So you’ve got your event all planned out and it’s running through smoothly… but there’s something missing. You’ve got a healthy crowd of people, and they’re applauding at all the right times… But that seems like the limit of your audience engagement. Wouldn’t it help to get everyone more engaged and excited to interact with each other and your event? Of course it would! But how?

We’re here to help. The BCC Live team has help put on over 1,000 in-person events for audiences ranging from a few dozen people to beyond 45,000. What’s more, we’ve had livestreams and broadcasts with audience numbers into the hundreds of thousands, so you could say that entertaining audiences and event participants is our passion! Let’s talk about what we’ve learned and what you can do to get people more engaged with your events.

Let Them See What’s Important

A key note of improving audience engagement in events is grabbing your audience’s attention with every sense. It might be easy to have a static slideshow with bullet points and a speaker talking into a microphone at a podium… but that’s what everyone has been doing for years! Unless topics of conversation are incredibly well-presented, viewers start to see eyes glaze over very quickly. So think: what’s the real underlying goal of your event? Are you trying to teach a lesson, get more supporters for your cause, or just show people that an event is worth coming to?

Focus in on your goal, then build out from there. At the end of the day, are you making a sales presentation? Try playing some videos of testimonials from happy customers during breaks or to highlight points. If your event space has a sound system, play some light but upbeat music to get people into the right mindset of engaging and learning about your pitch. Even better, go live! You’d be surprised how easy it is to get live music for an event. A live band or performer that fits the tone of your event is an immediate attention-grabber.

On a Similar Note: Add Movement!

It may be easier to just have static slides in your slideshow or unmoving displays at your event… But a little bit of animation in your graphics (or, indeed, a little more motion in your presenters) goes a long way to boost audience engagement. Much like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park, our vision is (sort of!) based on movement. Our brains are programmed to seek out moving objects from a static background and discard everything else unless we’re focusing intently. You have to focus more on something that isn’t moving for your brain to pay attention… So add a little motion once in a while!

However, don’t overdo it—for the same reason, if your brain is constantly “alerted” by moving objects, it can easily be exhausted. This can cause the viewer’s attention to slip again. Seek out a balance… Inject a little motion to draw the audience back in after a slow stint, or to highlight something important. You can make an important chart animate in PowerPoint or your presentation software of choice to make a crucial data point much more prominent to the eye.

Get imaginative! Really drill down into the crux of what your event is about and why you’re passionate about it. Find the elements that everyone should be most excited about. Build out experiences towards those, rather than what you think an event should be like.

Add Audience Engagement Games

Don’t forget: people like to have fun! There are new ways to get people engaged with your event every day. And we’re not just saying “let’s all stand in a circle and say our names and one fun fact about ourselves.” These days, you can find easy-to-use games that can get your audience excited and engaged in a flash.

Our current “weapon of choice” is Mentimeter. It is geared towards educators and meetings… But can be used for anyone who wants to foster a connection with their audience. Mentimeter is a service for creating and running dynamic interactive presentations featuring polls, quizzes, and Q&As. With just a few minutes of work, you can create a presentation that audience members can interact with just by scanning a QR code with their phones. Of course, the intent was to allow for serious questions about your event or poll the audience on important topics—but direct audience interaction lets you get silly with it!

A great strategy is to mix the fun and the serious while keeping it all light. Lead with something easy—“how did you get here? Driving, flying or running?”—to get people introduced to the concept. Then intersperse legitimate questions about your event—“what part did you like most?”—with silly questions, ideally related to topics or in-jokes for your audience. For example, at triathlon events one of our classic “fun” questions is “would you rather bike in a wetsuit or run in bike shoes.” It always gets a laugh, and the next question in the series always gets more responses!

A Few Other Options to Increase Audience Engagement

Likewise, some similar services (such as Viz Flowics, the tool we use to create onscreen graphics for our broadcasts) allow for an additional level of audience engagement… Showing social media posts from people interested in your event! Having a live feed of audience responses or pictures they took at your event is a surefire way to spark interest and engagement.

Who doesn’t love to have their ideas up on a projector or LED screen in front of thousands of people? (And don’t worry, there’s a profanity filter available!) You could easily make a game out of seeing who can make the most unique post about your event, or just let everyone’s commentary on what’s going on speak for itself. See what you can do!

What’s the takeaway here? People came to your event because they wanted to be there. But it’s up to you to make them enjoy that choice. Find the fun in what you’re presenting! You’ll get a lot more audience engagement (and improve retention) if you can make your topics into games. You’ve got an incredible opportunity to make your event a delight and get your ideas for what’s fun about your event in front of an audience.

A Little Something Extra Goes a Long Way

Finally, keep in mind that once you’ve covered all the bases to make a functional event, it’s time to see what extra touches you can pop in to get your audience feeling excited and involved in your event. Remember, one of your key goals should be to make sure your audience is happy and ready to get involved before any note of your event begins.

Here’s some rapid-fire ideas to consider when you want to boost your audience’s goodwill towards your event.

• How’s the parking? Are there signs directing people to parking zones or to your venue from parking lots?
  • This is a surprisingly common one: Where’s your main (or only) entrance in relation to where people are coming from? If your attendees have to walk all the way around your venue to get inside, they’re already going to see your event from the “wrong” angle before they get inside. Think from their perspective!
• What are the refreshments like? Are attendees going to have to leave to get something to eat or drink—and are you prepared if some of them don’t come back?
• On a similar note, how well have you managed access to restrooms? Are people going to have trouble sticking around if it’s a full-day event?
• If your event is open to everyone, how do you plan to keep kids entertained? Even if you don’t plan to have specific portions of your event for young people, having extra space and extra breaks for young folks is a great way to ensure they don’t get bored.
• If it’s an outdoor event, what’s your weather plan like? Are there umbrellas or covered spaces to avoid the sun or rain during your event?
• Can you give your audience more ways to interact than what we’ve already discussed? For example, if you’ll be asking the audience lots of yes-or-no or multiple-choice questions, how about distributing some cue cards to hold up rather than a simple show of hands?
• What’s the timing of your event like? Is there a good variance of high and low energy throughout the event—or, in the event you’re hosting presentations, are similar topics spread apart to avoid them blending together?
• If you’re expecting people to follow along on their computers or other devices… what’s your plan for providing power? Not everyone has enough battery to make it through the day on their own!
• If it’s an event space where people can come and go, how’s the traffic flow?
  • Is it clear which way you’re supposed to travel and where you have to go to see everything the event offers?
  • Do you have signage that shows these locations? How about a schedule of proceedings? You may have distributed a schedule online in advance—but you’d be surprised how many people miss that!

• If your attendees may be travelling a long distance to get to your event, show some local color to magnify their excitement at being there! Bring in local personalities, ask businesses to provide deals or coupons, or even create a “traveler’s guide” for those who are new in town.
  • Likewise, if you have independent vendors at your event, bring in local names rather than national brands!

You don’t need to put in a huge amount of time and expense to all of these… but it does help to see what you can do to fill in these gaps. Just a little extra effort beyond your main message and bullet points goes a long way when it comes to audience engagement.

Audience Engagement – Let’s Wrap It Up!

The success or failure of your event relies on one thing more than anything else: your audience! If they’re having a good time, and if they’re able to interact with your event and your message in an engaging way, you’re just about guaranteed to have a hit. With sufficient audience engagement, your audience will leave happy and discussing your event to others—even if you have operational difficulties! Keep in mind the guidelines and tips we’ve noted above to improve audience engagement… but don’t be afraid to get creative on your own!