3.execute a successful webinar

[ii}

Copyright 2008 AccuConference

You may copy, print, share,email, or use any part of this ebook without

written permission as long as you don’t change the content.

AccuConference6300 Ridglea Place

Suite 318Fort Worth, TX 76116

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HoW To PlAn, SeTuP, And eXeCuTe A SuCCeSSFul WebinAR

Table of ConTenTs

InTroduCTIon ................................................................................................................... 1

I. Plan a suCCessful WebInar ........................................................................................ 2 a. When should you use a webinar? ............................................................................. 3 b. Which type of webinar to use? ................................................................................. 4 i. Conference call .............................................................................................. 4 ii. Conference call w/web capabilities .................................................................. 5 iii. Video conference ........................................................................................... 7 c. Picking the day and time ......................................................................................... 8 d. How to get the word out ......................................................................................... 9 e. Webinar options ..................................................................................................... 11 i. external help or do it yourself? ....................................................................... 11 ii. lecture Mode ................................................................................................ 13 iii. recording ..................................................................................................... 14 iv. extras to make the webinar special ................................................................. 15 f. other details to think about .................................................................................... 16

2. seTuP a suCCessful WebInar ..................................................................................... 17 a. Technical preparations ........................................................................................... 19 b. Meeting preparations ............................................................................................ 20 c. Hosting preparations ............................................................................................. 22 d. Testing, testing, testing .......................................................................................... 24

3. exeCuTe a suCCessful WebInar ................................................................................. 26 a. last minute details ................................................................................................ 27

HoW To PlAn, SeTuP, And eXeCuTe A SuCCeSSFul WebinAR

b. What to do in the “Green room” .............................................................................. 27 c. beginning the webinar ........................................................................................... 28 i. Greetings and introductions ........................................................................... 29 ii. agenda overview ......................................................................................... 30 iii. Ice breakers ................................................................................................. 30 d. during the webinar ................................................................................................ 33 i. Time management ....................................................................................... 33 ii. Maintaining audience attention .................................................................... 36 iii. Managing polls, chats, and Q&a .................................................................... 37 iv. Getting your message across ......................................................................... 39 1. during conference calls ............................................................................. 39 2. With web conferences ............................................................................... 40 3. using video conferencing ........................................................................... 41 e. Concluding the webinar ......................................................................................... 42 i. Wrapping up the webinar .............................................................................. 42 ii. Thanks and acknowledgments ....................................................................... 43 iii. using the end to make more beginnings ......................................................... 44

4. GoInG beyond a suCCessful WebInar ........................................................................ 45 a. saving time and money .......................................................................................... 46 b. better management through webinars .................................................................... 47 c. Increase sales ........................................................................................................ 48 i. Webinar as a marketing tool .......................................................................... 49 ii. Generate leads ............................................................................................. 49 iii. Converting leads to sales ............................................................................... 50 iv. establishing rapport ..................................................................................... 51 v. Generating referrals ...................................................................................... 52 d. Taking business further .......................................................................................... 52

[1}

IntroductIon

Meetings have been around for almost all of recorded human history.

The only things that have changed over the years are more options on

how to meet and, of course, what we talk about. Webinars are meetings

at their most basic, but it is how they let you meet that makes them

special. Webinars shine when the meeting participants are not in the

same country, state, city, or even in the same room. They allow you to

convey information almost as good – and in some cases better – than a

face-to-face meeting.

Technology has gotten us to the point that setting up and having a

webinar is easy and intuitive. However, there are many ways to improve

your meetings that go far beyond technology. in this ebook, we will take

an in depth look at the before, during, and after of a webinar, as well

as any tips that can improve the webinar experience for you or your

participants.

The purpose of all this is to provide you with an all encompassing guide

in the hopes that every webinar you host will be a successful one.

[2}

1.Plan a

Successful Webinar

[3}

1. Plan a SucceSSful WebInar

Remember the 5 P’s: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. This can

be especially true for webinars. Think about the amazing technology that

allows you to speak, look at, or share information with many people, in

real-time, at the same time. This technology has been designed to provide

a smooth, easy-to-use experience, but behind the simple clicks to start

a webinar, there’s a lot going on. looking past the technology, you still

have basic meeting mechanics to prepare for. Remember that the more

planning you do beforehand, the smoother your webinar will run.

a. When should you use a webinar?

The reasons to use a webinar can be quite straightforward, such as

all your participants are in other states. Another great reason is to

save money. Think about it; how much travel cost could be saved by

a one hour webinar?

Webinars can open up communications between departments and

branches. if it is easy and convenient to get in touch with colleagues,

then more interaction will take place. A webinar is perfect for quick,

impromptu meetings, especially when there’s more information

PlAn A SuCCeSSFul WebinAR

[4}

than is appropriate to put into an email. When a problem arises, it

is easy to get all of the necessary people into a call, so as to quickly

resolve the issue.

if you need to disseminate information to a large amount of people,

a webinar can make it a snap. You can have hundreds of people dial

into a conference call to hear you. You can have large video screens

setup in meeting rooms across the world with everyone seeing your

speech at the same time. What if you want to share or reuse your

presentation? You can record a webinar and let as many people as

you want call in to listen to it long after the meeting has been over.

b. Which type of webinar to use?

A webinar is not just a phone call with more than two people. it’s

also a video conference, a PowerPoint presentation, a record and

call-in event, desktop sharing, white boarding, instant polls, chats,

and/or instant messaging. You have many options to choose from,

so the task at hand is to pick the best form of a webinar to suit your

meeting.

i. Conference call

Conference calls are like a telephone call in that they are audio-

only meetings. However, they go far beyond the phone – or even


[5}

a three-way call – with their ability to connect between as many

people as you like. but there’s so much more. Conference calls can

be recorded. You can download the recording later for whatever

use you need, or make it available for playback for anyone who

missed the original conference.

