Virtual events are abuzz lately, providing organizations with a solution for the problems brought by the pandemic. More and more organizations have decided to give it a try and to connect with their audiences digitally. And during the pandemic, virtual events have become part of corporate culture, with organizations and companies using them as a means to engage with their audience and community.
However, the success of an online event is not guaranteed, and many of them may fizzle if not appropriately handled. It is becoming more and more evident that virtual events have a different set of rules when it comes to audience engagement.
Thankfully, there are professionals out there who can help you with this. They are called a virtual event host, and their role is to maintain the viewers attentive and active for the duration of your event. A virtual host is a professional who knows the ins-and-outs of virtual events and knows how to address the diverse set of challenges that might come from hosting such an event.
It can be argued that a virtual event is incomplete without a online event host at the helm. And to drive this point home, we will give you a few compelling reasons why you should consider this.
Can Enhance the Experience
The main drawback of a virtual program is that it usually cannot be as engaging as an in-person event. However, this doesn’t mean that it cannot provide guests with a unique and memorable experience.
Motivational speeches are being watched online, and it doesn’t take away from how impactful they are for the audience. Emotions can be conveyed through video, and a virtual host can funnel these emotions to your audience.
The host can be there to create anticipation for any upcoming keynote speakers or entertainers, not only allowing you to transition from one performer to another smoothly but also to make people more interested in them.
Engages with the Viewers at the Right Time
At some point, people may get disenchanted with what’s happening at the event. In moments like these, they may be tempted to visit other websites or leave the computer and tend to other responsibilities.
In cases like these, to prevent your online event from becoming stale, a virtual event host is there to keep the audience engaged.
The host can employ various methods to keep the viewers invested. This can be accomplished with a discussion in the chat or hosting a Q&A panel to address any burning questions.
A Conduit between the Audience and the Event
Your viewers might have many reasons to be distracted from the event, and they might end up missing critical points of the event without even knowing it.
To address this issue, the online program host can give the viewers a summary of what they can expect to see and when they can expect to view it. This dramatically helps stir up the audience’s interest and make them look forward to some segments of the event.
Besides that, if you want to communicate important information to your audience, the online host is the best person to convey your message.
With the combination of speaking skills and an alluring personality, the host can make your message more compelling and can ensure that as many viewers as possible capture the essence of it.
No Virtual Event Is Complete Without A Virtual Event Host
We present you with 6 online hosts and talk about how they can bring out the energy from your audience.
1) Marvelless Mark
With the work ethic of a Missouri farm boy, decades of successful entrepreneurship experience and the stage presence of a radio personality and Las Vegas headliner, Mark Kamp, aka Marvelless Mark®, is truly one-of- a-kind.
For over 25 years, Mark’s electrifying and unforgettable presentations have left audiences jumping out of their seats, yelling for more and most importantly, learning priceless new strategies to impact their business. He is the customer and employee engagement guru.
Mark began inspiring audiences with his acclaimed book Opportunity Rocks®. After the book was featured in USA Today, Small Business Trendsetters, Business Innovators and TBN, it didn’t take long for Mark Kamp to have his own following of screaming fans.
Live or Virtual and works with organizations that want to achieve immediate Rock Star Results. A Rock n Roll Speaker. Learn to achieve boldly, stand out in your industry, remain relevant, and be heard above the noise.
Teaching the rock star success principals from your favorite rock stars. Done with usable content, fun, engagement, and the right amount of entertainment. Proving a Rock Star Performance equals Rock Star Results. An excellent choice for opening and closing meetings. Sales teams, managers and C-Suite team members.
2) Marty Simpson
Many years prior to the pandemic, Marty Simpson has been radio talk-show host. Virtual events aren’t a new thing for him and he is well-accustomed to speaking for viewers and listeners from home.
Using his experience as a stand-up comedian, he adds the right amount of humor to make your event a pleasurable and thoroughly entertaining experience.
Whether you are organizing a virtual teambuilding event, a presentation, you name it and Marty’s comedy prowess will be a perfect fit.
