Spotlight 26: Host interactive virtual sessions with Backstage OnAir

Spotlight 26: Host interactive virtual sessions with Backstage OnAir



According to a recent survey by Markletic, two of the biggest challenges organizers face when hosting online events are attendee engagement and interaction. Where in-person events bank on the impact of face-to-face communication to engage attendees, virtual events depend on technology to build that rapport. As such, the more engagement tools available in your event management software, the more captivating your virtual sessions will be.
 
Backstage OnAir comes with a robust set of interactive tools that can help maximize audience engagement at your virtual sessions. In this post, we'll be exploring how you can make the best use of these tools.

Run live polls


The average human being has an attention span of just eight seconds. Since virtual events come with more distractions than in-person ones, you have to double your effort to keep attendees engaged. This means you need to be in frequent contact with your attendees to bring their attention back to your session. An easy way to do this is through live polling.



When webcasting sessions with Backstage OnAir, you can set the polls in three formats—multiple choice, ratings, or text box (for open-ended questions). These polls can also be created beforehand and projected during the session. To set polls, go to the Sessions tab in the Manage dashboard. Poll results can be viewed at any time in the Session summary page.

Host virtual Q&A sessions


At every session, the last few minutes are always set aside for audience questions. As it's not possible to have mic runners to solicit attendee questions at virtual events, Backstage OnAir comes with a handy Q&A feature that allows attendees to submit their questions. Here, your attendees can ask questions at any time during the session, and they can ask as many questions as they want. They can also see the questions submitted by other attendees and upvote the ones that interest them. 



The presenter can view all the questions by clicking the Question mark icon in the bottom-left corner of the presenter window. They also have the option to display the question to attendees by projecting it when answering so everyone knows what they're talking about. The questions will also be on record in the Session summary page for future reference.
 

Chat with attendees in real time

 
The single, most-effective tool to network during remote sessions is through the real-time chat feature. Using group chat, attendees can interact with each other, share ideas, and add to the discussion. With real-time chat, they are no longer silent spectators but instead, involved participants.



When participating in a remote session, organizers, speakers, and attendees can start chatting by clicking the Chat option in the left pane. Attendees can also start a private chat to interact with speakers or panelists.
 

Leverage the virtual whiteboard

 
A virtual whiteboard can be an incredible help for presenters who wish to keep attendees focused, especially when explaining complex topics. With Backstage OnAir's virtual whiteboard, presenters can write, draw, insert shapes, and even create flowcharts.



When presenting sessions with Backstage OnAir, you can access the virtual whiteboard from the bottom panel in the presenter window. Click the Whiteboard option to go to the white canvas board, from where you can create your illustrations. Also, a point to note here is that attendees can only view the whiteboard if you share your screen, so make sure to do that.
 

Get session feedback 

 
Finally, once the session is complete, you can get feedback from the attendees to gauge their reactions. To enable session feedback, go to Session settings in the Sessions tab. If you'd like to get feedback on something specific regarding the session, customize the session feedback form to include questions regarding it.



By studying the responses in the form, you can measure audience engagement at the session and get a better picture of what worked at the session and what didn't. You can use this feedback to improve engagement at future events.
 
Learn more about running virtual sessions with Backstage OnAir and give your attendees a fully immersive experience, wherever they may be. Subscribe to our forum to be updated with the latest Backstage news. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can leave a comment below or write to us at support@zohobackstage.com.
 
Happy organizing!




    • Recent Topics

    • Users may not pick the fields to be shown as columns in the Choose Account window when creating a new Deal record

      Hi there, by talking with other users I found out that I, as an Admin, am the only one who can pick fields to be shown as columns in the Choose Account window when creating a new Deal record. In fact, if other users click on the "Add Column" symbol on

    • Create custom rollup summary fields in Zoho CRM

      Hello everyone, In Zoho CRM, rollup summary fields have been essential tools for summarizing data across related records and enabling users to gain quick insights without having to jump across modules. Previously, only predefined summary functions were

    • push notification to Cliq when user is @mentioned in CRM notes

      push notification to Cliq when user is @mentioned in CRM notes. Currently users that is @mentioned gets an email to be notified. User/s that is @mentioned should get a Cliq notification.

