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Common Webinar Software features

Webinar (web-based seminar).

Vangie Beal

Short for web -based sem inar , a webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the web using video conferencing software . A key feature of a webinar is its interactive elements and the ability for a presenter to give, receive and discuss information in real time.

Using webinar software , participants can share audio, documents and applications with webinar attendees. This is useful when the webinar host is conducting a lecture or information session. While the presenter is speaking they can share desktop applications and documents. Today, many webinar services offer live streaming options or the ability to record your webinar and publish to YouTube and other video services later.

There are many free, ad-supported and subscription/paid webinar software and services to choose from, some of the more common and useful webinar software features include the following:

  • Support for multiple presenters
  • Video file sharing
  • Live chat for attendees
  • Screen share
  • Prerecord video (or voice) options
  • Conference options for viewers to listen in live
  • Chat filters to connect attendees and presenters with social accounts
  • Other attendee incentives such as live Q&A tools, polls and feedback forms
  • Live capture to save presentation or streaming capabilities
  • Calendar scheduling and invites

Business webinar platforms may also offer options to integrate the webinar software with other business apps, such as CRM platforms and email marketing tools.

a is a web based presentation lecture workshop

Image: Example Webinar software screenshot, Courtesy AnyMeeting.

Note that a webinar is not the same as a webcast . Webinar data transmission is one way and does not allow interaction between the presenter and the audience. Usually, webinar software and online services do not offer any functions or options for video conferencing or meetings.

The term webinar may also be written as Webinar.

Vangie Beal

Vangie Beal is a freelance business and technology writer covering Internet technologies and online business since the late '90s.

How Does A Webinar Work: A Guide for Attendees

How Does A Webinar Work: A Guide for Attendees

How does a webinar work? Before answering this question, let’s get you familiar with virtual events first. Basically, a virtual event stands for an event that is hosted online by means of the internet. Lots of virtual events are held currently in response to the global pandemic. All modes of communication are now switched into becoming virtual. Events like meetings, classes, and conferences can still be hosted with the help of modern technology despite the current situation. A webinar is one of the virtual events which gains quite the popularity in the industry. Before jumping to the main topic, let’s take a look at its definition first.

What is a webinar?

A webinar, also known as a web seminar, is an online-based seminar that is held via webinar platform . Just like any other virtual event, a webinar can be a presentation, lecture, or workshop depending on the purpose. So far, a webinar is also used for marketing purposes, such as B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to customer).

As a matter of fact, about 73% of B2B marketers state that a webinar is a perfect way to create high-quality leads. It allows both the host and the target audience to experience a cost-effective way of sharing and receiving information. Not only does it allow participants to join the event in real-time, but it also enables them to interact with the host by its interactive tools, for example, live chats and polls.

Other features, such as presentation slides, videos, whiteboards, and screen sharing offer the convenience in delivering the material. That being said, it is hoped that the participants can fully grasp the main points of the event. Now that you know what a webinar is, thought like how does a webinar work? might arise in your mind, right? Let’s figure it out next.

How does a webinar work?

A webinar requires some tools, such as a mobile device or computer, internet connection, a web camera, an audio microphone, as well as a webinar platform. For the attendees, the web camera and microphone are optional, but they can be used for the purpose of interacting with the speaker. Some webinars let their attendees participate in the on-demand webinar which is the recorded session of the live seminar that can be displayed within a particular length of time.

This is to facilitate the attendees who cannot make it on the fixed date of the seminar. Generally speaking, a webinar typically lasts for 30-60 minutes and mostly consists of less than 100 participants. While some webinars are usually there for free, it is also possible for the event planners to charge a fee for the event, especially when they offer valuable content for the attendees.

How Does A Webinar Work: A Guide for Attendees

How do attendees participate in a webinar?

