8 Tips for a Creating Successful Webinar

Webinars are a fantastic way to share knowledge and expertise on a given subject, while making the participants aware of a product or service you provide. While it doesn’t take a degree in physics to make a webinar successful, it does take a certain degree of planning and organization. Here are 8 great tips for making your webinar a guaranteed success:

1. Prepare ahead of time. Once the actual webinar is prepared, send the invites out at least two weeks ahead of time. Be sure that you are clear on the date and time of the event. Remind participants a couple of days beforehand. At this time, you can issue participants the URL, passwords and software details. This will give them ample time to prepare ahead of time.
2. Practice makes perfect. A successful webinar sits somewhere on the line between entertainment and work. Test yours out on your family and friends beforehand. They can provide valuable feedback about what works and what doesn’t. On the day of the webinar, log in early and make sure that everything works.
3. Stick to the schedule. You’re not the only one who’s busy. Most of your participants are too. If your webinar is scheduled to start at 1:00 pm, start on time – even if some participants are not there yet. It’s important to finish on time too. If you need to run over, offer those who have to leave the opportunity to call you personally later for your final thoughts.
4. Share general housekeeping rules. When the webinar begins, clearly lay out the ground rules. Make sure that everyone can see the screen and hear you clearly.
5. Provide an agenda. It’s nice to know what to expect. You can do this by offering a slide that outlines the webinar’s agenda. Highlight the topics that will be covered and let participants know when you’ll be holding the Q&A portion of the webin
6. Stay organized. Follow the agenda closely and stay on track. If you have more than one speaker, make sure they each know when it’s their turn. Let the participants know who the moderator is. It is the moderator’s job to keep everyone on track – make sure you choose the right person for this job
7. Deliver what you said you would. You might be using your webinar as an opportunity to share information about a product or service you offer, but don’t spend too much time on this. Make your webinar worth their time and do what you said you would do.
8. Say thank you. Once the webinar has finished, thank everyone who participated. Be sure to send follow-up emails to the attendees and consider creating a short survey that asks for feedback. It will help your next webinar be even more successful.