“I was wondering if Zoom had a magic button that would make the content better.”
Had a great chat with someone today who wanted to tweak their online events.
They mentioned they weren’t seeing the engagement they wanted with their audience.
Do any of these sound familiar?
• Lots of people with cameras off. • “The floor is now open to questions.” Then crickets. • “It’d be nice if we could meet again in person” comments.
I asked about the event structure.
What started as a discussion about tech and platforms turned into content design.
Then I got asked, “Do you think Zoom is sufficient, or should we be exploring other platforms?”
A few weekends ago, Alex Hormozi hosted 200,000ish people for his book launch.
He kept a small city worth of people on the edge of their seats for 90 minutes. (Including pretty much everyone in Client Ascension).
Alex hosted his book launch on Zoom.
Could he have used some other platform?
Sure.
But it wasn’t the platform that kept people glued to their screen for 90 minutes.
It was the content and the community.
Each of those mini Zooms had 999 other people.
While it was chaotic, you could feel the energy.
Hormozi could have launched on MySpace and it would have been just as electric.
Let me tell you the truth about event “platforms.”
At their heart, they send 🎙️,📽️ and text around.
They are a medium.
Saying that in-person is always better than Zoom is like saying that a book is always better than a movie.
There are terrific books & horrible movies. And vice versa.
Are there technical items you can tweak to make your online events more polished? Yes.
• Position your camera so it’s eye-level, not aimed up your nose and broadcasting your boogers in HD • Make sure your audio is crystal clear. • Have good internet • Declutter your background. • Add branding to your Zoom waiting room • Have a facilitator who’s responsible for running the Zoom app
When I hear, “we’re looking for a better platform than Zoom,” 99% of the time what’s going on is event design issues.
If you’re not seeing the engagement you want, the platform you use isn’t going to make a difference.
Whether you’ve got 20 people or 200,000, your event design matters.
Zoom is a tool to connect people. That’s it.
There is no “magic button” for content design.
I talk about event design along with the technical stuff in my book, Memorable, Profitable, Virtual.
In-person doesn’t mean people are present. Julius talks about this. By 18 minutes in a keynote, most people are scrolling social media.
If your session structure is asking people to sit through a lecture-style presentation for 30 minutes, then “open the floor to questions,” do you want to sit through that?
Probably not.
The platform is important, but event design is key. Make sure it’s clear how you want everyone to participate.
And if your online event format is the exact same as it was when it was in-person, now’s a great time to take a fresh look at your format!