Hybrid Event Planning Best Practices

Are your presentations falling flat? Here’s how to master presenting in every setting. We now have to master 3 Worlds of Presentations: Virtual - hybrid - in person. Here’s all you need to know: Virtual Presentations 1. Boost your gravitas: In virtual settings, the presenter looks like everyone else. Inject energy with your voice and passion. 2. Raise your hands. They need to be chest-height to be visible. 3. Leverage chat & polls: Use chat features to encourage questions and feedback. Incorporate polls to engage your audience and gather real-time insights. 4. Ace the tech set-up: Lighting & sound matter. Familiarize yourself with the platform's tools (screen sharing, breakout rooms) before. Hybrid Presentations 1. Avoid two-class audience: Address both groups regularly to create inclusivity. 2. No hiding: Ask the remote group to have their cameras on. 3. Use Dual Screens: Set up a dual-screen layout where you can see both your slides and the audience. This helps you maintain eye contact and engage with both groups effectively. 4. Test Audio/Visual Equipment: Ensure all equipment works well in both environments. In-Person Presentations 1. Read the Room: Pay attention to body language and facial expressions to gauge audience engagement. Adjust your tone or pacing accordingly. 2. Utilize Movement: Move around the stage or room to create a dynamic presence. This helps to draw attention and energize the audience. 3. Encourage Interaction: Foster an interactive atmosphere by inviting questions and facilitating discussions throughout your presentation. 4. Avoid Death by Powerpoint: Resist the temptation to read from your slides. Slides are for the audience. No matter the setting, the key to a successful presentation is connecting with your audience. By tailoring your approach to each format, you can enhance engagement and leave a lasting impression. ♻ Please share to help your network and follow me Oliver Aust for daily tips on leadership communication.

“Unprecedented times” became the most nauseating phrase of 2020, but I’m bringing it back in 2024. Hosting a live event is facing unprecedented times. In the post-pandemic era, you have to do things differently. Why? People WON’T travel to events just for content anymore. • They expect to be able to join a livestream. • They expect to watch the sessions after the show is over. • They expect to experience things they can’t get online. People WILL travel to be part of an experience. And yet, so many events today are still focused on the old, pre-pandemic execution playbooks with over-indexed content and counting the number of bodies stuffed into conference halls as a measure of success. Here are four things we are doing differently with Goldenhour: 1. Reimagining Keynotes and Breakouts • The conference agenda has to balance both inspiration and education. Find speakers for your keynote stage that validate your narrative AND inspire your audience. “Boring panels” will become audience activations that you won’t want to miss. • Extend breakout sessions — ours will be longer than the keynotes to allow attendees to go deeper on the content they are begging for. 2. Having a clear track for everyone • Prevent session clashes. How many times have you been to an event where the only 3 sessions that sounded interesting were happening at the exact same time? 1. Creating a special (and free) online experience • Prioritize a first-class digital experience designed for those who can't attend in-person. Ours will feature a VIP marketer host with expert commentary as viewers tune into keynotes + BTS interviews after sessions. • Hybrid events are no longer optional. They’re mandatory, and deserve their own planning and strategy — and that doesn’t mean setting up a camera in the back of the room or hosting a zoom call for the same old slide decks. • This also may be our biggest risk. We’re essentially hosting two events at once. 2. Revamping the show floor • Give people a reason to want to be on the show floor. Instead of another room of sponsored booths, reimagine sponsor activations that get them real value AND attendees want to get involved. P.S. I think we’ve done the impossible here! CEOs, CMOs: if you needed permission to challenge the status quo with what is no longer working, this is it. Stop hosting events. Start hosting experiences.

Hybrid Meetings ≠ Inclusive Meetings. I’ve lived it - and here’s 5 practical tips to ensure everyone has a voice, regardless of location. I spent more than 10,000 hours in hybrid meetings while as a remote leader for The Clorox Company. I was often the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 remote attendee - while the rest of the group sat together in a conference room at HQ. Here’s what I learned the hard way: 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲... ...by showing who gets heard, who feels seen, and who gets left out. If you're leading a distributed or hybrid team, how you structure your meetings sends a loud message about what (and who) matters. 𝟱 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: 1️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 – who will actively combat distance bias and invite input from all meeting members 2️⃣ 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗿 – to monitor the chat and the raised hands, to launch polls and to free up the facilitator to focus on the flow 3️⃣ 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗴 𝗶𝗻 - so that there is equal access to the chat, polls, and reactions 4️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗱𝘆 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 – pair remote team members with in-room allies to help make space in the conversation and ensure they can see and hear everything 5️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 – be ready with a Plan B for audio, video, or connectivity issues in the room 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝗮 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹-𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. If even one person is remote, have everyone log in from their own device from their own workspace to create a level playing field. 🔗 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 for creating location-inclusive distributed teams in this Nano Tool I wrote for Wharton Executive Education: https://lnkd.in/eUKdrDVn #LIPostingDayApril

