Hosting Online Events

Guide

Introduction

This document aims to provide guidance on planning, setting up and delivering a successful online event.

The guidance is based on events and meetings set up using Zoom, which is

currently the market leader for hosting events online and is highly

recommended as the platform to use.

Alongside high quality audio and visual, Zoom also offers built in interactive

features such as; Q&A, ‘hands up’, breakout rooms and polls.

Contents

1. Steps in organising an Event

2. Identify….. is the reason for the event?

3. Design….. Zoom Meeting or Zoom Webinar?

4. Schedule….. Setting up a Zoom Meeting or Zoom Webinar

5. Plan and Prepare….. Team work, interaction, engagement

6. Practice….. The key to learning Zoom

7. Deliver….. Hosting a Zoom Meeting or Zoom Webinar

8. Follow-up

9. Key Zoom Links

Steps in Organising an Event

Identify - What is the aim of the event? - Launch, teach, celebrate, discuss, debate etc.

Design - Decide on a format in which to deliver.

Schedule - Smaller events should be given around 6-8 weeks, while larger complex events should have at

least 12 weeks. This is dependant on whether or not the event is open to public bookings as time is needed

for marketing. If participants/attendees are already established, then events can be planned in shorter time

frames.

Plan - The format and agenda should be planned in the early stages to identify those needed to help carry

out a role, such as, facilitate, host, present etc.

Prepare - Communicate, check AV and prepare any links, presentations, videos, polls,, Jamboards etc.

Practice - Rehearse with colleagues and any panellists, speakers, sponsors etc.

Deliver - Host the event.

Follow-up - Thank attendees/participants, panellists, speakers, sponsors, colleagues etc. for their time and

share any findings from the event and most importantly ask for feedback.

Identify

What is the reason for the event?

Why host an event?

Launching a new product or service

Bringing people together

Imparting expertise through training

Facilitate workshops and discussions

Spark debates/ thought provoking

Sharing best practices

Meeting company goals/ KPI’s

Showcasing products and services

Build on relationships/partnerships

Design

Zoom Meetings or Zoom Webinars?

Virtual events can be delivered in different formats and Zoom currently offers

2 format options which can be tailored depending on requirements.

The key questions to start with are:

● Why is the event being hosted?

● How are attendee’s expected to participate?

If the aim is for attendee’s to mainly listen and ask a question if they have one, then Zoom Webinars would

be the best format. Wheres if participants are expected to share their ideas, answer questions and talk

between one another, then a Zoom Meeting would suit best.

Zoom Meetings - Ideal for meetings and events (up to 300 depending on

licence) that aim to be interactive, with attendee participation and

discussions in pairs or smaller groups. E.g. Training courses, Board

meetings, Staff meetings, Workshops etc.

Zoom Webinar - Ideal for meetings and events (up to 10,000 depending

on licence) that aims to impart as much content as possible, with a Q&A

session at the end and with little interaction from attendee’s. E.g. Panel

discussions, AGM, Product launches, Auctions etc.

Zoom Meeting Features

Roles: Host, co-host and participant

Extra’s: Breakout rooms and chat function

Visual: Everyone can video share

Audio: Everyone can decide to mute/unmute

themselves.

Host can mute/unmute participants while in

meeting and can set the meeting up so that all

participants join the meeting muted.

Zoom Webinar Features

Roles: Host, co-host, panellist and attendee

Extra’s: Chat function, polls and Q&A’s.

Visual: Only host and panellists can video share

Audio: Only host, co-host and panellists can

mute/unmute themselves.

Attendees join in listen-only mode and can only

be unmuted by the host.

In depth comparison can be found here

Roles in Zoom Meetings and Webinars

Zoom Meetings

● Host● Co-host● Alternative host● Participants

Zoom Webinars

● Host● Co-host● Alternative host● Panellist● Attendee

Host - The host is the user that scheduled the meeting or webinar and has full permission to manage the session including; start and end, mute and unmute others, screen share, set up polls, manage breakouts (meetings only), stop panellists video (webinar only) and more. There can only be ONE host.

Co-host - Must be assigned by the host. Co-hosts share most of the controls that the host has meaning that the co-hosts can assist with administrative tasks if the host is heavily involved in chairing/facilitating the session. Co-hosts are not able to start or end a meeting or webinar, therefore if the host needs someone else to start the meeting an alternative host needs to be assigned.

Alternative host - The host can assign another licenced user on the same account to be the alternative host. This user will be able to start the meeting or webinar on the hosts behalf. The alternative host will receive an email notifying them that they have been assigned with a link to start the meeting.

Panellists (Webinars only) - Webinar hosts assign panellists and can limit the amount of features they can control. Panellists can usually view and send video, screen share, annotate, etc. Panellists will also be able to see a list of attendees that join the webinar and the ‘chat’ feature allows panellists to either ‘chat’ to attendee’s or to just the other panellists and host. Paellists must use a specific ‘panellists link’ to join the webinar and NOT the link that is shared with attendees to join.

