When it comes to your events, content can make or break the attendee experience. In the era of virtual events and hybrid events, this is more true than ever before.
Many event planners think that creating great content requires tech-savvy and deep digital skills. But did you know there are powerful production tools that allow you to easily create award-winning, global content for your attendees?
To help guide you, Notified hosted a live webinar featuring Allie Magyar and Allen Murphy to discuss how to produce content that engages attendees and creates memorable experiences.
Read on to learn the main takeaways from our webinar and learn how you can become a content hero!
How Does Storytelling Help Make You a Content Hero?
An event planner’s job is to create and deliver experiences that empower attendees to succeed. And the main tool we use for that is storytelling.
The stories we tell shape how our attendees feel. It’s the kind of atmosphere we create. It informs the journey our audience takes as they navigate the event. And it shapes how our audience remembers the event when the doors close.
Every element of an event contributes to the story we tell, from lights and music to signage and branding. But the main contributor is the content we deliver - the sessions our attendees participate in. This makes it essential to produce high-quality content.
The Importance of Preparing Your Speakers
Your speakers are the ones delivering that high-quality content and, unfortunately, could also be the ones that could bore your audience. So how can you get your speakers to excite your audience rather than turn your story into a snoozefest?
The first step is identifying the good speakers and saying no to the bad ones. Almost every speaker should be able to share a video of a previous speech or presentation they did. So require that in your call for speakers. And if they don’t have one available to share, then just schedule a run-through with them in advance.
Getting high-quality speakers will save you a lot of time down the road and is the easiest way to make your event rock.
Now that you have great speakers, that doesn’t mean they are good to go. It’s necessary to have rehearsal time. During the rehearsal, there are a few things you want to check and train them on.
- First, run the rehearsal on the platform you will be using for the event. Make sure they are comfortable navigating the platform or venue and understand any tech requirements. Is there a Q&A they need to monitor? Do they have a poll they want to launch? Can they log in?
- The goal of a rehearsal is to make it as close to the real thing as possible. For virtual speakers, ask them if they’re going to be in the same spot for the real deal? Are they wearing glasses that reflect their computer monitor? Are they wearing the same earbuds they plan to use? Will they use a different webcam and mic? Check all of these things and make sure it will stay the same for the day you go live.
- Finally, encourage your speakers to engage with the audience. Don’t assume they know how to do that either. Show them the engagement features your platform has and ask if they plan to use any of them? If the answer is no, ask the question again and give them the “are you sure about that look.” Also, be sure to ask if they have any questions they want to be planted in the Q&A.
Now that your speakers are ready, it’s important you have the tools to make them look even better.
Why High-Quality Video Production Is Key
Remember when 720p was the pinnacle of high-quality video production? Now, nearly everyone has a 4k TV, access to the world’s best-produced shows on demand, and an ever-shortening attention span. So how can you expect a speaker with a simple PowerPoint deck to overcome this?
The short answer is you can’t. But there are ways to improve your speakers with some easy-to-use production tools and a little bit of know-how.
Here are ways you can easily up-level the content within your event:
- Add a motion graphic to the intro and outro to easily make your content look professionally produced. Not only will this tie the content to the theme of your event, and your story, but it will act as a primer for your attendees’ brains to focus on.
- Pop-in lower thirds to grab the attention of your distracted attendees and provide your attentive ones with helpful information.
- Bring in your active speakers front and center. If you are running a panel or even a fireside chat, change the speaker layout from time to time. You can enlarge the main speaker, so the attention is on them, and not the other panelist checking their email. Even better, hide that distracted speaker and let the current one take over the entire screen. Changing up the layout is an easy way to create transitions in a presentation and renew the audience’s attention.
We hope you found these takeaways helpful! But these are just a small snapshot of how to become a content hero and produce powerful event content.
To view the entire discussion and receive a demo of our cutting-edge webcasting technology, watch the full recording on demand.