🎤 Getting Hybrid Conferences Right = Inclusion Done Right In the past month, I’ve been able to actively participate in excellent conferences because they nailed the hybrid model. 👏 When you make conferences accessible online, you open the doors to: ✅ People with disability ✅ People in regional and remote areas ✅ Carers and parents ✅ Anyone who can’t easily travel for so many reasons Done well, hybrid means you can reach a lot more people and include people who so often miss out on being part of the conversation. Hats off to DSC and Centre for Australian Progress who know how to do this well. ✅ Top Tips for Running a Great Hybrid Conference 1. Make Online Participation Equally Valued Give online attendees a visible presence — allow them to ask questions, join breakout rooms, and appear on screen. Assign a dedicated facilitator for online participants to monitor chat, raise questions, and ensure their voices are heard. 2. Invest in Good Tech and Support Use high-quality AV equipment, microphones, and cameras. Have tech support available throughout the event, both on-site and online. Test everything with both in-person and remote attendees. What's holding us back from doing this better? Please share your thoughts and your tips in the comments. #Inclusion #Accessibility #HybridEvents #DisabilityInclusion #Conferences #Leadership #AccessMatters This image is a screenshot from a hybrid conference. It shows disability advocate El Gibbs speaking at a podium, wearing a black T-shirt that reads "THE FUTURE IS ACCESSIBLE" in bold white text. El is wearing glasses and a dark face mask, and is standing in front of a blue banner that reads "LEADERSHIP 2025" with the date and location "JUNE, PARLIAMENT HOUSE" visible. At the top of the image is the Zoom interface, with multiple participants joining the event online, including Dr George Taleporos, Craig Wallace, Peter Bacon MDEA, Alex Kelly, Madi Weston, and others. This layout highlights the hybrid nature of the event — combining in-person and virtual participation at the Centre for Australian Progress #Leadership2025 Conference

We’ve done five offsites with the whole awork team now, and one thing has become very clear: A good offsite does not mean an empty calendar. Our schedule is actually quite packed. What matters is finding the right balance between achieving something meaningful together and leaving enough slack time to connect on a human level. What has made the biggest difference for us is being deliberate about the whole week. The offsite has a clear goal, a theme, and a design that ties it all together. That applies to the agenda, the sessions, and even the materials we provide on-site to make the experience smooth and enjoyable, like a themed online agenda and a venue map. I’m sharing the agenda format we’ve used across our last five offsites, plus some of the content we give attendees during the week. None of it is overly fancy, but it creates clarity, reduces friction, and helps the whole experience feel focused without turning into a meeting marathon. A few things that have consistently made a difference for us: 1. Start with the goal   Before we plan a single session, we decide what the week is for. Is it strategy and alignment? Better cross-team collaboration? Kickstarting a big initiative? This decision shapes the entire offsite. 2. Give everything a reason to be there   The week has a clear goal, a theme, and a design that carries through the whole experience. That makes it easier for people to understand why they are there and what the time together is meant to achieve. 3. Be ambitious, but realistic   We do put a lot into the calendar. But we try not to overload people with back-to-back sessions all day. Even great workshops lose energy when there’s no room to breathe. So we plan focused content blocks and protect breaks in between. 4. Mix formats on purpose   For a hybrid team, this combination tends to be especially effective: - leadership updates - small group workshops - deep-dive collaboration sessions - informal activities and dinners 5. Leave room for the unplanned moments   Some of the best conversations happen between sessions, on walks, over coffee, or late at dinner. If every minute is scheduled, those moments never happen, and those are often where trust really grows. For me, the best offsites are the ones where you get both: real progress as a team and real time together as people. That’s how we plan offsites that actually work. How do you structure offsites for real collaboration without turning them into pure meeting marathons? #offsite #hybridwork #teamculture #futureofwork #remotework

70% of virtual attendees feel left out in hybrid events. How can we change that? Sports!! The most successful hybrid event format. 1) Different, Not Equal: Trying to offer identical experiences for in-person and virtual audiences is a trap. It's like comparing apples and oranges. 2) Sports as the Blueprint: Sports has championed hybrid experiences for years. Stadium goers have one experience, while home viewers have another - both tailored, both exceptional. 3) ROI Done Right: The sporting domain has cracked the code on extracting ROI from both in-person and virtual attendees, while also raking in significant revenue. Time to borrow that playbook. 4) Distinct Experiences: Just as you wouldn't mix stadium spectators with TV viewers, the virtual world should be treated distinctly. Ensure that the online audience gets a truly captivating experience with dedicated MCs and roving camera crews. 5) Avoid Friction: Remember, integration doesn't mean homogenization. It's about synergy without friction. Don't dilute one experience in an attempt to cater to the other. Hybrid isn't the challenge; it's an opportunity waiting to be unlocked. Would love to hear how you have cracked the code on Hybrid.

