Easy creative tips

Do you have a virtual meeting planned? Here are 6 ways to spice up your next Q&A

Mar 23, 2023

Imagine this. You're hosting a Q&A session after a virtual gathering. You've planned some interesting topics and answers to potential panel questions, but you notice low engagement as soon as you start. Participants appear disinterested and bored Some even exit your event...What happened?

The scenario you're seeing is much more frequent than you realize. According to a 2023 Zippia study about 77% of people get distracted in meetings that are virtual. Being attentive during online events is a challenge, particularly in a world full of non-answered messages or push notifications and pings that are all competing for your attention.

There's no reason to be surprised that Q&A sessions often fall flat, leaving presenters frustrated and the attendees unengaged.

However, don't let this stop you. There's plenty of opportunities to spice things up and ensure that your Q&A sessions are more enjoyable than it ever was. In this piece we'll go over some simple ways you can create the perfect Q&A session.

6 tips for hosting an unforgettable and useful virtual Q&A

1. Call us for inquiries prior to the time.

There are two options for running the Q&A sessions:

  1. Get questions impromptu while on the move
  2. Send out a message for any questions prior to the time. prior to the event.

The latter is a better option if you want to spark discussion about an issue that's crucial to your business, like an upcoming product launch or social event. Make sure that you are able to get the inquiries you'd like to hear from your target audience.

Also, because attendees know what questions they're planning to ask before when they arrive, they'll be less likely to be asked ineffective, performative questions, or to even speak. Since they were able to be prepared so that they're in a better position to offer ideas on topics of importance and also answer other inquiries.

It also increases excitement and anticipation prior to when your event takes place, attracting many more interested people to take part in the discussion.

Start by promoting your virtual occasion through your website's copy, email campaigns, and social networks like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. Be sure to provide attendees with ample notice and make it easy for them to register. Additionally, you should announce that you'll be able to respond to questions at the time of the program.

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Keep in touch a few days prior to your scheduled event. Invite attendees registered for the event to ask concerns they'd like answered by you or experts from your guests to be included in an invitation to attendee.

Will Yang, Head of Growth at Instrumentl and Instrumentl, suggests getting your audience to vote on the issues they'd like you to answer. Yang also suggests that "If you're using a program such as Poll Everywhere It's very simple to set up your poll, including all possible questions. Then, offer people several days to decide which ones they want to hear from you. What you'll need to do is keep track of what everyone voted for!"

Muhammad Younas, CEO of vFairs, a virtual events platform that follows the same method - with the additional promise of giving shout-outs to the top questions. It helps people stay until the close in anticipation of receiving a shout-out. Younas realized this boosted attendee interest and enthusiasm, and gave attendees a sense of validation.

"It can also help the planner ensure that the event is on time when compared with asking random concerns during live sessions," he noted.

2. Create a live poll

  • Invite your guests to send questions via a chat or Q&A features.
  • As the questions pour into the room, conduct a live poll to ask participants which questions they want to be answered first. They can be asked to rank questions by importance, or use a multi-choice survey to select the top questions.
  • Show the results of your poll live to keep the audience informed. Make use of it as a guide for the Q&A discussion. Beginning with the most asked topic and then move through the list.
  • Again, as you answer each question, make use of polls to ask your audience whether the answer was helpful. This will help you gauge the audience's understanding of the topic and adjust the responses to reflect this.

For instance, Napta managed to raise its interactivity percentage from as low as 40% up to 88% using polls during their Q&As.

Estelle Barthes, who is the person in charge of coordinating such events for Napta, shares her experience with us:

"Last year, we held an open Q&A in which we asked two of our clients to answer questions from our prospects. To make it more interactive we created polls that allowed viewers to choose the questions to be answered. The results were amazing! We usually have a rate of interaction of 40% during the online events we host, however we had 88% participation during this one. We'll do it again in the near future."

