Virtual events
Run a KC7 event over video
This guide covers what's different about running KC7 over video: platform choice, screen sharing, chat and breakout rooms, remote troubleshooting, and recording. For the run-of-show and participant coaching that apply to any event, see Run event day and Support participants.
Virtual KC7 events open cybersecurity education to participants anywhere. The harder part is human connection across distance, which is what most of this guide is about.
Before you begin
You need an approved event with a host dashboard and participant link, a video platform you can host on, and at least 10 Mbps upload from your hosting location. If you're still planning, start at Plan your event.
Pick a platform
Good for most KC7 events.
Industry standard with reliable screen sharing, strong breakout rooms, recording, chat, polls, and waiting room. Pre-create breakout rooms, enable co-hosts, and use spotlight for presentations. Decide ahead of time whether participants can share their screens.
Good for corporate and enterprise events where Teams is already standard.
Reliable for business settings, integrated with Microsoft 365, with built-in recording and persistent meeting chat. Test external participant access before the event, since guest access varies by tenant. Use Teams channels for post-event discussion.
Good for community events and gaming-focused audiences.
Free for large groups and gives you a persistent server for ongoing discussion. Set up a main voice channel, separate voice channels per team, and text channels for links and help. Use stage channels for presentations, and assign roles so moderators have the right permissions.
Good for schools and orgs already on Google Workspace.
Simple interface and easy calendar integration, with closed captions for accessibility. Breakout room and engagement features are limited, so keep groups smaller. Use Google Chat alongside the meeting for team coordination and Google Drive for shared resources.
Set up the tech
One week before
Test the platform end-to-end. Confirm participant capacity, screen sharing quality, breakout room configuration, recording, and co-host permissions. Run through the KC7 intro page once on the platform to verify videos play with audio and the participant link is ready to paste. Confirm your upload speed is at least 10 Mbps. Send calendar invites with the meeting link and joining instructions, and set up a backup communication channel.
Day before
Do a full rehearsal on your actual device. Camera, microphone, lighting. Close unnecessary apps and charge devices. Send a reminder email with the meeting link, technical requirements, and what participants should prepare (device, browser). Offer an early login window for tech checks.
30-60 minutes before
Share your screen well
Share a specific tab or window rather than your full screen, close email and messaging apps to avoid notifications, and zoom in to make text readable. Enable "Share Computer Sound" before playing videos and test audio sharing first.
Intro (15-20 min)
KC7 intro page, instructional videos with audio, participant link
Investigation
Stop sharing so participants focus on their own screens. Re-share for announcements or scoreboard.
Wrap-up
Final scoreboard, closing slides, next-steps resources
Manage virtual participants
Engagement
Greet participants by name as they join and use a warmer, more energetic tone than you would in person. Encourage cameras on if people are comfortable. During the event, call on participants by name, use reactions or polls for quick pulse checks, and give progress updates more often than you would in person.
The chat window
Pin the participant link in chat the moment the event opens, then use chat for resources, hints, and questions. Have a co-host monitor chat while you present so questions get answered quickly. Set expectations early about whether questions go in public chat or as private messages, and capture good ones for group discussion. Save the chat transcript at the end.
Breakout rooms
Use breakout rooms for team-based events, collaborative problems, or focused small-group help. Aim for 2-4 people per room, set a timer, and broadcast time warnings. Circulate between rooms to listen, encourage, and check for technical issues before interrupting.
Maintain energy
Virtual energy is harder to read because there's no physical presence and "Zoom fatigue" is real. Compensate with higher vocal energy, visual variety (camera, screen, shared content), more frequent check-ins than you'd do in person, and scheduled breaks for longer events. Read the room by monitoring video feeds, watching chat activity, noticing who's gone silent, and checking the scoreboard for stuck participants. Quick polls work well when you can't gauge energy by sight.
Run the event
The run-of-show is the same as any KC7 event. See Run event day for the five phases and sample scripts. Online, the differences are: greet people in the waiting room with music or casual chat before you start, run a quick tech check ("thumbs up if you can hear me") before the videos, monitor chat constantly during the investigation, and send a co-host into a breakout room for one-on-one help. The day-of checklist below has the full beat-by-beat.
Troubleshoot remotely
Common issues
"I can't hear you." Check mute, test speakers, try headphones, rejoin the meeting, or check platform audio settings.
"You're breaking up." Ask if others hear you. If yes, the issue is on their end. Have them turn off video or close other apps. If no, check your connection and turn off your video temporarily.
"I can't see the screen." Verify you're actually sharing, ask them to click the screen share window or maximize it, and check they aren't in speaker view hiding the share.
"I got kicked out." Re-post the meeting link in chat. If your own connection drops, a co-host can keep things running while you rejoin. Phone dial-in is a useful backup.
Platform-specific
Zoom. If a participant can't join, check the waiting room and meeting link. Breakout rooms must be enabled in account settings beforehand. Screen sharing permissions can block participants from sharing.
Teams. External participants often need guest access enabled. If video quality is poor, drop the video quality setting. Make sure the chat panel is open to see messages.
Discord. Voice channel issues are usually input/output device settings. If screen share is laggy, lower the resolution or frame rate. Permissions issues trace back to role configuration.
Set up devices
Optimal host setup. Main computer for the meeting and screen sharing, second monitor for the host dashboard and scoreboard, phone or tablet for chat monitoring and as a backup connection.
Minimal host setup. One computer with browser tabs and windows arranged so you can alt-tab between the meeting, KC7 intro page, and host dashboard.
For participants. A computer for the KC7 game plus a second device (tablet or phone) for the meeting video reduces screen switching. On a single device, minimize the meeting window during investigation, turn off video to save bandwidth, and use chat instead of video.
Record the session
Recording is useful for absent registrants, post-event review, promotional clips, and your own facilitation feedback. Announce that you're recording, explain how it'll be used, and get consent before you start. Record the introduction, key announcements, and wrap-up. You can pause during pure investigation time. Afterward, save to secure storage, edit out technical difficulties if needed, and add captions for accessibility before sharing.
Inform participants before recording and obtain any consent required by your jurisdiction.
Try advanced techniques
Engagement boosters
Polls and quick cybersecurity trivia work well during breaks or transitions. KC7-branded virtual backgrounds create visual cohesion and double as an icebreaker. For breakout rooms, try random mixing for networking, skill-based groupings for peer learning, or timed challenges between rooms.
Co-host coordination
Divide responsibilities clearly. The main host handles presentation and facilitation. Co-host 1 monitors chat and answers questions. Co-host 2 covers technical support and breakout rooms. With a third co-host, add a dedicated person to watch analytics and support stuck participants.
Use private chat or a side channel (text, Slack) for coordination during the event, agree on signals for when to step in, and debrief together afterward.
Hybrid considerations
If you must run a hybrid event, position the camera to capture in-person participants, use a microphone that picks up room discussion, and make sure virtual participants are visible to the in-person group. Call on virtual participants by name and monitor virtual chat actively so they don't feel secondary. Watch for audio feedback loops between in-person mics and speakers.
Hybrid is hard. Unless necessary, run separate in-person and virtual events for a better experience on both sides.
Day-of checklist
30 minutes before
At event start
During event
At closing
Related pages
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