It's helpful to have someone who is, you know, perhaps the speaker or the person who's the quote unquote host of the event on screen doing that. And then it's also helpful to have a, what Zoom would call the host of the meeting, someone who's doing the technical work in the background. Sometimes people will even hire someone from outside their organization to serve in that role just to make sure it goes really smoothly. I've seen that done for some high profile events and folks have done that really well.
Tim Stringer: Technically Simple
Tim Stringer is a coach, consultant, and trainer and the founder of Technically Simple. He provides productivity, technology and workflow coaching, consulting and training to people and organizations, large and small, all over the planet.
His technology specializations include Asana, Daylite, OmniFocus, and Trello. He supports many people in productivity though his website LearnOmniFocus.com -- and also through the Holistic Productivity approach that he developed after coming face-to-face with cancer back in 2008. Tim consults to leaders and organizations on how to use Zoom effectively and recently launched a new course: Leading Effective Zoom Events.
In this conversation, Tim and I overview some of the common mistakes of online events, how online can produce even better results than in-person, and ways to engage people quickly. Plus, we review some of the key technology that will support your organization’s outreach efforts.
Key Points
It’s often a mistake to assume that you’ll be able to lead online events with the same planning and design for in-person events.
Opening a meeting early and using the five-minute rule to begin with icebreakers, breakouts, polls, or reactions will help engage people in the event quickly.
For events with many people or higher visibility for your organization, have a dedicated technology co-pilot so that hosts and speakers can stay focused on being present.
Virtual lounges (with a dedicated host), spotlight and multi-spotlight, practice sessions, and preassigned breakouts can all help the technology disappear and the human connections to take center stage.
Some organizations are discovering they are more successful with online events than past in-person ones. Many have had such a positive experience that they plan to continue leveraging virtual events after the pandemic.
Resources Mentioned
Leading Effective Zoom Events by Tim Stringer
Recommended Practices for Engaging Online Events (PDF download)
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