We’ve all been a part of boring meetings. Too often does a speaker ramble and it’s hard to even focus on the topic at hand. Zoom meetings or video calls can fall victim to that same boredom for the audience. It’s important to put just as much effort, if not more, into these digital meetings to keep your members engaged on these Zoom calls. With social media and online shopping just a browser away, you’ll want to keep their attention from start to finish to ensure they walk away with the valuable information your association can provide. Here are a few creative ways to help keep your members engaged during a Zoom meeting or webinar. 

1. Set your tone

With most meetings or presentations, the first few minutes set the tone of how your meeting will go. If you need participation, start with a quick icebreaker to get your members listening and ready to contribute. Simple questions like asking your members to introduce themselves can go a long way.

2. Encourage Q&A

If your meeting host doesn’t have time to field questions in the chat feature during a meeting or webinar, designate someone else (maybe someone on your association’s board or staff) to field and answer questions during the event. 

3. Give Incentives to Watch

Give your members an incentive during the video to watch. Share if they need to tune in for a major announcement from your association or if there is a free resource they can gain just by participating. We’ve seen this work really well when the meeting or a stream is to a large audience. Random or periodic giveaways during the event are even better.

4. Create Polling Questions

Prior to the event, set up a few polling questions that can be spread throughout the presentation that your members can answer. These questions can gauge your members’ interest in the topic, test their knowledge and see if they are walking away with the intended information.

5. Ask for Feedback

After the event, send a quick questionnaire right after to gauge how the event went. Ask if there were things you can improve upon or things your members would like to see covered next time.

6. Reactions

Participants at meetings can now react during live meetings by sending thumbs up or clapping hands to communicate their excitement without interrupting the presentation.

7. Rotate Meeting Hosts

There may be some meetings or events held where it’s appropriate for different people or members from your association to host. Give the reigns over to someone else to craft a presentation and agenda for a meeting.