Here’s a short list:
1. Will you hire a separate production company to handle all the technical details or will the venue staff handle that particular area? While venue tech staff are great with in-person events (usually), they might not be super familiar with all the nuances of hybrid events, such as camera placement, audio-video feeds, monitors and the interactive abilities of the on-line platform. When I do hybrid events or 100% virtual events, I usually hire a production assistant to handle many of the technical details that I don’t want to mess with while I’m interacting with the audience.
2.Will you hire an emcee or moderator to keep things rolling along both in the in-person space and the virtual space? There’s a lot to be said for having an emcee to help manage all of the balls that are in the air at hybrid events—they can put out fires that are happening behind the scenes with your other hybrid speakers; they can make sure the virtual attendees are cued up properly and have access to all of the extra-visual information that a speaker or panelist may be using; they can act as an intermediary between panelists/speakers and the virtual audience by bringing questions and comments to their attention.
3.Having a sound-check is routine for in-person events. Now you have the added issue of conducting audio/video checks for the virtual platform feed, making sure that the video and interactive features work smoothly and that you can anticipate any likely problems during the event. Make sure you schedule enough time for this important dress-rehearsal. And that’s exactly what it is: a dress-rehearsal for your motivational speaker or panelists, so there won’t be any surprises. Practice makes perfect!
4.How will your virtual audience ask questions or offer comments? Will someone be monitoring that aspect of the virtual platform so that the virtual audience always feels they are feeling included. Your hybrid speaker must remember that there are TWO audiences now. Both are equally important, and in many cases, the virtual audience makes up a greater percentage than the in-person audience.
5.Going along with that, be sure to make your motivational speaker aware of all camera locations in the room. It is so important that the presenter speaks into the camera almost as much as she makes eye-contact with the in-person participants. Nothing turns off a virtual attendee more than feeling like the speaker doesn’t even know they are in the room.
Well, I could go on with all the important aspects of hosting a hybrid meeting, but you get the idea. Have I scared you? There is one easy way to help alleviate some of the anxiety that goes along with producing a hybrid event, and I mentioned it before: Make sure you hire an experienced motivational speaker or keynote performer who knows and understands the ins and outs of working with both virtual audiences and in-person audiences AT THE SAME TIME! Who, you might ask, could be this wonderful savior? Why, Brad Montgomery, of course.
I am an experienced funny motivational speaker with years of experience on the platform before live audiences. Now I have multiple hybrid and virtual events under my belt, so I offer meeting planners a sense of confidence that my part of the program will go smoothly. I also have serious emcee chops in the virtual arena and can help you run a virtual and hybrid meeting from start to finish, while adding a lot of funny commentary along the way.
Funny motivational speakers or Zoom speakers or hybrid speakers or online motivational speakers whatever you want to call them often don’t have the experience that I do in pulling more than my weight at hybrid events. A polished and experienced hybrid speaker can put a meeting planner’s mind at ease and help deliver a finished product that garners both rave reviews and imparts valuable information that your group needs to learn.
So give my office a call. We’ll answer your questions, calm your anxieties if this is your first hybrid meeting, and leave you knowing that a successful hybrid meeting is in the bag.
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