How to be an Effective Moderator During Virtual Meetings
Moderating virtual meetings can be challenging. It’s like any other meetings, but you will face potential technical issues. You’re also handling dozens of people in a single platform. If you’re given this responsibility, here are some tips to help you become effective at what you do.
Prepare the speakers
If you have speakers or presenters for the meeting, let them know the flow of the sessions. They must know when to speak and when to stop. They should also know how much time is allotted for them to present ideas. You don’t want them to drag the process and delay the meetings. The other participants should also know what’s going to happen and if there’s an opportunity for them to ask questions.
Be alive and enthusiastic
It’s difficult to keep everyone engaged in a virtual platform. The least you can do is to sound excited. You want the participants to feel that you’re present and you’re glad that they decided to join. Others might not even want to be there, and it’s your job to keep them interested. It’s even more challenging when the meeting drags for hours. Your enthusiasm will help carry the meeting in a positive direction.
Be in touch with the tech people
Your role is to moderate, but you will also direct things. You must have the tech people at your ears all the time. If you need a different device to communicate with them, you should use it. You have to learn how to multitask since you might encounter technical difficulties.
Learn the platform
You don’t have the technical staff in the same location as you. Learn the platform and reduce the need for calling them all the time. You will ensure a smooth meeting when you understand how things work. From playing the video to screensharing, you should learn how things work. Again, these technical problems could delay the meeting.
Just have fun
You can’t expect everything to go as planned. You can even have a practice meeting with your technical team to ensure that the platform is working well. However, even when you’ve done everything to prepare for the meeting, it will still be different once the participants arrive. Just learn to have fun when mistakes happen and don’t stress out. Everyone will notice when you start to stress out because of unforeseen events.
Be optimistic
You will be the leader in the discussion and the face of the meeting. You should learn to be optimistic and try your best not to let exhaustion get the best of you. Again, everyone relies on the energy you give. If the meeting lasts for hours, your energy level must stay the same. If the participants are allowed to speak, you should also learn to accommodate them. They might have complaints and say unwanted things, but you can’t let their words stop the meeting from moving forward.
Hopefully, things go as planned and the meeting will be a success. You will get better in moderating it in the future.
Photo Attribution:
1st and featured image from https://unsplash.com/photos/smgTvepind4
2nd image from https://teleperformance.com/en-us/insights-list/insightful-articles/india/high-tech-high-touch
