The pandemic has greatly altered the ways we connect with others over the past two years, requiring PR professionals to be extra creative in the ways they communicate with members of the media. Traditional, in-person news conferences have not always been feasible, requiring PR pros to transition to providing reporters and media representatives with information online, via email/phone or via virtual news conferences.

A virtual news conference still allows you to provide the necessary information from key speakers, it’s just in a remote setting to keep everyone safe. The important thing is to keep it informative, yet concise, so that your audience and journalists get all of the information they need and don’t doze off while waiting for it. 

And though virtual news conferences can take more time to plan and set up, when they are executed effectively, they can provide a simple and accessible way to meet the needs of your client, your audience and members of the media.

Choose your platform

It is important to use the right tools to set up your virtual news conference. From my experience, Zoom has been satisfactory. However, there are businesses and organizations that due to security and other issues, will require a more extensive or customized platform. 

Establish a time limit

As with any type of in-person news conference, you’ll want to set a time limit. No one wants to sit through a 1-hour news conference. Speaker remarks should be brief and to the point and the only people to speak should be the individuals your stakeholders and the media absolutely must hear from. My news conferences are rarely more than 30-45-minutes, including time allotted for questions.

Strive for engagement among participants

Create name placards for your speakers so that all attendees know who the speakers are and what organization they represent. Invite attendees to submit questions ahead of time or have a moderator monitor the chat box for questions. Having the questions in advance will give your speakers the opportunity to be better prepared and provide thoughtful responses.

A huge benefit of the chat box is that the chat can be saved. If time runs short and all attendee questions can not be addressed, your chat monitor can save the chat. You can then take follow up conversations off-line after the news conference to provide those attendees whose questions weren’t answered with the information they need.

You can also record the news conference and provide clips to journalists for their stories and posts.

Practice makes perfect!

Rehearse the virtual news conference once or twice to make sure that all of your technology works, your speakers know their roles and remarks, your video capability is working and your chat monitor knows what he/she needs to do. Group your advance questions together by topic or speaker to avoid repetitiveness. If possible, have your chat monitor do the same during the news conference.

Prepare your attendees

When you send an invitation for the virtual news conference, include a news release or media alert that provides all the pertinent information. If possible, provide invitees with a Press Kit that they can refer to before or after the news conference You don’t want to be fielding unnecessary questions during the news conference because you didn’t provide invitees with the key info ahead of time.

Expect the unexpected

You should also prepare for the unexpected. Have co-hosts so that if your technology fails you, a co-host can continue the news conference until you get your technology squared away.

Be sure to request attendees’ cell numbers ahead of time so that if something goes wrong, you have a way to communicate with them immediately. If possible, have a plan B in place so you can text and email the attendees about when and how the news conference will be alternatively held or rescheduled.