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  • 1.  What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?

    Posted 02-22-2021 12:43

    Hello and happy Monday, all! We're here with our next Huddle of the Week discussion. Let's continue our virtual conversations by focusing on your speakers and presenters today.

    Presenters are always key to delivering your valuable content and messages. Most have perfected their in-person presentation skills, and how to keep an audience at an event engaged. But, becoming a virtual speaker brings a new perspective to light. So, with that said:

    • What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?
    • What features in a virtual event platform help elevate a virtual presenter? (Ex. Chat or Q&A)
    • As an attendee of a virtual event, what has been your favorite engagement tactic or experience with a presenter?

    Let us know your thoughts and ideas to any of the questions below! #HuddleoftheWeek #VoiceIt

    Looking to learn more?


    #ManagingVirtualEvents
    #ExecutingStrategicMeetingsManagement

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    Danni Czark
    Senior Associate, Online Community Marketing
    Cvent
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  • 2.  RE: What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?

    Community MVP
    Posted 02-23-2021 12:40
    Hi Danni,

    hope all is well.

    • What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?
      • Know the platform you are using
      • Background (screen and noise)
      • have someone monitor questions / hold questions to the end if possible
      • allow for breaks (if it's a longer session)
    • What features in a virtual event platform help elevate a virtual presenter? (Ex. Chat or Q&A)
      • Chat and Q&A I would say but have a monitor that might be able to answer questions as they come in
      • have questions posted in the chat (if you can in advance)
    • As an attendee of a virtual event, what has been your favorite engagement tactic or experience with a presenter?
      • Q&A at the end


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    Andrea Timbes-Cox
    CRM Administrator & Lead Catcher
    Visit Fort Worth
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  • 3.  RE: What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?

    Community MVP
    Posted 02-23-2021 17:29
    I had 120 presenters for my virtual event, 60 of them added in the last week or two before our event started. 60 presenters that missed the "presenter" training.

    I am blessed that my presenters are EXCELLENT at actually PRESENTING. But they all needed to learn the technology: Cvent Video Conferencing VS Cvent Video Player - Live using the Brightcove integration.

    So first of all, SURVEY your presenters to KNOW THEM. Mandatory filling out of a short form which includes bio info (for their presenter profiles, including uploading a profile photo) and a few questions about their presenting experience. 

    We didn't need much training re: presenting. Just a quick reminder to carefully place the camera, ensure they had lighting in FRONT and were not backlit.

    But we had to do a deep dive for training for using Cvent Video Conferencing VS Cvent Video Player - Live using the Brightcove integration. And additional training for being a Q&A Moderator for the Virtual Attendee Hub.

    Record these sessions. In fact, record them AFTER you have had them covering questions, so that you have a "CANNED" recording. Make it mandatory to watch the trainings (BrainShark or other platform to track).

    And then have multiple test sessions (your Cvent success team can help you set them up) so that everyone can have some time to "Play" in the VAH. 

    I had an internal meeting using a session for Cvent Video Conferencing and this was AWESOME for our presenters learning the lay of the land, i.e. how Attendees will experience the VAH.

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    Brenda Ainsburg
    Channel Program Manager
    brenda.ainsburg@siemens.com
    Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    United States
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  • 4.  RE: What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?

    Community MVP
    Posted 02-23-2021 18:07
    Hello Danielle,

    Great things have been mentioned already, but here are my two cents! 

    What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?
    • Have content that's designed for virtual first and making use of virtual event features (chat, poll, interactive presentation using things like PearDeck or Google Classrooms). 
    • Have them do a practice with a dedicated tech resource. All the issues of them not knowing the platform etc will come up then. 
    What features in a virtual event platform help elevate a virtual presenter? (Ex. Chat or Q&A)
    Honestly? Having a dedicated tech resource + somebody who knows the content. This way, the presenter can focus on presenting, while others deal with launching the polls, answering the Q&A, and overall moderating. 
    As an attendee of a virtual event, what has been your favorite engagement tactic or experience with a presenter?
    I've enjoyed anything that is designed to keep my attention on the content. Breaking up the presentation with Q&A, doing a couple of polls, encouraging the audience to share in the chat... Those are simple techniques, but they are effective. The next level, which only work with enough tech savvy people in the audience, is to have a session where the deck itself is interactive.