The biggest mistake in hybrid meetings? Treating remote participants like an afterthought. Here's how to make sure everyone has a seat at the table: Balance Visibility & Audio ➔ Position cameras and mics so remote attendees aren’t just voices in the void. Use Engagement Tools ➔ Polls, live chats, and virtual whiteboards keep everyone active. Assign a Remote Champion ➔ Someone to monitor chat, raised hands, and tech issues. Encourage Equal Participation ➔ Call on remote attendees first, rotate speakers, and avoid side conversations. Test Your Tech ➔ A lagging connection or bad audio kills engagement fast—check everything before you start. Rotate Meeting Times ➔ Be mindful of time zones so the same group isn’t always sacrificing convenience. Ask for Feedback ➔ What worked? What didn’t? Adjust to make each session more inclusive. 🔔 Subscribe to the newsletter to never miss an article #Facilitation

I'm sceptical of hyrbid workshops by deafult. They ask a lot more of the facilitator than people expect. When you’re online and the group is together in a conference room, you’re not just facilitating content. You’re managing attention, energy, turn-taking, room dynamics, and tech, all at once, from a distance. I was reminded this week that if you want hybrid to work, you have to design for it very intentionally. A few things that helped: Set explicit working agreements up front In hybrid, don’t assume people know how to work together. Name expectations clearly. Ask people to say their name before speaking Sounds simple, but when you’re remote it makes a huge difference. Make “one person speaking at a time” a rule Side comments and overlapping voices are much harder to follow online than they feel in the room. Use a visual “gather back” slide A simple slide cue helps stop in-room chatter and brings attention back to the screen without you having to talk over the room. Get interaction going early If people stay passive for the first 15–20 minutes, it’s much harder to shift the energy later. Use short duo exercises Pairs are easy to set up, keep energy high, and give everyone a chance to think out loud. Put instructions for every exercise on a slide, with a countdown timer Whether it’s solo reflection or duo work, people need a clear reference point once they start. It reduces confusion, avoids repeated clarifications, and means you don’t have to interrupt the whole group to re-explain. Limit laptops where possible We asked people to keep laptops away and use phones for quick input via Mentimeter, much less distraction, still highly interactive. Protect moments of silence Reflection doesn’t happen by accident in a room full of people. You have to make space for it. Give people roles in exercises Timer, observer, feedback-giver, note-catcher, roles create focus fast. Have an in-room ally If you’re remote, someone in the room needs to help hold the space: tech, transitions, late arrivals, room energy. Hybrid can work. But in my experience, it only works well when you treat it as its own format, not a compromise between in-person and online. What would you add?

The events that look effortless on the day rarely were, believe me…😅 They usually got these 5 things right long before the doors opened… Before anything else, you need to be clear on what you actually want the event to achieve. Is it about building new relationships? Accelerating existing opportunities? Product launch? Creating a community? Owning a particular conversation? Once that’s clear, these are the 5 things I see creating, or limiting, event success time and time again: 1. A realistic budget 💸 Your budget has to match your vision. If you want a 10-course tasting menu, Champagne, a private dining room and all the premium touches, you have to expect a higher cost. But a tighter budget doesn’t automatically mean a weaker event. Come with an open mind, share what you have to work with and ask how we would optimise it. It’s about prioritising what will have the biggest impact on the guest experience. 2. A strong brand-side speaker 🎤 This is one of the biggest success factors I see. The right brand gives you an initial hook for outreach, adds credibility and stops the event feeling like a sales pitch led entirely by your own company. It doesn’t always need to be the biggest name. It needs to be someone your audience wants to learn from, with real experiences and opinions to share. 3. An audience-led location 📍 Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to pitch events in places I simply want to visit… (Paris would be up there!) But the location decision should start with your audience data, not your venue wish list. Look at your ICP, map your TAL and identify where the right people actually are. A cool location means very little if your ideal audience isn’t there. 4. A topic people actually want to discuss 🗣️ Generic themes create generic conversations. Choose something your audience is already talking about, has opinions on and hasn’t completely resolved yet. The best themes don’t just fill an agenda. They spark different perspectives, debate and conversations that continue beyond the event itself. 5. Enough time ⏳ An event is an investment, not a quick fix you can rush into. I’d want AT LEAST 6 solid weeks for outreach alone, and ideally much longer for the wider planning process. That time gives you the chance to develop relationships with guests, work properly with venues and suppliers, and make sure your speakers are fully briefed. There are plenty of other moving parts, but these are the 5 I see make or break events again and again 🤓 What would make your list??

Hybrid does not mean running two events at the same time. That definition has been the default for five years and it has scared a lot of organizers away from doing hybrid at all. Two production teams, two budgets, two sets of tech failures waiting to happen. Understandable hesitation. Here is what most of our customers actually do. 1/ They run the in-person event first. Full presence, full energy, no split attention. The room gets the best version of the experience. 2/ Then they package the content for a virtual audience later. Sometimes a week later, sometimes a quarter later. The virtual audience gets edited, intentional content instead of a Zoom feed stuck to the back of a ballroom. 3/ Or they skip the live virtual entirely and drop everything on-demand. People who could not fly in still get the talks, the panels, the takeaways, on their own schedule. The result is reach without the operational tax. One event, two audiences, two timelines, one production cycle. Hybrid is not one format. It is a distribution strategy. Sometimes that means simultaneous live experiences. Sometimes it means virtual access later. Sometimes it simply means turning one strong in-person event into content that keeps working after the room is empty. You do not need the hardest version of hybrid to get the benefit.