8 Webinar Success Tips

Anyone can host a Webinar or Web Conference and have some limited success with it. To propel your business or organization to the next level you need to have some tips that will give you great succcess when hosting a Webinar and Web Conference. Sit down and plan appropriately by following the 8 tips listed below to ensure your Webinar is a powerhouse:

1) Keep it interesting

First and foremost you must keep your Webinar participant's attention. They should be focused on the Webinar instead of browsing the web, checking their email, chatting on the phone, etc. You want them to pay attention so they can get completely immersed in your presentation. So set your presentation up so that it is fast moving, interesting, and appealing to those interested in what you are discussing. You can use the various Webinar tools that are available like Polls but they should not be a replacement for the exciting content you must pack into your Webinar. If needed you should hire a professional moderator to help during the event and transitions.

2) Offer something valuable

It is common practice that you will have a large number of people who register for your Webinar but do not attend. In fact you could see only as much as 50% attendance to your event. Obviously, though, the more people that attend will help make your Webinar more of a success. So to increase your numbers think of offering a special gift at the end of your event to only those that registered and attended the entire event. You do not want to push away those that did not make the event but certainly want to set some level of expectation to your subscribers that actually attending the event is very important to them. Another option is to have a person as a special speaker and that could help draw more attendance.

3) The opening minutes

The first few minutes of your Webinar or Web conference are very important to make the event as successful as possible. Make sure to have a proper welcome slide that lets every one know they are at the right location. You also want to take a minute to go through ground rules and setting people's expectations so they know the details about the Webinar.

4) Proofread and test everything twice

You always need to check everything twice when putting on a Webinar. You want to make sure the emails you send out to get people to attend do not have spelling mistakes. You also want to make sure every website link you send out is correct and works. Make sure you have the Webinar software working and all your presentation material checked. Mistakes can happen but you want to do everything possible to make things perfect because you do not get a second chance at making a first impression.

5) Reminders are the key to increased attendance

In today's world is seems that everyone has a very busy schedule. So trying to fit your Webinar or Web Conference into that busy schedule can almost be impossible. The best you can do is pick a time in the early evening and hope people can attend. If you are a good host you will make the event happen at different times or different days. This will give people more of a chance to make it. Also do not forget to send out a reminder a few hours or at least one hour prior to the event. You do not need to send tons of reminders but you should give your subscribers enough of a warning and even one a few days earlier if needed. This reminder can greatly increase your attendance.

6) Be prompt and professional

No matter how laid back a person you might be remember that when putting on a Webinar or Web Conference you are a professional in the eyes of those attending. Even if you might be in your pajamas while doing the event others might not be. So keep the atmosphere of the event professional and start on time. People took time out of their busy schedules to attend your event so you should respect them and get started on time and stay within the time frame you set. There is nothing wrong with running the event longer only if you are expanding the event to answer questions from the audience. Everything else though should be within the specific schedule you had communicated when people showed up for the event. Your respectful attitude toward them will help you greatly.

7) The technology used should be appropriate to the event's needs

Determine what type of technology is needed for your Webinar or Web Conference. Do you need direct voice communication from your audience? Do you need interactive collaboration tools during the event? Will there be a need to replay the event? Are you going to turn the event into another product? Make sure you have everything in order so you can leverage the content from this Webinar again.

8) Troubleshoot should not be part of your event

Providing good service to your subscribers is very important. You want to do whatever you can to make sure that they are able to attend your Webinar or Web Conference with no issues. You do this so they can get the most out of your event. BUT it is important that this does not become part of your event. It is unfortunate if people are having issues but you must respect everyone that is attending the event and start on time! You can open the Webinar early so people can connect and get things situated but don't let their issues affect your schedule. Get everything set up and ready to go.