According to this stat, 58.4% of registrants watch webinars (live or replays).
When you host a live webinar in a remote setting, you need to engage your attendees from start to finish, in order to make the most out of your event.
Having a large audience doesn’t define success – it’s essential to engage participants effectively to ensure they take home something valuable from the session, and feel enriched from the experience. So, a passive, one-sided webinar will simply not make the cut.
This article will go over 20 powerful strategies to boost audience involvement in the webinar.
1) Live Polling:
Real-time polling is a great way to increase participant engagement in webinars, as it requires attendees to respond quickly. With the polling feature, attendees are encouraged to be part of the session.
According to this stat, the top 5% of webinars receive a 70% poll completion rate.
The best webinar hosts run polls every half hour or so, which means an average of 2 polls for an hour-long webinar. Hosts who display the polls on stage get 15% more completions than hosts who don’t.
Running polls is a great idea if you want to gather people’s responses on a particular topic.
Airmeet poll allows you to create and launch polls easily, and display the results instantly.
2) Chat Feature:
One of the most trusted interactive elements that can facilitate discussions in the webinar is the chat functionality. It elevates the quality of communication between the presenter/speaker and the audience.
With this feature, attendees can share their thoughts, and ask questions in real time. It promotes two-way communication, making webinars more personalized and engaging for all participants.
3) Webcam:
Webcams play a vital role in increasing webinar effectiveness and engagement. It allows the speaker to effectively communicate with the audience using body language, gestures, expressions, and reactions, which makes the discussion more vivid. Participants tend to be more invested in the webinar when they can see the presenter live in action, even if virtually.
Plus, your presentation really comes to life while the camera is on. It breaks the monotony of a static screen and keeps the audience focused and interested.
4) Breakout Rooms:
Breakout rooms are one of the most important elements in a virtual event to bring your participants together for featured discussions. This capability allows you to divide participants into smaller groups and encourage them to engage in intimate conversations.
Breakout rooms enable attendees to have deeper and more meaningful discussions about the webinar topic by being part of smaller, dedicated groups. This is where they can share their personal experiences, perspectives, and exchange ideas with one another.
5) Kahoot Game:
Kahoot is a game-based learning software that is easy to set up and play, in a webinar setting involving large audiences. You can incorporate quizzes into it, and share them with participants to engage and enhance their learning experience.
Airmeet offers a seamless Kahoot integration that allows you to add it to the live stage. You can create fun and educational quizzes and present them in front of your attendees, who can then participate directly through the widget.
6) Speed Networking:
If you want to make your webinar more interactive, there cannot be anything more impactful than this. Through networking, attendees can connect with other like-minded people, exchange ideas, and gain new insights along the way.
When participants interact with others, they feel more invested in the session, making it a richer experience. With networking, you actually create an environment where participants, who are otherwise hesitant, can voice their opinions and speak freely.
Leverage Airmeet’s ‘speed networking’ feature and give your webinar audience an opportunity to network with other participants with ease. Attendees can easily access the virtual lounge and have conversations with multiple audiences.
7) Icebreaker:
An ‘Icebreaker’ is a brief exercise or activity that warms people up to the event. It allows attendees to briefly interact with the presenter or the speaker, and get to know each other which makes further conversation easier.
Icebreaker games or activities are often carried out at the very beginning of the session, to create a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. As a webinar host, when you kickstart the session with a light-hearted interaction with the participants, you encourage them to be active throughout the entire session.
Spruce up your next webinar with these creative icebreaker activities.
8) Interactive Whiteboard:
A virtual whiteboard is an often overlooked but important interactive element in a live webinar presentation.
Most webinar platforms include the ‘whiteboard’ functionality for interacting with the audience; However, most presenters don’t employ them as much, even though they present a great opportunity for elevated engagement in a webinar.
Using a virtual whiteboard, you can draw directly on the screen, and place charts, graphs, or other visuals on the board, to make information easier to understand for the audience.
Depending on your webinar goals, you can also allow attendees to participate in the whiteboard presentation, to make the session all the more interactive.
9) Visually Appealing Slides:
Presentation slides are just as important as the webinar topic. The more engaging your slides are, the easier it will be for attendees to understand and interact with them.
Create high-quality images, eye-catching graphics, and HD videos. Also, use colors wisely and avoid those that are hard on the eyes.
And yes, keep text relevant, clear, and to the point. By doing so, attendees will find the information easy to digest.
10) Hand-Raising Feature:
If you want your webinar attendees to contribute to the discussion, ask questions, or voice their opinions, use the “raise your hand” in your event. Thanks to this one-of-a-kind feature, everyone can join in on the fun and excitement.
This feature enhances real-time communication between attendees and speakers.
Suppose you’re running a webinar session and you’re giving in-depth information about a specific topic, but you want to assess if or not your audience is following along. This is where you can employ the ‘hand-raise’ feature, to see how many participants have understood the topic discussed, and to gauge if anyone has any questions to ask.
You can, then, immediately delight your attendees by answering their queries instantly. This way, you will create a more personalized & engaging learning experience for everyone.
11) Storytelling:
Stories are a great way to capture the audience’s attention, create curiosity, emotionally connect with them, and stimulate their imagination. It can also help you inspire your webinar audience to take any specific action you want them to.
To fully engage your audience’s attention, present a problem, then a solution, along with details of the transformation that your audience can relate to, or aspire towards. Just make sure to choose a story that is relevant to your topic, your audience, and your webinar goals.
