With companies having a global workforce and international clients, it has become increasingly essential to master the art of presenting online through webinars. Organizing a webinar can be a challenging prospect. There are many factors to consider for delivery of an effective webinar that is engaging and gets the message across to your audience in an interesting way. Webinars are highly effective in generating leads for the business and selling goods, services, and products. Today we will explore tips to ace webinar presentations.
- Choose the Topic– that fits the needs and interests of your audience and aligns with what you have to offer. Put yourself in the shoes of the audience and visualize what they would like to see in a way that they are engaged and it eventually helps in achieving the organization goals from the webinar.
- Plan well in advance- organizing a successful webinar requires preparation well before you go live. It requires advance planning to think through every aspect of it like creating high-quality content and creating visually engaging slides and other visual aids.
- Consider the presentation style– present to the audience in a way that makes you comfortable as a presenter. Whether you plan your presentation or use tools to present at the moment through Whiteboard, think through and adopt the style that makes it easier as a host to put across the ideas and get the audience engaged.
- Have a meeting agenda– it is highly recommended to have detailed a meeting plan with time slots for each element of the meeting. This can help in a more organized presentation with the right tools, enough time to present all points, and answers any questions that the audience may have to make it as functional and productive as possible.
- Organize content- it is best to organize the content to ensure proper flow to the webinar. One topic should logically lead to the next one. This helps the audience follow the presenter. Organizing the content in the form of a numbered list helps the audience remember things in a flow and makes the presentation easier.
- Choose the layout- organize and arrange the webinar to fit the goals that have been set. Greet the audience and present some housekeeping rules at the start and ensure that the audience is focused on the presentation. The presentation must be clear and big enough at all times to be readable to the audience. Adjust the layout as per the needs of the webinar.
- Know how the audience will view the event- make sure that you are aware of the screen layout that the audience may have. Decide the elements that are required to be shown but also ensure they are arranged to flow in a manner that causes no distractions to the audience during the event. Synchronize the layout so that the audience can view the webinar as it is visible to you.
- Have the right equipment- once you have the topic, the content, and layout in place, the next step would be to make sure that you have the right equipment in place. The quality of the webcam, the microphone, and headphones play an important role in ensuring that you are heard clearly by the audience as well as you can hear clearly when the audience is talking to you.
- Get Help– it is always a good idea to have a co-host who can help with things like chat moderation, noting questions that can be answered during the Q&A sessions, or at regular intervals during the webinar. The content on the screen should be always visible to the co-host.
- Keep in mind the time zone- it is very important to keep in mind the time zones especially if you have an international audience. Selecting a time that is not too early or not too late will guarantee higher attendance. Record the webinar to share it with people who miss the event.
- Get the event set up right– check to see that the date and time are correct and password protection is in place for the event.
- Send out invitations– the invitations should be sent out well in advance so the target audience have time to arrange their schedules ensuring a higher turnout.
- Create a landing page– before promoting and marketing the webinar, make sure you have a landing page. Use this to inform the visitors about the webinar and what it entails. Provide details of the date and time of the webinar. Have a sign-up form to get basic information like an email address to remind them of the webinar and follow up after the event.
- Generate a buzz using social media platforms- use social media platforms to drive awareness and sign-ups with eye-catching messages. Influencers and bloggers can also play an important role in getting people to sign up for the event. Create a webinar hashtag which will help the event gain more traction leading to higher signups.
- Do a trial run– having a trial run before the event will help in familiarizing with the platform and the flow of the event. It is a good time to test the equipment and the content to ensure that event goes off smoothly.
- Send a reminder– make sure to send out a reminder email on the day of the event to all the people who have signed up.
- Prepare your surroundings– select a neutral background to avoid any kind of distractions for the attendees when the screen is shared. The focus needs to be on the content. Choose a place that has no disturbance and enough light.
- Turn off all unnecessary software and disable all instant messengers– turn off all the unnecessary software to improve the efficiency of the internet and the CPU. Disable all applications and instant messengers that use pop-up notifications to avoid any kind of distractions during the event.
- Minimize the ambient noise– microphones are sensitive and can catch any noise. This can distract the audience and should be avoided
- Follow brand guidelines- a webinar offers a great opportunity to introduce your brand to first-time visitors. Follow the brand guidelines and incorporate the brand color, logo, and font to each slide.
- Start on time– to host a successful webinar and make the most of the available time, start on time.
- Present the agenda– start the event by greeting the attendees and present the agenda so they know what to expect.
- Keep the presentation to the point – keep the presentation short and crisp. Putting too much text on the screen is hard to read and you risk boring the attendees. Graphics, images of other visual elements should be used to make the presentation compelling and engaging.
- Q&A session and surveys– it is a great way to engage participants and get feedback. Having a co-host always helps to control chat conduct surveys/polls and bring forward queries that the attendees may have.
- Summarize the webinar and survey the audience- make sure to summarize at the end of the event before signing off. Post the event, analyze the answers received from the survey and polls. Send out a survey to the audience and ask them for their experience. Include questions that will help you understand what worked well and how you can improve.
Hosting a webinar is a task that needs to be carefully planned and executed to achieve the objective set out and capture the attention of the audience. The tips mentioned in this article will help you plan, prepare, and host a successful webinar for your business.