Attendees (Webinars only) - Attendee’s are view-only participants and can only be unmuted if the host of the webinar chooses to. Attendee’s can interact with the host and panellists through the ‘chat’ feature.

Participants (Meetings only) - Participants are users that join a Zoom Meeting and can participate fully through sharing their video, ability to mute and unmute themselves, share their own screen and use the ‘chat’ to share things with other participants.

More details on Zoom Meeting roles More details on Zoom Webinar roles

Schedule

Setting up Zoom Meetings or Zoom Webinars

Log on to Zoom through either web browser or desktop app

Log into the Zoom account that the event will be hosted on.If the event is likely to be longer than 40 minutes, then consider upgrading the Zoom account to a premium option.

Check your preferred date and time is available

Once you have logged in, check that your preferred date and time is available.

Web browser: The left hand side bar lists ‘Meetings’ and ‘Webinars’ - BOTH formats need to be checked as only one meeting or webinar can be hosted at any one time.

Desktop app: Upcoming meetings and webinars can be checked by clicking on ‘meetings’ displayed within the toolbar at top of page.

Build a new Meeting or Webinar

Click on the ‘schedule’ icon (if using app) or if using desktop,

click the ‘schedule new meeting’ or ‘schedule new webinar’ button.

Enter a name for the meeting or webinar and a short description if possible.

Set date and time and make sure to double check date and time AM or PM.

Select duration - This is an approximate for scheduling purposes and the meeting or webinar will not

automatically end after this duration.

Choose features - Registrations, passwords, join before host, waiting rooms etc.

Save - Amendments can be made once the settings have been saved.

More details on scheduling a Zoom Meeting More details on scheduling a Zoom Webinar

Promote and share your event

Private or internal events - Once the Zoom meeting or webinar has been

saved, an invite link will be populated and this can be copied and shared

through email, calendar invite etc.

Public/ open events - Decide whether registration details will be collated

and stored within Zoom or whether registrations will be collected using an

existing CRM system. If using a CRM system, think about how attendee’s

will be sent the zoom link e.g. through a delegate reminder email etc.

Once an open/public event has a registration link, then a webpage can be created.

Remember to have the following points covered before setting up a webpage:

● Event, title, date and location

● Description

● Who the event is for

● What will attendee’s gain

● Short biography on trainer, panellists or speaker (if applicable)

Inform the Communications Team to publish webpage and schedule promotion through emails and social

media.

Plan and Prepare

Team work, InteractionEngagement

To ensure a successful virtual event is delivered; planning, preparation and team work should all take

place beforehand as it would, if the event was taking place physically.

Team Work

Planning

Preparation

Team WorkVirtual events have various roles associated that should be considered. Depending on the complexity and aims of the event, multiple members of staff may be needed.

Virtual event roles to consider:

● Designer/organiser (overall vision)● Producer (behind scene and set up)● Facilitator/chair● Greeters (welcome and check participants AV is working)● Note takers/minute takers● Social media ● Presenters/panellists● Sponsors● Time keepers● Administrators (checking emails and chat boxes)● Extras e.g. Zoom DJ, Online graphic recorder etc.

PlanningRegardless of whether the event is 60 minutes or 6 hours, it is important to plan all the details on how it will be delivered.

Planning the agenda:

● Plan a detailed agenda - title each section with duration and by who.● Factor in breaks - for events scheduled longer than an hour.● Plan as much interaction and engagement as possible - keep participants and attendees engaged

by using breakout rooms, interactive post it notes, polls etc. These could take place as frequently as every 10 minutes to keep participants/attendees attention.

● Request short biographies from panellists/ guest speakers to help facilitator/chair make introductions.

● Set deadline for presentations from panellists/guest speakers.● Prepare poll questions, worksheets etc. beforehand.● Factor in time at the end of event to signpost attendees/participants to website, where they can

find further information and most importantly, how to get in touch.

Preparation

The event agenda has been planned down to the last minute, so now it’s time to make sure the well thought

out event is delivered successfully.

● Share agenda with all those involved.

● Communicate expectations to ensure everyone involved understands what is expected from them.

● Schedule a rehearsal to check AV, show panellists key features on Zoom, go through agenda and clarify

any uncertainties.

● Hardwire your internet connection, which will help you avoid any issues with an unstable wifi

connection, which can affect your audio quality and the overall attendee experience.

● Test audio to check that your mic and speakers are working properly - click here to test device audio

● Minimise background noise by choosing a quiet room and ideally by wearing a headset with mic.

Preparation continued

● Think about your venue - Your background is your venue so think about what is behind you and

whether the lighting is sufficient.

