With a global pandemic sweeping the globe and forcing individuals to work from home, webinars have regained popularity and usage around the world.
Webinars have become a cornerstone for educating students and potential clients, generating leads for your business, and attracting enormous online audiences in the previous decade (particularly in the last few months).
Don't know where to begin and how to make a webinar? Below, we'll go over how to create a webinar. Let's get started.
What is a Webinar?
A webinar (which combines the words "web" and "seminar") is an online video workshop, lecture, or presentation that uses webinar software. These sessions, which are frequently business-related, can be utilized to share knowledge, ideas, and updates with people all over the world. Webinars can also be used to establish and develop connections, establish brand authority, and demonstrate a product.
Sponsoring an online event differs significantly from hosting a physical event. While renting a venue and hiring a caterer aren't required, preparing and conducting your own internet webinar is more difficult than it appears.
Why are Webinars so Popular?
What makes webinars so effective (in comparison to real events or workshops) is that you don't have to hire a physical space or deal with the complicated logistics that come with presenting in-person events.
In fact, the number of businesses organizing virtual events is expected to increase by 2020.
With a myriad of webinar advantages (as opposed to actual events), broad feature sets, and support for a variety of material kinds, the possibilities are virtually limitless.
Benefits of a Webinar
- Because webinars are web-based events, they are handy for both presenters and attendees because they can be hosted and attended from the convenience of your own office (or home.)
- Webinars work in both situations, whether you're presenting to a small group or a gathering of 100+ people.
- A webinar can be pre-recorded and viewed by participants at any time. In comparison to in-person events, they are quicker to put up, repurpose, and budget-friendly.
- Offline events offer their own benefits, but with live webinars, you don't have to worry about venue rents, food, beverages, or making sure your presentation equipment is in working order.
- Webinars have been utilized for a variety of purposes, including education, marketing, sales, branding, human resources, and user onboarding. So, the sky's the limit when it comes to what you can do with webinars.
Many webinar tools include interactive whiteboards, surveys, and polls, as well as live-chat capabilities, making them significantly more personalized, engaging, and interactive for your audience.
These are just a few of the reasons why webinars have gained so much traction in recent years.
How to Create a Webinar?
- Decide on a topic
- Decide on your format
- Select a platform
- Gather your supplies
- Create content
- Assign responsibilities
- Make a presentation schedule
- Publicize your webinar
- Carry out a dry run
- Make your event a success by hosting it
1. Decide on a Topic
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The first step to create a webinar is to choose a topic that interests you. No matter how much you already know about your chosen subject, make sure your webinar is current and relevant by researching the most recent material available in your sector. Examining your competition and other similar webinars available online is a smart place to start. Take notes on how they've organized their presentation, the slides they've used to demonstrate their arguments, and how you'd modify things if you were in charge.
2. Decide on Your Format
After you've done your homework on your topic and rivals, the next step to create a webinar is to concentrate on the presentation itself. Let's start with the structure: What kind of presentation are you planning to give? The topic's complexity and the number of speakers you intend to have can help you limit down your options.
The following are the four main webinar formats:
- A moderator guides the debate and asks questions of the panel
members in a panel discussion.
- Single speaker presentations are suitable for the smaller audience
because only one person is required to deliver the webinar and answer any questions posed by participants.
- Live Q+As: While most webinars contain Q+As at the end, you can
also construct a webinar that focuses only on addressing questions from the audience. If you take this route, make sure to inform participants ahead of time about the structure so they can prepare their questions. You can even solicit questions from the audience ahead of time.
- Interview webinars are particularly fascinating because they
promote a more conversational flow. Interviews entail an interviewer asking the person of interest pre-planned questions.
3. Decide on a Platform
The next step is to select the most appropriate webinar platform. The format you select will assist you in determining which is the best to use.
Consider your demands and the aims of your webinar before selecting a platform. Consider the size of your audience, the amount of money you're willing to spend, and the tools you'll need for your presentation. Do you require a platform that can accommodate many speakers as well as a Q&A session? Make sure the service you choose has all of the features you'll need to deliver your presentation.
4. Gather Your Supplies
After that, you'll need to decide on your physical gear. Because a webinar isn’t held in person, you'll need equipment that can deliver high-quality audio and video.