Joining a web-based seminar is definitely easier to do than joining an in-person seminar. Instead of going to places, traveling for miles to the venue, you can just simply do it on your laptop, computer, or other mobile devices. Since webinars are powered by platforms, you might need to install the software first in order to proceed to the event. However, some webinar platforms, for instance, Livestorm , Crowdcast , and ClickMeeting do not require any installation for the attendees as they are browser-based. These platforms generally have a higher rate of attendance due to its efficiency.

Just like attending any seminar, all you need to do first is register for the event. Simply go to the webinar landing page and fill in the form which includes your basic data. For free webinars, you don’t need to pay for anything, but the event planners usually ask for your email and data in exchange. For paid webinars, it is necessary for you to include your credit card details for the payment.

After dealing with the payment, you will receive an email containing the information of the event—the name of the event, the date, and also the link to access the platform. As for the software-based platform, you might be required to download and install it beforehand. To run the platform properly, make sure to check your device’s capability and do some tests on it. In one or two days before the event, you are likely to receive an email reminder. Finally, on the target date, you may proceed to attend the event by going to the website or app in which the event takes place.

Some important things to note before the event are a stable internet connection, and also an audio microphone, in case you need it for the Q&A (Question and Answer session). Most webinars are held live, so when you want to take part in a webinar, you might consider interacting with the speakers through chat rooms, polls, and Q&A sessions because those features aren’t there for nothing. Those interactive tools serve as a way to keep the audience engaged during the webinar. For marketing purposes, the interaction between the speaker and the audience helps to build relationship and gain customer’s attraction. It might as well help increase product quality since the company receives the audience’s feedback.

Why should you attend a webinar?

Having been given the information regarding webinars, now it’s time for you to know the advantages of a webinar. A webinar, although usually running live, can be played later by the attendees with the help of the on-demand feature. So, it’s obvious that in terms of time and flexibility, a webinar is a very good option, especially for extremely busy people. In fact, 84% of B2B clients prefer watching the playback of the webinar to live webinar. Furthermore, as the technology continues to evolve, some platforms have taken the initiative to bring the full webinar experience to those who attend on-demand webinars by enabling them to submit questions and operate other features.

Another benefit of a webinar is that you can receive information in an effortlessly effective way. There’s nothing as efficient as getting knowledge just by watching someone’s ideas presented in a seminar. You can improve your skills and gain knowledge at certain topics that you enjoy, without having to attend a physical event. This way, it will eliminate travel expenses as well. What’s not to love?

Now that you know the information regarding how does a webinar work, are you ready to take the steps into webinars?

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The Ultimate Guide on Creating Webinars & Live Classes

Androniki Koumadoraki Content Writer LearnWorlds

Table of Contents

A webinar is one of the most powerful weapons a course instructor has access to. It’s the crown jewel of your sales funnel. And because of its video-based characteristics, you can host a webinar to reach a wide audience and repurpose it as video content for your courses.

As reports show, 86% of online businesses use webinars as a marketing tool while 81% of marketers say video has helped them directly increase sales.

Taking this into account, you can use webinars not only as a medium for communicating with your students and facilitating learning but also as an advertising tool for promoting your courses.

Your professional looking Academy in a few clicks

To do this effectively, you need a great webinar that educates and…sells.

In an attempt to shed more light on what is a webinar and how it works, in this article we share everything you need to know about creating a successful webinar and also answer some FAQs you may have.

Table of contents

  • 1 What is a Webinar?
  • 2 How to Create a Webinar
  • 3 Best Webinar Software
  • 4 Using Webinars to Teach Online
  • – Live Class
  • – Virtual Training
  • – Live & Pre-recorded Webinars
  • 5 How to Host a Webinar on LearnWorlds
  • – Using Zoom
  • – Using YouTube Live
  • – Using Prezi Video
  • – Automate Webinar Registrations with Zapier
  • 6 Promoting a Webinar
  • 7 Frequently Asked Questions About Hosting Webinars Online

What is a Webinar?

