Virtual events are sustainable, inclusive, and cost-effective alternatives to traditional in-person events. Our guide is filled with best practices and recommendations to help you host and manage a successful virtual experience with Zoom Events.
The pandemic catapulted virtual event platforms into the mainstream with an unprecedented demand for online meetings, webinars, and networking events. Virtual events, however, existed long before the seismic shift to remote life. More than just an alternative to in-person events, virtual experiences are sustainable, inclusive events that reduce travel expenses and appeal to broader, more diverse audiences. These benefits, combined with advanced data and analytics, make it easy to see why virtual events are an integral part of any modern event marketing strategy.
Hosting a virtual event mirrors many of the same responsibilities of a traditional in-person event, yet also requires using innovative technologies to create a memorable experience for every attendee. Whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned event professional, our Zoom Events Guide for Event Hosts and Virtual Presenters will help you feel better prepared to execute a successful virtual event.
You’ll learn tips and recommendations for:
*NOTE: In this guide, virtual presenters are defined as the person speaking on camera or moderating between speakers during an event. The host is the facilitator or person managing the event itself with the Zoom Events platform. In some cases, these roles may overlap or share duties based on your organization.
Welcome to Zoom Events! Our virtual event platform lets you host events of all sizes, including single-session, multi-session, multi-day, and multi-track events. It combines the trusted Zoom Meetings and Zoom Webinars technology you know and love, and is designed with dedicated event hubs, robust registration and ticketing options, and attendee networking options for all of your events (public or private, free or paid). Zoom Events is easy to use so you can focus on creating a memorable, impactful experience without the hassle of complicated technology.
Hosting a virtual event and presenting to a remote audience may feel a little nerve-wracking if it’s your first time. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind as you plan for the big day.
1. Lights, camera, action (presenters)Just because you’re speaking to a remote audience doesn’t mean they should struggle to see or hear you. Poor lighting and glitchy audio can cause attendees to quickly bail on a virtual event. Position the light so it’s facing you to eliminate shadows and ensure your viewers can see you.
Inside scoop
Our Zoom Events consultants manager loves working with Lume Edge, Brightline, El Gato, or Litra lighting.
For a clear audio experience, we recommend using a quality microphone instead of relying on the built-in audio of your computer. Although Zoom Meetings and Zoom Webinars can minimize background noise when speaking, it’s best to soundproof your surroundings as much as possible before presenting.
And finally, look into the camera. It’s not easy to make eye contact behind a computer, but looking into the camera, instead of at the faces on your screen, will instantly level-up your presentation’s impact.
Pro tip
Attach a sticky note to your monitor at the exact spot where you should focus when talking to keep your eyes in the right place.
2. Write a script (presenters) It’s always a good idea to write a script, no matter how familiar you are with a topic. This gives your host an idea as to the length of your presentation and is especially helpful if they’re managing any visual aids, preparing for the next speaker, or need to make a sudden adjustment. At a minimum, having a bulleted outline can reduce anxiety for everyone and lead to a smoother session.
3. Practice makes perfect (presenters and hosts) As the adage says, practice makes perfect. We recommend practicing a minimum of 24 hours in advance. Ideally, you should rehearse your event on the same devices you plan to use during the event. And don’t wait until the day of your event to learn new technology or software features. Zoom Events is filled with tools that augment the user and attendee experience but require some advanced setup. Try to mirror your event as much as possible during your rehearsals to glean insight into any last-minute needs that may arise.
4. Develop a run of show (hosts) Sometimes thought of as a cue sheet or cue-to-cue, the run of show is the sequence of actions during an event and is a master document for stakeholders to follow. More than an agenda, the run of show is a critical tool to help you stay organized and reduce the anxiety that can accompany hosting an event. The details in your run of show will vary based on the complexity of your event, but at a minimum, it’s helpful to include these elements:
We recommend creating a template that can be easily edited for future events.
5. Prepare for audience engagement in advance (hosts and presenters)If you plan to have a Q&A session or want to chat with your audience, think about how you’ll engage with them. For highly attended events, it’s helpful to have someone other than the speaker manage the questions that come through the chat or Q&A function. We also recommend asking a few colleagues to attend your event with questions prepared in advance to jumpstart the conversation.If you’re speaking at a hybrid event, don’t forget about the virtual audience. Remote attendees will feel more engaged if you remember to address their questions and speak directly to them. To avoid people talking over one another, encourage attendees to use the Zoom Webinars Reactions feature, which lets virtual users respond to content with favorable emojis.
Pro tip
For hybrid events, consider having a monitor positioned near the speaker that displays the remote attendees for the live audience to see and interact with.
Whether you’re hosting a conference, webinar, expo booth, or meeting, there are a few technical elements you’ll want to consider or set up before you begin.
