Webinars are great tools for marketing and building your credibility as an expert in your field. They’re even great tools if all you’re doing is training! But they can scare the new information marketer or learning creator.
But they don’t have to be. There is no reason to be afraid of creating webinars.
Webinars come in many flavors, but they are all easy to create and relatively quick to design and develop. And as you get more capable and comfortable, they only get easier!
Here are seven tips on how to host your first webinar:
1. Always know your target audience. Everything, and I mean everything, will flow from this knowledge. Your target audience will define the problem and much of the solution. It will define how you will market your webinar. It will define what type of webinar you are going to produce. It will define how long your webinar can or should be. The value of knowing your target audience cannot be overestimated.
2. Always know why you are doing your webinar. I know it sounds silly, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t get this. There are three main types of webinars. There is the sales webinar. There is the learning content or training webinar. And there’s the hybrid. Each of these types is different and imposes its own style and limitations. Mix them up and your webinar won’t achieve its goals.
3. Spend enough time planning, designing, and preparing your webinar. This cannot be emphasized enough. Many people want to hurry up and just sit down and write a seminar. Some gurus try to downplay this in a foolish attempt to make webinars look easy. But the truth is that for every hour you spend planning, designing and preparing your webinar, you will increase both the response and the chances of success.
4. Practice, practice, practice. Then practice some more. This applies on many levels. Practice in general will help you get comfortable talking to an audience that can’t give you their opinion. Practicing your webinar will help you identify any weaknesses. It will also help you make sure your time is reasonable and that you have the material down pat.
5. One of the biggest mistakes, aside from mixing learning and sales webinars, is overdoing your slides. Slides (such as those produced by Microsoft’s PowerPoint) are intended to be spoken prompts and anchor your audience’s understanding. They are not meant to be notes. Turning them into notes is a quick way to put your audience to sleep. Remember that you are the star of the webinar, not your slides.
6. Webinars are not usually held with webcams on. But your audience can see you nonetheless. They see you through your voice and your passion. So let your passion manifest. In fact, step up fifty percent. Always stand up when you are speaking. Smile and walk. Use your body to communicate, your voice will follow you.
7. If you’re going to be walking, you need to have the right microphone for the job. In fact, you always need the right microphone. There are two types of microphones that you can use. The first is the headset or headset. The second is the unidirectional clip-on microphone. If you’re going to walk, consider a wireless version. Either one will work. But an omnidirectional or desktop microphone won’t do it.