Online events are passé.

As a speaker, you might struggle to keep your viewer’s attention. As an attendee, you might be tempted to multitask while watching the event.

But there’s good news too:

With online conferences, you can connect with the best professionals from the comfort of your home. Not only do they save you time and travel expenses, but they also give you access to a wider range of global experts. Plus, you can revisit recordings and materials at your own pace, making it easier to absorb and apply what you’ve learned.

So how to avoid the common trap of passive listening and make the best out of your online event?

1. Go in with a plan

Before you connect to listen to your favorite sessions, ask yourself these key questions: Why am I attending? What specific knowledge or skills do I want to gain?

Once you’ve nailed down your purpose, prepare your environment for focus. Clear your calendar, mute notifications, and minimize distractions. Treat this time as an investment in your growth. Stop multitasking, be fully present.

Next, think about how you’ll capture and store information. Whether it’s a digital notebook or pen and paper, having an organized system to document key takeaways will make it much easier to revisit your insights later. But here’s the catch: even the best notes won’t help if you don’t…

2. Take immediate action

It’s tempting to leave all your new ideas floating in your notebook, but transformation happens when you act on them—sooner rather than later. Start by reviewing the content you’ve absorbed and identifying the key takeaways relevant to your goals.

Maybe the conference gave you ideas to streamline your workflow or introduced you to a new marketing tool. Whatever it is, take action while the momentum is fresh.

Begin with quick wins—small changes you can implement immediately. Then, break down larger goals into manageable steps, and schedule them out.

Remember, the faster you act, the better. Letting too much time pass after the conference decreases your motivation, and those great ideas will fade into the background. But your journey doesn’t end here—after putting your ideas into play, make sure to…

3. Track your progress

It’s easy to slip back into old habits once the excitement from the event fades. To ensure lasting impact, regularly check in on your progress. Did you implement that new localization tool you felt excited about? Did you change your marketing strategy? Are these changes delivering the results you hoped for?

Let’s say you learned strategies for improving your social media engagement. After a few weeks, assess whether you stick to those strategies or if you’ve fallen back into your old routine. These regular reviews will keep you accountable and help maintain long-term growth. Unless your goal has changed, and active social media life isn’t your priority anymore. But that’s a story for another time.

Final thoughts

Attending online conferences can be a game-changer for your professional development—if you know how to make the most of them. With a solid plan, quick action, and consistent progress reviews, you’ll be able to implement real, lasting changes that benefit both you and your business.

Over to you

What’s the next online event on your calendar? More importantly, what’s your action plan to turn that learning into real results?

I’ll be speaking at and attending the Translation and Localization Conference this month. If you want to test this new approach to online conferences and make the best out of the event, join me here.

Dorota Pawlak

Dorota helps digital brands infuse their content with a local touch. She is a localization consultant, translator specialized in IT, prompt engineer, and a book author. Dorota teaches online courses on localization, writes for her blog and a Medium publication. She also runs a Small Biz AI, a Substack newsletter for freelancers and small business owners ready to discover handy AI tools.