6 Rules to Deliver Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Webinars

Can we all agree that a webinar is a completely different animal than a one hour meeting around a conference table?

I just finished watching a webinar and, even though it was a recording (thank God!), wanted to bang my head on the table after 3 minutes. Where's the 'Fast Forward' button on this thing?! 

Loooooong introduction of the speaker. Boring story about how they got into this field and their philosophy on the topic. PPT slides that changed at a crawl (if at all). Too many irrelevant side stories and comments.

It was sad because it was a good topic and the guy had some interesting things to say. 
 

Conference room presentation

methods DO NOT work in a webinar!

People watch webinars at their desks. You are constantly in danger that your audience will be interrupted or distracted. As soon as you get boring, they get going (away).

Webinars compete with video. People expect a "TV experience" and when they don't get it their attention drifts and learning declines dramatically. As we watch more and more content on our laptops and iPads, this is going to get worse.

Here are 6 practices to make webinars a great experience for speakers and audiences.

1. Keep It Short - 30 minutes MAX. Short bursts of information keep you focused and your audience involved. You can always have a second webinar on a related topic later.
2. No 'Dead Air' - It's unbelievable that during the time when webinars are waiting for all participants to log on, NOTHING HAPPENS. This is the perfect time to introduce the speaker, lay out ground rules, etc. Create a 1 or 2 minute PPT or video of the speaker introducing themselves, talking about their background, etc and post it looping during this time. Start getting people engaged in the webinar right away and use this dead air productively.
3. Come Out Swingin' - Don't waste the initial minutes of a webinar on, frankly, dull stuff like introducing the speaker. Come out swinging with content right away. Be provocative. Lead with your BEST stuff. Get people engaged in 10 seconds and never let up.
   
4. Solicit Input Real Time - Use the question bar, Twitter or another platform to get audience reaction or questions on the spot. And let them see what thoughts and ideas are bouncing around the virtual audience. This keeps everyone engaged.
   
5. Add Color Commentary - Speakers are juggling too much in their minds during the presentation to accurately monitor how things are going and make adjustments. Get somebody to facilitate the discussion. They should be watching the real time discussion and adding color commentary, e.g., "Wow. Big reaction to that statement, Amy." Or "We've got a great question from Kim in Boston..." This position takes skill and charisma. Find a good one. I recommend Mike Consol. Hands down one of the best facilitators out there.
   
6. Follow Good Presentation Practices - There a ton of great resources out there about creating great presentations. Check out 'Death by PowerPoint' by Alexei Kapterev. Killer stuff! Follow his advice; you can't go wrong. Mix it up. Use audio and video files to make points and keep the experience vivid.
   

Webinar technology is fantastic. The medium deserves to be treated as a unique delivery method. Use techniques and formats that take advantage of its strengths and overcome its weaknesses.

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