Some other terms you might hear for a webinar are:

  • Free online workshop
  • Master class
  • Online seminar
  • Virtual training session
  • Interactive training

A webinar can be hosted by an individual or an organization. It may cover anything from an informal interview to a discussion on a specific subject that is predetermined.

As an online event, a webinar allows the sharing of slides and other interactive elements that facilitate information exchange and discussion in real time. It encourages participation through chat boxes and Q&A features.

How does a webinar work?

To attend a webinar, you need to sign up using your email address, where you’ll receive a private link before the live event. On the day of the webinar, the organizer sends a reminder email. You click on the link when the starting time comes and join the webinar.

In contrast to videos and podcasts that are “free” to join, people need to sign up to book their spot at the webinar by giving out their name and email address.

What are the benefits of a webinar?

  • It provides one of the best ways to generate new leads .
  • It is like a mini customer education program , during which you introduce your product or service through live tutorials and case studies. This enables you to sell them faster.
  • It offers an effective way to build trust and increase brand awareness.
  • It allows more interactivity and helps to get specific points across.
  • It is a source for repurposed content, e.g., ebooks, presentations, and infographics.
  • It is cost-effective and less time-consuming than other media.

Benefits, particularly for course creators:

  • It helps to position yourself as an authority on a subject.
  • It allows for greater engagement and better relationship-building – it’s more about teaching than presenting.
  • It can be used as evergreen content for online courses, just like blog articles that can be saved, read, and reviewed at any point.
  • It helps attract more students and distribute information easily.
  • It allows you to increase the number of your following and build your email list.
  • It makes teaching and knowledge transfer easy and effortless.

How can you use a webinar inside a course?

Generally, this is how you can use webinars in online courses:

  • As part of the course curriculum.
  • As part of the instructional manual.
  • As part of a marketing campaign to release a new course or training.

Just like the ebook and the video, a webinar is another form of content that has the potential to create a unique eLearning experience delivering a targeted message for informative, educative, or marketing purposes.

Now that we have covered all the associated benefits, it’s time to take a look at how to create a webinar.

How to Create a Webinar

In contrast to popular belief, setting up a webinar is simple and easy. However, the whole process needs some proper planning.

Here are the steps you need to go through:

Step 1: Decide on the webinar topic

First, think about what the topic of the webinar is going to be. Prepare a plan for what subject you will address and how you will do it, with an end goal that serves your business.

Your webinar must work around one main idea so that it’s niche-specific, and the presentation’s content should support that.

If it helps, ask yourself the following questions:

Do you need…

  • A webinar that educates?
  • A webinar that converts and generates leads ?
  • A webinar that informs (introduces you and what you do)?
  • A webinar that promotes your online course or other digital products ?
  • A webinar that does all of the above?

There are many types of webinars (sales, training, corporate training /communications, educational, customer retention/nurturing, branding/reputation, etc.). Deciding on the type of webinar you need is a priority since this will help you better organize the next steps.

An evergreen topic is the best way to increase participation and reviews. Although it’s a good strategy, always focus on what you are offering to the audience and the value it carries.

Step 2: Think about the webinar format

There are many webinar formats. Choosing the ideal one for your purpose will boost the webinar performance and determine success.

These are some of your options:

  • Single expert presenter : one expert sharing tips and advice.
  • Dual presenters : two presenters educating attendees and inviting them to the discussion.
  • Panel : hosting a group of experts discussing a specific topic.
  • Q&A session : an expert or a panel answers questions asked by your audience via chat or social media.
  • Interview webinar : a popular influencer as a guest speaker discussing a specific topic.
  • Product demonstration : explaining and promoting a product or a service.
  • Webinar series : an ongoing series of webinars as opposed to a one-off presentation.

Each format has its advantages and disadvantages. So make sure you give it a good thought before you decide which one fits your goals best.

Step 3: Choose your webinar provider

To start recording your webinar, you need to come up with the webinar content and then choose the webinar provider that will allow you to do so.

