Engagement has become the issue of the day. Companies want to engage customers. Teachers want to engage students. Associations and community managers want to engage members. We’ve moved from trying to keep someone’s attention, to seeking a dialogue. I read a great article yesterday about “The Flipped Classroom,” where students view their professor’s lecture from home, then come to class to discuss it. Great idea!
Perhaps nowhere is the topic of engagement more discussed, more critical – and, probably, harder to accomplish – than with virtual and hybrid events. That remote audience is so prone to distractions and multi-tasking. Last week we heard from three powerhouse digital event speakers on how to drive that engagement and connect your remote audiences. Watch the webinar yourself now for a complete discussion on these 10 tips:
- People are emotional. Do something that’s emotionally rewarding for attendees.
- Prepare for all the ways people are connecting to your content. From home, alone. In a busy office. On a noisy train.
- Understand your business goals and determine what you want attendees to walk out and do, think or feel.
- Use video in short, digestible amounts to help fight distractions.
- Have a deep understanding of your audience. What are they thinking about? Worried about? What’s making them angry or happy?
- Design graphics to have the highest level of impact to support your narrative.
- Develop content that is exclusive and immediately applicable to your audience.
- Use every technology possible to make it easy for the remote audience to connect – polls, Q&A and social media backchannels such as Twitter are a beginning.
- Invest in moderators and hosts.
- The human brain loses attention on a single topic every 7-10 minutes. Ask a question, tell a story or do something that re-engages them.