterling Marketing Group, a branding, marketing, and color strategy and implementation firm helping CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs develop stronger personal, business, and team brands. Her clients include Cisco, American Express, Marriott Hotels, Apple Computer, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

She is also the best-selling author of nine traditionally-published business books that have sold over 400,000 copies and been translated into 10 languages. Her most recent book is The Brand Mapping Strategy: Design, Build and Accelerate Your Brand. She regularly writes for Inc.com and Entrepreneur.com and has had articles published in Self, The Los Angeles Times, American Way, The Boston Globe, and many others.

Karen has spoken for Harvard, The AMA, Direct Marketing Association, and Stanford, among others. She has been interviewed on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, and Oprah.

Get in touch with Karen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook

Resources

If you are interested in a complimentary consultation on either your CEO brand or your business brand, please feel free to contact me at Karen@Karenleland.com or go to KarenLeland.com.

I will be delighted to schedule an appointment with you to take a look at how and what you’re doing and give you some advice on how you can convert your social following to customers a bit better.

Sharing (Tweetables and Quotes)

Some people just aren’t comfortable speaking out loud on a video conference, use the chat room to get participants to answer questions. https://bit.ly/2VQNA0R @KarenFLeland

When video conferencing, keep people occupied: have the participants be actively engaged by giving them something to do at least every five minutes. https://bit.ly/2VQNA0R @KarenFLeland

Saying a person’s name on a video conference is important because it makes the participants feel recognized as individuals. https://bit.ly/2VQNA0R @KarenFLeland

The most important thing on video conferencing is strong content and human connection. If you design your content in an engaging way it can help transcend any technology problems you might have. https://bit.ly/2VQNA0R @KarenFLeland

Listen to the podcast here:

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