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    Béline FALZON
    Conference Program Specialist II
    California Teachers Association
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  • 5.  RE: What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?

    Posted 02-23-2021 20:43
    • What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?
      • Speak clearly and slowly
      • Be engaging
      • Be personable
    • What features in a virtual event platform help elevate a virtual presenter?
      • Chat/Q&A/Polling
    • As an attendee of a virtual event, what has been your favorite engagement tactic or experience with a presenter?
      • Live Q&A with the presnter taking questions in the Q&A and answering by weaving them into the presentation


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    Scott Sward
    Global Travel and Events Manager
    Viewpoint, Inc.
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  • 6.  RE: What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?

    User Group Member
    Posted 02-24-2021 06:40
    What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?
    Know the platform being used.
    Have a solid bio less than 250 words.
    Allow frequent breaks for your audience. Most presenters are still running on an in-person blueprint.

    What features in a virtual event platform help elevate a virtual presenter? (Ex. Chat or Q&A)
    Keep an eye of questions posted in the chat.
    If no questions in the chat, I am sure presenters have insight to other questions that have been asked on the same topic. Talk about those questions!

    As an attendee of a virtual event, what has been your favorite engagement tactic or experience with a presenter?
    I like the polling, but again you have to know your platform, Q&A at the end really engages people.

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    Mary Ann Hall
    Event Planner
    Federal Reserve System
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  • 7.  RE: What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?

    User Group Member
    Posted 02-24-2021 13:26
    When it comes to virtual presentations there are some things that carry over and some you do have to change to make for an effective and engaging presentation. 

    Some things me and my team have done for better engagement include:
    • Decreasing the length of your individual presenter(s)
    • Decreasing the length of the overall meeting
    • Don't have your slides be busy or info overload bc the attendees will then be trying to read the deck vs pay attention to you on the screen
    • If you can include polling that is a good "check in" with attendees to make sure they aren't multitasking
    • Make sure the presenter has solid internet connect and no distracting background. Its ok to not use a virtual background but make sure there is nothing that will cause attendees to divert their attention away from the speaker.


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    Megan Ridgway
    Sr. Specialist, Event Operations
    S&P Global Market Intelligence(PreviouslySNL Financial LC)
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  • 8.  RE: What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?

    User Group Member
    Posted 02-25-2021 09:55
    • What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter? Practice and become acquainted with the platform, work on talking to your camera so you know where to look
    • What features in a virtual event platform help elevate a virtual presenter? (Ex. Chat or Q&A) q&A as long as they have a moderator, polls where they can engage and interact more directly with the audience
    • As an attendee of a virtual event, what has been your favorite engagement tactic or experience with a presenter? Q&A at the end and really taking time to listen to the questions and be present. Ones where they ask a question and give people opportunities to respond in the chat box at rapid fire.


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    Rachel Sigley
    Director, Brand Marketing
    Tata America International Corporation
    NJ
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  • 9.  RE: What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?

    Posted 02-26-2021 09:11
    • What do you consider the top best practices for a virtual presenter?
      • Streamline content so that it is shorter in length and allows for interaction/engagement time
      • Get comfortable with the tech you are using
      •  Practice a few times to check lighting, background, voice, and body language (can be more distracting virtually than in person)
    • What features in a virtual event platform help elevate a virtual presenter? (Ex. Chat or Q&A)
      • Any engagement features are a plus. It's hard to sit through a virtual presentation and just listen. Really engaging the audience through the Chat helps, but also using other interactive tools such as polls, quizzes, and pulse checks to break the possible "monotony" of a virtual presentation
    • As an attendee of a virtual event, what has been your favorite engagement tactic or experience with a presenter?
      • I really like polling, a great way to get feedback from the audience quickly and maintain engagement. Q&A is great, but sometimes it can slow a presentation down having to wait for folks to formulate a question and type.


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    Bouran Qaddumi
    National Field Trainer
    Cajun Operating Company d/b/a Church's Chicken
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