Five Things That Make A Great Webinar

So you are working on your next webinar – choosing resources, designing a presentation, predicting what questions you may be asked and preparing a bonus you will offer to your attendees. You really like the result! Have you ever wondered, however, if your audience is as happy with what you provide them with as you are? Learn what aspects to consider to make sure users think about your webinar as time well spent.

1. Prepare informative, quality content

Attendees register for your webinar to learn something new and find answers to questions they have. Let them leave your online event with a feeling that they have just been equipped with professional, relevant and hands-on knowledge.

If you are e.g. an eco-lifestyle blogger, running a webinar on homemade household cleaners, present all the ingredients participants need to make their own products and show them how to prepare one of them step by step.

Or, if you are a vet who invited their patients’ owners to a webinar on pet nutrition, explain how to tell the difference between high and poor quality pet food on the basis of the ingredient list and provide information on healthy homemade alternatives to products available in stores.

And if you are not sure what topics your audience is interested in, track their discussions on your social media profiles. Read their comments under your blog posts. Note down all the questions they ask you via email or in private messages on Facebook. You will get a set of topics they definitely would like you to elaborate on during a webinar.

2. Be a true expert

People want to learn from experts, really good at what they do. Don’t let your audience doubt you are one. Base the content of your webinar on real-life examples. Use case studies. Mention initiatives you were involved in and projects that have been successfully delivered thanks to your expertise.

Among your audience, there may be people familiar with the topic you cover and willing to learn even more. Be prepared for that and make sure you know answers to difficult questions they may ask. At the same time, don’t forget about the ones who are new to the topic and want to start learning. Take good care of them, too. Don’t put them off with a jargon. Make sure they understand what you are talking about.

3. Be a skilled presenter

Many experts know their niche well but they don’t know how to talk about it. Don’t be one of them. Don’t underestimate the way you present your topic. Learn to be a good speaker.

Fortunately, during a webinar, you usually sit behind your desk so you don’t have to bother about your posture and body language that much. Still, don’t fidget with your pen and don’t lean back on your chair.

Work on good voice production and make sure the tone of your voice is appropriate to what you are talking about. Spend a while on word selection – use rich vocabulary that best describes the topic you are to cover.

Always keep eye contact with your attendees, i.e. look at the camera, not to the sides.

Be a great presenter, but don’t overdo it at the same time. Remember authenticity is the secret weapon of best speakers.

4. Provide good user experience

Your audience expects your webinar will be attractive and your presentation – designed in line with current trends. So, forget slides filled with text. Forget poor quality clipart pictures. Make your presentation visually stunning and remember that less is more. In this case – less text, more images. You don’t want them to read. You want them to listen.

Most webinar platforms provide great tools to engage your audience, communicate your message in an attractive way and bring interactivity to your online event. Use them! Share your screen to show participants how an app works. Write key points on a virtual whiteboard. Run a Q&A session to let attendees ask questions. Make a survey and encourage them to share their opinions. Let them feel like they are participating in a real meeting!

5. Don’t let technical problems ruin your webinar

Ever started a webinar with apologies to your audience for the fact that they cannot see you? When technical issues occur participants are likely to leave. Chances are they won’t come back again.

You can rely on a good webinar platform. It should not cause you technical problems when you’re running your online event. There is one condition, however – make sure you have tested everything before you turn your webcam on and greet your audience.

So, before you start, try your microphone and your camera. Check if you are connected to the Internet and whether your Internet connection is fast enough for the platform to work properly. If you are new to the webinar world, run a test webinar without participants, record it and watch to find out if everything went well.

Conclusion

Your webinar is meant for your audience, not for yourself. Imagine you swap places with them for a while. Would you think your webinar was worth your time? Consider the aspects discussed above every time you start working on a webinar to make sure time spent attending your online event is never wasted.