{"id":434,"date":"2020-05-30T21:10:02","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T21:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ims-online.com\/?p=434"},"modified":"2020-05-30T21:11:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T21:11:01","slug":"7-5-ways-to-engage-virtual-participants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ims-online.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/30\/7-5-ways-to-engage-virtual-participants\/","title":{"rendered":"7.5 WAYS TO ENGAGE VIRTUAL PARTICIPANTS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The A in my \u201cCommunicating with IMPACT<\/a>\u00a9\u201d process is for Activate. You want to activate the receiver physically, mentally, and emotionally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engaging your participants is about\nactivating others to achieve the Intention (the I in IMPACT) of the\npresentation. Before you start planning activities or exercises ask\nyourself, \u201cwhat is the main intention of this virtual meeting\/presentation?\u201d Then\nbuild variety into your presentation to help participants specifically achieve\nthis intention and to keep their attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are seven ways to engage your\nvirtual audiences whether running a meeting or an educational program:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1: DYNAMIC OPENING\/AGENDA<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Get their attention in the first few moments. After your dynamic opening, review the agenda if you are conducting a meeting. This helps them know what to expect. (TIP <\/strong>– you could also send out the agenda in advance with the invitation and include any pre-work\/reading to help participants be prepared to engage).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2: SHORT STORIES\/ANALOGIES\/EXAMPLES\/QUESTIONS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Use success and failure stories, personal and customer stories.  Incorporate a visual to bring the story to life.  (TIP <\/strong>\u2013 engage participants every 3-5 minutes with a variety of tools\/techniques).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3: QUESTIONS\/POLLS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Use the Chat for participants to type in their answers or Use Polls to collect data \u2013 Yes\/No, True\/False, or a shortlist to get the audience\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4: ENGAGING HANDOUT<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Use an agenda\/handout with key points to help participants follow along and space for them to take notes. Send them out a PDF version in advance, if possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5: PRE-READ\/INVENTORY\/QUIZ<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Send out to participants, in advance, any reading materials or assessment to complete before the event. This will help save time and keep attendees attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6: VISUALS\/SLIDES<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Use Images not just words: examples \u2013 Photos, Graphics, Models, Charts, Infographics, etc. Also use animation, when appropriate, to reveal the next point when you want them to see it. This helps keep the participants\u2019 focus on the topic and not reading ahead.   (TIP <\/strong>– To keep them focused, I don\u2019t like to give out the slides before\/during the event (that is why you send out the agenda\/ handout – If giving out slides after, tell participants at the beginning of the meeting.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7: SMALL-GROUP INTERACTION<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Give clear directions for the discussion before you break participants into groups\/breakout rooms (great feature in Zoom).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BONUS: VOICE INFLECTION<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Add vocal variety to create energy and keep their attention. Including pausing, before or after you make a point to let it sink in. Note <\/strong>– keep in mind, a good portion of your message is communicated by our voice and non-verbal communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember, your virtual audiences can be easily distracted. Consider engaging participants as much (and even more often), as you would in a live presentation by using the above tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABOUT PATRICK DONADIO<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Since 1986, Patrick J. Donadio, MBA, has guided leaders and their organizations with powerful presentations and one-on-one business communications coaching. As an educator, he has taught communications at the University of Notre Dame, The Weatherhead School of Management, The Ohio State University, and The John Glenn College of Public Affairs. As a speaker, Patrick has empowered audiences and has trained thousands of people, in a vast array of industries, from Fortune 100 companies to associations and governmental organizations. He is the author of Communicating with Impact: Effectively Communicate Ideas and Achieve Greater Results<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You need to build variety into your virtual meeting to help participants understand the intention of your presentation.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31,167,166],"tags":[171,168,172,169,170],"yoast_head":"\n7.5 WAYS TO ENGAGE VIRTUAL PARTICIPANTS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You need to build variety into your virtual meeting to help participants understand the intention of your presentation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.ims-online.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/30\/7-5-ways-to-engage-virtual-participants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7.5 WAYS 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