Speaker guide - using live session interactivity and preparing to speak

This document is intended for speakers who are preparing to speak at a live session.

As part of your speaker preparation, briefing, and rehearsal for the live session we will review the Q&A and polling options that can be used on the SpotMe platform during live sessions.

These powerful interactive engagement tools will help you keep your audience's attention throughout your presentation.

Consider that the average human attention span during a presentation is 20 minutes. When you use interactivity, a single poll half-way through a 45-minute live session can typically boost participant message retention of your presentation by up to 40%.

The same principle applies to Q&A. It not only helps to keep your audience interested and engaged, but also allows you, as a speaker, to cover precise topics, capture the mood in the room, and answer specific questions.

In this article we'll explain how you, as a speaker, can use Q&A and polling during your presentation to get the best engagement for your message from your audience.

We’ll also provide a summary of best practices that you can follow, to make sure you are fully prepared for speaking at the live session.

Using live session interactivity

Using multiple polls to support your presentation

Launching a poll during your live session allows you to ask a multiple-choice question to your audience and receive immediate responses.

Once the poll is closed, the responses from the poll can then be discussed and shared at the appropriate time. This is a great way to generate discussions and audience interactivity around your topic which is shown to drive long term learning.

Polls need to be added to the session before it goes live. You can prepare them in advance to the moderation team so that they can be included in the rehearsal.

Before the live session:

• Share your individual poll questions with the live session planner, each with up to 6 associated responses (correct answers supported). Do this before the briefing (when requested). They will be used to create the Run of Show and the practice run.
• Insert a placeholder on your presentation slides for each moment when you have a poll (it can show the question or just say “Poll").
• Practice launching the poll with the moderator during the speaker briefing and practice run.
  

During the live session:

• At the right time, let your audience know that there is poll being launched, and that they will receive a notification at the bottom of the live stream screen that they can click in order to access it:
  
  
• As a speaker, read the poll question out loud along with the possible answers that your audience can choose from.
• Share the results when you are ready. Please be aware that results can take up to 30 seconds to come in, so usually a poll is open for at least 60 seconds. We recommend that you comment on the question and the answers to fill this time, or simply carry on with your presentation until the poll closes:
  

Poll examples:

Question: Where are you joining us from?
Answers: North America / EMEA / APAC / LATAM

Question: What specific field of work are we discussing today?
Answers: Oncology / Respiratory / GastroIntestinal / Diabetes

Tips for a an impactful poll:

• Make sure to discuss the results so that participants can see the impact of the poll immediately and how they fared in relation to others, and why.
• Increase your impact by providing more insight on the data - compare the results with last year’s poll or a with poll or survey question from earlier.
• Highlight the correct answer (if applicable) after you show the results.
  Keep the length of questions and answers short for easy reading. The average person reads 3 words / second on a screen.
• Start your presentation with an “icebreaker” question, this will immediately grab your audience's attention and is shown to increase the response rate by up to 70% on the next question.
• Make sure that you have a clear reason for asking the question. What impactful message or learnings are you trying to share with the audience?
• Use polls in a way that will be valuable or interesting to you and your attendees.
  

Using world clouds to support your presentation

A word cloud is an aesthetic visualization of your audience’s thoughts, gathered in the form of a “cloud” or collage made of words.

The gathered word cloud is visible to speakers, and can be displayed on a large screen at a venue for in-person attendees to see, or in the app for remote participants:

As a speaker during a live session, using a word cloud is a great way to engage with your audience and find out what's on their minds.

Before the live session:

• Share your individual word cloud question(s) with the live session planner before the speaker briefing, when requested. They will be used to create the Run of Show and do the practice run.
• Insert a placeholder on your presentation slides for each moment when you have a word cloud (it can show the question or just say “Word cloud poll").
• Reminder: Practice launching the word cloud with the moderator during the briefing and practice run.
  

During the live session:

• Let your audience know that there is a poll being launched in advance and that they will receive a notification that they can open in order to access it.
• Make sure to discuss the word cloud results and draw attention to the different responses for a greater impact.

Word cloud example:

"In one word, tell us how you feel today"

Tips for an impactful word cloud:

• Start your question with “In 1 word" (...)” to keep responses short.
• Make sure to discuss the result. You can start discussing them while the word cloud is still forming.
  Use word clouds for brainstorming or when you are trying to deliver a message that can be communicated with a specific set of terms.
• Make sure your word cloud question(s) can be answered succinctly using very few words.
  