    • 【参加無料】東京 Zoho ユーザ交流会 NEXUS ー AI エージェント (Zia Agents)の活用事例 / CRMで実現するマーケティング業務効率化

      ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 3月27日(金)に東京、新橋で「東京 Zoho ユーザー交流会 NEXUS」を開催します！ ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ✒️申し込みはこちらから：https://www.zohomeetups.com/tokyo2026vol1#/?affl=communityforumpost2 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ★参加のおすすめポイント ✅ AIエージェント（Zia）のリアルに使える実例を知る

    • Canvas View bug

      I would like to report a bug. When clone a canvas view from an existing canvas view, if the original canvas view have canvas button with client script. Then the new create canvas view will have canvas button, it is make sense. But when I try to delete

    • Actual vs Minimum

      Hi all, I am sure I am not the only one having this need. We are implementing billing on a 30-minute increment, with a minimum of 30 minutes per ticket. My question is, is there a way to create a formula or function to track both the minimum bill vs the

    • Zoho CRM for Everyone's NextGen UI Gets an Upgrade

      Hello Everyone We've made improvements to Zoho CRM for Everyone's Nextgen UI. These changes are the result of valuable feedback from you where we’ve focused on improving usability, providing wider screen space, and making navigation smoother so everything

    • Multiple header in the quote table???

      Hello, Is it possible in Zoho CRM to add multiple headers or sections within the Quote product table, so that when the quote is printed it shows separate sections (for example “Products” and “Services”)? To clarify, I’m asking because: This does not appear

    • One Support Email Managed By Multiple Departments

      Hello,  We use one support email (support@company.com). Incoming emails come to the "Support Department" and based on what the customer is asking, we route that ticket to different departments (billing, technical support, etc.). When users in these different

    • big 5 accounts

      how do you find what accounts are listed as Big 5 ?

    • RSC Connectivity Linkedin Recruiter RPS

      It seems there's a bit of a push from Linkedin Talent Solutions to keep integrations moving. My Account Manager confirmed that Zoho Recruit is a Certified Linkedin Linkedin Partner but does not have RSC as of yet., (we knew that :-) She encouraged me

    • Error AS101 when adding new email alias

      Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.

    • New UI in Zoho One CRM

      Hello, Just switched to the new UI for Zoho One CRM, do not like it, especially the search functions. What are the steps to backstep to the previous UI? UPDATE: I found it.

    • ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open not working properly

      I have a Zoho CRM Widget and in it I have a block where it will open the blocks Meeting like below block.addEventListener("click", () => { ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open({ Entity: "Events", RecordID: meeting.id }).catch(err => { console.error("Open record failed:",

    • Python - code studio

      Hi, I see the code studio is "coming soon". We have some files that will require some more complex transformation, is this feature far off? It appears to have been released in Zoho Analytics already

    • 🚀 WorkDrive 6.0 (Phase 1): Empowering Teams with Content Intelligence, Automation, Accessibility, and Control

      Hello, everyone! WorkDrive continues to evolve from a robust file management solution into an intelligent, secure, and connected content collaboration platform for modern businesses. Our goal remains unchanged: to simplify teamwork, strengthen data security,

    • Introducing Workqueue: your all-in-one view to manage daily work

      Hello all, We’re excited to introduce a major productivity boost to your CRM experience: Workqueue, a dynamic, all-in-one workspace that brings every important sales activity, approval, and follow-up right to your fingertips. What is Workqueue? Sales

    • Department Overview by Modified Time

      We are trying to create visuals to show the work our agents do in Zoho Desk. Using Zoho Analytics how can we create a Department Overview per modified time and not ticket created time? In order for us to get an accurate view of the work our agents are

    • Zoho Commerce

      Hi, I have zoho one and use Zoho Books. I am very interested in Zoho Commerce , especially with how all is integrated but have a question. I do not want my store to show prices for customers that are not log in. Is there a way to hide the prices if not

    • Support Custom Background in Zoho Cliq Video Calls and Meetings

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the video background capabilities in Zoho Cliq, specifically the ability to upload and use custom backgrounds. Current Limitation At present, Zoho Cliq allows

    • Upload own Background Image and set Camera to 16:9

      Hi, in all known online meeting tools, I can set up a background image reflecting our corporate design. This doesn't work in Cliq. Additionally, Cliq detects our cameras as 4:3, showing black bars on the right and left sides during the meeting. Where

    • ISO 27001 Compliance

      What are people doing to ensure ISO 27001 compliance for their Zoho environments? It would make sense for Log360 Cloud to integrate natively with the Zoho suite, but that is not the case. It requires a gateway cluster, which is not an option for a fully

    • Zoho People - Retrieve the Leave Details - get("LeaveCount")

