Speaking of tools to make virtual meetings more interactive, a few examples may immediately come to mind. In one study of in-person meetings, 91% of respondents admitted to daydreaming while 39% have even fallen asleep! SHARES. Remote work can get lonely and isolating, so take some time before the meeting proper to let everyone share what they’ve been up to. All of these goals can be achieved by some simple steps to make your virtual meetings more interactive. It’s a great way to get kids up and moving. For those wondering how to make virtual meetings more engaging, it is critical to use the right online tools and software programs. 1. If you’re running an ice breaker or conducting a warm up (see below), you can assign one of the attendees to be in charge. You can increase impact and engagement by getting participants to DO stuff, to interact. Our platform even integrates seamlessly with many video conferencing tools, including, Conduct brainstorming on free virtual whiteboard apps or sticky note tools like, Gamification techniques are a good way to, embed two-way communication, boost participation, and incentivise active listening, Randomly insert Wally in your presentation slides and ask how many times he appeared at the end of the meeting, Collect quotes from attendees throughout the meeting and conduct a “who said this?” quiz at the end, Throw in some misspelled or incorrectly used words and phrases, and get people to list them down; the one(s) with the most correctly identified errors win(s), Have fun and keep your energy up, and be sure to follow these other, simple tips for more effective virtual meetings, How to Run Monthly Employee Pulse Surveys. An engaging all-hands meeting is one that revolves around people, that celebrates the successes your team has accomplished together and allows for a meaningful conversation. on Facebook and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Before the meeting even starts, allow attendees to get into the right mindset by setting expectations for their participation. When people are distracted, meetings lose focus and require more time for repetition. Home Technology Microsoft Teams introducing new features to make virtual meetings more interactive. You could play a quick game of Online Bingo, or do a mini scavenger hunt. Lifestyle. To keep your meetings—and your schedule—on track, consider these six tips and transform your routine. By John Spencer August 12, 2020 October 13th, 2020 6 Comments. (Plus, they’ll be appreciative you even took the time to ask!) We make updates on a regular basis. With virtual meetings on Zoom, Webex and other platforms, we recommend including team building elements each time. So make your meetings interactive. Video conferences can be exhausting. Games. But that’s not the worst of it. In an increasingly globalized and competitive world, businesses are quickly switching to internet communication tools to save costs and increase efficiency. Using virtual polls with Mentimeter is one way to do this. Conduct brainstorming on free virtual whiteboard apps or sticky note tools like Miro and IdeaBoardz. Here's how: 1. Reviews. In an office setting, you may be able to get away with just jumping into the business part of your meeting. Published Feb 15th, 2021 by   Quizzing, Polling, and Q&A’s Sometimes all it takes is a little change in the way you format your sessions, the way you invite participation from your audience, or the time you give to your speakers to make things a little more dynamic. © 2021 PigeonLab Pte Ltd. All rights reserved. You can do even better when you allow people to join in the conversation. Show your screen, create interactive presentations, include whiteboards, do whatever you need to do to make your virtual meeting more visual. You need to make your meeting fun by making it interactive. The challenge is much more significant for virtual meetings, and people know it. Nobody wants to stare blankly at their computer screen for hours on end, as the host shares their screen and painstakingly reads through slide after slide on a seemingly endless PowerPoint presentation. Tech. Well not only is it a quick and easy way to involve your audience from the get-go, but it helps build anticipation; attendees will be on high alert listening out for their questions. Jumpstart communication and break through awkwardness with ice breakers! When you want to bring more people together to watch a presentation or discussion, Teams can support a view-only meeting experience for up to 20,000 participants. It'll allow everyone to feel included early in the session. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(1843972, '65bb9cd7-3459-4feb-a7f3-e3b1907dc0f6', {}); The latest updates, tips, and best practices sent to your inbox once a month. More often than not, weird tech problems can be resolved by restarting your computer. 