Additionally, you can conduct live polls in the Q&A session to collect opinions during your event, market research, and keep your crowd hyped up.

3. Opt for interactivity

When you next plan a virtual event, make sure you include interactivity in the Q&A portion.

There are two advantages to this. It will firstly, make participants feel more engaged. It's a good thing, right? It will also encourage participants to ask questions that are specific to their requirements as well as their pain points. It will allow you to better understand your audience--important in the event that you view your virtual signing-ups to events as MQLs.

Here are some ideas on how to add interactive elements to your Q&A sessions.

  • Include breakout session. Some people might be hesitant to pose questions to large crowds. A great workaround to this is to introduce breakout sessions that enable participants to meet and discuss topics within smaller groups. For instance, Zoom provides breakout rooms that allow smaller groups of people to discuss a specific subject.
  • Inviting live chat. Implementing the live chat feature can allow your users to ask questions and share their thoughts without hassle. Set up a moderator who will monitor the chat and highlight any questions.
  • Make use of virtual whiteboards. Virtual whiteboards allow you to share ideas, brainstorm, and work in real-time.
  • Make the Q&A more fun. The addition of games adds enjoyment to virtual events and increases the participation of participants. You can use platforms like Kahoot! or Quizlet to design games and tests that are related to the topic. These games and quizzes will serve as an icebreaker as well as a means to remind key takeaways of the conference.
  • Give away promotions. Offer free ebooks or coupon codes for items related to the topic you're discussing. The public loves free things, especially if it's immediately beneficial.
  • Utilize Live polls. As discussed above Polls can be a fantastic method to engage participants. For example, ask participants to take part in a vote regarding a subject they would like to talk about in the future or solicit feedback about the discussion currently taking place.

Tom Golubovich, Marketing Leader at Ninja Transfers, also recommends structuring your Q&A by topic to encourage audience engagement. Tom shared this tactic helps stop a torrent of unrelated questions, so attendees will stay longer in the room to get the answers to their questions.

"Attendees ask more specific questions when tied to a topic, making them more beneficial for people in general and simpler to be answered by us. As the questions are higher than average, they're easier to maintain engagement with viewers because the information they're hearing is better-suited and relevant for their needs."   Tom Golubovich

4. Answer them post-event via an email

An informal LinkedIn poll discovered an overwhelming majority of professionals suggested that a virtual event ought to last between two and four hours per day with 29% saying the event shouldn't go on for more than one hour.

According to a 2021 report by ON24, the average viewing time for webinars was 57 minutes. That's not bad.

However, it's evident that the vast majority of people don't want to stick around, glued to their screens for more than a couple of hours. Our desks are enough.

Now, we all know the fact that conducting a Q&A can take up a lot of time in an online event. When you're trying your best to keep it short and sweet It can be difficult to fit in all the questions.

But there's an alternative way to address the concerns via email after the event has ended. So, you'll make sure everyone's questions get addressed without consuming all of your precious online event time.

In response to questions sent via an email following your virtual event:

  • Ask questions throughout the occasion. Encourage viewers to submit their questions during the event via the chat feature or a Q&A questionnaire. This way, you can address them promptly with your email after the event.
  • Send a follow-up email. A follow-up email should be sent to every participant within 24 to 48 hours following the event. In your email, express gratitude to the attendees for their attendance and add the brief summary of all the questions that you were asked. Also, let participants know that you'll answer them via email.
  • Organize questions by topic. When you've received questions, group them into a the topic so that it is easier to address them.
  • Offer additional sources. If possible, provide additional resources related to the Q&A topic. It could be a link to relevant articles, videos or any other information which participants might find useful.
  • Continue to follow up with your participants. Once you have answered the questions, be sure to follow up with them and make sure that you adequately addressed their questions. This will help build trust , and also encourage participation in the future.

Tasia Duske, the CEO of Museum Hack She also recommends responding to the most important questions during the live event. She suggests saving those for post-event phone call or an email. They send a form beforehand for participants to fill out their questions, and moderators can review the queries.