Here's a quick rundown of everything you'll need for this type of content creation:
- A PC or laptop with sufficient processing power
- Camera or webcam
- Devices for lighting
- Microphone
5. Create Content
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It's time to create a webinar now that you have all of the necessary tools. Here are some pointers for putting together your presentation:
• Script
Create a script for the full webinar first so you can stay on track. It's not necessary to follow it word for word; in fact, you probably won't. However, writing everything down will assist you in organizing your presentation. Allow for some wiggle room for off-topic tangents and detours, as your audience may welcome the extra information.
• Slides
Microsoft PowerPoint, Keynote for Mac, and Google Slides are all good solutions for generating slides. Whatever option you choose, keep in mind that the first rule of any slide presentation is to avoid cramming too much material onto each slide. Visually appealing slides will aid in capturing the attention of your audience.
6. Assign Responsibilities
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The responsibilities you'll need to assign will change depending on the webinar style you choose. When it comes to creating a webinar, there are three main players:
- Organizer: The main person in charge of the webinar is the
organizer. This person is usually in charge of creating material, promoting the event, gathering resources, locating speakers, and communicating with registrants both before and after the webinar.
- Presenter(s): The presenters are experts in their fields and have a
thorough understanding of the topic at hand. These are the people in charge of giving the presentation and relaying all pertinent information to the audience.
- Assistants are essential for resolving technological issues and
ensuring that everything goes properly. They can also assist with the organization of audience queries and the moderation of the comments area.
7. Make a Presentation Schedule
You may finally set the date and time of your webinar now that your content is finalized and your roles are defined. Consider where the majority of your audience resides and proceed from there.
However, when should you have your webinar? It turns out that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday have the most registrations and attendees, so choose one of those days.
8. Publicize Your Webinar
You'll need to build marketing pieces to promote your webinar before it goes live. This guarantees that you'll have a listenership, which is the ultimate reward for all your hard work. Here are some suggestions to help spread the word:
- Send out a newsletter
- Add banners to your website
- Design a landing page
- Create a blog post
- Promote on social media
9. Carry Out a Dry Run
Prepare for your webinar by practicing the whole webinar experience as the day approaches.
While you do a dry run, you'll be able to detect errors that are readily fixed but would otherwise be obvious when presenting in front of an audience.
You should rehearse your script multiple times. This will enable you to discover discrepancies, calculate how much time to devote to each issue, and offer your information to your audience more smoothly.
Have a colleague or assistant watch the full presentation online as you practice. They might notice mistakes you missed.
10. Make Your Webinar a Success by Hosting It
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The launch of your webinar has finally arrived. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time for setting up webinar on the big day. Double-check your script and slides before pressing the record or stream button to ensure they appear the way you want them to.
After you've finished your presentation and the Q&A session, make it clear how viewers can reach you. Provide your company's website, speaker contact information, and social media channels so that attendees may reach you.
Post-webinar Actions
After you've finished your webinar, you'll need to decide what you'll do with the recording. You put a lot of effort into your presentation, so make sure it's available online for years to come.
You can upload it to YouTube and embed it on your website if you're giving it away for free. If you want to keep charging people, consider adding a unique membership option to your website and only allowing paying members to attend the webinar.
Image is taken from Strikingly
You can make a free website in minutes with Strikingly. You don't need to learn to code or get a web design degree to get started. Because it has made editing easier, you may use this web page builder to design and personalize your business management websites. The Strikingly website editor's drag and drop feature is important since it allows you to quickly move content, photos, and objects throughout your website. Doesn't it sound incredible?
If you start getting questions about any of the things you covered, you may go so far as to create another webinar or film, such as a live Q&A or an online course for individuals who want to learn more.
Also, make sure you follow up with attendees, especially if your webinar's goal was to generate sales. Send a thank-you email and request feedback in return. Audience feedback can be beneficial and provide insight into how you might improve for the next time.
Conclusion
People from many industries and niches can use a webinar to share their unique ideas with the rest of the world.
It could take a few tries, but if you stay true to yourself and create compelling experiences and transformations that people want to be a part of, you will prosper and succeed.
Tell your friends and family about your unique ideas and goods!