Inside scoop
If you’re using virtual mixing and streaming software, our Zoom Events consultant manager recommends VM Mix and OBS Studio to elevate the quality of your live feed. And, if you need a virtual camera app, check out the SnapCam-Zoom integration.
Hang out backstage: Minimize the stress for your presenters with Zoom Webinars Backstage, a virtual green room for presenters to hang out when not actively speaking. It’s open before, during, and after an event and is the ideal place to review audio and video connections, presentation content, communicate with other panelists, answer attendee questions without being on camera, or practice screen sharing.
Don’t wait until the big day, however, to access Backstage for the first time. We strongly recommend rehearsing your event within the actual session you are presenting to familiarize yourself with the available settings. Backstage allows you to practice in the practice area, the session itself, and/or the Waiting Room. Hosts and co-hosts as well as alt-hosts, speakers, and sponsors, can access your Zoom Event Lobby to view these practice sessions at any time once your event is published.
Set up Session Branding: In addition to the aforementioned logos, colors, and visual branding elements, Zoom Webinars Session Branding also helps you add creative elements to your speakers’ appearance. Before the event, spend some time exploring the available options to decide how you want your panelists or presenters to appear to attendees. To enable Session Branding, sign in to the Zoom Web portal and navigate to the Account Management>Account Settings and locate the Meetings tab. There, you’ll see the In Meeting (Advanced) tab, where you can enable/disable Webinar Session Branding. Once this feature is enabled, you can:
A few things to keep in mind with Session Branding:
Zoom Webinars and Zoom Meetings are designed to be engaging and interactive experiences with an abundance of features that make virtual event memorable. We recommend using the following tools to streamline the experience for both attendees and hosts.
It’s easy to put all your focus on your event’s visual assets or your on-camera appearance, but if your webinar suffers technical difficulties, it’s hard to recover. If you’re using Zoom on a Business or Enterprise license, Zoom Dashboard is your mission control center to monitor the health of your event in real-time and access valuable data and insight for future event planning.
The Meetings and Webinars dashboards allow hosts to monitor participants’ video/audio experience, license types, and in-depth details around the quality of their connection. Specifically, the dashboard will track:
Select the meeting ID of the event you’re monitoring from the Live or Past meetings tabs in your dashboard, and there you’ll see detailed analytics relating to the overall health of your participants’ connections.
If you plan to send your webinar or meeting to attendees or teammates, or you just want to review it on your own, we recommend recording it to either the cloud or locally to your computer. Cloud recordings can be managed in the Zoom Web Portal while local recordings can be accessed via the Documents folder on your computer. If you need to change your default location for local recordings, look for Recordings in your Zoom client settings.
Pro tip
Once you’ve downloaded your event as a local recording, you can’t upload it to the Zoom cloud. Make sure to choose the cloud recording option if you want your recording to live in the cloud.
To edit your cloud recordings, log in to the Zoom Web Portal and find the recording you’re looking for. Under this setting, you can edit the name of the recording, trim the beginning or end of your cloud recordings, download the files, copy a shareable link to send to others, access viewing analytics, or delete your recording altogether.
To share a local recording with others, you’ll need to upload it to a third-party cloud storage app or content management platform. From your Zoom desktop client, you’ll find your recording under Meetings>Recorded tab. From there, you can upload the MP4 file into the third-party app.
When sharing cloud recordings, you have several options for viewer access. Within the recording’s page, click Share and you can choose if you want to share your recording publicly or keep it private.
You can also:
Want to learn the ins and outs of all the Zoom Meetings features? Check out our complete database of Zoom Meetings support articles, FAQs, release notes, tutorial videos, and troubleshooting guides.
For a detailed guide to using Zoom Webinars and a comprehensive list of features, our Zoom Webinars support articles provide a step-by-step approach to set up your event, invite attendees and panelists, and launch your webinar.
Still need some extra help with your virtual event? Zoom Events Services offers event consultation, technical guidance, in-event support, and advanced technical production for your event from beginning to end.
Depending on the complexity of your event, our team of Zoom Events experts can meet with you prior to your event to discuss best practices, ideation, registration and ticketing recommendations, or go a step further and develop a run of show with technical support specifics. During the event, we can monitor your event dashboard, oversee the A/V production and content assets, and even provide advanced video and audio mixing equipment. We’re here to make sure you’re comfortable and prepared to launch a virtual event.
Learn more about our Zoom Events Services support plans to transform your event into a successful, impactful experience.
Virtual events are here to stay. With opportunities to extend your brand reach, decrease operating costs, and engage audiences with inclusive and sustainable experiences, there’s never been a better time to host a virtual event and elevate your marketing strategy.
