Speaker Resource: Engagement

In-Person Sessions

Participant engagement is an important part of any education program because it increases comprehension, retention, and motivation. Active participation helps learners stay focused and connect with the material.

1. Establish a Connection

• Know your audience: Tailor your language and examples to their interests and knowledge level.
• Make eye contact: Don’t turn your back to attendees if you can avoid it.
• Body language: Stand confidently, use natural gestures, and project your voice to engage your audience.

2. Deliver with Enthusiasm

• Vary your pace and tone: Use pauses, changes in volume, and vocal emphasis to highlight key points.
• Be passionate and authentic: Let your genuine enthusiasm for the topic shine through.
• Use storytelling: Share personal anecdotes or relatable stories to make the presentation more engaging.

3. Encourage Participation

• Ask questions: Pose questions to the audience throughout the presentation to keep them actively involved.
• Use interactive tools: Employ polls or interactive elements to encourage participation.
  • Mentimeter: A vibrant way to visualize your audience’s ideas, get answers and responses from your audience with word clouds, deploy live and instant polling, and other features.
  • Slido: Helps users get the most out of programs by crowdsourcing top questions and engaging participants with live polls and quizzes.
• Incorporate audience decision-making: Ask the audience to suggest ideas, participate in small group activities, or on options.
• Encourage discussion: Create opportunities for the audience to share their thoughts and perspectives.

Virtual Sessions

Participant engagement plays a critical role in sessions because it increases comprehension, knowledge retention and motivation. Active participation helps participants stay focused and connect with the material, resulting in a deeper understanding. You may be wondering how you can create engagement in a virtual program. While virtual engagement looks slightly different, there are several strategies that can be used to create a dynamic learning experience.

Chats and Emojis

Facilitates two-way communication and helps build a sense of community.

• Kick off with an ice breaker asking what participants’ job title or role is, where they are from or how they are feeling about a certain subject.
• Begin by gauging participants’ perspectives by inviting them to share an emoji that reflects how they feel about the topic.
• Assess understanding by inviting participants to share their comfort level of the topic at both the beginning and conclusion of the session.
• Ask everyone to respond with one word about a topic.
• Shout outs can be good during the program. Something as simple as, “I see Bill from Wisconsin uses this program as well. Thanks for sharing.”
• Prompt participants to reflect on the program by asking questions such as, “what is one thing you are taking away from this session?” or “type yes if you have experienced similar challenges”.

Breakout Rooms/Virtual Lounge

Enables face-to-face interaction and fosters collaboration through small group discussion and informal networking.

• Break participants into smaller groups to discuss a topic or issue. Smaller groups encourage participation from those who are hesitant to speak in a large group.
• Narrow down a larger topic and then come together for each group to share.
• Begin longer programs with ice breakers and introductions to create community.
• Ask participants to reflect on what they have learned in breakout groups.
• Brainstorm difficult or new problems in smaller groups.
• Divide by topic and dive deeper. For example, smaller communities handling an issue vs. larger communities.

Polls

Encourages active participation, stimulates critical thinking, and introduces variety to maintain learner engagement.

• Ask questions to check for understanding after covering a topic or section.
• Create curiosity by asking participants to predict the outcome before you share results or explain something.
• For longer programs check the energy throughout the session to decide on topic or order or the need for a break.

Leaderboard

Promotes friendly competition, enhances motivation and drives active participation.

• Enabling the leaderboard feature can gamify the education session and encourage interaction.
• Points can be awarded for commenting, asking questions, sharing an emoji and more.

Camera

If possible, speakers should have their cameras on. This adds a visual component to interaction, enhancing presence and personal connection.