      Hi, Zoho People I need to collect all of an employee's leave requests for the calendar year and check how many half-days they have taken. If I run the script on the query he just modified, I can retrieve the information related to that query and use the

    • Export blueprint as a high-resolution PDF or image file

      This would be a good feature for organizations that want to share the blueprint process with their employees but don't want them to have access to the blueprint in the system settings. At the moment all that users can do is screenshot the blueprint or

    • Importing into Multiselect Picklist

      Hi, We just completed a trade show and one of the bits of information we collect is tool style. The application supplied by the show set this up as individual questions. For example, if the customer used Thick Turret and Trumpf style but not Thin Turret,

    • What's new in Zoho Sheet: Simplify data entry and collaboration

      Hello, Zoho Sheet community! Last year, our team was focused on research and development so we could deliver updates that enhance your spreadsheet experience. This year, we’re excited to deliver those enhancements—but we'll be rolling them out incrementally

    • Marketer's Space: New to Campaigns? Some common early mistakes that might occur

      Hello Marketers, Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space. If you're just getting started with Zoho Campaigns, things can feel exciting and slightly confusing at the same time. You're not alone. Most early frustrations come from setup gaps rather

    • This user is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

      Hello, Just signed up to ZOHO on a friend's recommendation. Got the TXT part (verified my domain), but whenever I try to add ANY user, I get the error: This user is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details I have emailed as well and writing here as well because when I searched, I saw many people faced the same issue and instead of email, they got a faster response here. My domain is: raisingreaderspk . com Hope this can be resolved.  Thank you

    • New 2026 Application Themes

      Love the new themes - shame you can't get a little more granular with the colours, ie 3 different colours so one for the dropdown menu background. Also, I did have our logo above the application name but it appears you can't change logo placement position

    • Workflow Rule - Field Updates: Ability to use Placeholders

      It will be great if you can use placeholder tags to update fields. For example if we want to update a custom field with the client name we can use ${CONTACT.CONTACT_FIRSTNAME}${CONTACT.CONTACT_LASTNAME}, etc

    • Need a Universal Search Option in Zohobooks

      Hello Zoho, Need a Universal Search Option in Zohobooks to search across all transactions in our books of accounts. Please do the needful Thanks

    • Implement Date-Time-Based Triggers in Zoho Desk

      Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, We are writing to request a new feature that would allow for the creation of workflows triggered by specific date-time conditions. Currently, Zoho Desk does not provide native support for date-time-based triggers, limiting

    • Why is my Lookup field not being set through Desk's API?

      Hello, I'm having trouble setting a custom field when creating a Ticket in Zoho Desk. The endpoint I'm consulting is "https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/tickets" and even though my payload has the right format, with a "cf" key dedicated to all custom fields,

    • How exactly does "Reply assistance" work in Zoho Desk? What context is sent to the LLM?

      Hi, Im trying to better understand the technical behavior of the feature "Reply assistance" in Zoho Desk, and I couldn’t find detailed information in the current documentation. Specifically, I have questions about what data is actually being sent to the

    • Deletion Workflows

      Hello, Unless I missed it, we can't create deletion workflows. My usecase is to auto-delete junk leads. We have field called lead status, and an agent qualify all our new leads. When it's a junk lead she chose the correspondant value in the picklist. My goal is that the system delete them automatically. Is that possible? Planed ?

    • URGENTImpossible to book an appointement

      J'essaie plusieurs fois mais aucun créneau n''est disponible Message d'erreur lorsque j'essaie de sélectionner une date

    • Sendpulse SMTP/IMAP Issues

      It’s possible Zoho made some changes on their side. Sometimes, even if your regular password works, Zoho requires an app-specific password for external apps like SendPulse to connect via IMAP. You can create this in Zoho’s security settings and use it

    • Insane mail security

      I cannot access my email... anywhere. For some reason the password for the Mail app on my Mac is being rejected, it worked yesterday but now it doesn't? Ok let's try the web interface. I can access my general Zoho login with the password but if I want

    • UI issue with Organize Tabs

      When looking at the organize Tabs window (bellow) you can see that some tabs are grayed out. there is also a "Add Module/Web Tab" button. When looking at this screen it's clear that the grayed out tabs can not be removed from the portal user's screen

    • Task list flag Internal/External for all phases

      Phases are commonly used in projects to note milestones in the progression of a project, while task lists can be used to group different types of tasks together. It makes sense to be able to define a task list as either internal or external however the

    • Next Page