How to record a webinar

First, plan the webinar content and the script that will allow you to prepare some keynotes you can use during your live webinar.

Once you’re ready, choose a webinar creation software to start recording. Each platform is different and has different functions you can use to record your webinar, so make sure you follow the guidelines.

What equipment do you need for a webinar?

  • A computer with an internet connection
  • Webinar software
  • A camera/webcam
  • A microphone or headset with one

These tools will come in handy when hosting a webinar, so ensure that you have them well in advance.

Best Webinar Software

Many webinar platforms can help you with this task. Choose the one that fits your business needs the most paying attention to its pricing and the features that come with it.

Here are a few of the top software to create a webinar:

  • LiveWebinar
  • GotoWebinar
  • AdobeConnect
  • ZohoMeeting
  • ClickMeeting

Each software comes with different features. According to Capterra , it’s important to look for the following:

  • Customizable Branding
  • Event Management
  • On-Demand webinars
  • Polls/Voting
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Screen Sharing
  • Social Media Promotion

Paying attention to these features should help you create a high-quality webinar experience and attract many attendees.

Step 4: Prepare the content

Now it’s time to create your content and prepare your presentation slides. To do this, you can use PowerPoint, Prezi, Visme, or any other presentation creation software you prefer.

Make sure your presentation has a simple and clean design, it’s free of clutter, and presents content that is easy to understand. Don’t forget to use bullet points! If you aren’t the webinar host but inviting a guest speaker or course instructor instead, discuss the content with them and ask them to create it.

Also, ask them to send their finished work on a deadline. Three days before the live webinar works just fine.

Step 5: Choose the day/time

Just like your social media campaign, when deciding on the day you post, you have to be strategic. Your webinars can get filled with attendees depending on the date and time they take place.

According to the ON24 Webinar Benchmark report , Tuesday, followed closely by Wednesday and Thursday, are the best days to get webinar attendees.

What is the best time to host a webinar?

The same research showed that the best time to host a webinar is mid-morning and early afternoon, e.g., at 2 pm.

Having this in mind is helpful, but you should always think about time zones to figure out what time suits your audience best.

Using Webinars to Teach Online

Webinars are a great way to teach online or move a workshop online. They’re interactive and enable two-way communication, which makes them perfect for education.

Webinars are also great for recording a live class and offering it later as an on-demand video or pre-recorded training. To do so, upload it to your LMS to sell it as an online course .

So, how can you use webinars to teach online? First, you need to decide whether you’ll follow a webinar-only format where you communicate with a small class of students by email and schedule their classes. Or, if you’ll build an online course and the webinar will be part of the curriculum.

Live classes or a virtual classroom environment are face-to-face live video sessions with one or many students. Like on-site classes, the instructor organizes a class and leads the conversation.

In a live class, the instructor can share their screen using a PowerPoint, a document, a video, or other multimedia. Some software, like Zoom, support sharing a whiteboard environment .

zoom whiteboard

After the class, you can upload the recording to a course platform like LearnWorlds and allow your students to have access to the class at any time they want. If you have a mobile app for your online school, send them a notification so they can view it right away if they want to.

Virtual Training

Virtual training is most common in professional education. It’s often used in internal employee training or continuous professional education . But it also applies to non-traditional education and non-professional subjects, like sports, certain skills, or hobbies.

The principles that apply to virtual training are the same as any other subject. You will need to identify the learning objectives before creating the material. We have written an article on how to create an online course where the same principles apply, with the only difference being in the production of the material. There, instead of shooting video, you’re having live training at specified times.

  • Decide the course topic
  • Research the subject
  • Write the learning goals and objectives
  • Plan the course outline
  • Invite your students
  • Host the webinar

💡 Small tip – you can use a calendar app like Calendly and embed the form on your website to get registrations or schedule one-to-one live training. Here is how you can embed it in LearnWorlds .