● Dress to impress - Usually a bit of extra effort is made if attending a physical event, so treat this in the

same way to help your frame of mind and attendee/participant experience.

● Raise camera - It’s good practice to get as much of your upper body in the frame as possible and

showing your hands as people engage in hand gestures. Raising your camera and then angling the

camera will help to display more of you.

● Get comfortable - Make sure your seat is comfortable and get yourself a glass of water.

● Start on time - Starting or broadcasting the event 5 minutes earlier

allows attendees/ participants to join before the official welcome

and content starts. Consider displaying a holding slide for a few minutes.

Tips on looking your best on a virtual event

Zoom Webinar

Ideas to Increase Engagement and Interaction

Creating an Engaging and Interactive Zoom Webinar

Zoom Webinars are designed for events that aim to have little participation from attendees, however it is important to keep attendees engaged. Engagement tips::

● Welcome - During the welcome note attendee’s should be given an overview of the timings, agenda and guidance on how and when they can participate e.g. raising virtual hand, chat box, Q&A.

● Zoom Polls - Within Zoom, the host can set up polls with single choice or multiple choice answers. Polls are again another way of keeping participants engaged and interacting. They should also be set up prior to the event. More Information

● Raise Hand Feature - Within Zoom, attendees can ‘Raise Hand’ which the host can monitor. The feature could be used as a way to answer a question, or as a way for an attendee to request to be unmuted and ask a question through audio. More Information

● Q&A Feature - Another feature within Zoom that encourages participation. This feature allows the attendees to post a question to the host, co-host and panellists. More Information

Zoom Meeting Ideas to Increase

Engagement and Interaction

Creating an Engaging and Interactive Zoom Meeting

Zoom Meetings are designed for events that aim to have a lot of interaction and participation. Therefore consider using the below to get the most from the event:

● Meet & Greet - If you are running a small event (under 20 people), consider as the host meeting and greeting participants as they join (either as a group if they’re all on time/early or individually if some are a little late). Use this time to check everyone has their video on and are unmuted. Participants can then be assigned to breakout rooms of smaller numbers to meet and greet each other.

● Video and Audio on - If the event has less than 20 participants, it is worth encouraging all to share their video and unmute themselves (if they have a quiet background). This will give participants the feeling that they are in the same room and just add a bit of ‘in person’ atmosphere. This will also encourage participants to stay engaged and participate in discussions.

● Zoom Breakouts Rooms - Ideal for splitting participants into smaller groups for discussions, problem solving or simply getting to know each other and network. More Information

● Jamboard - An external free product from Google that can be used as a flipchart and post it note tool. Great for getting participants to share their thoughts, post a photo and biog of themselves before the event, ‘card sort’ activities etc. More Information

● Zoom Polls - Within Zoom the host can set up polls with single choice or multiple choice answers. Polls are again another way of keeping participants engaged and interacting. More Information

● 1, 2, 4, all - This technique gets all participants thinking and sharing their ideas and thoughts. Zoom Breakout Rooms allows hosts to facilitate this technique. More Information

● Direct questions to individuals - Online events have the potential to have a lot of awkward silences. Hosts risk having awkward silences if questions are aimed at everyone. Try naming a particular individual for an answer, this will keep everyone on their toes and engaged. At the beginning of the event identify a ‘pass’ word for those that are unsure of the answer and/or do not wish to answer.

● Warm up round - Start the meeting with a warm up round, that

instantly gets participants interacting. Ideas include:

○ Type in chat box or write on a ‘post it note’ in Jamboard what the

participant wants to gain from the event.

○ Ask participants to rename themselves (hover over video and

press 3 dots). This could be used as a name badge so participants

could include their organisation name, or the rename could be as

part of a game; e.g. rename yourself to your first job role etc.

○ ‘Throw the ball’ - The host can start by stating their name and

what they do etc., they will then throw the ball onto another

participant (calling aloud their name) and then that participant

will repeat and throw the ball on, until everyone has introduced

themselves. This technique could also be used at the end of the

event to say ‘What was learnt?’ ‘What was enjoyed?’ etc.

Practice

The key to learning Zoom

● Alone - Schedule a 30 minute Zoom Webinar or Zoom Meeting (remember to check the schedule) that you can start alone and as a host familiarise yourself with the features you can see, where they are and to research any features you’re unsure of.

● With colleagues - Ask a colleague to spare some time and practice using Zoom Meeting or Zoom Webinar with you. Your colleague can sign on as an attendee/participant while your the host, giving you a chance to practice using; breakout rooms, polls, chat, Q&A etc.

● With panellists - If hosting a Zoom Webinar with panellists, a rehearsal should be scheduled within a week of the event. This will give the host a chance to check all panellists can be seen and heard well, run through the agenda and advise where they will see the participants list and questions etc.

