The value of face-to-face interaction will never diminish but going virtual has become a necessary part of interim and annual results announcement for the past three years.
How do we maintain the quality of conversation and drive more attendees to increase the effectiveness of virtual events? This post will cover a few methods you can consider adopting while planning the next virtual events.
Event registration in advance.
Having a good sense of who might show up for the briefing session allows you to prepare for your audience. Utilize the registration data to keep track of the sell-side analysts, current shareholders, and potential investors that show the most interest in your pending results. With knowledge on the mix of audience, it enables you to develop the prepared remarks for the management team with a clear idea of the key data and market insights to be included in the speech, thereby establishing curated content that answers the most pressing issues from the audience. Further, sharing the briefing session registration details on the company’s website and social media platforms can garner greater event awareness among investors.
Upload materials on the company website in a timely fashion.
Allowing attendees to carefully review and digest the information to form their take on the latest results can help create a purposeful experience. By building an event agenda while considering the date of board meeting and when to conduct the final review of press releases and presentation decks, you ensure that you have sufficient time to distribute your investor relations materials within an appropriate timeframe between the filing of the results announcement notice and the briefing session. We recommend sharing your latest presentation materials with your investor database upon the completion of the results announcement filing.
Turn your camera on.
A powerful virtual event can almost 100% replicate the in-person experience. The chances of making this happen are significantly higher when the presenters turn the camera on the entire time. Although it is tempting to turn off the cameras, having your camera on shows the speaker is engaged and allows the audience to read your reactions based on social cues.
Enhance live Q&A attendee engagement.
Creating an immersive and interactive experience during the Q&A session is essential for virtual audiences. When possible, encourage analysts and investors to ask questions directly instead of typing them in the textbox. A balanced mix of live and text questions keeps the conversation engaging and much more dynamic. Lastly, have the host call out attendees by name when stating the questions to add a personal touch to the session.
Provide the replays for the briefing sessions.
Last but not least, we encourage you to upload the replays of the sessions for those interested parties that cannot attend the event in real-time. It also lets the audience have the opportunity to re-watch the sessions when they hope to go over the materials again or recall a particular piece of detail provided by the C-level. By extending the life of your results briefing session, your company messaging becomes easily accessible and transparent.