You can imagine having so many people on one line would create

a wall of noise, but that is taken care of. Conference calls can be

put into a lecture mode where everyone but the speaker and

moderators are muted. if there are any questions, the participants

can hit a button on their phone to put themselves into a Q&A

queue. The participants get to ask their question one at a time

and your call is kept from a barrage of sound.

Some guidelines to choose a conference call for your meeting:

• Your meeting will have a lot of people.

• Some or all of your participants cannot get to a computer

• You need a quick, simple meeting.

ii. Conference call w/web capabilities

nothing makes a meeting or presentation better than the use

of pictures or other graphics. Whether it is a graph, a map,


[6}

someone’s picture, or whatever, the ability to integrate visual

aids is sometimes a must. especially with a conference call, web-

based materials can really add a lot.

The most common use of web capabilities is the PowerPoint

presentation. While you speak, your participants can easily follow

you by watching your PowerPoint flip by on their computers.

if you have ever used PowerPoint before, you know that you

can include pictures, graphs, bullet points, and other meeting

enhancements.

but you can do so much more. There may be a time when you

are trying to describe a website, but with a web-capable meeting,

you can simply bring your browser into view. Then everyone can

watch as you navigate your way to your point. You are not just

limited to your internet browser. You can share Microsoft Word

or excel. You can even share your whole desktop if you’d like.

There are a few other enhancements that a web-capable

conference call offers, namely whiteboard collaborations. This is

a blank white page that everyone can type or draw upon. You can

also ask a question in poll form which includes answers for your

participants to choose from. This allows you to get input quickly


[7}

on specific questions. For questions you may not have thought

about, take advantage of the chat system. on one side of the web

collaboration page is a list of participants and a chat window.

Here your people can ask questions and get answers without

disrupting the flow of your presentation.

Here are some reasons to include web capabilities in your

conference call:

• All of your participants have access to a computer

• You want to use a PowerPoint in your presentation

• You want to share Microsoft office files

• You need to collaborate and would like to use a whiteboard

• You would like to handle questions with the Q&A queue

• Polling your participants would enhance your meeting

iii. Video conference

if you are interested in taking your conference calls to new heights,

you can’t go any higher – at the current level of technology – than

with a video conference. Adding video to your conference call

adds a new connection to your virtual meeting. You can see a

person’s body language, their mood, and general disposition. A


[8}

video conference allows you to look your participants in the eye,

or have a presence in their meeting room.

during a video conference, your screen is filled up with the faces

of your participants. You can tell who is getting your message,

who might have a question, and who is sleeping. You are not

limited to just small groups of people for video conferences. For

larger groups, you may not be able to see everyone individually,

but they can all see you. Without doing anything, you can take

your presentation out of a virtual meeting room to a virtual

auditorium. You don’t have to stop there! You can reach even

more people if you have a projector or large screen TV at one or

more locations. Then you will only need one computer, but fill

the room with people watching your video self.

With video conferencing, you get all of the web conferencing

features included. So not only can you and your participants see

and speak with each other, you can also share and collaborate as

if in the same room.

c. Picking the day and time

Choosing when to have a virtual meeting is not too different from


[9}

scheduling a face-to-face meeting. All of the same pros and cons are

there to consider, with the notable exception of travel time to and

from the meeting. if you plan on scheduling a regular meeting, some

general things to consider are:

• unless the meeting is to orient your people for the week, avoid

Mondays; especially if you are meeting with clients.

• Avoid Friday meetings if you are looking for a high participant

turnout. Many people will be busy finishing up work for the week,

or leaving early.

• Webinars right after lunch can be tough on your participants.

They may be sluggish and less responsive than usual.

• Plan for meetings set right before lunch to always end on time.

There may also be a higher level of distracted participants as their

hunger grows.

d. How to get the word out

it’s one thing to hold a webinar, but if you want others to come

you have to let them know about it. A common method to invite

participants is email. While this is by far the easiest method, the

average person in inundated by emails throughout the day and there

is the possibility that your invite could get lost.


[10}

To help avoid this from happening, keep the email short with a bold-

type title in the subject bar and on the first line. Give them the basics:

who, what, when, why and leave it at that. Any other information

specific to the webinar should be added as an attachment. if you can

add an outlook Calendar item to the email, this will not only help to

call attention to your email, but also facilitate getting the person to

join your webinar.

An interesting idea is to use party or event planning sites such as

evite. These sites help you create a custom invitation page with lists

of people who were invited, who accepted and who didn’t. it also

sends out invitation emails that stand out in an inbox.

Registration pages are an excellent idea to handle many participants,

especially if they are clients or potential customers. A registration

page is basically an internet form where people fill out their

information to receive the webinar dial-in number and conference

code. of course you still have to email, phone, or advertise to get

people to go to the registration page. if you think a registration page

might work for you, keep these things in mind:

• A registration page can collect a lot of information in a short

amount of time.


[11}

• The participants will be giving you contact and business

information in exchange for the webinar.

• Signing up for a webinar helps to facilitate the entry of your

participants when they join in.

e. Webinar options

A webinar could be something totally new to some participants.

The following options will not only set your meeting apart, but

give participants a memorable experience. Consider these options

as opportunities to make a statement through your meeting, while

making your participants feel valued and appreciated.

i. external help or do it Yourself

A wonderful thing about webinars is that you can easily set

one up and run it by yourself at a moment’s notice. This can be

especially useful for impromptu, short, or informal meetings.

However, there can be times when a helping hand makes all the

difference.

When you first sign up to a webinar service, they will gladly talk

you through the features and give some pointers on how to have

a great experience every time. even though the technical side of


[12}

running a webinar isn’t difficult, especially if it is your first time,

you may want an operator to sit in with you. You could have the

operator simply be there just in case, or you could have them run

things while you get acquainted with the process for next time.