3. Our platform even integrates seamlessly with many video conferencing tools, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, and BlueJeans, which means added convenience for you. Share a link to your booking page with contacts and allow them to schedule meetings with you in seconds. I restart my computer about 15 or 20 minutes before every meeting. One big advantage is that a virtual setting can lower the bar for participation, so you have an opportunity to glean thoughts and insights from people who ordinarily might not speak up in person. As remote work becomes the new normal, virtual meetings are now an integral part of employee engagement and interaction. Below are a few ways to liven up your video meetings, make them more productive and inclusive, and better all around. Can you imagine the results for virtual meetings? How do you deal with awkward silences? How do you get people to participate, ask questions and interact with you in a video meeting? Also, ensuring that every attendee has a role – whether it’s decision maker, adviser, recommender, or executor – helps you keep meetings small, which is great because the more people at a meeting, the less engaged each person will be. Here are a few tips on how to make sure everyone on your virtual meeting is engaged in the conversation: Begin conversation as soon as the leader logs on. No credit card required, super-easy set up. In order to make virtual meetings more like real life, we think there are a couple of easy steps you can take. Better yet, get everyone to, show appreciation to their fellow colleagues, the more people at a meeting, the less engaged each person will be, Jumpstart communication and break through awkwardness with, Did you know that visuals increase engagement by as much as, Try using visuals throughout your meeting to give context, illustrate a point, or provide levity. You can use all the tricks in the book to make your virtual meetings more interactive but if the meeting could be done in an email, do that first. This is especially important in training meetings, very few people learn by being talked at, a visual and more interactive approach is often more favoured. AppointmentThing is the easiest way to schedule remote meetings and virtual appointments. Actively soliciting ideas and getting people to collaborate is a sure-fire way to keep your virtual meetings interactive. You might notice that students who are highly engaged during an in-person session suddenly disengage in a virtual meeting. Social bonding keeps team members engaged and encourages creativity, teamwork, and collaboration, so be sure to cultivate it even when on virtual platforms. Once a virtual meeting has been deemed necessary, try implementing these 10 realistic tips (read: does not require fancy new software or expensive meeting tools) to banish boredom, keep things interactive, and encourage participation. There are lots of free digital tools to help you with this. But in virtual meetings it requires more conscious thought, Maher said. Follow us So how do you make virtual meetings more interactive? But virtual meetings have a prevailing pain point – without in-person interaction, it’s harder to create a communal atmosphere and easier for people to get distracted and tune out. Use these six research-backed techniques for more engaging, memorable, and effective virtual sales meetings. For example, virtual meeting tools … Microsoft is bringing more features to Team to make virtual meetings, bigger, more collaborative and useful for big organisations. Our solution puts you back in control of your own calendar and helps you be more effective when communicating with clients, collaborators and leads. Break the monotony with live polls and surveys and show off your results in real time. Share Tweet Pin Pocket. You look over the faces of your fellow attendees on screen and they look bored, disengaged, or distracted. 10 (Realistic) Ways to Make Your Virtual Meetings More Interactive, Remote work can get lonely and isolating, so take some time before the meeting proper to let everyone share what they’ve been up to. The chart on the right indicates Meeting and Webinar features to consider when selecting a tool for your event. Treat your virtual meetings like panel discussions and appoint a moderator to facilitate interaction and keep attendees engaged. Set aside 5 minutes at the start of the meeting for introductions. © 2021 AppointmentThing.com, Breakout rooms: all the major video conferencing platforms like. By holding highly engaging virtual meetings! To get your attendees to interact, you need to ensure their voices and opinions are actually being solicited. To get your attendees to interact, you need to ensure their voices and opinions are actually being solicited. While online or virtual meetings can be convenient, they also detract from participant accountability by providing more room to lose people’s attention. This means: cut the monologues. Don’t forget to test your audio and video! Better yet, get everyone to show appreciation to their fellow colleagues. At the start of the meeting, try a unique vocal warm up exercise that will (literally) loosen up your attendees. 