If you are simply putting a chat pod in your layout and leaving it there without a strategy for how you plan to use it, you are missing out! There are a plethora (yep, I used plethora) of really creative interactive exercises that can be developed with a simple chat pod(s) to boost overall engagement by capturing attention, driving interaction and keeping that attention.
Here are some fun examples from a variety of our webinars over the years to get your wheels turning. (Please note that I’ve taken out all the attendees’ names for privacy reasons in the below screen shots).
Three Chat Pods to Collect Feedback on Three Related Topics
Here is an example of the virtual presenter asking her audience an open ended question that has three categories for answers. She has broken up the categories using a chat pod for each category.
Chat Pod with a Video File
Here the presenter is playing a video and asking her audience to place their observations based on her guiding question in the chat pod while the video is playing.
Using a Chat Pod with Audio Files (mp3 music):
Here the presenter is having some fun with audio files. She has uploaded three mystery audio files and asked the audience to identify the ad jingle in the chat pod as she plays each one. Now the presenter can see the name of the first person that got the answer right.
Learning or Takeaway Recap
Here the webinar speaker has asked the audience to recap what they have learned and how they might implement the ideas presented throughout the webinar in the future. She has used one chat pod for each specific area of learning.
Brainstorming and/or Dividing a Large Group into Smaller Working Groups
Here is an example where the virtual classroom instructor has asked her audience to work on a question amongst themselves in smaller groups by dividing the group by birthday month and asking them to brainstorm with their group in their designated chat pod. Certainly there are many other ways to divide a group up as well.
Give one of these a try or create your own interactive exercise in your next webinar! Feel free to share your results here or share an exercise you designed yourself that worked well.