Meetings in general can be a complex dance. You may be watching

the time, taking questions, and making sure your guest speaker

stays on track. using an operator during these times can free you

up to keep an overall guiding hand on the meeting. An operator

can provide an introduction and conclusion. They can monitor

sound levels, watch for participants with too much background

noise, and keep tabs on the participant list. An operator can be

invaluable to run the Q&A part of your webinar. They will watch

the question queue, mute and unmute as needed, and encourage

questioners when it’s their turn.

operators can assist prior the conference as well. You have

the option of having operators answer the phone when your

participants call in. not only is this a professional touch, it

also serves to facilitate and expedite getting your participants

into the webinar. Moreover, the operators can get contact and

other information for you directly from the participants before


[13}

allowing them to join the conference. These operators can help

with the integrity of your webinar too. When the participants call

in, operators can compare codes, names, or other information

against pre-made lists. if the person calling in is not someone

you want in the conference, then they will not be able to join the

webinar.

ii. lecture Mode

An important feature of any webinar is the lecture mode. This

simple toggle allows you to have a conference with as many

people as you like, but without overwhelming background noise.

When you go into lecture Mode, all of the participant lines are

muted -- in a way that they cannot unmute themselves -- leaving

the host and speakers to talk freely and be heard by everyone.

While in lecture Mode, a participant can press some buttons on

their telephone keypad which puts them in a special Q&A queue

that is visible on the live Call screen of the host or operator.

When the host or operator chooses, they can press a button and

the first person in the queue is unmuted and free to speak. When

they are done, the host or operator can press the same button

again and the participant is muted while the next participant is


[14}

unmuted. if you take the call out of lecture Mode, all lines are

unmuted at the same time and everyone is free to speak.

deciding whether or not to use lecture Mode is not a difficult

decision. if you have ten or fewer people on the call, then lecture

Mode might not be needed. More than ten, simply for sound

quality, it is recommended that you use lecture Mode.

iii. Recording

Recording your conference is as easy as pressing a button. if

can be even easier if you select to have all of your conferences

automatically recorded. once a recorded conference has ended,

the recordings are available almost instantly in your account

section of your webinar provider’s website. There you can listen

to it, download it, or even have it transcribed. if you download it,

you can upload it to your website, or email it to whomever you

like.

Another interesting aspect of recordings is the dial-in playback.

What this feature does is allow you to make your recordings

available to people who call in when they can. if you recorded

a conference that some people missed, all they have to do is use


[15}

the codes for the original conference and hear what went on. You

can even distribute the conference codes to people other than

the ones you originally invited, so that they can hear it as well.

iv. extras to make the webinar special

Making your webinar stand out from other meetings can be

simple. This is especially true if your audience hasn’t been to

many webinars, as the very meeting itself will be something out

of the ordinary. Aside from this, there are many other ideas that

can help you.

one such idea involves a guest speaker. even though you are

in charge of the meeting, this doesn’t mean you have to be the

only one on center stage. Guest speakers can include an industry

expert, a motivational speaker, your immediate boss or someone

even higher in your company, or even the most knowledgeable

of your participants. They don’t even particularly need to be

involved in the main subject of the meeting, but could simply be

there to talk for a while about teamwork or inspiration.

Another idea of outside help is the professional Compere or Master

of Ceremonies. With a webinar, an MC can be from anywhere and


[16}

is able to run your meeting with style, professionalism, and in

some cases, a bit of comedy. it all depends on what you think

would best augment your webinar. MCs don’t have to know

anything about the subject matter of the meeting. All they need

is an agenda, some guidelines, and specifics on what kind of

meeting you want. Then you just turn them loose allowing you

to stay behind the scenes and keep an eye on the meeting in

general.

f. other details to think about

Running your business is a balance of time, money, people, and

resources - and a webinar is no different. if you first identify what

kind of meeting you need, you will be able to better choose which

kind of webinar best fits your needs. The most obvious reason for

this is to not spend any more money than you have to, but there are

other factors to consider: your participants’ equipment for example,

or their locations, or even how much time they can give you.

You want to host a webinar, not just because you want to, but to

serve a purpose. So when you think about how best to achieve that

purpose, all of the other details – including the ones for the webinar

– will fall neatly into place.


[17}

2.Setup a

Successful Webinar

[18}

2. SetuP a SucceSSful WebInar

You have gone through the details and planned extensively for a successful

webinar, now you have to get ready for it. Preparation for anything serves

many purposes. it helps you to get acquainted with what you are doing. it

can highlight potential problems that can be overcome before they have a

chance to ruin something. Preparation gets you ready for what is to come.

Webinars are no different. They require most of the normal preparation

you would do for a face-to-face meeting, but also with some technical

aspects that need consideration. even so, these items can be simple to

take care of and as with all preparations, can help guarantee success.

TECHNICAL PREPARATIO

NS TECHNICAL PREPARATIONS

TEC

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ICA

L PR

EPARATIONS

SUCCESS!

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EEETING PREPARATIONSH

OSTING PREPARATIONS

TEST

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SeTuP A SuCCeSSFul WebinAR

[19}

a. Technical preparations

depending on what kind of webinar you choose to have, technical

preparations can differ. However, for all webinars, the phone part

will be the same (even though there isn’t much to prepare for). one

idea is for yourself and your participants to use a landline. landlines

are a better choice than cell phones in terms of sound quality and

reliability. Telephone headsets are recommended for comfort and

ease of use, and you should make sure your headset is in good

working order. if you choose to use a wireless handset with your

landline, check to make sure it is fully charged before the webinar.

if you are doing a video conference, a major component is software.

This isn’t as large an obstacle as it may sound. When you first click

on the provided link for the video conference, an install wizard will

come up. All that is necessary then is to follow the prompts and the

programming will take care of the rest. The software will download

and install itself fairly quickly, but it is still a good idea to do this

process before the webinar. This way, if there are any problems,

they can be taken care of then and not as you are trying to start your

meeting.


