How to Host a Successful Virtual Event: Tips and Best Practices

What is a virtual event?

A virtual event is any organized meet-up that takes place online rather than in a physical location. These events can range from small question-and-answer sessions to large-scale conferences with thousands of attendees.

Here’s a rundown of the most popular virtual events that your organisation might be interested in hosting.

1. Virtual summits / conferences:

Best suited for medium size groups of participants (up to 500) with the purpose of knowledge exchange. You can invite multiple speakers, host several tracks and sessions, have breakout sessions in between, conduct live polls & surveys. Speakers and attendees can have two-way communication between them over audio/video in real-time.

2. Internal meeting:

Best suited for international teams that need to come together to discuss the strategic outcomes from the past year and plan the year ahead. You can again invite multiple speakers, host several tracks and sessions, have breakout sessions in between, conduct live polls & surveys. Breakout sessions are especially important for discussions and generation of new ideas.

3. Webinars:

A webinar is a virtual seminar on a topic where usually a host presents a lecture or demo. This format is best suited if you want to reach a larger audience. The presentation can be downloaded and the audience can ask questions over chat or audio. 

4. Online training / workshops:

These are the sessions where participants learn a skill or complete a course or certification. The trainer can have one on one interaction with the attendee, solve queries via live Q&A, share content via screen and more. 

Our tips for hosting virtual events

All events come with logistical challenges. Here’s how to avoid hiccups during your virtual event.

1. Planning is key

Whether big or small, offline or online, every event should have a strategy. Start with a key goal and concept, then take it from there. The earlier you can get planning, the better.

Before hosting a virtual event, answer the following questions:

• What kind of experience do you hope to deliver?
• Will the event be live, on-demand, or both?
• Who is my target audience? What is their comfort level with technology?
• Will access be paid or free?
• What is the best time and format of the event?
• Will you require event registration?
• How will you promote the event?
• Will people still have access to the event once it’s over?
• What KPIs and data do you plan to track?

2. Choose the right time

Picking the right date and time for your event is important, regardless of size or platform. Make sure there are no competing events or holidays that would interfere with attendance.

Take time zones into consideration, too. If you plan to go global, try your best to pick a time that works for as many of your customers and followers as possible. If that doesn’t seem possible, make sure content is accessible after live presentations for those who couldn’t make it. It may also be worthwhile to plan multiple networking sessions and different virtual events for different time zones.

3. Promote the event

Determine the key selling points your event has to offer attendees. It could be a noteworthy speaker, skill sharing, an opportunity to network, and more.

Whatever you choose, make sure the value proposition is clear in your marketing.

Share the event details by email and on social media. According to our experience, registrations tend to spike two-to-three weeks before an event. So it’s a good idea to ramp up promotion and reminders around this time.

4. Prepare for tech troubles

If physical events have hitches, virtual events have glitches.

Before kicking things off, test your Internet connection—and have your speakers do the same. Prepare backups of visuals and presentations in case a file goes wonky or awol. If possible, run a rehearsal. The sooner you identify problems, the sooner you can identify solutions.

Remember that not all of your attendees are tech savvy. Anticipate the troubles people may have by preparing easy to follow guides or FAQs. If you have the resources to provide support, even better. Make sure it’s easy to find where and how to ask for help.

5. Make it inclusive

Just like in-person events, virtual events should be as inclusive and accessible as possible. Make sure clear language, large fonts, and high colour contrast is used at all touch points—including presentations.

And this probably goes without saying by now, but if your event includes a panel of experts, try to avoid choosing exclusively white males. Unless you want your event to trend for the wrong reasons, make sure your virtual event showcases a diverse range of voices.

6. Encourage engagement

It’s simple: If you create opportunities for engagement, your audience will be more engaged. Why? It’s fun to see the outcomes of your engagement.

Here’s a simple example: Ask viewers to submit questions in comments or through a chat tool. Chances are the people who ask questions are going to stick around to see if they get answered. Pro tip: If you do this, make sure to have a moderator assigned to the task of fielding questions.

Virtually every online platform has interactive features. Ask people to participate in polls or quizzes. Take requests and suggestions. Or simply shoutout names as people tune in. And at the end of the event, ask for feedback.

Why use MYT Events to assist you with your virtual events?

We are finding that an increasing number of clients turn to us feeling overwhelmed by the amount of detail required to setup an online event. Once we are involved, your time becomes your own once again and you can focus on your core role. We can take care of everything from start to finish (from platform technology to audience communication), so you don’t have to worry about anything but what’s being said.

If you want to find out more about our Virtual Services please visit our Virtual Events Organiser page.