Can a conference speaker measure audience interaction?

Events are meetings which have an exceptionally high level of professionalism. Though too much formality may create monotony. This explains the rising popularity of measuring audience interaction. This article discusses various measurement tools and provides a glimpse into their impact on the performance and strategy of your organization.

The significance of audience response from different points of view

Audience interaction is one of the crucial factors that determines the success of an event. Needless to say that even the most meaningful conference has to involve the attendees. But what exactly does audience interaction mean? As a starting point let’s take a look at some common definitions of audience engagement.

Adam Azor, a representative of Jack Morton Worldwide, says that audience engagement means elaborating a story with your attendees which is aimed at achieving a desired goal. The elements that are indispensable to this task involve real-life experience, conversation and digital technology, like mobile apps. On the other hand, Mike Piddock, a specialist who deals with event management technology, takes a different approach. He says that it comes down to establishing an environment which is conducive to audience interaction. There are different triggers that assist in the completion of this task, for instance, an expressive speaker or a physical trigger. The attendees are human beings and their attention will probably fade away if a lengthy conference makes them bored.

Anyway, why is the audience response crucial? To put it briefly, it is beneficial for an organization that orchestrated the event as well as for the attendees. The company gets a unique chance to stand out from their competition by offering their attendees (and potential customers) a chance to express their own point of view. What’s more, if audience actively takes part in the conference, there’s a less chance that they will get bored. Keeping the audience involved significantly increases their satisfaction.

This situation is the perfect reason why you should devote your attention to engaging the people who are gathered at your event. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to encourage audience response.

General ways to encourage and assess the engagement of attendees

Try to anticipate what questions your audience might ask, then consider the best answers and write them down. This trick assists the speaker in guaranteeing a smooth flow of communication with the participants.

It is also worth sending personal messages to attendees as well as initiating contact before and after the conference. Please note that these low-tech solutions are suitable for stirring up the genuine interest of your guests. However, knowing how to engage an audience is not sufficient. You should also familiarize yourself with diverse ways of measuring attendee interaction. You can do this manually (by taking traditional written notes) or with the help of mobile apps and web tools. The first method is obviously less efficient and more time-consuming, whereas the latter may save your precious time and deliver detailed and apposite results transparently.

Gamification is also noteworthy when you consider how to engage an audience. The enrichment it provides livens up the whole event and makes it an exciting intellectual adventure instead of tedious content delivery full of bald facts. Some companies decided to derive inspiration from the well-known franchises of the video game industry. Interactive activities for presentations are aimed at getting the attendees more involved. Additionally, pop culture allusions spice up the whole conference and make the participants deeply and positively surprised.

Tools for evaluating audience interaction

The most traditional way of evaluating audience interaction is surveys. You can choose in-event polls as well as post-event studies. Above all, you should remember that the most effective measurement tools are those which are conducted in real time. Why? It is obvious that information which originates from post-event surveys is not as objective as it should be.

Firstly, it concerns the feedback on the event as a whole, from which you can get a valuable insight into the issues that really inspire your attendees. Secondly, information collected in this way merely provide a vague impression about your attendees aims and values. Prompt audience response is necessary when you strive to discover the true (and often implicit) emotions and needs of your guests.

So how can you get the instant feedback which is also genuine and comprehensive? The answer is simple, make the best use of a live voting poll. On the one hand, this is the ultimate and irreplaceable tool to enhance the engagement of the participants, while on the other hand, it has a real impact on the conference. So, it is the remedy for the slumping attention of your guests that makes them feel appreciated.

The feature of a live voting poll is also relevant in contemporary mobile apps. One of those solutions is Eventory. It makes live participation in a conference possible as well as a spontaneous exchange of remarks between representatives of your company and your customers. The navigation is very intuitive and user-friendly. In order to get an overview of voting on your event, you simply select the right tab in the menu. On top of this a notification about a brand-new poll is linked to a voting summary so that you can shape your outlook quickly.

Pivotal benefits of audience engagement measurement

Multi-faceted measurement of interaction provides a valuable enrichment of your post-event analysis. First and foremost, you get an insight into the various attitudes towards your products and services. This in turn means that you can launch future products that will better reflect the needs of your target group. Knowing what sparks the conversation has another significant feature, namely, it helps you to make better decisions regarding the content of your blog posts as well as a social media presence. For this reason, you are able to create content that is more likely to be shared.

In other words, interactive activities for presentation enable you to tighten the bond between your company and your audience regardless of the nature of communication. To put it precisely, you gain more followers online and enjoy fruitful relationships during the particular event. Profound knowledge of audience interaction is a reliable asset that you can implement even in a meeting with your stakeholders, trying to persuade them of your new ideas.

There are many ways in which you can evaluate audience response. Ultimately, it is up to you which solutions you choose and how you benefit from their unique features.