Virtual Meeting Approach

Old School Scouting Still Works

Those old scouting techniques still work in the virtual world.  You just need to try them out and adjust as needed.

Plan out your virtual meetings just like you would an in-person meeting

• Gathering activity – can be an online quiz or easy game

• Flags, Scout Oath, Scout Law, etc. 

• Announcements

• Meeting activities – make them fun

• Games – gotta have them!

• Cubmaster/Scoutmaster minute

• Vespers

• Social time

Don’t forget:

• Run-ons – properly timed interruptions are just as fun in virtual meetings as they are at in-person ones.  Just make them scouty and silly.

• Scout Skits – Try them out virtually or prerecord them.

• Adult Leader Skits – show off your skills and set the standard for corny 

• Dad jokes – there are thousands out there and they never get old

Assign scouts and adult leaders to Run-On, Skit or Joke duty.  See how it plays out.  As long as it’s scout appropriate, it should be great!

Themed Meetings

Virtual Meetings and In-Person Meetings can be enhanced with themes.  Why not a Pirate Meeting or Star Wars Meetings?  Dress the part, play the roles and ham it up!

Animation

You are online and have online resources and tech at your fingertips.  Don’t be afraid to use them.

Consider using:

• Homemade videos and animation

• Scout made videos can be pretty fun!

• YouTube clips of fun stuff

• Boy’s Life and other How-To videos

• Music

• Memes

Live or Prerecorded Demos

Skill Demonstrations are just fun, especially when it is from someone you know.  We have demoed all sort things on virtual meetings.  These have included:

• Fire Demo – scouts yell out “FIRE” each time you make a flame

• Pioneering skills – filmed live from your backyard

• CPR – with scouts pressing on a roll of toilet paper while listening to Staying Alive 

• Wood carving – make sure scouts have their Totin’ Chips

• Cooking – live televised cooking demos date back to the 1930s

• Dance moves – some scouters have been known to cut a rug

• Knot tying 

The advantage of prerecording is that you get everything just right and share it over and over if needed.  That said, there is something special about being LIVE.  Scouts can interact and ask questions, which makes them part of the demo.  Things can also go wrong, like you goof up something, or have tech issues, or the weather turns on you and that’s just fine.  Just go with it, it makes it so much more real than having everyone watch a video.