Virtual Events Production: Your Complete Guide to Getting It Right

You may have an audience to engage, a message to deliver, but not a conference room in sight. If so, welcome to the world of virtual events production, where great storytelling, clever tech, and a sprinkle of charm can create impactful online experiences. 

Virtual events don’t have to feel like a poorly planned video call. When executed well they can result in polished, engaging experiences that stay in an audience’s memory. 

In this guide, we’ll take you through the key points around virtual events production—from pre-planning to post-event analysis—so that your next online event lands with applause. 

What is Virtual Events Production? 

Let’s demystify things a bit. 

Virtual events production refers to the behind-the-scenes magic that brings a virtual event to life. It covers everything from setting up the tech and managing the live stream to supporting speakers, designing agendas, and ensuring audience engagement. 

It’s not just about clicking “Go Live” and hoping for the best. It’s about producing an event with intention, skill, and a healthy appreciation for all things that could go wrong (but hopefully won’t). 

So, whether it’s a leadership conference, product launch, or a company-wide celebration, good virtual events production is vital to meeting this increasing demand. But it also ensures that everything runs like clockwork, even if you’re juggling ten time zones and a last-minute script change.

Why Virtual Events Still Matter in 2025

You may wonder if virtual events are still relevant since hybrid working is the norm. And the short answer is, absolutely! Recent projections suggest the value of the virtual events market will grow to over $1 trillion by 2030. Much of this is due to virtual events offering the best flexibility, which is vital when managing attendees globally. But it can also help nationally when attempting to engage attendees from across a mixture of office-based, remote, and hybrid working cultures. The popularity of virtual events is also down to their low cost and wide range of unique advantages.  

For instance, virtual events impose no restrictions on the number of attendees. And this makes them scalable and affordable while offering a global reach. It also allows organisations to host a range of engaging initiatives online and share content with audiences post-event, letting attendees and others playback meetings on-demand for instance. 

Key Components of Virtual Events Production

Great virtual events don’t happen by accident, they’re designed. So, let’s break down the major elements to consider in any successful virtual events production.

1. Pre-Production: Planning for Success

The most important element to factor when delivering successful virtual events is preparation. And the first phase of preparation is the planning phase, where it’s important to review and consider key questions: 

• Objectives: What’s the purpose of your event? Who’s your audience? And what do you want your audience to take away? 

• Audience needs: Who is attending? What do they value? Will the meeting be accessible? How can you hold their attention? 

• Agenda: Create a balanced schedule with time for breaks, interaction, and variation in pace. 

• Platform choice: Which tech will you use, e.g. Zoom, Teams, Webex, etc.  

• Roles and responsibilities: Who’s producing, presenting, tech-supporting, and hosting your event? 

And we can’t stress this enough: rehearse. Yes, even if your speakers are pros. Especially then. 

2. The Tech Setup: Tools of the Trade 

Getting set up with the right tech shouldn’t have to mean turning an office room into a full-blown studio. But there are some essentials to get right. These can include choosing the right lighting, audio, and camera for your sessions.  

For example, softbox or ring lights can make a huge difference to the quality of your events. And the same can be said for using an HD webcam, which can boost visual quality. Don’t forget to use a wired internet connection and a plan B in case of poor connectivity mid-event. It’s also well worth having spare equipment to hand in case anything goes wrong.   

Tech hiccups happen, so it’s something to plan for, not ignore. What will separate a smooth event from an unprofessional one is how much planning you did for them. So, to prepare well, make sure to test all technology ahead of time. Ensure you have a dry run, too, and include all of your speakers. They can also help you to identify any possible issues.   

3. Run of Show and Show Calling

With all your tech set-up tested and ready, you’ll then need to create a Run of Show (RoS). This is a detailed, chronological schedule that outlines every aspect of an event. You could think of it like a film script combined with a train timetable – it details who does what, when, and how. 

Your RoS should include some core components such as event segments, timings, speaker transitions, when to roll slides or video clips, names of show callers, stage managers, and any platform instructions e.g. unmute speaker, play holding music.

