11 Meetings that Will Lead to Better Content
Yes. You read us correctly. We wrote “meetings” and “better content” in the same title. And no, we weren’t being wise guys. We truly believe that there are certain face-to-face interactions, in the room or video call, that will make your content strategy and creation vastly better.
We know that even with the best wifi, the following meetings are superior when in person. But we also know “in person” is not today’s (or maybe even tomorrow’s) reality. So when physical proximity is impossible, we’ve included tips on how to make your online versions more fruitful.
Brainstorms. We love a good brainstorm... and because the work doesn’t stop during a pandemic, we’ve been running them remotely. As nothing is equivalent to building on the energy that we get from one another in a room, we have to make allowances for the room built of screens.
Online Pro-Tip: Require participants to – best they can – be on camera. Watch each other‘s expressions, read body language, lean into the discussion. And keep people engaged with a virtual “white board” updated in real time.
Workshops. A workshop is a sister to a brainstorm but it’s not quite as fluid. Both have outcomes, yes, but the ways of getting there are more structured in a workshop.
Online Pro-Tip: Assign a bit of pre-work so everyone is ready to participate, and get them engaged in the chat by using it as your “parking lot” for questions and suggestions to return to after the session.
Kick-offs. We’re doing these over video now, and it works. The trick is to have all the key stakeholders and decisionmakers together, in the room, aligned on timeline, deliverables, and the ever important RACI. All together now. Let’s go.
Online Pro-Tip: Have a clear agenda and get your screen ready to share your project plan, Make sure that all participants are able to see your shared screen, so urge everyone calling in to switch from their phone to their computer (even if you have to pause at the outset to allow for this…it’s worth it!)
Share outs. This step happens at or toward the wrap up of a program phase. When you’ve completed a phase of work, the best thing is to get as many people within an organization involved and engaged with next steps as possible. And that is best done face to face.
Online Pro-Tip: Keep the share outs limited to groups of 10 or less, even if you have to have multiple share outs. Keeping the number of people lower allows for more personalized and focused time for a Q&A session.
Presentations. We’ve gotten really good at being as captivating as humanly possible via video, and yet we understand it’s much easier to have everybody’s full attention when laptops are closed, eyes are up. Send out a “what to expect” email ahead of time, and start with a clear “here’s what you’ll learn today” at the very start of the presentation. You’ll find your audience much more primed to engage,
Online Pro-Tip: Have everything at the ready for your screenshare, and make sure you have multiple voices walking through the presentation with you if it’s longer than 20 slides. Also, pause occasionally to ask for questions, comments, thoughts, hopes, dreams…
Heated discussions. We don’t plan them, but sometimes we spark them when we’re working through internal issues or challenges for a group that has different points of view with one another. When things get heated, people can turn off their cameras and then the connection, that personal warmth...it can get lost.
Online Pro-Tip: Even if cameras turn off, keep yours on, and maintain a neutral, pleasant, curious expression on your face. After a few minutes, ask others to turn their cameras back on, too.
Conferences. Let’s face it, we don’t miss all the slog and FOMO that comes with attending huge conferences in enormous venues with a gazillion breakout rooms. But we miss the serendipitous connections within those breakout rooms. Fortunately, these breakout rooms are being re-created online, and we’re grooving on the the sparks of insight gleaned from audience questions and the great brains we’re encountering at these more “intimate” virtual conferences.
Online Pro-Tip: Many open Slack communities can feel like a fantastic, smart, 24/7 conference breakout room, continually slating your hunger for connection with your peers and industry experts. Two we recommend: This Week in Startups (for entrepreneurs and those who love them) and The Information (for news junkies and those who love them).
Creating spaces of connection and discovery. Experiential marketing is successful for a reason: We love “meeting” brands (see what we did there with the word meeting?). As fans, these meetings bring us closer – to one another and to the brand. Brand experiences today can be experienced virtually, and we’re seeing meaningful engagement with thoughtful campaigns from brands that understand their audience mindset and needs.
Online Pro Tip: Coordinate with your influencers and brand experts to offer live virtual interactions, meetings, or consultations about topics of shared purpose with your audiences. Make these sessions free, but invite-only.
Meeting the audiences where they are. And we’re not talking about where they are emotionally, although that’s good too. We’re talking about where they are on the day to day. From interviewing nurses in their hospital cafeteria to shadowing teachers in their classrooms, nothing helps a content creator understand their audience “persona” like living a day (or an hour) in the life of that persona.
Online Pro-Tip: If you’re conducting an interview via a call, pop over to video and ask for a tour. Better yet, ask your interviewee record a video tour for you when you’re not together. You may be surprised, and potentially awed, by the access they’ll give you (and of course for healthcare, take HIPAA considerations into account).
Meeting our clients where they are. Aside from the necessity of being together for the kick offs, the presentations, the easy conversations, the hard conversations… we want to know what you experience on the day to day. We want to walk your halls. Read the motivational signs on your walls. See your company’s archival photos that somebody lovingly curated and displayed. This is how we get you, and how we truly get your brand ethos.
Online Pro-Tip: It’s obviously harder to “walk the halls” with your client when you’re connecting via video call. That being said, lower the formality quotient. Urge them to join you for a call during coffee or lunch. If you don’t get a tour of their company cafeteria, you may at least move your client – and their mindspace – from their desk to another spot where they find joy.
Conversations over beer. This one, sadly, is the toughest one to do virtually. The deep connections we establish with our clients means we can often help them identify problems that they might not even know they have. And how do we pull it off? We grab that beer with you when we’re not even on that scope working for you. We think and ideate and dream with you off the clock. And that’s not easily happening on a video call. That’s happening over a beer...preferably in that bar down the block from your office.
Online Pro-Tip: Wine emojis. And periodic “wanna catch up?” check-ins via calls, emails, and texts. Because these kinds of meetings – of the minds and of the hearts – are everything.