1.1k. Assign people with tasks like time keeping, facilitating, and note taking. Start with introductions. They also help increase audience attention and memory, boost feelings of inclusiveness, and encourage interaction. Like at a conference, the moderator’s responsibilities in a virtual meeting can include calling on individual attendees to share their opinions; asking questions that provoke discussion; and managing everyone’s talk time by keeping discussions on track. Or use the whiteboard feature in Zoom to spark interactivity. As hosts we want our attendees to actively participate in the meetings, engage with the content, and to leave the meeting having learned something. Virtual meetings have been around for a while but now, more than ever, they’re becoming more common than their in-person variants. How to Make Virtual Meetings More Engaging, Effective, and InclusiveHow to Make Virtual Meetings More Engaging, Effective, and InclusiveFor more ideas, or to offer your staff a training about how to create a more engaging, inclusive virtual meeting experience, please feel free to reach out to me at www.denasamuels.com or by email at: info@denasamuels.com. Control Your Message. Simple warm up exercises are a great way to break through sluggishness and get people comfortable with interaction. If you’re making an announcement or sharing information that only requires your audience to listen, consider simply sending out an email. Make Your Virtual Meetings More Interactive While you may not all be in the same room, your virtual meeting can still be engaging and interactive. Use good visuals or lively interactions from time to time to make the meeting more exciting. First, make sure you actually need to hold a virtual meeting. Make Your Virtual Meetings More Interactive While you may not all be in the same room, your virtual meeting can still be engaging and interactive. If not, read on. Over 80% of the firms worldwide now hold virtual meetings through video-teleconferencing technology. Conducting a fun ice breaker will help activate the right brain, set the stage for creativity and participation, and get your attendees comfortable with speaking and interacting with each other – the perfect conditions for an effective virtual meeting. So much that it often leads to the all-too-common question: ... Make meetings interactive to keep everyone engaged. Nicolas Zenker. Or take a break half way through and have everyone do some stretches for 2-3 minutes to relieve muscle tension and give the brain a jolt. The trouble is that they are often difficult to handle and most conference calls, audio conferences, and online meetings are frustrating timewasters. How to Make Virtual Meetings More Interactive. Since this virtual world of video conferencing and remote meetings is our reality now, the challenge is to make it work and keep meeting attendees active and engaged. Encourage others to speak up and introduce themselves (if the group is small enough), or at a minimum introduce the main participants in the discussion. Web meeting tools--like Citrix GoToMeeting, Microsoft Live Meeting and Adobe Connect--offer opportunities to make virtual sessions productive, engaging and even fun. Virtual meetings are a key part in the lives of project managers today. With more companies adopting flexible work-from-home policies, virtual meetings are quickly becoming a norm. Comics. If you have a presentation deck, here are some ideas on how to, leverage videos and photos to drive engagement, At the start of the meeting, try a unique, Try this out with Pigeonhole Live, which offers a huge range of polling and survey formats that are beautiful, fun, and interactive. Here are 7 creative ideas to intrigue, inspire, and keep art students coming back for more. Take a Walk “Not every call has to be a video,” said Maher. Our research shows that people will naturally forget up to 90 percent of what you communicate after 48 hours. Get started with a FREE 14-day Pro trial of AppointmentThing. When creating a memorable virtual event with games and activities, consider the following tips: • Develop an agenda and share it with attendees. 6 Ways to Make Your Virtual Sales Meetings Engaging and Memorable. Try using visuals throughout your meeting to give context, illustrate a point, or provide levity. Here are some ideas: Have fun and keep your energy up, and be sure to follow these other simple tips for more effective virtual meetings! 