Virtual Engagement Toolkit

Virtual Open Mic How-To Guide

During this time of social distancing, there will be many members of your community looking for ways to share their artistic talents with a wider community and an audience hungering for cultural experiences. Virtual Open Mic nights provide a great opportunity for connection.

Step 1: Decide on technology

There are a number of video conferencing options out there, including:

Cisco WebEx, Zoom, FreeConferenceCall.com, GoToMeeting

Choose a platform that allows the host to mute and unmute participants so that you can be silent during performances and then cheer and chat between sets.

Step 2: Decide on the event format

Do you want to have a theme for the event? Do you want to make the event genre-specific, or maybe you want to bring musicians, poets, comedians, dancers, and storytellers together? Do you envision family-friendly content? Decide how long the event will last and how many performers you can accommodate. Invite people to sign up to participate in advance so that you can set your lineup for the event. Be sure to contact your performers to confirm their participation and to let them know how many minutes they’ll have for their set.

Step 3: Pick a date and time

You know your communities best. Are weekend afternoons popular for engagement, or are you better off selecting a weeknight? If you’re encouraging people to have their children attend/join in, you should factor that in when choosing your time. We don’t recommend hosting open mics more than once a month, and even monthly might be too often for some groups.

Step 4: Select a volunteer to serve as the MC

Select an MC for this event. The MC might opt to perform a little something to kick things off, and then introduce the other performers. This volunteer should agree to confirm all performers in advance and to manage the technology.

Step 5: Create a BRAVO event page and advertise

Create your BRAVO event page so that guests can register to attend online. Be sure to include instructions for how performers can signup (email the host, Google form, etc.). Then, start inviting people with scheduled emails!

Sample text for event invite:

Are you a professional performer, and missing the stage? Perhaps you’ve been singing to yourself a lot recently and discovered that your voice isn’t half bad, so you want to share this new passion with others. Some people turn to writing poetry to help them cope with uncertain times. Have you written something you’re proud of? Maybe you love attending events and simply miss cheering for your friends. Open mic night is a perfect opportunity for you to share your talents and/or support your fellow alumni performers.

Step 6: Get Social

Make sure to advertise across your group’s social media platforms. Use appropriate hashtags to spread the word about your event and to encourage people to join in on the fun by registering for the next event. Hashtag possibilities include: #EverTrue, #BrownReunion, #BrownAtHome, #BrunoniansAtHome, and #Brown(insert last two digits of class year here).