Greetings from Barcelona.☀️
🙌Many thanks for reading The Quest, your weekly round-up of tips and insights to help you design and lead exceptional virtual sessions that your group members will love.❤️
Here’s what running tech in virtual meetings can feel like for me:
OK, let me share my screen. Oops, wrong screen! 😬
Let me add some music. Wait, how do I share the sound again? 🤔
Time to run a poll. Shoot I forgot to set it up before the meeting.🤦🏽
I need to set up the breakout groups. Oh no – I meant to set the timer for 10 minutes, not 3. 😩
Running tech in interactive virtual meetings is like a juggling act – on steroids.
There are about a trillion things that can go wrong at any given moment. And if you are a tech-challenged person like me running tech can be anxiety-producing and exhausting.😵💫
I used to think that I was the only one who struggled with tech.
I actually felt ashamed that I couldn’t figure out how to work out some of the most basic features of Zoom. So I avoided it. I relied on other people. I stayed in my tiny comfort zone. Then I realized that a lot of virtual facilitators struggle with tech. Even tech-savvy people can have tech hiccups. It’s a fact of life when you run virtual sessions.
You can learn to run the tech smoothly in your virtual sessions.
Running tech doesn’t have to be stress-inducing. There are tried and tested strategies for setting yourself up to succeed. And there are ways you can handle things when everything goes wrong.
🤔How can you tame the tech in your virtual sessions?
That’s our Quest for this week.🔎
Let’s jump right in!
💪8 Tips for Running Tech Smoothly in Virtual Sessions (and dramatically reducing the chances of things going wrong)
1/ 📝Send tech instructions beforehand.
Some group members will pick up any tool you give them and run with it. Others may need more time and a heads-up to download software and test it out. Giving people tech instructions and support in advance helps to level the playing field. And it avoids having your virtual session turn into a tech trouble-shooting session.
2/ 🎛️Test the tech.
I know. We are going right back to the basics. But it’s worth repeating. Give yourself time before your meeting to get organized. Make sure your camera and mic are working. Get your slides ready. Cue up the music and any other tools you’ll be using in the session.
3/ 📋Create a “run of show”.
There are a lot of moving parts to running a virtual session. The tech is just one of them. This is where it helps to think like a show producer. Create a detailed outline or “run of show” with detailed instructions of what needs to happen when. It should have your links and chat prompts in one place. This is especially important when you are running a session with a co-host and tech support. Here’s what mine looks like👇
4/ ⚒️Use built-in tools.
This makes your tech job easier. And it creates a frictionless experience for your group members. Here are a few tools that you can access directly from your Zoom screen:
- Polls
- Breakout Rooms
- Whiteboard
You can also upload apps from the Zoom app marketplace like a timer. And you can embed StreamAlive into Zoom. This will give you access to interactive maps, polls, and a feature that tracks questions in the chat.
5/ 🖥️ 🖥️Have two monitors.
I used to try to fit everything into my tiny laptop screen. Then a few years ago my husband convinced me to get a second monitor. They don’t cost a lot and it’s worth the investment if you plan to run virtual sessions regularly. Here’s my set up👇
6/ 💡Enable Zoom dual monitor feature.
Thanks to Quest reader Karaminder for showing me this feature a while back. The dual monitor setup allows you to see two Zoom screens. This means that you can have your participants on gallery view on one screen. And the slides you are sharing on the other. Check out these instructions on how to set it up.
7/ 🪄Reduce the tech.
Do you really need to share so many slides? Can you do 1 breakout room instead of 2? Get clear on your session aim and then try to streamline your tech as much as possible. In virtual sessions, less is more.
8/ 😅Have a sense of humor.
I’ve seen (and experienced) my fair share of tech glitches. Presenters disappear. The screens go black. Sound problems. Sessions abruptly ended. Things will go wrong. The best thing you can do is prepare for the worst in case it happens. And have a sense of humor when it does.
Special shout out to Quest reader and BF Course Manager Lilian Warutere for helping me reduce my tech stress.🙌
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Creatively yours,
