If you’re hosting a webinar…the number one question on your mind is how to keep participant engagement high. At the moment, I’m writing this post while also participating in a webinar! I know…it’s terrible.
But, it’s also case in point.
On a good day, it’s challenging to keep people engaged in a virtual meeting because there’s an INFINITE number of things inside participant’s devices competing for their attention. During COVID-19, where many people are on videoconference calls all day, there’s the added challenge of “Zoom fatigue” to overcome.
Because communication and group dynamics by videoconference are somewhat “flattened,” if your webinar does not engage people in participatory and creative ways, you WILL lose them.
Judy Rees, a facilitator in the UK, who is dedicated to transforming distributed communication, implores you to get beyond the usual “talk over slides” webinar. Instead her free guide “Web Events That Connect” provides a basic “recipe” for balancing your content sharing with participant interaction to leverage social learning and network connections, both of which support ACTION after your webinar is over.
We say “YES!” to generating participant exchanges and we say, go one step further. Make those discussions VISUAL.
Through the magic of technology, a visual recorder can be in your webinar capturing key ideas from presenters and participants in real-time. Visual recording boosts engagement in digital meetings because:
- Participants experience a creative element in the meeting that helps foster a sense of shared culture and personal connection which is otherwise more challenging to do in a virtual environment.
- It gives people have something dynamic and sensory to focus on that keeps them away from distractions in their surroundings.
- The visual record literally demonstrates that contributions are valued and there is equal space to share thoughts and ideas.
- The visual recording can be shared in real-time or at strategic reflection points. It can be distributed to participants after the meeting as an artifact that helps people retain and act on what was discussed.
- The facilitator is free to focus on group dynamics, knowing they have a professional visual recorder capturing the information that matters most.
During COVID, the world catapulted into working from home and left organizations, managers and their teams with a set of unprecedented challenges. Einblau & Associates took the lead and created a webinar series that was both participatory and visual. Leaders came together to learn from experts and pool their own knowledge about what was working and not working as organizations quickly reacted to ensure the safety of employees and then began responding thoughtfully to the new realities.
If you’re designing a webinar for high engagement, then talk to us about making it visual. If you’re grappling to manage COVID related challenges in your workplace, then download the Illustrated Guide to Leading and Managing During COVID-19.