1. Make Virtual Team Building Part of Every Meeting. For more interactive meetings—where attendees can chat, unmute to talk, and turn on their videos for real-time collaboration—Teams meetings are growing to support up to 1,000 participants. You ask a question and silence reigns, so you grit your teeth and barrel through your presentation, hoping to get things over as quickly as possible. Try this out with Pigeonhole Live, which offers a huge range of polling and survey formats that are beautiful, fun, and interactive. Let participants play a virtual game around the meeting theme or run a poll in between the session to seek participant inputs on a significant point of discussion. And as a host, you don’t want to bore your attendees or make them regret calling in. It doesn’t have to be a long discussion, just a brief chat. How to Make Virtual Meetings More Interactive for Students. If you have a presentation deck, here are some ideas on how to leverage videos and photos to drive engagement and capture your audience’s attention. The University of California Irvine has a Guide to Healthy Meetings & Events that outlines some easy desk stretches. At any given company, the majority of team members have figured out how to find the meeting ID, punch in the code, and look at least semi-presentable for the duration of the virtual gathering. Implement collective note-taking on Google Docs or Confluence so that everyone gets involved (and invested) in meeting outcomes. This means: cut the monologues. By automating and simplifying many of the time consuming steps of hosting and arranging your meetings and appointments, an appointment scheduling tool like AppointmentThing frees up your time to prepare for an effective and truly interactive virtual meeting. Here are a few ideas for your next meeting, conference, or event. Present a problem in the agenda and ask everyone prepare and present ideas for solutions; request that all attendees be on video mode and in a quiet (or at least a private) space during the meeting; and set ground rules for conduct, such as “thou shalt put away phones and not work on other tasks”. esports. Have students get up from their seats, find something interesting from around the room, and bring it back to the meeting. You’ve been talking into a laptop camera for 10 minutes straight. Even with the best of intentions and with excellent speaking skills and a flashy slide deck, most people tune out after listening to someone for 10–15 minutes. 1. Start Every Virtual Meeting with a Q&A One of the basic elements of interactivity in a classroom is peer interaction. 1. Use the polling feature in Zoom to get input. Virtual meeting overload is real, and it makes it hard to stay engaged when meetings get booked back to back. For example, use the annotation feature in zoom to have participants make marks on a picture. 6. Ask them about the highlights of their week or what challenges they’re currently facing. If someone turns off their mute button but doesn’t speak right away or shifts forward in their seat, invite them to speak. One way to get your team engaged in meetings is to start things off with a fun icebreaker question or activity. First, make sure you actually need to hold a virtual meeting. Tips On Making Virtual Meetings More Interactive For Students 1. Ask them about the highlights of their week or what challenges they’re currently facing. Allow for and encourage “chatting” Sign up for appointment scheduling from AppointmentThing. One major challenge of the modern virtual meeting is how to make your virtual meetings more interactive. Carefully crafted by your friends at And while they’re not all bad, they do present some unique challenges that can make them less engaging, tolerable or bearable than an in-person meeting, especially if you don’t take steps to address those. Hold a Scavenger Hunt. Summary. Feature Meeting Webinar Size Up to 1,000 Particpants Up … Did you know that visuals increase engagement by as much as 94%? Gamification techniques are a good way to embed two-way communication, boost participation, and incentivise active listening in meetings, and it can be supremely easy to implement. Simply define your availability with time buffers, various meeting types and more. and may want more interaction, so even if it’s a large group, you may want to go with Meetings. The 15 interactive ideas that we listed above will help you make your all-hands meetings more interactive, inclusive, and worth every minute and every penny. Icebreakers. Entertainment. Remote meetings have become an essential part of a workflow, or even the only way of communication in various teams across the globe. Beyond being a fun activity to keep your attendees engaged, polls and surveys can serve as a decision-making tool in virtual meetings, where attendees can vote on follow-up actions and next steps. How does that make your event more interactive? Bigger, more collaborative and useful for big organisations a mini scavenger hunt team to make virtual more. Yet, get everyone to show appreciation to their fellow colleagues Zoom to get into the business of... 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