[20}

Another major component of a video conference is the webcam.

like the video conferencing software, setting up a webcam is fairly

simple. There still could be some issues, especially if you have never

used that particular webcam, or any webcam with your computer.

Hook up your webcam and make sure you get a good picture. Adjust

the settings as needed, check its position, and use it briefly with the

video conferencing software to ensure its compatibility.

Technical preparations for a webinar are not difficult or time

consuming, but are essential to save time and avoid problems during

your meeting. if you do have any issues, talk with your webinar

provider. They will be happy to help you get set up.

b. Meeting preparations

Preparing for the meeting goes beyond looking over your notes.

There are many little details to consider, and while each may only

take a moment, they can be invaluable to prepare for. First of all,

where are you located during the conference? You should choose a

quiet location where you can be sure you will not be interrupted.

Keeping distractions at bay could be as simple as shutting a door,


[21}

but you also want to prepare for the unanticipated. For example, if

you are doing the webinar from your home, you should keep in mind

that your kids could burst in, or your dog might suddenly bark at a

noise down the street. Some things you just can’t avoid, but you can

know where your mute button is and be ready to use it if need be.

For a video conference, location is important, but also what is in that

location. What exactly can the camera see? is your desk cluttered?

Your participants will see what you show them, so think about what

messages about you the camera will convey. A clean and neat working

area says good things. Another thought is that while a picture on your

desk might be hilarious to you, it could be misconstrued by someone

else.

What about your background? You should have a neutral background

behind you without anything on the walls. if there is something on

the wall that you can’t do anything about, try to position your camera

so that your head is by itself when compared to the background. How

you dress is another thing to consider on video. For the best view

of you, avoid wearing all dark or all light colors. You should avoid

complex patterns as well. Try to wear solid color pastels, or mix solid

darks with lights.


[22}

c. Hosting preparations

As the host of your webinar, you are responsible for so many things.

From the moment you send out invites, be prepared to answer

questions about the schedule, technical aspects of the webinar, and

agenda items, just to name a few. While some forethought will take

care of these questions, there are other things you can do as a host to

prepare for your webinar.

First and perhaps most important is a solid agenda. This list not only

tells what you will be meeting about, but why, and how, and the time

allotted. A good agenda is detailed and scheduled to the minute.

it will be referenced, not only by yourself, but by your participants

before and during the webinar. The agenda will help keep your

meeting on track, and provide cues to you and your speakers when it

is time to wrap things up.

Last minute details

pre-conference

go time

-15 minutes

IntroductionsAgenda

icebreakers

meeting & presentation(possible breaks / Q & A)

Q & APolls / chat

wrap upaction itemsfinal thanks


[23}

Take your time when building the agenda. You should have two

versions: one for yourself and one for the participants – with less

details of course. on your agenda you should include:

• Time at the beginning for people joining in late

• Time for greetings, introductions, and icebreakers

• As little time margins for your speakers as you can fit

• Time for breaks

• Generous Q&A time

• Alternatives to fill up extra Q&A time, should you have the need

As indicated above, the agenda isn’t just for your benefit. once

completed, create a sparse version with time indicators to send out

to your participants. This will not only help them prepare for the

meeting, it will also get their minds ready for questions and help

them stay focused throughout the meeting.

Speaking of questions, when preparing for your webinar, you

should envision some of the questions that your participants will

have. imagine what they will ask and then answer them aloud. Take

notes during your answers and review them. did you say what you

wanted to say? do your answers truly convey the information your

participants will need?


[24}

Finally, keep close at hand contact information of your webinar

provider, your guest speakers and cohosts, as well as any participants

you particularly want to attend the webinar. You probably won’t need

the info, but if you do, there will be many other things going on and

you’ll be grateful that looking for a way to contact someone will be

an easy task.

d. Testing, testing, testing

A simple guarantee to a good webinar is to predict and overcome any

issues before your actual meeting. The best way to do this is to recruit

a friend and test your setup. This can include both of you calling in

to talk, running your webcams, or even playing Tic-Tac-Toe on the

webinar whiteboard.

When you both have joined a conference call, talk to each other in

loud and soft tones to get a feel for sound quality and sound levels.

Find and use the personal mute button until you can do it quickly

and easily. Familiarize yourself with the call controls. Take the call

in and out of pre-conference. Mute and unmute yourself and your

friend. Have them put themselves in the Q&A queue and practice

taking their questions.


[25}

A video conference will have controls for both the sound and audio,

but are easy to use nonetheless. Take your time to test out each

function and play around with it. utilize the video quality controls to

make sure you look your best. Take turns with your friend to gesture

and speak into the camera to get a feel for what looks good and what

doesn’t. Keep going until you are comfortable with what you see.

Practice speaking until you can talk while mostly looking into the

webcam.

Web conference features and controls are not too different from

conference calls or video conferences, but you should test them

anyway. Start a whiteboard and play a game. Play with the controls

until you can easily save, wipe clean, or augment what you’ve drawn.

Start the desktop sharing and get feedback from your friend. Work

on a document or spreadsheet together. You will see many familiar

things, but during a web conference, things are a little different.

if you know about the controls and particulars of a webinar in

advance, your meetings will run much smoother. As always, while

you are testing your webinar, if you have any questions or issues,

now is the best time to speak with your webinar provider.


[26}

3.Execute a

Successful Webinar

[27}

3. execute a SucceSSful WebInar

From the minutes before you leave pre-conference to when you finally say

good-bye, webinars can be exciting and a bit draining – just like in a face-

to-face meeting. There are details to see to, participants to worry about,

and a schedule to keep. but if you have done a good job preparing, you

can not only stay on top of it all, but have a great webinar as well!

a. last minute details

in the time right before your webinar, you might worry about many

things, but your preparations will have taken care of all that. What

you can do is look over your notes and the agenda and spend some

time looking after yourself. The fifteen minutes before a webinar

is really the only spot where you can start double checking your

preparations. Are the co-hosts and speakers getting into the webinar

alright? is the video coming on? These kinds of questions can be

researched and answered quickly. once satisfied that all is well, it’s

time for you to join your webinar.

b. What to do in the “Green Room”

For most webinars, you will want to use pre-conference, or the “green

eXeCuTe A SuCCeSSFul WebinAR

[28}

room.” After your participants have called in and loaded programs,

they will be placed on hold. However, you, your co-hosts, guest

speakers, and anyone else you choose will automatically be placed

into pre-conference.