4. Speaker Coaching and Support

Having great speakers at your event is another vital aspect of hosting a great virtual event. But, finding someone who is a well-seasoned speaker for in-person events won’t always translate into them being a good speaker when it comes to the screen.  

So, it’s worth bearing in mind that speakers need to carry themselves in particular ways and may need coaching or training support to be effective. Getting the message across to all participants is vital, and this may require you to source training or coaching support.  

Other steps you may want to consider taking to help you mitigate any issues and support your presenters in the right way include the following:  

• Body language coaching – Does the speaker make good eye contact with the camera? Do they have strong energy and good posture?  

• Clear cues – Let them know when they’re live, when to wrap up, and how to handle audience Q&A. 

• Accessibility checklist – Is the event fully inclusive of people, especially those with protected characteristics? Have you run an accessibility check to boost inclusion such as featuring captions on screen, for instance? Data shows 85% of people with neurodivergence won’t attend an event if it’s not neuroinclusive.  

• Personalised tech set up – along with your own tech set up, make sure all your speakers have a compatible tech set-up that won’t fail them on the day.  

• Practice sessions – Having plenty of run-throughs can reduce nerves and tech issues on the day. 

• Boost confidence – Support your speakers with their questions or ideas to help boost their confidence and clarity of thought.  

5. Audience Engagement: Keep the Energy Up

The biggest challenge in virtual events production is often holding attention.  

According to data from Microsoft, the average sustained attention span is 47 seconds. And, with so many people glued to their phones, our attention spans are getting shorter. So, any virtual event will need to work hard to keep an audience’s attention and prevent them from getting distracted.  

So let’s take a look at some of the key tactics you should deploy to promote strong engagement. 

• Interactive Q&A: Including a space for attendees to ask questions to senior leaders or prominent figures through a live Q&A can increase engagement and foster a strong sense of community. Keeping their feedback can also enable more personalised and targeted content.  

• Live polls: Running a poll is another way to boost participation and gather real-time feedback. And you can use this to personalise experiences or run more effective future meetings.   

• Breakout rooms: Running a breakout room can enhance networking and promote specific topics or project initiatives.   

• Live digital scribing: Live scribing offers a visually appealing way to attract attention and explain more complex topics in a digestible, pictorial format. This can also work to boost accessibility levels for deaf people or people who need captions.   

• Games, challenges, or scavenger hunts: Games or challenges that include asking participants to get out of their seats and move around can keep them refreshed and energised in your session.  

• Photo booths and virtual backgrounds: These types of props can create fun, memorable, and shareable experiences for all participants.  

Virtual vs Hybrid: What Changes in Production? 

So, when it comes to running hybrid events, what should you be thinking about in terms of their production, where some people join in person and others would attend remotely?  

Since 2020, virtual events have increased in popularity. And a 2022 global survey projected virtual events would grow to 40% of all global event activity. This still leaves some space for hybrid events, which can result in fantastic results when planned well.    

Some key aspects to consider with virtual events production using a hybrid format include whether you want to stream live from a venue or from an office space, how you’ll want to share Q&A tools or chat channels, how you’ll train speakers to reach both audiences, and the experiences that each audiences will have whether they are attending via remote and in-person channels.  

Hybrid events tend to require more kit and coordination. But they can deliver brilliant results when they’re executed well. 

Post-Event Production: Don’t Skip This Bit 

Once the virtual confetti settles on your event, be aware – there is still work to be done.  

Post-production and follow-up with attendees are vital components of any event’s success. Some factors you’ll want to consider include: 

• Recordings and replays – Share these with attendees or repurpose for social media. 

• Analytics – Look at who showed up, who engaged, and where people dropped off. 

• Feedback surveys – Quick and meaningful. Ask what people liked and what they’d change. 

• Content repurposing – Turn insights into blogs, quotes, or internal comms. 

• Thank yous – A simple message of appreciation goes a long way. 

• Your event might be over, but the conversation can (and should) continue. 

Common Virtual Events Production Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them) 

To help you avoid some common mistakes, here’s our virtual rogues’ gallery. It includes all the key issues that can and do happen during virtual events production.  

In this rundown, we’ll review some key mistakes and what you can do to keep them at bay: