Hybrid Meetings

 A fellow Toastmasters member asked me for tips on running a hybrid meeting and I realized:  What a great opportunity for a blog post!  So here it goes...

In our "life with COVID" world, many organizations (including Toastmasters and its clubs) are seeking to offer flexible participation in events.  In other words, we give people the option of whether they want to travel to a designated location to participate in a meeting where fellow participants are also gathered OR join on their own computer, tablet, or phone from their home, office, etc.  This meeting with options for how to attend is often referred to as "hybrid."

To run a successful Toastmasters hybrid meeting, you need to consider all four of the following types of participants:

• "In person" audience member
• "In person" speaker
• Remote audience member
• Remote speaker

You will always have both "in person" and remote audience members.  Whether you currently have an "in person" or "remote" speaker changes throughout the meeting depending on who is currently speaking (as Toastmaster, speaker, table topics master, table topics speaker, evaluator, or other speaking role).  

In order to serve all four of these types of participants throughout the meeting, here is some recommended equipment:

• Laptop, tablet, or phone with a microphone and camera to capture the in person speaker and broadcast to the remote audience members.  You should also position this device so that the in person speaker can look at its screen to see the remote audience members.  This laptop, tablet, or phone is referred to as the "primary device."
• TV or projector + speaker that can be connected to the previously mentioned laptop, tablet or phone to display audio and visuals from the remote speaker and audience members to the in person audience members.
• Optionally, one or more additional laptops, tablets, or phones that have sound turned off but camera on in order to capture in person audience members so that they can be seen by remote audience members and remote speaker.  These laptops, tablets, or phones can be called "secondary devices."

There are also other more involved set-ups, but the above three bullet points capture what I believe to be the "simplest" approach.  With the proper set-up using the equipment listed above, the person who is speaking (whether they are remote or in person) can always be seen and heard by all audience members (whether they are remote or in person).  With a little bit of additional coordination, the person who is speaking (whether they are remote or in person) will also be able to see and hear all the audience members - both remote and in person.  

Here is a breakdown for how to achieve this using the equipment listed for each scenario of who is speaking:

Remote speaker 

The TV or projector + speaker must be set up in such a way that those who are in person can see and hear the remote speaker.

In order for the remote speaker to see their in person audience members, you must either:

• Use one or more secondary devices OR 
• Reposition the primary device so that it is picking up the visuals (and, if desired, audio) from the in person audience members.  In other words, you can move the camera of the primary device from pointing at the designated "in person" speaking area (see next scenario) to pointing at the audience members while a remote speaker is talking.

In person speaker - From designated speaking area

For "planned" speaking roles such as Toastmaster, speaker, and evaluator, have a designated speaking area for the in person participants.  Each time someone is speaking as a part of one of these roles, they should physically move to the designated speaking area.

The primary device should have its screen, camera, and microphone directed at this speaking area, and thus at speaker.  This way, their words and body language will be broadcast to the remote audience via the camera and microphone and they can also see the remote audience via the screen.  The speaker should treat the camera capturing them as an additional "in person" audience member, looking into it just as they would make eye contact with any other audience member.

In person speaker - From within the audience seating

At some points in the meeting, you might call on audience members to speak, such as to answer a "question of the day" or ask a question of a speaker.  It is important that such a "temporary" speaker also be heard by remote participants.  Sometimes, the microphone will already pick up all the sound in the room, in which case no changes are needed.  If this is not the case, there are a few options for ensuring the person speaking from the audience can be heard:

1. Make the "temporary" speaker come up to the designated speaking area to comment or ask their question
   
   
   
2. Direct the microphone of the primary device towards the "temporary" speaker while they are talking so they can be heard 
   
   
   
3. Have someone who can be picked up by the microphone repeat the question or comment for online participants
   
   
   

There are more details on the second and third option below.  What you do may differ depending on the scenario.  For example, an in person speaker may choose to repeat any questions from in person audience members whereas you might want to redirect the microphone to pick up each person answering a "question of the day".

Additional tips for ensuring a quality experience

• Have someone who is "in person" in charge of setting up the equipment at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.  This person should also monitor the equipment throughout the meeting.
• When using any secondary devices, do NOT turn on their audio.  It is easiest to not join audio in the meeting from these devices.  When prompted to select an option for joining audio, select the option to not join audio.  The alternative is that you have mute both the microphone and speakers on the secondary device at all times.
• Test the "in person" microphone on the primary device prior to the start of the meeting to make sure the speaker can be heard by the remote participants from the designated speaking area.  Test with the quietest person in the room to make sure they can be heard.  Have a back-up microphone that you can plug in to the primary device if there are issues with any built-in microphones.
• Test the "in person" microphone to see if it picks up background noise from audience members in the room.  If it does pick up background noise, encourage audience members to be respectful and only speak when they want to be heard by everyone.  If it does not pick up background noise, be aware that if an audience member answers or asks a question during a presentation, it will not be heard by those online.  To get such questions, answers, and comments to be known to the online participants without making the audience member physically move you will need to either:
• Point the microphone at whomever is speaking so that it will pick them up.  This is ideal, but you will need to test to make sure this actually works.  OR
• Have a designated person standing in front of the microphone repeat relevant comments from in person audience members.  This person should also be sure to state that an audience member has something to say before they start speaking so the online participants know something is happening even if they can't hear it.
• When anyone is talking (remote or in person), it might be necessary to mute other participants if they are making background noise that is distracting.  Make sure someone is the "host" of the meeting and able to do this when needed.  This "host" can be either in person or remote.
• Encourage participants to say something if they cannot see or hear those who are speaking.  You can also make this a regular part of the General Evaluator's comments and/or ask for feedback at the end of the meeting.
• Have someone at the "in person" location reachable via cell phone so they can be contacted apart from the remote meeting itself if someone has an issue from a remote location.
• Always have a back-up plan.  For example, you can always have at least two people plan to bring laptops so that if the usual "primary" doesn't work, the "secondary" device becomes primary.  Worst case, be prepared to use someone's phone to broadcast the meeting to remote participants.
• Experiment with different equipment and configurations of equipment until you find what works best for your group.

Hybrid meetings are not easy, but with some patience, experimentation, and establishing of best practices, they can be a wonderful way to keep everyone engaged and included, no matter where they are.