Running Your Very First WebinarPosted by Love Rodgers on May 21st, 2021 When I asked a webinar audience why they hadn't started using webinars yet, we were holding a few of their most popular responses: "I have no idea what technology to use" "Frightened of being unable to manage the technology" "Not confident about questions in the audience" "Haven't have got to it yet, I need to build sufficient followers" "Was very worried about making a mess of it plus a fool of myself" Most in the responses were about doubts, concerns and in many cases fear about using webinar technology. Even experienced workshop and seminar presenters suffer from this challenge, since they obtain the webinar environment unfamiliar and daunting. For many individuals planning their first webinar, the thing is not that things go wrong, nevertheless they worry things might go wrong. That either holds it from starting or makes them nervous when they do start. As Mark Twain should certainly have said: "I've had many troubles within my life, most of which haven't happened." The solution is simple: Simplify. Think concerning the difference between climbing a mountain and taking a casual hike in the national park. An experienced climber can tackle the most challenging mountains in the world with confidence and safety, because she gets the correct equipment, the correct training, lots of preparation, a qualified support team, etc. If you didn't have all that, climbing a mountain can be foolhardy. On the opposite hand, even without plenty of training, equipment, support and experience, it is possible to require a casual hike on well-signposted trails inside a popular national park. I recommend you treat your 1st webinar as a casual hike as opposed to a challenging climb. Rather than looking to plan for exactly what might fail, design a webinar therefore it can't get it wrong. That may seem obvious, however you might be surprised how lots of people over-complicate their initial few webinars, and improve the pressure and stress as being a result. Here are a few things I recommend you don't do inside your first webinar: Don't charge money correctly. Don't invite as lots of people as is possible, in case you could reach them. Don't turn on audience microphones through the webinar, because that enhances the odds of an audience member taking you off course. Live streaming pay per view use multiple windows - for example, switching between PowerPoint, your Web browser, Excel, Word and PDF. Don't have multiple presenters, as it adds extra steps when switching screens, turning microphones off, and the like. All of those things add extra potential problems. Instead, perform the following: Make the first webinar free. Make it private: Invite only selected, trusted people - such as colleagues, friends or your best clients. Take questions on paper only, either submitted in advance by e-mail or sent to you through the webinar. Use PowerPoint only (or Keynote over a Mac), and close other windows. Be the only real presenter. This is undoubtedly not how you will certainly run every webinar down the road, however it is a terrific way to start.Like it? Share it! More by this author |