A 2015 study by Microsoft revealed that the average person’s attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000—around the time mobile devices took over our lives—to just eight seconds. To put this in perspective, that’s shorter than the average attention span of a goldfish! So how do event planners improve an audience’s engagement and hold their attention in today’s highly-digitized world? Through superior audiovisual techniques and the audience engagement strategies listed below.
Six Ways to Increase Audience Engagement Through AV
1. Impactful Lighting
Humans are visual creatures, so whether it’s focused on the stage and the speaker or used throughout your event space, lighting can really boost event engagement. You may choose to create some visual flair with dynamic gobo lighting, inspire movement with intelligent lighting, or create the illusion of a larger space with LED uplighting along the walls. You can also add atmosphere to the event by adding fog, which allows light beams to be seen throughout the space and creating a striking, theatrical new look. Read more in our blog How To Use Light to Accent Your Event.
2. Quality Sound
The sound system is the “voice” of any event. Whether it’s being used to let a keynote speaker address an audience, by an announcer to build excitement, or by a live band or DJ to deliver great music, it needs to be just right or audiences will quickly tune out. Ensure you work with an event production company that understands the importance of sound and uses modern digital audio consoles and sound systems appropriate for the venue. Even if your event is a more intimate affair, quality audio will make spoken content, sound effects, and musical transitions that much more impactful.
3. Dynamic Video
Painstaking effort can be put into the development of a presentation, so you want to make sure it comes to life on stage in order to engage. This can be accomplished through animated logos and backgrounds, video switching that connects multiple laptops, cameras, and screens for 360-degree visuals, and IMAG—putting footage of the speakers up on the screens. Want to really make an impression? Use video and projection walls to place ultra-wide images on virtually any surface.
4. Mobile Microphones
No one wants to see a speaker tied to a cord or a podium. Bring the performance to life by using wireless mics that allow speakers to move about the room. If you’re hosting a panel of speakers, consider lavaliers so there’s no more passing a mic from person to person. Finally, if you want to really increase audience engagement without the tedium of mic passing, consider a cool engagement tool like Catchbox, a soft, throwable, box-shaped microphone that can be tossed throughout the audience to really get people talking.
5. Creative Staging
Forget the pipe and drape setup, today’s event stages need to be designed to engage; after all, that’s where all eyes will usually be for the majority of most events. Most stages are also quite large, allowing you to really get creative with backdrops and buildouts. You may even consider an LED video wall, offering a bold, bright wall to deliver your message and get audiences’ attention. Wondering how to increase audience engagement on social media? Post tweets, pic, and instant messages on the LED video wall to get attendees interacting with one another. And, if you’re under budget constraints, you can still make an impression; check out our blog How To Get Creative With Your Event Stage on a Budget for inexpensive event engagement ideas.
6. Amazing Experiences
You want your event to be an experience that attendees will be talking and tweeting about, so make it experiential! This could involve using augmented reality (AR), in which attendees use their mobile devices to view their real-world environment with computer-generated imagery overlayed onto it, to enhance presentations or showcase new products. You might also consider audience engagement games; known today as gamification, this applies gaming techniques to typically boring tasks to increase audience engagement; read more about gamification here.
Despite the drop in attention spans, not all hope is lost! The Microsoft study also reveals that our ability to multitask has drastically improved in the mobile age, meaning people may be able to check their phones and pay attention to a speaker at the same time. Of course, the best way to keep their attention at all times is to engage through a superior AV experience. If you’re planning a New York City event and want to speak to event production specialists about increasing audience engagement, contact One Way Event Productions today.
