Over the past few months, we’ve shared several strategies for speakers to put their best foot forward during on-screen presentations. Now, we share our best tips for event organizers.
Here are 5 ways our event management team has prepared speakers for the 25+ virtual conferences and webinars executed this year:
1. Don’t let technology get in the way of a knockout event!
To ensure your event goes off without a hitch, host a technology town hall. If your event is smaller, schedule 1:1 time with each speaker to ensure they know how to operate the technology platform before showtime. With so many platforms out there, it can be hard for speakers to keep them straight so extra prep is key to a successful event. Make sure speakers have access to a login if they want to go in on their own time to practice. This is especially important with presenters who need to be confident driving their slide deck. Additionally, most event platforms have several step-by-step and troubleshooting articles available online. Link those in a detailed speaker FAQ that’s easily accessible for them to use.
Double—or triple—check in the weeks leading up to an event that your speakers are able to log into the platform, and they’ve read through the technology requirements so there are no last-minute issues on day-of. Some technology platforms don’t work well with certain browsers, for example, or there might be pop-up blockers and audio & video capabilities to check as well. The last thing you want is a hiccup around getting the speaker's mic and webcam working right before they are supposed to go live.
2. Even though it’s not in-person, encourage engagement with the audience.
We’re all still getting used to being unable to shake hands before a meeting, and stand up in front of the room or walk the stage—but it doesn’t mean you can’t replicate that environment in front of the camera! Audience engagement has never been more critical.
Urge speakers to use the same mannerisms they would in a live setting—talking with their hands, asking the audience questions, telling a joke, etc. Attendees will appreciate the enthusiasm and variety it brings to an online event. Most event platforms have the option to chat, poll/vote, and audience Q&A so interaction amongst attendees and speakers should be easy to facilitate.
Eye contact with the camera is key! Especially during a virtual event to make the audience feel like they’re really listening in at a live conference. Tip: Encourage speakers to look at their webcam, not the computer screen. Stepping back from the computer or even standing can also give a presentation more energy. This will make it easier for speakers to talk with their hands and be more animated. You can even include our tops tips for engaging virtual presentations in your speaker FAQ.
3. Ensure your speakers are keeping it clean & professional.
Decide if you want to require a branded screen background for speakers to utilize and if so, send the appropriate files to download and instructions on how to add in your event platform. If you’re not requiring a background, encourage speakers to keep their physical backgrounds uncluttered and professional. This not only gives attendees less opportunity for distraction, but also works in your favor by giving the event a more organized and tidy appearance.
Ask your speakers to stay away from any distracting, bright colors—especially ones that might blend in with their backgrounds. A little bit of character is always refreshing, but when it comes to virtual speaking engagements, keep the outfit simple and try to avoid patterns when possible. Attendees will only be able to see a small portion of the outfit anyway. Plus, we all know there are sweatpants on the bottom—and we don’t blame you!
When it comes to helping speakers prepare their live session space, follow these few suggestions below:
Speak from a well-lit area so attendees can see your face clearly. Have the primary light and camera pointing in the same direction. If there are open windows behind you for example, they might blur your face.
Speak from an area where you can be sure of no distracting outside noises interfering with your sound. Bluetooth headphones are popular these days, but check to ensure they are fully charged or you might lose sound in the middle of your chat and have to reconnect using computer audio.
Ensure the camera is leveled with your head and shoulders rather than having it sit further below you. If you need to, pile up some books under the laptop to raise your webcam’s view.
And of course if your speakers really want to level up their virtual speaking prowess, this blog post will provide more tips to follow.
4. Talk it out—and then talk it out again.
The last thing you want as an event organizer is for the content to fall flat. Speakers don’t want this either. You can avoid it by mandating prep calls to discuss the content and flow of conversation they plan to have on the virtual stage. Even if it’s a single speaker, you can use this time to run through their slide deck and talking points. Sure they could have practiced a few times in their office alone, but it always helps to have someone watching on the other end. You could even turn this into an opportunity to get a sneak peak of their ideas to provide feedback and/or approval, killing two birds with one stone.
Provide a place for them to keep their thoughts. Prep or content docs are always helpful for speakers. Include any day-of reminders, contact information, and session descriptions on the document as well. Keeping everything in one place ensures less room for error. Tip: Use Google Drive so you’re always viewing the most updated content plan.
Encourage speakers to refer to their content doc on day-of, or even suggest printing it out to have on hand. If it is a panel, invite the moderator to write down specific panelists names next to certain themes or questions. This way they can shuffle between panelists easier and clearly direct certain questions. Tip: It can be hard to know who a moderator is referring to during a virtual panel, so always urge moderators to use panelists’ names when introducing a question.
As event organizers, we certainly know it can be difficult to find mutual times to get speakers together. If organizing a prep call is more challenging than it should be, encourage those who are able to join the call and any others to connect over email (or even comments back and forth in the content document). Any prep is better than no prep! These days it is easy to record prep calls so you can offer that option to speakers whose schedules are a bit tighter.
5. Focus on quality over quantity.
As we said in May, shorter is sweeter! And even more important now as everyone’s time and attention is more limited. Ensure that the session times on your agenda are appropriate for each format and topic—and we encourage you to err on the shortened side.
Remind speakers that they don’t need to fill up their entire allotted session window. Attendees would much rather hear a quality presentation rather than a longer dragged-out conversation. Encourage speakers to utilize part of their time to engage with the audience or discuss key takeaways from their session. Attendees will appreciate a few tangible points they should be walking away with.
It is also vital to allow speakers to mix it up and be unique with their session’s flow. If they would rather ask audience Q&A throughout the session rather than strictly at the end, they should do so. Change of pace is always nice. Speakers should remind the audience to submit questions at the beginning of their session, and again 1-2 times in between. Once a session gets going, it can be easy for the audience to forget about how they can engage with the speaker. Another thing to work into that ‘intro script’ is highlighting other widgets the event platform offers —is there a group chat feature? A post-event survey? A resources section? Make sure the speaker knows what is available to the audience. Most speakers will enjoy emceeing or giving their own intro if provided a few key points by the event organizer.
For slide decks, emphasize to speakers the importance of quality over quantity. Many times speakers will think they need to make a vast slide deck with pictures, videos, and graphs in order to get their point across, but this is not the case. Most engaging presentations have less content taking up the page, giving the speaker more capacity to elaborate on their thoughts and findings aloud. Not to mention, excluding video and audio files from decks provides less room for technological error on day-of. Provide a recommended minimum and maximum number of slides for each session duration and format.
Lastly, it never hurts to be a little risky. Encourage speakers to get creative by kicking off their session with a hook, whether it’s “About 15 minutes into my session I’m going to show you a statistic that will blow your mind” or “You’re going to want to stick around because I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up on Twitter.” Get the audience excited from the beginning and keep them on edge throughout the session.
Your speakers and content are the heart of your virtual event. Spend the extra time to ensure they feel supported and prepared for the big day! Ready to figure out how cred can support your speaker management needs? Contact events@credpr.com.