2. Virtual Activities

Running Effective Virtual Activities

This module provides guidance on how to get the most out of running a virtual activity on Stitch (or anywhere else, for that matter). Every Mentor needs to be able to run effective virtual activities, as this is the main way you will interact with the Pioneers in your group at each of your monthly get-togethers.

Some of the content on this page can be found on the Stitch Help Center, so if you’re already familiar with how to set up a virtual activity on Stitch, feel free to skip those sections.

Many of the sections, however, are designed to help you get the most out of any virtual activity you attend or host. Even if you’ve run dozens of virtual activities already, we recommend you spend some time getting familiar with the recommendations contained in this module. Who knows, you may learn something useful! 😀

Each video is only a few minutes long.

The content in this module starts with some recommendations about how to set yourself up to get best performance at a virtual activity, before covering how to set up and run an event on Stitch. The module includes:

  • Recommendations for your audio
  • Recommendations for your device and Internet setup
  • Recommendations for your lighting
  • Recommendations for your camera setup
  • How to set up a virtual activity on Stitch
  • (optional) How to enable closed captions on Zoom
  • Guidance for running a virtual activity

Getting your audio right

It might surprise you to know that, when it comes to running an effective virtual event, nothing is more important than having decent audio.

The movie industry has known this for a long time: audiences will watch a movie with dim lighting or grainy footage, but if the sound is hard to hear, you’ve lost them. The same is true for virtual activities.

Luckily, it’s pretty easy to set yourself up with decent audio these days, provided you give it a little bit of attention. 

Just watch the video below for some tips and tricks about how to make sure you’re coming across clearly at the virtual events you host and attend.

Your device and Internet setup

Running a close second to having decent audio is making sure you’re getting the most out of the device you’re using, and your Internet connection. 

If you choose the wrong device, or use it in bad configuration, you may find your video lags and stutters, making it very hard for others to see or hear you.

A good Internet connection helps enormously, but even if that’s not something you can change, there are a few simple tips and tricks worth considering to get the most out of your setup. 

Watch the video below to check them out.

Tips and tricks for your lighting

If you want to give yourself the best chance to really connect with other members through virtual events, you really need to get your lighting set up properly.

Just think about it: are you more likely to feel comfortable getting to know someone new if you meet them in a bright, sunny courtyard where their face and expressions are clear, or in a dark alley where you can hardly see them?

When meet someone virtually, body language takes on an even greater importance than it does when we meet in person, since we typically only get to see someone else’s face. So it’s vitally important you can be seen by other members at your virtual events. 

(And that you try to smile even more often than you do in person!)

The video below gives you some simple tips and tricks to set up your lighting to get the most out of the virtual activities you attend and host.

Tips and tricks for your camera

For our final tips and tricks video, let’s look at getting the most out of your camera.

Most devices these days come with an in-built webcam, but not all webcams are created equally!

The video gives you some tips and tricks for getting the most out of your camera for virtual activities.

How to set up a virtual activity on Stitch

If you’ve never hosted a virtual activity before, then the best place to start is the following article from the Stitch Help Center, Hosting a virtual event on Stitch.  

The article explains how to create a virtual activity using either Zoom or Stitch Video, along with the settings you need to consider when creating your activity.

Or, if you prefer watching videos to reading help articles, you can watch the following video:

When it comes to whether you use Zoom or Stitch Video for your Mentoring Group, the choice is really up to you.

Zoom has a lot more features than Stitch Video, and will let you:

  • Record your activity so you can share it with anyone who misses it
  • Enable Closed Captioning for members who may be hearing-impaired, or who struggle with your accent
  • Create break-out rooms 
  • Share documents
  • as well as use a number of other features
If you use a free Zoom account, however, you will find that your events are limited to 40 minutes, and that your attendees will need to rejoin the event after the 40 minute time limit is up. 
 
Stitch Video, on the other hand, is free, and requires no installation. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that Zoom has, but for a small group activity like a Pioneer Group, it may be all you need.
 
Note that most Pioneers will have used Zoom previously, but most will not have used Stitch Video. The first time they use Stitch Video, they’ll need to enable audio in their browser in order for it to work.
 
The technology Stitch uses for Stitch Video is called Whereby. You can test whether Whereby works for you before setting up an event by checking out the Whereby Demo Room

Guidance for running a virtual activity

If you’re a Mentor, you’ve most likely attended lots of virtual activities already, so probably have a good idea of what makes a good virtual activity. You may not have hosted an event yourself, however, so we thought we should give you a few recommendations for things you should consider when running a virtual activity. 

Some of our tips include:

  • Make sure you know how to use the Mute button to mute all attendees. There is nothing worse than feedback from one attendee’s microphone ruining the meeting for everyone! The moment you hear background feedback, simply ask everyone to pause while you mute everyone, then ask whoever was speaking to unmute themselves and continue.
  • Remember that main goal for your Mentoring Group is that Pioneers walk away feeling supported, engaged, and enthused. You’ll have the best chance of this happening if every Pioneer feels they get an equal opportunity to contribute and ask questions, so make sure you share the spotlight. If one person starts to dominate, you’ll need to gently interrupt and throw things over to another attendee. An easy way to do this is often to do this by asking a question to one of the other attendees.
  • By the same token, try not to dominate the meeting yourself. Often you will need to share information with the Pioneers, but if you’re showing them something, make sure you give them plenty of opportunity to interact and ask questions. 
  • If one of the Pioneers is using Zoom or Stitch Video for the first time, consider asking them to join the call 10 minutes early while you help them test their audio is working.
If you have other tips you recommend we include, please let us know and we can add them to the list above.

(optional) How to set up Closed Captions on Zoom

If you use Zoom for your virtual activities, you may want to enable Closed Captioning so that any attendees who are struggling to hear you can read what you say on the screen. (It’s an automated system so it only gets it right about 90% of the time, but it’s better than nothing!)

If you’d like to know how to set up Closed Captioning, check out the video below.

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end of Module 2! Please move on to Module 3 when you’re ready.