Four Ways to Screw Up Your Webinar

Webinars open up a world of possibilities; worlds that many of us could not even image just a short time ago. Webinars can increase sales, generate relationships with prospects, increase rapport with clients and can take your training sessions to a whole new level. When done right, they allow us to teach, share and interact with people in new fun and fresh ways and best of all, they can increase our profits and productivity. However, a bad Webinar can leave participants frustrated and angry.

What are the top four ways you can screw up a Webinar? Read on!

1) Bad Technology

If the technology fails, your Webinar fails, no two ways about it. If your audience isn’t tech-savvy you could wind up with a lot of trouble. Problems logging on, platform incompatibility or browser issues can all impact the ultimate success of the Webinar. When planning your Webinar, assume everyone is technology illiterate and keep the presentation simple. Keep the audio portion of the presentation in mind as well. Make the Webinar audio accessible via the Web, with no installs required.

2) Bad Content

You need to make sure you are offering solid content. Your presentation should be interesting, valuable and include both audio and written materials. Webinars aren’t free reign to fill the screen with a lot of words. Your on-screen content should complement the words you’re speaking. You don’t want to just read the words on your screen. You want them to support your message.

Most people learn visually, so make sure your presentation strikes a nice balance between great visuals and informative audio content. Bottom line, you have to keep your participants present and engaged with the material, otherwise your Webinar will bomb.

3) Boring Presentation

Webinars are presentations. You may have viewers that are half way around the world but they feel as if they are visiting with you personally in their office or home. When you think about it, that is a very personal form of communication. There is a connection between you and the viewers. For this reason you don’t want to have a boring presentation. You want to imagine your Webinar attendee and visualize him right across from you. If you smile, have a dash of theatrics, are entertaining, use great slides, some cool graphics, you are well on your way. Remember, before anyone can learn from you or buy from you, they have to be willing to watch you. Having a boring presentation is the kiss of death.

4) Bad Timing

As they say, timing is everything. Don’t schedule a Webinar for first thing Monday morning or at the end of the day on Friday. Strive to accommodate the masses. I like a mid-week (Tuesday – Thursday) in the evening (9 p.m.) and early morning weekend webinar (9 a.m.). This way you can accommodate the maximum number of people.

These are the top 4 ways I know of to screw up your webinar. I hope this has given you some insight and helps you improve your next Webinar. They are really a powerful tool and valuable for both the attendees and the presenter.

If you have any experience with these or any other ways to screw up  your webinar feel free to share it below.

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