12) On-stage Interactions:
Inviting attendees on stage is a wonderful way to boost engagement during the live seminar. It enables attendees to engage actively, rather than just listen.
Call on some participants “on stage” to share their experiences, ask presenters questions directly, and more. This will encourage deeper interaction between the presenter & the audience, and create a sense of community.
By bringing people up onto a live virtual stage, you will not only heighten the audience’s excitement but also create an atmosphere that enriches the overall discussion.
13) Invite a Special Guest:
If you are hosting a webinar series or a long webinar session, having to listen to the same speaker throughout can become a bit boring for the audience. To avoid this, consider inviting a notable guest who will spice up your virtual event.
Consider inviting a keynote speaker, a famous author, an entrepreneur from the industry, a noted C-Level executive, a renowned thought leader, a subject matter expert, etc.
By inviting a noteworthy guest to your online event, you can attract a larger audience and maintain their interest throughout the session. With their unique insights and experiences, highly experienced guests can make the event more informative, engaging, and worthwhile for your audiences.
14) Leaderboards:
Leaderboards are an engagement feature that ranks participants, based on their performance in different activities held within the session. These can be activities like answering questions, participating in polls, submitting insightful comments, completing specific tasks, etc.
This gamification element will keep the audience motivated and engaged throughout the event. It will also improve their knowledge retention, making for a more dynamic and interactive virtual environment.
15) Audience Spotlight:
This feature allows the host to highlight specific attendees who either answered a question correctly, shared a unique perspective, or provided some valuable information.
Giving your audience members a spotlight will encourage them to participate further. If someone comes up with an idea that’s really unique or is the first one to answer a question correctly, acknowledge their contribution and highlight them. This will show them and the audience at large, how much you value their participation and contribution.
16) Include Case Studies:
Case studies can be an effective tool to engage the webinar audience because they involve in-depth contexts and real-world examples.
Real-world examples give attendees an idea of
In fact, case studies make the audience all the more curious and engaged in the topic at hand. People become more attentive when they know the story is related to real-life success.
17) Give Challenges:
Depending on the length of the webinar, attendees can get distracted from time to time. Throwing open a challenge or two will help break the monotony of the webinar and encourage attendees to be active.
To boost attendee involvement, consider the following challenges:
- Post an image related to the webinar theme and ask attendees to submit ideal captions for it.
- Create five separate quizzes based on the webinar topic and ask them to submit their answers. The person who gives the most number of correct answers receives a prize.
- Make up some funny quizzes and encourage attendees to respond with only emojis.
- Give attendees a list of items to find in their surroundings (e.g. a red pen, a coffee mug, or something else you’d spot around workspaces) and ask them to quickly bring them to the camera.
- Create a riddle or puzzle related to the webinar content, present it, and get your attendees to solve it within a set time limit.
18) Address Participants by Name:
Addressing attendees by name during the event will help create a more personalized experience, and make them feel valued and recognized.
When attendees are called out by name, their attentiveness throughout the session is higher, information retention improves, and active involvement is encouraged.
For instance, in a Q&A session, if someone asks a question that is really relevant to the topic, appreciate this by saying something like- “John, that’s a great question” or “Thanks for bringing this question up, John!”.
This personalized compliment will make the person feel appreciated and valued.
19) Call-to-action:
A CTA (Call to Action) should be a part of every webinar you host as they are action-oriented. Clear and concise CTAs provide audiences with a clear direction on what to do next.
For example, you want attendees to download a specific resource and your CTA button reads “Learn More.” This is an ineffective CTA as it isn’t very descriptive, nor is it providing them with any direction on what to expect.
Instead, using words like “Claim Your Free Copy” Or “Grab Your Limited Time Offer”, can go a long way, as it communicates what’s in store for them.
A strong CTA is the best tool for directing attendees to take a specific action, be it signing up for a newsletter, downloading a resource, visiting a website, or enrolling for a future event.
20) Real-Time Feedback:
Who says feedback is only used to gain insights from the audience? Yes, getting audience feedback does help you immensely in understanding their experience, but it is also a great way to keep them engaged.
When you ask individuals about their overall webinar experience, they present their thoughts and feedback, basically giving you a sincere account of how they thought the webinar went.
This gives you an opportunity to stay engaged with them, and communicate to them that they matter to you, as does their feedback.
Why Does Audience Participation Matter in Webinars?
Attendee engagement in a webinar is the key to your webinar’s success. To achieve the event’s goal and maximize its effectiveness, audience participation matters a lot. High engagement levels are crucial when it comes to maximizing lead generation and creating more conversion opportunities.
Attendees who participate actively in your event become more familiar with your brand. When you host highly interactive webinars, they are more likely to be engaged, resulting in a positive webinar experience for them. By encouraging participation, you not only strengthen your bond with your attendees but also make sure your relationship with them is strong and continued.
Conclusion
An engaged audience is the key to webinar success. The more interactive your webinar is, the more engaged your audience will be. Every tip you’ve come across in this article will make your event not only engaging, but also memorable for your audience.
From using live polls and leveraging a webcam, to creating captivating slides, and inviting special guests, each idea will help engage your online participants in a remote setting and create a webinar experience that the audience won’t forget.
Frequently asked questions
If the audience consistently interacts with the content and the presenter, it shows that the topic is of interest to them. A large number of people asking questions, responding to polls, and interacting through chats all show enthusiastic participation. Ultimately, If attendees have a high level of engagement throughout the session, it means your webinar is worth millions to them.
