Engage your audience during online sessions

People tend to do a lot of other things during online sessions. They eat, send e-mails, well, they might even be sitting on the toilet as you speak! That is why you need people to be more focussed and more engaged during your online meeting.

Darek Krzywania started off our session with a soft opening about bowerbirds. And that is exactly his first tip: don’t start your session by getting straight to the point or the agenda. People need time to come in the meeting physically, technically and mentally. Try talking about a project, interesting news within your organization or a fun fact.  

During his session, we got to get a sense of Mentimeter, a tool that allows you to take live polls, quizzes, and Q&A’s. This and many other tools passed our session. Take a look at Darek’s presentation, all the tools are mentioned there along with links!

But tools aren’t the only way to make online sessions more engaging. Use the camera and let participants physically move. By making people move and do something, they tend to get more engaged and get in a positive state of mind.

And albeit a bit strange at first, the bowerbirds love ritual was quite relevant to our session:

1. Make eye contact: actively involve your audience, let them contribute
2. Bust a move: let people physically do something
3. Make your nest shine: try one of Darek's tips to brighten up your session!