We Asked CMOs for Their Top Virtual Event Tips: Here’s What We Found Out

We live and breathe virtual events at Swift Polling. That means we’re always on the lookout for the latest and greatest tips, tools, and strategies for running more successful events.

Not only do we employ these tactics for our own virtual events, but we are equally as committed to helping our users make the most of their own events as well. That’s why, we recently reached out to a group of CMOs to hear what they had to say about virtual events. More specifically, to hear what they listed as their top tips for virtual events.

We wanted to know what their best advice was for running virtual events, as well as the most helpful tools they use for creating engaging and interactive events.

Top Virtual Event Tips from CMOs

Here’s what we found out.

Q&A Sessions

No surprise here–we are big fans of Q&A sessions. But we aren’t the only ones who love implementing live Q&A sessions into virtual events.

Take a look at what Andrew Smith, Founder of CozySeating, had to say about using Q&A sessions for their virtual events:

“When it comes to organizing a good virtual event, keeping the audience engaged is crucial. A Q&A session is the simplest way to do this. You will get the questions in a variety of ways, including chat boxes, a microsite, Google formats, or by asking the crowd after the session. Your key aim is to make the viewer feel as if they are a part of the performance. You may also keep the viewer interested by conducting polling and surveys during the presentation or by asking trivia questions.”

Inclusivity and Interactivity

Next, we heard from Mark Condon, Founder and CMO at ShotKit about his top tips for running virtual events.

Here’s what he had to say:

“The best tip to hold a virtual event is to make it inclusive and interactive. With more and more organizations and brands hosting virtual events on social media platforms, it has become very important to work on the interactivity and creativity quotient of such events to get people’s attention and hold it. People are less likely to remain in an event where they don’t feel involved and have to be mute spectators. Use chat tools and live tweeting to engage the audience.”

We’re on board with this idea too. In fact, chat tools are another area we focus on, and you can see our Swift Chat tool in action right here.

Icebreakers

There’s nothing like staring out at an uninterested, tuned out audience, even if it’s on a computer screen. One of the best ways to bust past this barrier is with the help of icebreakers.

Here’s what Michael Alexis, CEO of TeamBuilding, suggests for using icebreakers at the start of your virtual events:

“An easy way to make virtual events more engaging is to start with icebreaker questions. For example, you could prompt attendees to “share your name, role and favorite sandwich.” These questions give everyone a chance to participate early on, which gives them the comfort and confidence to continue participating throughout the event.”

Michael goes on to offer some pro tips for optimizing icebreaker questions:

“First, choose fun and easy questions that someone can answer without too much thought. For example, “What is your biggest fear?” is a little red-light, and not something everyone will be comfortable sharing. Something more trivial like “How you like your coffee” is good. Also, for group size, stick to maximum 10 people per icebreaker group. If you have more attendees, then you can split them into breakout rooms, which will keep the time commitment short.”

Live Polling

We were thrilled to hear how many other CMOs and CEOs believe in the power of live polling for their virtual events too and list it as one of their top virtual event tips.

In fact, Eden Cheng, the marketing director and founder of WeInvoice, listed live polling as #1 in a list of helpful tools for creating engaging and interactive events:

“Polling is an excellent way to increase engagement among audiences because it calls for responses that most people are always happy to give. It could either be multiple choice polls or even open-ended questions. You can then choose to use the information for your own feedback or publish the results for everyone to see and discuss.”

On that same note, Tanner Arnold, President & CEO of Revelation Machinery, also talks about live polling during virtual events. He mentions how you can, “keep the audience interested by conducting polls and surveys during the presentation or by asking trivia questions.”

Conducting Incredible Virtual Events with the Help of Swift Polling

There you have it, direct from CMOs and CEOs, you’ve heard their top tips for conducting unforgettable virtual events: Q&A sessions, inclusivity and interactivity, icebreakers, and live polling.

Ready to try these strategies during your own virtual events? You’re in the right place. We offer the tools you need to implement these tactics during your own events. On top of live polls and Q&As, we also offer gamification and quiz tools, as well as live chat and everything else you need for a great virtual event.

Click here to read more about our virtual event solutions.