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Meeting icebreakers help us break through shyness and establish a relaxed flow to the meeting. You might not think of icebreakers when you plan an online meeting. But you should.

Another challege is that webinar software can frighten participants. If they haven’t used web conference technology it can be difficult to relax and participate.

If you’re running an online meeting you’ll want at least one of these icebreaker tips:

1. Introduce yourselves

At a bare minimum, always ask who’s on the call. If participants don’t know each other - say in a kickoff meeting with people from other companies - take it a step further and ask each person to expand beyond their name. Try for title, purpose attending the meeting, and something personal. A common (and effective) tip is to ask them to tell something about themselves we may not know.

2. Ask for a lead-in

Use a topic-related icebreaker to set the stage for the meeting. (I like icebreakers that do double duty.) For example, ask attendees what question they’re hoping to answer, or what problem they most want to solve. Check to see if your web conference software has online chat. If it does you can have participants type their answers and get oriented to the software’s feature.

3. Use a visual puzzle

Make a quick powerpoint slide with a question to answer. For example, ask them to complete a quote, answer a riddle, or figure out what a closeup picture is of. Why a visual? It gives participants a chance to focus on the presentation screen AND ensures their software’s working. If you’re feeling really brave have them try to write the answer on-screen with the annotation tool.

4. Take a survey

If your webinar software supports it, post a survey for attendees to take. It can be an on-topic survey, particularly good as a lead-in for a training meeting, or even a “fun facts” set of trivia questions. If you give the survey results (and the correct answers) later in the meeting it can make a nice break when the energy starts to flag.

Ready for your next online meeting? Take a minute and plan an icebreaker. You’ll be glad you did.