6 Common Reasons Audience Members Leave A Webinar Before It’s Over And How To Avoid This

So, you have spent weeks preparing for your webinar. You have sent out invitation emails and had a great response. And, even better, when you go live you see that you have a large audience. You are excited to start delivering your presentation. However, as you continue with your delivery you notice that more and more people start leaving the webinar and your enthusiasm starts to drop off.Does this sound familiar? Then please read these 6 common reasons why audiences leave a webinar early and what you can do to avoid this.

1. Boring delivery

This is the number 1 reason why people don’t stick to the end. Even if they have paid to attend the webinar, if the delivery is boring they will leave early. A boring delivery is one that is delivered in a monotone. Also, if you are in the habit of reading your notes, you will find it very difficult to deliver the material with enthusiasm.

Another aspect of a boring delivery is not putting enough time and attention into the visuals that you use. If you just have some text on a colored background, then you are not going to give any incentive to watch to the end.

Solution

Of course, you need notes when delivering your presentation and you should be well-rehearsed. However, your notes shouldn’t be too detailed that you begin reading them. Have brief notes which help you recall ideas. Also, look directly at the camera and visualize an audience there. When planning the material for your webinar, make sure and engage with the audience frequently. In this respect, questions are a very effective way to do this because questions always require an answer. Even rhetorical questions are good.

Make sure that your visuals are colorful, vibrant and eye-catching. It is also a good idea to record yourself. If you find it difficult to speak with proper modulation, then it would be a good idea to get some voice coaching lessons. Webinar platforms like ClickMeeting offer so many great visual tools, like Powerpoint slides, video, charts, and graphs that no webinar need ever be a bore!

2. Doesn’t deliver on promises

The second most common reason why people don’t stick around is that the webinar doesn’t deliver on what it promised. In your opt-in, you will have promoted the webinar in as many exciting ways as possible and you need to make sure that you deliver just that.

Solution

The solution, of course, is to provide the value and the topics that you have promised. If early on in the presentation, the audience doesn’t feel that they are getting what they came for, then they will leave early. Outline clearly at the start what they will receive, how the webinar will benefit them, and then deliver that exact content.

3. Too much promotion

One survey showed that the third most popular reason that attendees leave webinars early is if the presenter starts promoting the product too early. Self-promotion at the start is a big turn off. Of course, the purpose of the webinar is to help your business grow and be successful. However, people don’t attend webinars to listen to a hard sell.

Solution

Make sure that your webinar focuses on solutions to problems that your audience faces. Make sure that it’s educational enough without selling. Even if they don’t buy the product or service, then they will at least feel they have learned something and feel endeared towards your brand. They will also be more willing to attend your next one.
Make sure and keep any promotional aspects of your webinar to the very end.

4. Technical problems

Technical problems are one of the worst things that can affect a webinar, especially because they can happen suddenly, without warning. It could be that you lose your internet connection, the computer freezes, or the software crashes. Usually, an audience will be forgiving if there are technical problems; after all, we’ve all experienced them. However, if they are not resolved quickly, you could soon see your audience dwindle.

Solution

Make sure and have a plan of action in place for every eventuality. So, you should know and practice exactly what to do in cases of technical problems.

5. Not properly organized

Our brains function most efficiently when they take in information that is presented in an organized way. If you are going from point to point in a haphazard way without any clear direction, your audience will get confused, bored, and switch off.

Solution

Make sure that your content is organized in a logical and orderly way. Each main point should naturally lead on to the next one without too many big ‘jumps.’

6. No incentive to stick around

If during your webinar, you keep advertising that the full recording will be available at any time after the event, you are hardly giving your audience an incentive to stick around.

Solution

Make sure that your audience realizes from the outset that they will have even more value from the webinar if they stick around. So, you could use a phrase like, “at the end of the webinar you will get an exclusive link to…” You could also plan to offer some handout during the presentation. Once again, make sure that your audience knows it is coming and when it’s coming