I stumbled upon a blog post by Gerd De Bruycker where he was wondering aloud about the length of sessions at virtual events. He highlighted one of the main problems – that sessions at virtual events are offline events pushed online. In other words, most speakers are ill-prepared for the nuances of presenting in the virtual environment.

I don’t think the length or duration really matter. You can do a 2 hour session if you want. What’s missing from most virtual events is the interaction. That’s the secret sauce. Without interaction from your audience, they begin to multi-task and get bored with the voice droning on and on.

Instead of giving a 1-hour presentation where the speakers speaks non-stop, take small breaks and ask questions, do a poll or break the attendees into small groups. This helps to enrich the attendee experience and helps them to retain more.

Plus, as a speaker, you have less material to prepare since you’re relying on the interactivity between attendees to fill in the gap.

I urge you to attend October’s Maestro Month to experience how to conduct your next virtual event differently. This is a free event that features world-class leaders such as Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Michael Port, Michael Bernard Beckwith, T. Harv Eker, and John Gray.

As a presenter, I only have to prepare 20-minutes worth of content, plus a few questions to ask the attendees for a 45-minute presentation. The emphasis is on active learning, so attendees will have a way to experience what I’m teaching  in a dynamic way.

Again, register for up to 3 sessions during Maestro Month to experience how virtual events can be done differently.