Using Q&A to support your presentation

With the Q&A in live sessions, participants can post their questions or comments to the speakers before and during the live session. These questions can then be addressed by the speakers as they come in, or at the end of a presentation.

The questions do not necessarily need to come from the attendees. Event planners can add questions or comments directly to the Q&A via Studio, in order to kick-off the Q&A or make sure certain specific topics or questions are discussed during the Q&A.

These questions can even be provided by the speakers in order to be used to steer the discussion during or at the end of their presentations.

Example of Q&A seen in the web app by a participant joining a live session remotely with a live stream

Before the live session:

• Think of any specific questions or topics that you would like to cover when on stage, and provide them to the event planner when requested. They will be used to create the Run of Show and the practice run.
• You may wish to share topics that you are not comfortable with talking about, so that the event planner is aware of them and can moderate and archive/hide certain questions from the audience.
• Decide with the moderator ahead of the live session start whether you will be addressing the Q&A questions as they come in or all at a designated time (for example at the end of your presentation).
• Prepare some back-up questions the audience could ask you to initiate the Q&A process in case it is needed.

During the live session:

• Let your audience know that the Q&A is open and encourage them to ask questions.
• Have some questions prepared to kick off the Q&A and encourage your audience to post there, if you find that your audience is not posting enough questions.
• Do not avoid any of the approved questions. If you cannot answer a question, simply let the audience know that you will need to follow up later on this specific issue/point.
• Have a dedicated time for answering questions, either during or after your presentation.
• Make sure to comment on the questions, even as they come in, to encourage as many as possible, even if you will not be answering them till later.
• If upvoting is used on the Q&A, pay attention to the questions that have the most votes as these are the questions that your audience really want to see addressed.
  

Preparing to speak at the live session

Most speakers are comfortable speaking in any typical public setting. However, things can be a little bit different in a virtual meeting context. The below tips will help you excel at virtual public speaking.

Before the live session

A good preparation can prevent 90% of the potential hiccups you may run into during a virtual live session. Here are some of the things you can do to prepare:

• Ensure that your computer audio and video are working. 
  • Use a current browser version of Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge - Make sure all updates are done prior to the call. Don’t forget to allow microphone and camera permissions (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge (79+)
  • With a wired internet connection with a 10 Mbps connection (you can test it on https://fast.com/)
  • The power cable is plugged into your laptop or desktop
  • Wear earbuds or headphones to prevent audio echoes while you are speaking and prevent your mic from rubbing - It is important to have a wired headset as a backup if you are using earbuds. If you have no other option than a Bluetooth device, make sure it is fully charged prior to the live session.
    
    
• Practice makes perfect. 
  • Consider rehearsing a few times. Run your entire session from the beginning. Feeling comfortable with the process will help you successfully deliver your talk.
  • Make sure you are comfortable with the conference tool you will be using. Learn how to share your presentation, move slides, and take questions from the audience. Don’t forget a briefing before the live sessions will be planned.
    
    
• Check how you look on camera. You want to ensure your light is neither too dark or too light – the audience wants to see you. Check this at the same time (of day) as when the actual meeting will happen. Also make sure that there is nothing inappropriate appearing in your surroundings. (for example private photos on a shelf, etc.).
  
  
• Dress accordingly. Plan ahead the clothes you will be wearing during the meeting, and check how they look..
  
  
• Pick a quiet place. A place where you know you won’t be disturbed during the meeting, and where you can’t hear other noises that could compromise the quality of your presentation.
  
  
• Speak straight to your camera. Your camera should if possible be at the same height as with your eyes. Consider building an ad-hoc stand-up desk – speaking while standing can help recreate familiar live-speaking sensations.
  

During the live session

Just before starting:

• Check your sound and camera one last time.
• Close the door, windows and make sure you won’t be disturbed.
• Keep a small bottle of water next to you.
• Switch your laptop to "Do not disturb" mode (on Mac or on PC).

During the meeting itself:

• Never leave the meeting unless you are done with your presentation.
• Remember to mute/unmute based on whether you are presenting or not.
• Never turn off your camera.
• If anything fails, wait to receive some instructions from your colleagues. Don’t panic, they are used to recovering from potential connectivity or software problems, they will sort it out and get you back online.