Virtual Office Games Hosting Tips from an Emmy Award-Winning TV Host

Hosting virtual office games is the most demanding format in virtual events. Trivia has questions to lean on. Presentations have slides. Happy hours have alcohol. Interactive games have nothing but the host’s energy, the games’ design, and the willingness of a group of professionals to step outside their comfort zone.

Scott Topper has hosted over 500 virtual events for companies of every size, including hundreds of interactive game sessions. As an Emmy Award-winning TV and radio host, he has spent decades learning how to create energy and engagement in live settings. Here is what he has learned about making virtual office games work.

Go First, Go Big

“The host must be the first person to look silly,” Scott says. “Before asking anyone on the team to do a superhero pose, I do one myself. Before asking anyone to throw a slow-motion ball, I demonstrate with full commitment. If the host is reserved, the team will be reserved. If the host goes all in, the team follows.”

This principle sounds obvious but most hosts undercommit. They explain the game, demonstrate it at half effort, and then expect the team to exceed their energy. That never works. The host’s energy sets the ceiling. If you want the team at an 8, the host needs to be at a 10.

“On radio, we call it ‘filling the room,’” Scott explains. “Your energy needs to be large enough to fill every speaker and every pair of headphones. In virtual events, your energy needs to fill every screen. That takes deliberate, sustained effort. It is not about being loud. It is about being fully present and fully committed to every moment.”

About Your Host: Pop Culture Expert and Radio Host Scott Topper

Scott’s broadcasting career is the foundation of his interactive game hosting. As a pop culture expert and radio host with an Emmy Award on his shelf, Scott has spent years creating engagement purely through energy, voice, and personality. Radio taught him to connect with audiences he cannot see, which is exactly the skill that virtual event hosting demands.

“Radio is the closest analogy to virtual hosting,” Scott says. “You cannot see your audience. You cannot read body language in real time. You have to create energy and connection through your voice and your commitment. Everything I learned in decades of radio broadcasting applies directly to hosting virtual office games.”

Build Safety Before Asking for Risk

“The single biggest reason interactive games fail is that the host asks for too much too soon,” Scott says. “You cannot start with the most vulnerable game. People will freeze, feel awkward, and mentally check out for the rest of the session.”

The safety-building sequence is critical:

Minutes 1-5: Group activities. Everyone does warm-ups simultaneously. Nobody is individually exposed. The group energy builds communal safety.

Minutes 5-15: Low-risk individual moments. Games like Whoosh, Bang, Pow involve brief individual moments within a fast-moving group game. The spotlight is momentary and the reactions are immediate.

Minutes 15-35: Higher-commitment games. Super Hero Copy Cat and Slow Motion Fast Ball require more individual expression, but by now the group has been playing for 15 minutes and the safety level is high.

Minutes 35-55: Peak play. Character games and creative exercises. The most expressive games happen when the group is fully warmed up and deeply comfortable.

Minutes 55-60: Cool down and close. A group activity that brings everyone together for a connected closing.

“That progression is non-negotiable,” Scott emphasizes. “Skip the warm-up and the peak games will fall flat. Rush the low-risk games and people will not be ready for the higher-commitment ones. The sequence is what makes the whole session work.”

Celebrate Participation, Not Performance

“In interactive games, the quality of someone’s contribution is irrelevant. The fact that they contributed is everything,” Scott says. “I celebrate a subtle hand gesture with the same enthusiasm as a dramatic full-body pose. The message is always: whatever you bring is exactly right.”

This approach is critical for maintaining participation across the full range of personality types. If the host only celebrates big, dramatic contributions, the quieter participants feel that their style is not valued and withdraw. If every contribution is celebrated equally, everyone feels successful and stays engaged.

Pop culture expert and radio host Scott Topper is specific in his celebrations rather than generic. “I say ‘that transition was smooth’ or ‘look at that precision’ rather than ‘great job.’ Specific acknowledgment tells the person that I actually saw what they did. Generic praise tells them I am going through the motions.”

Read Individuals, Not Just the Room

“In trivia, I read the room’s collective energy. In interactive games, I read each person’s individual comfort level,” Scott says. “Someone who is participating but looks tense needs a different approach than someone who is fully in the zone. The host needs to track both.”

For participants who seem hesitant, Scott reduces pressure without drawing attention. He might shift to a simultaneous group activity that lets the hesitant person blend in. Or he might place them after a highly enthusiastic participant, so the contrast makes their contribution feel appropriately modest rather than inadequate.

For participants who are fully engaged, Scott gives them moments to shine. An extra beat of attention. A callback to something great they did earlier. A “did everyone see that?” moment that rewards their commitment and encourages others to match it.

“The individual calibration is invisible to the group. Nobody notices that I am adjusting my approach for different people. They just notice that everyone seems to be having fun, which is exactly the point.”

Energy Management Across 60 Minutes

“Nonstop high energy for 60 minutes is not sustainable for the host or the group,” Scott says. “You need peaks and valleys. Big games followed by gentler ones. Fast energy followed by slow creative moments. The contrast is what prevents fatigue.”

Scott structures the session in three acts:

Act 1 (minutes 1-20): Building. Energy rises gradually from warm-ups through increasingly interactive games. The trajectory is upward but not steep.

Act 2 (minutes 20-45): Peak. The most physical, most creative, most hilarious games. This is where the biggest laughs and the most memorable moments happen.

Act 3 (minutes 45-60): Landing. The energy shifts from peak excitement to warm connection. Collaborative activities replace competitive ones. The session ends on a note of togetherness rather than exhaustion.

“That three-act structure gives people a complete experience. They feel the build, the peak, and the resolution. It is satisfying in the way that a good story is satisfying.”

End With Connection

“The temptation is to end on the biggest laugh. But the best ending is a moment of genuine connection,” Scott says. “After 55 minutes of playing, laughing, and being silly together, a brief moment where the team acknowledges what they just shared is incredibly powerful.”

Scott closes every session by connecting the play to the team’s relationship. The games were fun. But what happened underneath the fun was real: people saw each other differently, laughed together genuinely, and created shared memories that will show up in how they communicate for weeks to come.

“I tell them: ‘What you just did together in 60 minutes, that energy, that laughter, that willingness to play, that is what makes a team a team.’ It lands because they just experienced it. They know it is true because they felt it.”

Bring the Energy to Your Team

Our Virtual Office Games event is where all of these hosting techniques come together. Sixty minutes of live-hosted interactive games guided by Emmy TV and Radio Host Scott Topper. Every game sequenced for maximum fun, every moment calibrated for your team’s energy and comfort.