This “conference before the conference” is a chance for you and the

others to go over last minute details, discuss strategies, or simply talk,

all while in privacy away from your participants who are listening to

hold music. it’s a great opportunity to come together as a group to get

in sync and present a smooth, cohesive webinar to the attendees.

You can leave pre-conference whenever you like, and more

importantly, if you need to go back in for whatever reason, that

option is available too.

c. beginning the webinar

While everything you do as a host will impact your webinar, arguably

the most crucial point in a webinar is the first five minutes. This

is the time where you set the tone for the meeting, get everyone

comfortable, and get things going. it’s a time of excitement and

awkwardness that can be handled easily with some input from you.


[29}

i. Greetings and introductions

You’ve just taken yourself out of preconference, the participant

hold music disappears, and everything is silent. if you are using

an operator for the call, this is the point where they announce

the conference, remind everyone that the recording is on, lecture

mode is on, or any other details you specify. After that, they turn

it over to you.

Whether you have an operator or not it’s your first words that

begin the conference. A cheerful, “Welcome everyone!” is a

good way to begin. in your opening remarks, you should remind

everyone why they are here and who will be speaking to them.

You should let them know that questions will be at the end, or

that you will pause occasionally for questions.

For video conferences, remember to look as much into the

webcam as possible. This will give each participant the feeling that

you are looking right at them. do your best to appear at ease and

if your hands are in view, refrain from fidgeting. if you plan to use

a PowerPoint presentation, make sure you include a beginning/

introduction slide at the start. This will give your participants

something other than the PowerPoint slide summary to look at

until you are ready to do the slide show.


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ii. Agenda overview

After the initial greetings and introductions, it’s time to go over the

agenda. This is important even if you have distributed the agenda

to your participants. They may have lost their copy, or don’t have

it handy. Mainly though, the reason to go over the agenda is to

ground the meeting and express that there is a plan and you are

not here to waste anyone’s time.

The run- through of the agenda doesn’t need to be a big ordeal.

Simply go over who will be talking about what, in what order,

and for how long. don’t forget to point out break periods. The

reason for doing this is to help the participants stay attuned to

the meeting. They are less apt to get lost if they know where they

are and what’s coming next.

This is also why you should do a quick summary of what’s left of

the agenda after each speaker or section of the meeting. Again

this is to help keep your participants orientated and paying

attention to your message.

iii. ice breakers

especially if your meeting is with a small group of people – or

even a small group of speakers in front of a big audience – ice


[31}

breakers are an excellent way to get people to relax so they can

pay better attention to what’s going on. The beginning of a

webinar can be awkward, but with a good attitude from you and

some little exercises, your meeting can move on smoothly. The

time spent getting people comfortable could be seen as a waste,

but becomes invaluable compared to the ease at which people

are then able to listen and respond to your message.

Some good general ice breakers are:

• Fact or Fiction - This is where all participants write down two

things true about themselves and one false. Taking turns, each

reads their three things and the group decides which is not

true. not only does this shake things up a bit, but it also helps

people get to know each other.

• Free Association – First give the group a topic or word, then

give them a minute or two to write down anything that comes

to mind that is associated with the original idea. This one can

be useful if tailored to your main points of the webinar and can

get people thinking about what will be talked about later.

• deserted island – Tell everyone to write down what they would

take to a deserted island. Give them a minute or so, then go


[32}

around and tell each person they can have only three things on

the list and ask them what they are. Give them thirty seconds.

This is good for finding out people’s thinking processes,

especially in a time crunch.

• First or Worst – Go around and ask each person to tell their first

or worst job. This helps to spark conversation and have fun

commenting on things they have done.

• nametags – When sending out invites, give each participant

the name of someone else in the webinar. Then go to each and

let them speak about “who they are.” This is a great opportunity

for people to speak well of others and maybe poke a little fun.

Video conferences open up a whole new visual dynamic in

webinars. This can cause some people to be nervous on camera,

even if they would be fine face-to-face. Video conference ice

breakers should be more visual in nature of course. Here are two

good ones:

• ball Pass – When inviting everyone to the meeting, ask that they

have a tennis ball handy. Have everyone put the ball behind the

camera or computer. Then call out someone’s name and gently

bounce your ball past the camera. The person whose name was


[33}

called should reach forward and pick up their ball. The person

with the ball should say a few things about themselves, then

call out a name and bounce their ball out of view.

• Charades – This is an old game played in a new way. in turn,

email or iM each person a person’s name, a place, or a thing

and let them act it out over the webcam. You can also make the

theme of the things to be guessed have something to do with

the purpose of your meeting.

d. during the webinar

You have greeted everyone, done some icebreakers, and introduced

the speakers. even if you don’t have a role until the end, your work

is still just getting started. There are several things you need to keep

track of, not to mention everything else you need to be ready to do if

the occasion arises.

i. Time management

The schedule might just be the most important part of a webinar.

You don’t have unlimited time usually, but probably a lot of stuff

to cover. You don’t want to leave anything important out, but you

also don’t want to take too much time. ending on time is especially

crucial when dealing with customers or potential clients. You


[34}

have made a promise of sorts when you told them the timeline

of your meeting and you don’t want to break that promise at the

end. if you do go over the time you originally allotted, participants

who have rearranged schedules to attend your meeting may feel

especially put out and quite possibly will not return for your next

meeting. likewise, any participant – client, employee, or friend

– could become despondent if the meeting runs long and has no

end in sight. You stand to lose their attention and enthusiasm,

now and in future meetings.

