Until March 2020, most leaders and pastors were comfortable leading in-person and from upfront. So, when we abruptly found ourselves leading remotely and from behind a screen, it became a bit disorienting, even humbling if we’re willing to admit it.

What are your go-to practices for making sure you engage your audience every time you present, teach, preach, or lead a meeting online? Here’s the secret I’ve learned to presenting to people online: it doesn’t have the same impact as it doesn’t when you are talking to them in person without making some essential tweaks.

While nothing can replace in-person gatherings and community (I can’t be the only one that jumps up and down when someone says they’re going to stop by and talk to us through our dining room window), engaged communities can absolutely be created and fostered virtually. And even lead meeting IRL (in real life), which we know will happen again some day. Here are 4 ways you can create an engaged community beyond using Zoom calls and meetings.

Most of us are really thankful for teleconferencing software that lets us see and talk to people “face-to-face” in real time. But let’s face it, there’s a start and end to our Zoom conversations and an exclusivity about them that while appropriate at times, definitely leaves us craving more community engagement.

It’s officially a crazy time. For most of us, this is the most uncertain our jobs, finances, and schedules have ever been in our lifetime. Almost everyone is working from home and for a lot of us, this is the first time we’re working from home AND needing to care for our kid(s) at the same time.