In this blog post you will learn how to facilitate better Q&A sessions, give your team members a chance to be heard and create a work culture of trust and belonging in the remote workplace.

Tip 1: Plan for enough time in your agenda

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with Q&A sessions is to rush it. People need time to ask their questions and they want to have the feeling that their feedback is actually heard and not overlooked. So, plan a considerable amount of time for your Q&A sessions.

For example, at Google, they plan for about 30 minutes of Q&A every week after their 30 minute All-Hands meeting.

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2. Collect questions via a Q&A platform in advance

Well, admittedly - we are biased. But hear us out: Running Q&As verbally at large meetings or events can be tedious and unpractical. Not only does it take much more time than using an online Q&A platform like Stagecast, it also might hinder some individuals from asking their questions at all.

With Stagecast, people can ask their questions anonymously and even before the session starts - leaving them with enough time to formulate their questions and removing all anxiety from speaking up in front of a crowd.

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3. Share the Q&A link in advance of your meeting or event

To make it easy for everyone to ask their questions and give participants enough time, make sure to share the Stagecast room link prior to your Q&A session. This is also a good practice for yourself - that way you can prepare for questions that you know will be coming up ahead of time.

You can simply create a new, dedicated Stagecast room where you leave the Q&A activity live. You can then share the room link on all the channels where you reach your attendees. For example, share the link in a dedicated Slack channel, put it in the meeting or event calendar invitation or share it via E-Mail.

4. Show the questions on stage or in stream to remind participants

Make sure to show the questions that participants have asked on the stage screen or in your online meeting. It's the best way for people to see that they leave a mark and reminds other attendees to also ask questions. Simply show the Stagecast Presenter view!

With Stagecast you can even highlight questions that are currently being asked via the Stagecast moderator page and thereby increase interactivity and engagement.

5. Export questions and follow up

Sometimes it’s just not possible to answer all the questions. Make sure you download all questions and follow up with participants whose questions were not answered. If you use the participant profile feature of Stagecast, you can collect E-Mail addresses of participants who asked questions and simply send them the response they deserve via mail.

There you have it: 5 Tips to create better Q&As. What tip did you find most useful?

Did not find what you were looking for? We got many more articles in the Stagecast blog. Why don't you take a look around?

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