A well run meeting is one that is on time. doing so lets the

participant know that you feel their time is valuable and you

don’t want to waste it. And they will appreciate this. but even the

best scheduled webinar can get derailed; it’s how you get it back

on track that matters.

There are several hot potential derailment spots to be aware of.

The first and perhaps most delicate is towards the end of guest

speakers’ lectures. You asked them to speak at your meeting, but

you don’t want to go over on time. A good way of dealing with this

situation is in the prevention department. during pre-conference,

talk with your speaker and discuss their time allotment. Some

speakers will ask you to give them five or one minute warnings.


[35}

Some prefer you just let them know when to wrap things up. even

if they have no preference, you have set the stage for letting them

know that you will be stepping in if they go long. This way, they

will not only be prepared, they may even be grateful to you for

helping them not to be seen as long-winded.

The other major derailment hazard is during Q&A. Whether

you are taking the questions or a speaker is, you still need to be

prepared to step in. Most speakers will probably be averse to

cutting someone off as it isn’t their meeting, but they might also

be the one going long. either way, you need to be ready. if you

have a questioner going long, wait for a lull in the question then

speak up:

• if the questioner is rambling, step in and sum up the question

for the speaker.

• if the questioner keeps asking question after question, you can

jump in and say “thank you for all those questions, but we have

others waiting.” Another idea is to say they have only time for

one question.

• Remember that if a questioner doesn’t respond to hints or

directives, you always have the ability to mute them.


[36}

if your speaker is derailing your Q&A, again wait for a lull:

• if the speaker is going on too long with a question, jump in with

a quick summary tied to a question that only requires a short

answer. Then go to the next question.

• even if there has only been a question or two answered due to

long answers, announce that there is only time for one more

question. This will help to remind the speaker of the schedule.

After that next question, if there is time, announce you can do

one more. Add one more as needed until time runs out.

ii. Maintaining audience attention

The whole idea of a meeting is to get your point across, but if your

audience’s attention wanders for whatever reason, your message

is lost. So keeping them involved is crucial. if you feel that people

are zoning out, you can pause things to do an impromptu Q&A

session. not only will this pull people out of their reverie, it might

also bring out thoughts that someone might otherwise have lost.

if you feel that normally your meetings’ attention levels tend to

sag after the beginning, maybe you should include a PowerPoint

presentation in each meeting. You could plan the slides to

correspond with what is going on every ten minutes so that just


[37}

as people might tune out, they have a new image to concentrate

on, pulling them back into the meeting.

Another key to keeping up the attention level is breaks. even with

limited time, breaks are important. People get tired or distracted,

or they need to use the restroom. it makes you look that much

better when you show that you thought of their comfort ahead of

time.

Good times for breaks are after a speaker has finished or before

the Q&A. This gives your participants time to think about what

they just learned and absorb it. even a quick two minute break

is enough to keep them engaged and alert. For longer webinars,

a ten minute break every hour and a half will be well received.

People can use the restroom, stretch, look over their notes, or

whatever. When they come back, they are refreshed and ready for

more.

iii. Managing polls, chats, and Q&A

Some features of a webinar you just can’t get in a face-to-face

meeting. Conducting live polls is one of them. now you can ask

everyone to raise their hand around a conference table, but in

doing so, you interrupt the flow of the meeting. Polls in a webinar


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show up on a sidebar and your participants can click on their

answer, all while keeping up with the meeting. You can also use

a poll to decide which topics to go to next, which ones to go over

again, and which ones to skip.

instant messaging chat has become a major part of not only our

social lives, but our business lives as well. Shooting off a quick

question to a co-worker on the phone is a great and unobtrusive

way to get information fast. unfortunately, not everyone has chat,

let alone the same chat engine. This is no problem with webinars

as they have a chat built in. You can use the chat by encouraging

people to type in a question whenever they like. This allows the

speaker to answer questions they feel are appropriate, or broaden

their lecture without missing stride.

The Q&A queue is a main feature of lecture Mode. if you are

having a basic conference call, it is only through pressing *1 that

your muted participants can let you know they wish to speak. The

primary use of the queue is during Q&A sessions, but you can

also use it throughout the meeting to help get people’s input. For

example, if during a certain part of the meeting you see someone

put themselves into the queue, you can pause briefly to hear what


[39}

they have to say. You can encourage the attendees’ participation

by listening to their comments and taking quick questions using

the queue.

iv. Getting your message across

As stated before, the whole point of a meeting is to get your

message across to your participants. All of your planning and

preparation is to make sure your webinar goes smoothly so that

people can understand what you are presenting to them. From

time management to maintaining their attention, you need to

stay on top of your meeting to get the most of the time shared

with your participants.

1. during conference calls

Staying on track is especially important in conference calls.

Remember, you and your speakers are just voices and if you

get too far down a tangent, your participants will be lost.

not getting sidetracked is essential along with helping your

participants keep up with periodic agenda updates.

if you have multiple speakers, or are not in lecture Mode,

you should make sure to announce that people should mute


[40}

themselves when not speaking. This helps to eliminate

background noise as well as removes the occasional,

accidental or unexpected noises that tend to happen.

When asking a question of a specific person during a

conference call, it is essential that you say their name and give

them a second or two before and after the question. despite

best intentions, a person’s attention will wander and saying

their name can snap them back. The two to three second

pause is to give them a chance to unmute themselves so they

can respond.

2. With web conferences

Web conferences add so much more to conferences.

They allow a visual channel to pour information to your

participants. utilizing as many available features as possible

will drastically help get across your point.

With desktop sharing, you don’t have to describe a website,

you take them there. Have pictures and graphics on hand to

easily illustrate your point. use graphs to show – not tell – your

participants where things stand and where they are going.