Tasia tells us, "We use this method for our monthly all-hands virtual meetings, and it helps to stay within deadlines to ensure that the session isn't overly long. For any remaining questions, we can easily answer post-call, and we can prioritize answering relevant concerns live, when we've got the team's full attention."

Then she adds "This strategy may seem somewhat dry, but there are ways that you can enhance the experience. If, for instance, a participant submits a particularly good question, you can award them a small prize."

The ability to answer questions after the event lets you provide an experience that is more personal and interact with those who aren't able to be there for the Q&A segment. This strategy is great for building a community of engaged participants and nurturing your followers with a purpose.

5. Invite participants to pose questions on video

Why video-based questions when text-based questions do the trick?

It's a unique ask for certain, but it will also lead to many more engaging, interesting questions that will engage other guests while you respond to them. You'll also get more context from the participants.

Use these best practices in encouraging participants to submit questions on video:

  • Set expectations. Make sure that attendees are aware of the requirements to submit their questions via video, such as how long the video can be, what the subject of the inquiry, and also the submission deadline.
  • Provide instructions. Give clear instructions for recording and upload video inquiries. You could provide a tutorial video or step-by step guide.
  • Showcase examples. Share examples of video questions that have been asked at past events or create an animated video to illustrate what you're looking for.
  • Live stream them. The video question can be streamed during your Q&A time to engage and excite attendees. But, be sure to are using a trusted streaming platform and try it out before the event to prevent technical problems.

Remember to remind yourself and advertise the occasion via email, the social media platform, or the event website.

Better yet, provide an incentive for participants to ask questions via video--especially as creating videos requires considerably more time than answering a query via email or via chat. This could be anything like a gift card, or an announcement from the brand during the celebration.

Logan Mallory, VP at Motivosity, an employee engagement software firm, talked about using incentives to keep the audience engaged. He shared that giving away tiny rewards can make an impact - not just will people be more attentive, but they also tend to have better questions. Logan shared:

"Something interesting that I saw in a live Q&A was a business that offered small cash prizes to people who asked the most unique but still useful questions. Instead of asking a variety of standard questions, the participants asked questions that were more in-depth...Everyone gained more from of the Q&A sessions because the questions were better."   Logan Mallory

6. Don't be afraid to keep your identity private.

One of the contributing factors that led to the rise of Zillow Group's participation during quarterly earnings Q&A sessions was the possibility to submit questions anonymously. It made attendees feel more comfortable in asking questions with no worry of being judged, resulting in greater participation, ultimately leading to higher engagement levels.

Anonymity can be a great way to incite candid and honest questions. You may even receive better content than if attendees had to disclose their name and email address. If someone is aware that their query will be published online (with their name on it), they're likely to post something "safe" that won't embarrass the person asking it. If they're able to post anonymously, then there's nothing to stop them from being able to inquire about anything they'd like to.

Before you can enable the option to ask questions, you need to set guidelines for the types of questions that are appropriate. It is also important to clarify that any questions that violate the event's code of conduct will not be accepted.

(Note that setting rules may not be sufficient in all cases. To ensure that there are no possibility of violations, it is recommended to have someone else review the anonymous questions prior to addressing questions during the Q&A.)

End your Q&A session in a blaze

Hosting a virtual event can be challenging, so use these suggestions to conclude your gatherings with an entertaining, lively Q&A session.

Live polls can ensure that your event is interactive and entertaining for your guests. Establish trust and build connection with them by responding to their questions following the session. Consider accepting video questions via attractive incentives in order to build a more personal connection.

Utilizing these strategies can transform your Q&A session into an event highlight for the virtual gathering and leave an unforgettable impression on the attendees, as well as potential leads and potential customers to come back.

Events provides everything you require to produce and promote virtual events that have a lasting impact for your business--including features like live polls.