Death by Webinar

We barely tolerate death by Powerpoint. In the digital world, this mode of presenting has been transferred to the webinar format. Instead of being slowly tortured by sitting in a room listening to an endless presentation of slides, we now have the agony of listening to a webinar that is a monotonous series of slides on a webinar platform. 

I am just over it! I have been subjected to some really poor webinars recently and might as well simply have listened in instead of trying to watch the screen.

And it really doesn't have to be that way. With a bit of creativity and a drop more effort, those webinars could truly have a WOW factor.

There are some great ways of ensuring that your webinars stand out and don’t lull people in to slumber. Let’s face it, during webinars, most attendees are doing something else. They have 2 screens open and they are writing emails, surfing the web, texting a mate or being active on social media. And let’s be frank, they don’t really recall what you have been saying over the 30 – 60 minute webinar.

In the same way in which the learning trend is moving towards micro-learning, so too we have to re-think how to slice and dice up a webinar to ensure engagement and embedding of new knowledge.

Here are some of my top tips:

1.     Please, never say that the questions can only be asked at the end of the session. You want to know what people are thinking. You want their hands on the keyboard so that they are engaging with you and with the content. If their hands are constantly busy, there is a better chance that they will focus on what the webinar is conveying.

2.     I also ask: if the webinar commences at 1pm, as presenter you need to be in the room at least 10 minutes earlier than the start time. It is just basic etiquette to be there as the attendees log in. You just wouldn’t ever consider not being in a training room when the participants start to arrive so that you can greet them. As your webinar participants arrive, greet them by name and welcome them to the session. Start to type questions in to the chat section so that you give them the sense that this session will be interactive.

3.     Chunk up the session so that at most 6 minutes goes past before you do something to engage the group. Ask an open question and invite discussion in chat. Set a poll. Insert a game that involves a link to what you are talking about. If you have a good platform, set up your whiteboard so that the group can type on to the screen.

4.     Yes, powerpoint slides do form the basis of the webinar. That’s why it’s even more important than ever that the imagery you use is strong and occupies the full space of the slide. We have been schooled by movies and TV shows to expect constant action, so these slides do move and keep us active. If we are going to watch a second screen, we are at risk of losing out on some of the messages. Things move fast to get those eyeballs on to the main webinar screen. 

5.     Check your voice. If it isn’t alive and well modulated, bring in a guest speaker so that there is some Q and A. Think of a radio show. Your participants cannot see you but can be engaged through voice alone. Many shows have 2 presenters to achieve this level of engagement with listeners.

6.     The same basic rule of powerpoint applies: if you cannot fit all your information on to a slide, either split it over a few slides or simply email the spreadsheet or the data to participants before the webinar. Then no one will have to squint at the screen to find the information you are referring to or simply disengage. Only key points appear on the slides and detailed, further information is made available in other formats. Make it very visual - or rather do a conference call and no one needs to snore through the whole thing.

It's time to step it up and ensure that webinars are a useful and integral part of the full panorama of learning.

For more advice on how you can ensure that your webinars rock, please speak to our MCI team to arrange training for designers and presenters of webinar sessions. Contact us on 1300768550 or [email protected].