"We'll do a quick run-through at nine" is how most virtual events rehearse, and it's why so many go wrong at ten. A proper rehearsal is three distinct activities with different goals, and each catches different problems.
The tech run: does everything connect?
This happens the day before, or first thing on show day for simpler events. Every source is brought up in turn: each camera, each playback item, each remote contributor, each screen-share, each graphic. Audio is checked on every route — room, stream, remote returns. The stream is started to a private test destination and watched on a phone over mobile data, not on the gallery monitor. Nobody performs; the goal is purely to prove every path works.
The dress rehearsal: does the show flow?
Now the run order is followed top to bottom in real time, with presenters. Transitions are the point — the handover from a VT back to a live presenter, the moment a remote speaker is brought in, the poll launch. Timings are checked against the run order and buffers adjusted. For a 90-minute show, budget two hours; overruns in rehearsal are information, not failure.
The failure drill: what happens when it breaks?
This is the one events skip, and it's the one that separates crews. During the dress run, the producer deliberately kills things: the primary encoder is stopped, a remote speaker's link is dropped, a playback file is "missing". The team practises the response — switch to the backup encoder, bring up the holding slide, go to the alternative item — until it's boring. On the day, a real failure then becomes a rehearsed cue rather than a crisis.
Remote speakers: individual checks, then a group check
Each remote contributor gets a one-to-one technical check in the days before (see speaker prep). On show day they join 30 minutes before their slot for a line check — audio, picture, return feed — and then wait in the green room. Panels with multiple remote speakers get a group check together, because the problems (talking over each other, latency, who looks at what) only appear in combination.
Platform go-live rehearsal
If you're using an event platform, rehearse the audience's experience, not just the broadcast: log in as a delegate, find the session, watch the stream, submit a question, answer the poll. Corporate networks block things; discover it on Tuesday, not on the morning.
A rehearsal schedule that works
| When | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 7–10 days out | Remote speaker one-to-one checks | Speaker wrangler, each speaker |
| 2–3 days out | Platform walkthrough as a delegate | Producer, client |
| Day before (or −3h) | Tech run: every source, every route, test stream | Full crew |
| Day before (or −2h) | Dress rehearsal with failure drills | Full crew, presenters |
| −30 min | Line checks, holding loop live, comms check | Full crew, remote speakers |
A rehearsal that finds nothing wrong was either perfect or too gentle. Usually the second.