Webinars can be an effective way to market your business. In starting the process, the most important thing to keep in mind is remembering how what you are doing will 1) help your audience, and 2) be received by your audience. The first has to do with content and how relevant it is to your target audience; how it will help them and make their lives better. The second one has more to do with presentation, since a poorly run one or one filled with technical glitches will be ineffective since it will turn an audience off no matter how relevant and helpful the content is.
Presentation
It is very common for someone to prepare a great presentation full of excellent ideas, but then when presenting those slides to an audience, to stumble and stammer, constantly trying to get a good flow down. If we don’t prepare – and this means practice – we won’t be effective. When we practice, we will see areas where our train of ideas may not flow logically and lead naturally to the next point under discussion. Furthermore, Jennifer at teachgoodstuff.com has this to say:
Webinars are a serious exercise in multitasking. And, the first time you practice your webinar shouldn’t be right before you go live. A day or two before, do a few run-throughs to work out the kinks and get comfortable with what you’re presenting.
Webinars can be complex. You have to handle the participants, learn the controls for moderating content, make sure the audio is working, and depending on the size of your guest list and your bandwidth, understand enough of the technical basics to be able to help the inevitable person who can’t get the video or audio to work. This is another argument for practicing ahead of time, doing a “dress rehearsal” so to speak.
An effective strategy here is to get a second computer and sign on as a guest. You’ll get a chance to see exactly what your audience will, so this can help iron out any technical glitches like audio-video sync issues, very long lag times, or blank audio or video problems. Since some may be using their smart phones, try signing in with one of these, too. Using this second computer is not just good for practicing ahead of time, it is a good strategy for use while the webinar is live.
Content
During your preparation process, it is a good idea to contact potential listeners to ask them what they would be interested in hearing about. Listen carefully and learn what their questions are. You may find a common thread among them that will help you in establishing your theme. David Kirkpatrick from the Marketing Sherpa emphasizes:
The goal of the webinar strategy is “education first,”…The attendees have to walk away with more knowledge than they walked in with.
Remember also that you are the expert, and as such, may take many things for granted. If you are talking about web marketing, for example, you may assume that everyone will understand what SEO means. Depending on your audience, however, this may not be the case at all, and talking over their heads like that may get them leaving your webinar thinking, “I should have taken the blue pill.”
One last suggestion falls into both of these categories: Don’t overwhelm your slides with words, and definitely don’t just read your slides. It is far better to have just a few words with lots of pictures or charts. Carefully chosen, short bullet points that are quick to read at a glance give impact and will help retention. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.