[41}

PowerPoint is an excellent tool for webinars. They keep

people’s attention, convey lots of information, and give

dynamic movement to an otherwise static meeting. With

graphs, have a slide with a position in the past shown, and

show where they are now in the next slide. This gives the

illusion of movement. if you do not have any information to

augment a speaker’s lecture, put a picture of them and a short

bio on a slide to show while they are speaking. This helps

to keep participant attention as well as to help form a bond

between them and the speaker.

3. using video conferencing

With video, it is far easier to see if people are engaged,

confused, distracted, interested, or still there. if you see more

than a few looking away, it may be time for a quick break

or Q&A. There are also ways for you personally to connect

through the webcam:

• Maintaining eye contact is very important to bond with

your participants.

• Avoid smiling except for when someone says or does

something good. if you smile only as a reward, basic human

nature will work to earn more smiles.


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• While you talk, utilize the fact that they can see you. Gesture

on important points, or hold up the report you are talking

about. Make sure to move a bit slower than usual to avoid

blurring on their screens.

e. Concluding the webinar

After your speakers have spoken and everyone has asked all their

questions – and especially if time has run out – it’s time to close the

conference. The end can be more than just a “good-bye.” You can use

the remaining time for a good conclusion that will do more than end

the meeting.

i. Wrapping up the webinar

in the last minutes of the meeting, you can sum up what was

talked about and tie it to the main purpose of the meeting. This

helps to cement the points made by you and your speakers. if

assignments or action items were assigned, this is a good time to

quickly go over them as well.

Make sure you have enough time to do a good job of wrapping

things up. budget about five minutes to give yourself plenty of

time. Two to three minutes before your last five minutes, start

getting the meeting back under your personal control.


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ii. Thanks and Acknowledgments

normally, thanks will go out at the beginning of a meeting with

a “Thanks again” at the end. not only is this redundant, you

assume that your participants don’t mind their time being spent

this way. Thank your participants at the beginning of a meeting

and everyone else at the end. This way, if the participants wish,

they can stick around to hear who did what, or they can leave. For

web and video conferences, a good idea is to create a separate

PowerPoint presentation filled with just slides of the people you

want to thank and their names. Start the slideshow five minutes

before your meeting and loop it. That way, your participants have

something to look at while waiting and your people get thanked.

You can run it again at the end as well.

When you thank people, you should mention the speakers, co-

hosts, and anyone who helped to organize the meeting. While

you’re at the end and thanking people, thank your participants

again. This will make them feel good, but also helps to encourage

them to return to the next meeting.


[44}

iii. using the end to make more beginnings

it’s been said that when you exit one place, you are simply entering

another. Part of concluding your meeting well is to ensure a

beginning in another meeting. With colleagues and employees,

your emphasis on goals accomplished and the major things to do

next will reinforce this meeting and begin to energize the next.

With clients and potential customers, you can use the conclusion

to get them fired up. Tell them what to do next and what your next

steps are. end on a good note and encourage participants that

there will be more positives in the future.


[45}

4.Going Beyond a Successful

Webinar

[46}

4. GoInG beyond a SucceSSful WebInar

Webinars are more than just meetings: they are tools to connect you with

your employees, and you with your clients. They allow you to be in places

that would have been next to impossible to get to otherwise. Webinars

offer more options to reach people, opening up vast possibilities over and

above simple talking.

a. Saving time and money

When you decide to do a webinar instead of meeting in person, you

are able to save a lot of time and money. obviously there are a few

compelling reasons that require you to be somewhere; if you have

to sign something in person, shake someone’s hand, or participate

in a softball game. if you have an out of town meeting, you should

question if its objectives could be accomplished through a webinar.

Think of the average cost of a plane ticket to your destination. Factor

in additional travel to and from the airport. Add hotel and meals,

but don’t forget to measure the work lost while you were traveling.

now compare that to the average cost of a webinar and the savings

are drastic. Plus, think of all the time spent getting ready, staying in a

GoinG beYond A SuCCeSSFul WebinAR

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hotel, and traveling. Compare that to dropping what you were doing

ten minutes before a webinar to call in, and going back to work after

you hang up the phone. if out of town meetings are a big portion of

your budget, webinars may be a life saver to your bottom line.

Huge cost and time savers don’t have to be the only reasons to use

a webinar instead of a face-to-face meeting. local meetings can be

improved upon as well. even if a meeting is in a building only fifteen

minutes away, you should factor everything involved in getting to

your car, driving, parking, and walking to the meeting. That usually

leads to at least an hour of wasted time… then don’t forget you

have to go back. Multiply that by all of the participants involved

and you stand to lose a day’s worth of man hours. Factor in all the

gasoline involved getting everyone to the meeting and it can get

pretty expensive. Just think of all the pollution that can be avoided

by replacing a local meeting with a webinar – it’s the greenest kind of

meeting available.

b. better management through webinars

With big companies or even little ones with branches, it can be easy

to lose track of people. Meetings are a good way to keep in touch

with your people, stay current with what they are doing, and keep

[48}

them on the right track. The problem with meetings is that to have

one, you have to stop work. There is also a tendency to use all the

time budgeted, especially if it’s a rare meeting. With webinars, your

employees don’t have to leave their work area. The can just join the

webinar and go right back to work afterwards.

it doesn’t have to just be update meetings. You can use webinars as

an integral part of your work process. if more than two employees

are separated by any kind of distance, there is great temptation to

replace true communication with emails and instant messaging.

