14 digital tools for encouraging virtual meetings’ engagement
Since COVID-19 has started, our lives have changed significantly, including the human interactions that have been replaced by screens, video calls, and chats.
Who of us hasn’t been in a meeting with a thunderous silence? A tiring Zoom call where we find ourselves counting the minutes? Meetings where the speaker talks with a presentation for an entire hour without stop? An online lecture that you organized but where you couldn’t engage the participants? A webinar where you were curious to meet the other participants but you didn’t get the chance?
If you deliver lectures, training sessions, meetings for employees or colleagues, or would like to organize social online meetings in a more interesting and interactive way, this post is for you.
We’ve been working from home for months and operating remotely. Now that we became virtual-world savvy, I’ve collected some websites and digital tools that can help you during these times. With them, you’ll create better engagement, networking, and interaction among participants during web meetings. All the tools have a free version and they are relatively simple to use. You simply can share your screen in your virtual platform (i.e., Zoom or Microsoft Teams), and work with these tools. In the virtual world, Zoom is equal to the physical meeting’s room, and the digital tools are the assistance tools, such as the screen, white board and markers, clock, and so on.
These tools are meant to help us, but keep in mind that the good old discussion techniques still work like a charm in every virtual meeting.
Let’s start.
Organize virtual meetings? Read these 11 tips
1.Zoom Polls
This is one of the features that not many use, and it’s a shame. You can add the poll to each meeting, create as many polls that you would like and share them at any stage during the meeting. The answers are automatically saved in the meeting’s setting. That allows you to go back to them anytime.
Try it: Zoom
2. Poll Everywhere
Another tool for creating polls and sharing them. The free version is limited to max. 25 participants.
Try it: Poll Everywhere
3. Mentimeter
An interactive tool for creating presentations, polls, questions for discussion, and more. The possibilities here are especially diverse. You can choose the presentation type from various options, according to the meeting purpose, the desired input, and the number of participants.
Try it: Mentimeter
4. Sli.do
A tool for creating polls. A cool feature for those of you that deliver large lectures and events: you can refer the participants to write the questions in Sli.do with their name or anonymously, and other participants can react with “like” to the questions. That way, if you don’t have time and you need to choose which question to answer among all of them – you could have a good indication which question seems most interesting for the audience.
Try it: Sli.do
5. Kahoot
Kahoot initially was built for creating a quiz with real-time answering capabilities, based on closed questions. That’s why it’s suitable mainly for large groups of participants. Now you can create polls, slides, puzzles, and other games, for any purpose.
Try it: Kahoot
6. Socrative
Socrative is similar to Kahoot’s quizzes, but here you and the participants can see all the answers.
Try it: Socrative
7. Quizizz
Another tool for creating real-time polls and quizzes. Unlike the time-based Kahoot, this is a score-based quiz.
Try it: Quizizz
8. Wheel of Names
A virtual wheel of fortune where you can insert participants’ names, accompanied with sound and virtual confetti.
Notwithstanding, you can creatively use the wheel to create a discourse among the participants.
Try it: Wheel of Names
9. Classroomscreen
A website for interactive learning through shared screen: Group dividing, common drawing on the screen (Zoom has this option too), clock displaying, visual means for learning, polls, and more.
Try it: Classroomscreen
10. Jamboard
Google created this interactive white board for team collaboration. You can create a shared canvas, illustrate and write on it, save it to the cloud, and come back with additional work anytime. Are you a sticky notes fan? With Jambord, you can use them in the digital version.
Try it: Google Jamboard
11. Padlet
A platform where you can create a shared board. For instance: Notes wall, a board where each one shares their favorite food with a photo, a map with locations rank, lesson plan, and more. It’s recommended for instructors and small teams.
Try it: Padlet
12. Coggle
A tool for creating diagrams in a great visual way. It’s suitable for those who wish to deliver a structural explanation of a topic.
Try it: Coggle
13. Miro
Another platform for creating a diagram, and also for mutual brainstorming. It is recommended for teams that would like to maximize their meetings.
Try it: Miro
14. Mural
This tool offers brainstorming options too. Favorite by the Design Thinking adherents, it’s also useful for those who moderate meetings. Here you can use sticky-notes fans too, as this platform provides the feeling in a virtual shape, as well.
Try it: Mural
Photos: Zoom, Poll Everywhere, Mentimeter, Sli.do, Kahoot, Socrative, Quizizz, Wheel of Names, Classroomscreen, Padlet, Coggle, Miro, Mural, screenshots
Do you want to learn more about digital tools? Explore more how they can boost your virtual meeting or online event? I can help you shape your online meeting content, choose the right tool for your audience, and train your employees for the best implementation. Let’s talk.