If you have hosted or participated in a virtual conference over recent months, you will have likely experienced that engaging audiences through digital events is different from in-person events.
Audiences will likely have your presentations streaming while also answering emails, taking calls or plotting out projects at the same time.
To keep your audience engaged, therefore, you will need to pull out all the stops to make sure your key messages are heard, and your clients respond to your calls to action (CTA).
In many ways, how well you communicate in a digital setting, will also reflect on your brand. A professional and effective production will send the message that “these people know what they are doing”.
Produce a programme that is ready for TV
The techniques needed to engage virtual event audiences are tried and tested, heavily researched and refined over years. But these skills may not always be at hand in a corporate setting. The skills that are needed are similar to TV production techniques.
A corporate event organiser therefore needs to become a producer, while still applying many of the best practices learned in the world of in-person events.
Customers expect to be entertained
Studies by Microsoft identified that the human attention span is declining by 30% over the last 20 years. Averages hit just 8 seconds in 2018.
While these averages may not hold true for all audiences, TED mirrors the trend in their guidance to presenters. They recommend keeping presentations below 18 minutes. Long enough to dive into detail, while not disconnecting the audience.
Thanks to technology, audiences are used to producers fighting for their attention. Techniques actively used include multiple camera angles, short stories, refined narratives, opportunities to respond, illustrations, something different or new.
Audiences as judges
Programmes like Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing with the Stars in the U.S.) are successful in part because they invite the viewer to participate as a judge – the viewer has a direct influence on what happens in the programme. This requires the viewer to pay attention and form an opinion.
And while a virtual business conference will have a different audience, many of the same principles and techniques apply. Audiences don’t just want to hear from the CEO, they also want to hear from the product specialists, clients, partners and competitors, so that they can make an informed “judgment”.
In many ways, audiences will use your event to judge / evaluate your products and services.
As producers, our role is to present the arguments in a compelling format, and guide clients and prospects to respond by picking up the phone and responding to your CTA.
Signet Marketing helps businesses improve the quality and ROI of their video content and virtual events. Contact us to explore what we can do for you.