Event interview videos offer a powerful return on investment for virtually any type of event. Well executed interviews heighten audience engagement, demonstrate thought leadership, and boost search results. Planning the stories you want to emanate from your event and choosing the proper event attendees to contribute to these stories ensures you’ll get the video interviews you need to extend the reach of your event and drive sign ups for future events. Ask yourself the following five questions to help you prepare for your interviews.

Who is the event for?

Identifying your inspiration for the event and painting a picture of your ideal guest list will lay down the base for all of the other components of your event. This task will also make the planning process go more smoothly and efficiently.

Why are you hosting an event?

Determining why you’re hosting an event helps you narrow down attainable checkpoints before, during, and after the event. Be realistic about your checkpoints, and make sure you have the help you need to execute them properly. You don’t want to be scrambling for extra volunteers at the last minute.

What are you looking to get out of it?

Do you simply want to entertain your guests or are you hoping to secure a set number of sales? Make sure to invite more guests than you expect to come so the attendance numbers meet your goals. For general public events, most likely you’ll have a 40-50% drop off in registered attendees versus actually guests. The figure drops to 20-30% for professional events and 10-20% for paid events.

What type of event elements fit within your outlined criteria?

Once you’ve put together an ideal attendance list, established your goals, and decided what you’d like to achieve with you’re event, you’re ready to design elements that will really make it stand out. For example, if you’re hosting a networking event, think about offering a signature cocktail. Attendees will be curious to try the new drink and will have an instant talking point.

How do you plan for your event to live on after the event itself?

Understanding the elements of your event that you want to extend beyond the event itself will help you plan accordingly. For example, developing and promoting social handles and event hashtags prominently throughout the event makes it simple for attendees to share photo and video content during the event. After the event is over, you’ll continue to have easy access to a wealth of attendee generated content. Plan ahead of time so you’re ready to share your handles and hashtags as soon as the event starts.

Equipped with your answers, refine the video production strategy for your upcoming event. Brief your interviewees in advance so they’re prepared with thoughtful, concise answers. Set up a power interview station in a convenient location for the interviewees. Mark the spot for the interviewees to stand with an “X,” and have your questions ready to go before they arrive so the interviews move quickly. The sooner you finish the interviews, the sooner you’ll be able to edit and publish them.