Are video meetings becoming a more common way for your team to communicate? If so, you’ll want to make sure that they are as interesting and productive as possible. Here are 10 ways to make video meetings more interesting and engaging for all participants. By following these tips, you’ll be able to get the most out of your next video meeting!
Around 300 million meetings take place each day on Zoom alone. If you add on the video calls that take place on all the other video platforms too, that’s hundreds of millions of video calls taking place each and every day. If you’re using video meetings with increasing regularity for your work, you’re probably looking for better ways to engage all the participants. After all, the last thing you want is for people to start multitasking or tuning out during a video meeting!
Here are 10 ways to make video meetings more interesting and engaging.
1. Make Sure Everyone Has A Chance To Speak
When you’re planning a video meeting, make sure that everyone has a chance to speak. This means creating an agenda or list of topics ahead of time and making sure that each person has a chance to contribute. It can be helpful to assign specific topics to specific people so that everyone feels prepared and knows what they need to contribute.
2. Encourage Questions And Feedback
Questions and feedback are essential for making a video meeting more interesting. Encourage people to ask questions throughout the meeting and make sure that you’re taking time to answer them. Feedback is also important for keeping the meeting on track and ensuring that everyone is engaged. Make sure participants know your preferred system for managing questions and feedback if you’re hosting the meeting. This could be by using the virtual hand raise icon, or by typing questions into the chat box.
3. Integrate Innovative Technology
Use some additional tools in your video call to make it more interesting for people. After all, many people are starting to get fatigued by regular PowerPoint presentations. Instead, use something like Slides With Friends. You can use this tool to create interactive slides, or even to create icebreakers or quizzes that everyone can get involved in. All you need from your video conferencing software is to be able to share your screen, then everyone can get involved.
4. Encourage Breakout Sessions
If you have a lot of people in your video meeting, it can be helpful to encourage breakout sessions. This means splitting people off into smaller groups to discuss specific topics. This can be a great way to get everyone more involved in the discussion and to ensure that everyone has a chance to contribute. It can also help to make the meeting more interesting by breaking up the monotony of everyone staring at the same screen.
5. Use Virtual Backgrounds
If you want to make your video meetings more interesting, try using virtual backgrounds. This is a great way to add some fun and personality to your meetings. You can find a range of virtual backgrounds online, or you can even create your own. All you need is a green screen and some editing software. Then, you can transport yourself and your team to anywhere in the world – or even outer space!
6. Get People Moving
Sitting in the same position for a long time can be really tiring, so try to get people moving during your video meeting. This could mean standing up, stretching, or even doing some simple exercises. You can also use fitness trackers to set goals for everyone to achieve during the meeting. This is a great way to add some friendly competition and to get everyone moving.
7. Add Some Fun And Games
If you want to make your video meetings more interesting, try adding some fun and games. This could mean playing charades or Pictionary over video, or even incorporating some fun icebreakers into the meeting. This is particularly useful if you’re hosting a longer virtual session, such as a day-long conference. You could even send everyone a meal kit ahead of the meeting, and get everyone to cook lunch together at lunchtime!
8. Make It Social
Don’t forget to make your video meetings social. This means taking time to catch up with everyone before and after the meeting, and making sure that you’re creating an inclusive and friendly environment. You could even host a virtual happy hour after the meeting, or organize some social events that everyone can join in with.
9. Encourage Engagement
One of the most important things you can do to make your video meetings more interesting is to encourage engagement. This means making sure that everyone is involved in the discussion and that they’re given a chance to contribute. Getting people to contribute can be easier said than done. But if you are chairing the meeting, you could ask individuals direct questions if they haven’t contributed yet. If you know certain people don’t tend to contribute during video meetings, try to catch up with them beforehand and ask them to give an update on something specific during the forthcoming meeting.
10. Take Advantage Of Technology
There are a range of features that you can take advantage of to make your video meetings more interesting. For example, many video conferencing software programs now offer features such as screen sharing, video recording and transcriptions. These can be really useful for making sure that everyone is on the same page, and for creating a record of the meeting that can be referred back to later.