While this works on a basic level, the potential for miscommunication

or omissions are high. To avoid this, you can setup a special webinar

line for certain groups of employees. When a project change is made,

get a person from each affected department into a webinar. They will

get on the same page much faster and may even come up with better

idea, spot a flaw, or solve a problem. They have their whole desk at

their fingertips, and all without the hassle of going to a meeting.

c. increase Sales

Webinars have great potential for increasing a company’s sales. They

can be used at each step of the process as well as helping to grow a

relationship with your customers. Webinars help a company to stand

[49}

out and make communicating with its customers a new and fresh

experience. it can also bring the company to the customer instead

of making them come to it. A webinar is a great way to distribute

information, but it also can create and nurture relationships.

i. Webinar as a marketing tool

You spend a certain amount of your budget on marketing and

advertising trying to get your company noticed. You can spend

more to advertise a webinar, but why not simply let it piggy-

back on whatever you have going on? Add an invitation to a

weekly webinar on your invoices, or mention a big webinar on

your newspaper ads. but don’t just have a meeting that people

can attend, make it an experience they won’t want to miss. Try

having a famous guest speaker, or offer a session full of advice on

something they care about. You could even host a webinar about

something that has nothing to do with your company, but still

include yourself at the beginning and end.

ii. Generate leads

once you get people interested in attending your webinar, you can

turn that interest into leads. Set up a registration page that trades

a code to the conference for some contact and sales information.

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Have operators answer your calls and ask some questions before

letting them into the conference. not only will you find out who is

interested in what you have to say, you’ll also find out a bit about

them as well.

no matter how you get potential customers into their initial

webinars, you now have the information you need to invite them

to more company-specific webinars.

iii. Converting leads to sales

if you’ve advertised a webinar about your company or products,

guess what; everyone who calls in is a potential customer.

However, if you got their information from other sources – even

previous webinars – you can still utilize those leads for sales.

A webinar is a way to speak with large amounts of people in a

way that still allows for a personal connection. if they call in, they

can still ask a question. With everyone muted, it almost seems

like a private conversation between you and them. With a web

conference, it’s just them in front of their computer listening

intently while viewing your PowerPoint presentation. Video

conferences allow you to talk to them face to face right out of

their monitor.

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A potential customer in your webinar is like a person walking

into your store, but better. You know they have some interest in

what you have to sell, they are motivated enough to come to you,

and you made it easy for them to take that first step. now all you

have to do is look straight into the webcam and show them your

proposal.

iv. establishing rapport

We can’t always be there to answer every question our customers

have, but we can make it easier to try. once you have your

customers, it’s important that they continue to feel they made

the right choice. You can host regular webinars with your current

customers to show that you are still there for them. You can

present them with guest speakers that are knowledgeable in the

industry. You can field their questions and give them answers

on the spot. You can connect with them in a way that is both

personable and easy for everyone involved.

Keeping up the relationship is not the only reason to do

reoccurring webinars. You can also keep your customers up to

date with product changes. if you have additions to the product

line, you can inform them of such and maybe make a few extra

[52}

sales. You can sell something to anyone once, but it takes a

relationship to sell to one person many times.

v. Generating referrals

Word of mouth is a powerful thing. it can make or break a movie,

a restaurant, or a company. if you have a good relationship with a

satisfied customer, then they will have no problems mentioning

you to friends and colleagues. When you next do a webinar for

your customers, include a guest pass for them to give to someone.

or setup your registration page to include a spot for your clients

to recommend someone to you by entering in their email.

Another idea is the next time you are on a small webinar with

a customer, offer to bring in someone they know who might

be interested as well. if your customers are excited with your

products and your way of doing business, it won’t take but a

little encouragement to get them to share that excitement with

another potential customer.

d. Taking business further

The very core of webinars is making communication easier. This

allows you to do more things in different ways despite long distances.

[53}

Whether it be meeting with a client and experts all around the world,

or simply having a quick chat with managers in five states, webinars

are changing how we do business for the better.

Take the simple recording feature. Alone it provides a way to preserve

and revisit all of your past meetings. This can be very helpful for many

reasons including legal, cohesiveness, or even nostalgia. Recordings

can also be used to lend a hand to clients or employees with hectic

schedules: if they missed the actual webinar, they can dial in later to

hear the recording when it’s convenient for them.

You can go even further with recordings. Why not do a webinar

planned from the ground up to be sold or given to prized clients?

You could sell the recording online, or offer it on a Cd complete

with a copy of your PowerPoint presentation, agenda, and electronic

brochure.

every business is unique and each could find a unique use for

webinars. The trick is to look past a webinar’s obvious use and see in

just how many ways it can improve your communication, your sales,

and your business practices.

[54}

SucceSSful WebInar checklISt

TYPe oF WebinAR

o Conference call

o Web Conference

o Video Conference

FeATuReS

o operator assisted call in

o operator in call

o Guest Speaker

o Registration Page

o lecture Mode

o Recording

AGendA

o Complete

o Realistic timeline

o breaks added

o Q&A time

o Closing remarks

o Version for participants

Plan

[55}


ConFeRenCe CAll

o use landlines

o Headsets work

o Wireless battery charged

o load live call screen

o Know live call controls

Web ConFeRenCe

o install webinar software

o Run web share program

o upload/Test PowerPoint

o use web share controls

o Program ready

o opening view up

Video ConFeRenCe

o install/run video software

o Webcam installed

o Good video in program

o use video controls

o neutral background

o neat, clean area in view

o Good apparel and colors

SetuP

o Agenda sent

o Good notes

o Contact info handy

o location Quiet

o Mute button located

[56}


ConFeRenCe CAll

o Sound quality good

o no background noise

o M u t e d w h e n n o t speaking

Web ConFeRenCe



o Muted when not speaking

o Correct PowerPoint slides at

appropriate times

o use of chat window

Video ConFeRenCe



o M u t e d w h e n n o t speaking

o eve r yo n e i n g o o d screen position

o eye co nt a c t w i t h webcam

o deliberate motions

execute

o Pre-Conference

o discussed agenda

o Schedule cues

o Greeting

o introduction

o Thank participants

o Agenda overview

o ice breakers

o Speaker introduction

o Speaker finish on time

o Q&A finish on time

o Closing remarks

o Thank participants

o Acknowledgments

3.execute a successful webinar

Documents