3) Jeff Civillico
A traditional live / in-person meeting or event presents challenges in bringing people together to connect with each other, to network, to learn. These challenges are only compounded by virtual meetings. It is now more difficult to pull all the event elements together to create a cohesive conference experience that is unique, engaging, and impactful. A great Virtual Emcee engages the audience, keeps the energy up, segues from one presenter to the next, fills in the gaps, adds insights, levity, value. The virtual format makes all of these duties that much more important. An experienced, confident, professional Emcee goes from being a nice add-on feature to your conference to being ESSENTIAL to the success of your virtual event.
Jeff Civillico has a LOT of experience hosting virtual events with 50+ under his belt since March 2020 and is comfortable on all major platforms including Zoom, ON24, Skype, WebEx, and Streamyard. He has 60+ minutes of clean comedy material that works for virtual he can pepper in throughout your event to keep your attendees laughing and engaged.
His established production partnership with Truthful Studio in Las Vegas and can accommodate ALL your virtual event needs: livestream broadcasts / conferences, internal events, external events, panels, interviews, game shows, webcasts, interactive comedy shows, team-building workshops, webinars, etc.
4) Derek Hughes
Leave your viewers in awe with magic created by Derek Hughes – a comedy magician and hilarious host.
As a virtual emcee, Derek is ideal for increasing audience engagement through unique magic tricks. And don’t imagine that your viewers will be standing idly because he will ask for volunteers.
As the Standup Magician, Derek Hughes’ unparalleled skills as both a world-class magician and expert improviser lend him the ability to find the humor within any group’s dynamic. Hughes’ loveable sarcasm and charisma have paved the way to appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Penn & Teller: Fool Us!, and NBC’s America’s Got Talent, where he was voted a finalist. In a virtual show that’s packed to the brim with astonishing moments that viewers experience firsthand through their screens, Derek is the refreshing through-line, keeping everyone energized and smiling during your next online event. It is often said that laughter is the best stress reliever in these times of uneasiness. And if laugher is the best medicine, then Derek Hughes is the perfect pharmacist.
5) Marcus Monroe
Marcus Monroe is a performance artist and comedian who successfully fuses these two specializations to conjure up a fun and unique viewing experience.
With him as a virtual event host, your guests will feel as if they’re watching a show with a funny twist at the end.
His juggling act is very dynamic, going from light-hearted to breathtaking as Marcus juggles bowling pins, hoops, even knives or firecrackers.
However, no matter how intense his juggling act gets, his personality and off-the-wall sense of humor will always elicit a lot of positive reactions from the viewers.
6) Rik Roberts
Stand-up legend Rik Roberts brings the dose of comedy your virtual event might be missing. With him as a virtual event host, the audience engagement and fun is turned up to eleven.
Rik’s sense of humor is perfect for company events where you want to bring the right amount of entertainment, but without sacrificing professionalism and class.
He has done numerous in-person shows, from business galas to private corporate parties and his comedy act translates perfectly to an online environment.
Simply give him the mic and let the show commence!
7) Ben Seidman
Ben was a regular at corporate events around the country. But when attending in-person events was no longer possible, Ben adapted his usual performances and created a live virtual magic show, allowing audiences to experience the wonder of magic together. He’s now one of the top virtual magicians you can book today!
Interactive segments in which remote participants have their minds read through a screen, exciting demonstrations of sleights-of-hand, easy tutorials that teach guests basic magic tricks – all contribute to creating an unforgettable show.
The Best Virtual Event Host for Audience Engagement
Behind a successful online event is a virtual host that has done his job by the book. With the help of a host, a virtual event can be transformed into its own unique and contained experience, to which your guests can look forward.
With any of these professionals as hosts for your event, the fun is guaranteed and your viewers can look forward to an experience they will surely remember for a while to come.
At The Grable Group, we can help you find the right host for all types of events, both virtual or in-person. If you’re convinced to get a host for your virtual event, we’re glad to have given you the best options.
Start browsing our portfolio or reach out to us at (615) 283-0039 and we will gladly assist you with the booking procedures!
