5 Webinar Tips You Need To Know
Posted by Tony Stanford on Thu, Aug 02, 2012
We've all had the conversation: You ask somebody what they do for a living, they start to explain, and 15 minutes later you snap out of a boredom-induced trance with drool on your chin and a head full of terms you know nothing about. It's not uncommon. Not everyone can be professional athletes, astronauts, and firefighters. Let's go ahead and call a spade a spade; sometimes, business can be downright boring.
However, if you want to expand your business, you're going to need to get people excited about your business. An easy way to get valuable information to an audience about your business is by hosting a webinar. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a webinar is just like a seminar, only you hold it online. Hence, WEBinar. It combines a slide show presentation, along with an audio delivery of the information.
There are plenty of websites that allow you to host a webinar online.
A quick Google search will display a ton of them. But, before you go ahead and start sending out invites, read these 5 webinar tips that you need to know:
- Start With A Concentrated Topic- If you own a window company, don't create a webinar about "windows." This topic is far too broad. Instead, choose something a little bit more concentrated like "Different Types Of Replacement Windows" or "Styles And Features Of Our Newest Line Of Windows." By choosing a concentrated topic, you let your audience know exactly what they are about to view, and you stand less of a chance to stray from the main point.
- Keep It Short & Simple- No one is going to want to watch a three hour webinar, regardless of the topic (save for, maybe, a webinar on the Victoria's Secret Angels). Know what information you want to get across to your audience and deliver this information in as few words as possible. We generally suggest that webinars are kept below 25 minutes and under 13 slides. If you have any more than that, perhaps you should consider refining your topic.
- Visuals DO Matter- Plain white slides with black, Times New Roman font is boring. Spice things up! Remember, the goal of webinars is to get information across to your audience without them falling asleep. Don't be afraid to check out the preset templates included in your Microsoft Powerpoint software. Also, use images! Add images to compliment your speech, use graphs to show statistical data, and use charts as compare and contrast tools.
- Allow Time For Questions- At the beginning of the webinar, tell your audience to send in whatever questions they may have. After you have given your presentation, answer some of the best ones. Providing answers will help to give your audience a better understanding of the information being presented to them!
- Record It!- Not everyone who will want to view the webinar may be able to do so when you are presenting live. If you have access to an audio recorder, record yourself giving the presentation. Then, you can use some simple editing software to attach your audio to the slides! Put it on YouTube for public viewing or, possibly an even better idea, use it as a piece of advanced content for your website!
Webinars should be fun to view. Follow these 5 webinar tips to create a webinar that is not only informative, but also exciting!