Practice, Practice, Practice……

It can be very nerve wrecking hosting an online event, especially if it’s new..Therefore it’s essential to practice in order to familiarise yourself, grow confidence, learn new features of zoom and adopt best practice.

Deliver

Hosting a Zoom Webinar or Zoom Meeting

Starting a Zoom Meeting or Webinar

● Sign into Zoom account via web browser or desktop app

● Find the relevant meeting or webinar listing within the list of scheduled

events

● Press the button ‘ Start Meeting’ or ‘Start Webinar’

Allowing participants or attendee’s to join

● Zoom Meetings without ‘waiting room’ will have participants appear as

and when they have signed in and set up their audio and visual.

● Zoom Meetings with ‘waiting room’ will require the host to either ‘admit’

participants indvidually or ‘admit all’ for meeting participants to join.

● Zoom Webinars will require the host to start broadcasting for attendees to

join. No. attendees will not be shown until broadcasting starts.

Delivering content in a Zoom Meeting

The Zoom Meeting has started and all your participants have joined and are ready to start.

As a host consider the following:

● Introduce yourself and thank everyone for joining

● If the group do not know each other the host could introduce everyone, or individuals could introduce

themselves.

● Give a brief overview of what will be covered and any rules on how participants can interact

throughout.

● Deliver content through talking, sharing slides, videos, polls,

interactive post-it notes, breakout rooms etc.

● Wrap up the session by reminding people that slides (if applicable)

will be shared and to save ‘chat’ (Zoom does not store ‘chat’

once meeting has ended).

● Thank everyone for joining and end meeting.

Delivering content in a Zoom Webinar

The Zoom Webinar has started and all your attendee’s have joined and are ready to start.

As a host consider the following:

● Introduce yourself and thank everyone for joining.

● If panellists are involved, either introduce them or ask them to introduce themselves

(decide in preparation stage).

● Give a brief overview of what will be covered and explain how attendee’s can post

questions in the ‘chat’ box and that there will be dedicated Q&A.

● Screen share presentation from either host, co-host or panellist

● Engage attendees with polls, putting up hands, asking questions in ‘chat’ etc.

● Wrap up the webinar by reminding people that slides (if applicable)

will be shared and to save ‘chat’ if they want.

● Thank everyone for joining and end webinar..

Screen sharing tips in Zoom

Screen share is a feature in both Zoom Meetings and Zoom Webinars. In a webinar the host, co-host and

panellists can all share their screen, however in a meeting the host, co-host and participants all have the ability

to share their screen.

1. Screen share shortcut - PC = ALT + S and MAC = Command + Shift + S

2. Stop participants sharing their screen (as a Host you’re likely to want the control) - To do this click on

‘Security’ on Zoom toolbar and unselect screen share that is listed underneath ‘allow participants to’.

3. Optimise video sharing - To do this, select the screen sharing button, which will bring up a new dialogue

box and then you can tick the check box (bottom of box) for ‘Optimise screen sharing for video clip’ .

4. Share only a section of the screen - To do this, select the screen sharing button, which will bring up a new

dialogue box, click on the advanced tab (top of box) and select the option ‘Portion of Screen’. A resizable

green box will then appear and you can amend the size and move the box to only show a certain section of

your screen.

5. How to know what is being shared - Green = Sharing - Orange = Paused

6. Poll your participants to keep engagement - Create beforehand and do so by

going into your original meeting or webinar listing within Zoom. When your in your meeting and ready to

share the poll, remember to click ‘launch poll’ for participants to actually see the question and answers.

7. Annotate your screen share - Once in screen share mode, a toolbar will pop up with one of the options

being ‘Annotate’. This option gives you the ability to highlight, draw, add text, add spotlight etc.

8. Stop participants from annotating on your screen share - When your using the annotation feature,

participants will also get the chance to also annotate which if you’re presenting you’ll unlikely want.

Thereforefore you’d need to click on ‘Security’ and untick ‘Annotate on screen share’ that is listed under

the ‘participants are allowed to’ heading.

Screen sharing tips video

Follow-Up

Follow-up after a Zoom Meeting or Zoom Webinar

The post-event actions should be considered just as important as the pre-event actions. This is the chance to gain feedback, share resources and maintain engagement.

Recordings - If the Zoom Webinar or Zoom Meeting has been recorded and intends to be shared on the website ask a member of the communications team to upload. Finding and viewing Zoom Recordings.

Post-event email - Sending an email to attendees/participants after the event is a chance to:

● Thank people for attending● Share website links to recordings, additional resources and future events● Attach any supporting documents● Send link to a GetFeedback form● Encourage ‘getting in touch’ and sharing relevant email addresses.

Key Zoom Links

Running engaging online events

Best practices for hosting an online event

Generating meeting reports for registrations and polls

Generating webinar reports