Live & Pre-recorded Webinars

Here at LearnWorlds, we allow you to do both live webinars or include them in a course curriculum. You just embed the webinar inside a course and sell it as a class, course, webinar, or training. Would you like to give it a try ?

How to Host a Webinar on LearnWorlds

If you have an online school with LearnWorlds, you can connect Zoom and run a meeting or live webinar with LearnWorlds’ Zoom Integration .

You can read our detailed guide on how to do that from here .

Step 1: Connecting Zoom

First, you will need to connect the Zoom integration to your LearnWorlds account.

connect zoom to learnworlds

Step 2: Add a Live Session to a Course

You can go to an online course and add a new learning activity. You will need to choose a Zoom Meeting or Zoom Webinar.

add a Zoom learning unit

Step 3: Choose your Settings

You will need to save and choose the right settings for your live session, including the date and time it will run.

Zoom Settings

Step 4: Run the Live Class

Now that you are all set up, you can run the live class through LearnWorlds. Here is what it will look like:

live class on LearnWorlds

Keep in mind that:

  • Zoom also offers Zoom Classrooms for educators.
  • Zoom integrates with LearnWorlds by embedding it in a course and using Zapier to automate registrations, more on that below.

Using YouTube Live

Follow the steps of our super easy article on how to create a live webinar with the help of YouTube Live. To do this, all you need is a Google and a YouTube account.

Creating a webinar with YouTube Live is a piece of cake once you get to learn the procedure.

Simply go the YouTube’s ‘Live Streaming’ to create an ‘Event.’ Choose the date, time (start/end), and other basic information about the webinar, such as title, location, tags, type of stream, and broadcast control. Broadcast control allows you to make your webinar public, unlisted (available only through an invite link), or private.

youtube live webinar function

Once you are done, click on ‘Go Live’. This opens up a new window, but you need to go back to your browser and click on ‘Live Control Room’ and then, ‘View on Watch Page’.

starting a webinar on youtube

From there, go to the video and click on ‘Share’ to insert the embed code.

embeding a webinar from youtube

Finally, go to your LearnWorlds school and find the course you want to embed the live stream to.

Click on “Add an Activity” and then ‘Embed’ to insert the code into your course content.

embeding a webinar from youtube on LearnWorlds

Lastly, go to the ‘Update Embed learning unit’ and paste the “Video Embed” script of your Youtube Stream, and you are good to go.

This is how your webinar will appear in your LearnWorlds video player:

how a webinar looks inside LearnWorlds' video player

To invite people to your webinar, send them the YouTube page link.

Please keep in mind that not all of the webinar tools/software can be embedded in your school. That’s why LearnWorlds suggests you use YouTube Live.

Using Prezi Video

Prezi has combined its powerful interactive presentations with Video. A favored tool by educators, Prezi Video , allows for an open canvas-style of presentation to be embedded on top of your video.

Imagine a video where your graphics join you in the presentation for a more unique experience. Learners will no longer ‘tune out’ to flat, voice-over slides.

You can use Prezi Video as a video solution for your online and live courses to optimize the learning experience and keep the learner focused on key content. You can also use it in live webinars and online conferences. Video links can be shared across any platform. When combined with third-party video conferencing or webinar software, you have the most engaging online learning and webinar solution at your fingertips.

It works with all major platforms like:

  • GoToWebinar
  • GoToMeeting, and
  • Google Hangouts

See some teacher examples , or learn how to use Prezi Video here .

Automate Webinar Registrations with Zapier

So, what if you are selling your webinar as an online course, or what if a webinar is part of your online course? You will need to connect Zoom, Youtube Live, or Go-To-Webinar so that someone who signed up for your course is registered to it.

This is where Zapier comes in.

You can use Zapier to send all new enrollments to a Zoom webinar or register them for all your live classes associated with the course.

Connecting LearnWorlds wtih Zoom using Zapier

A Profitable Webinar Sales Funnel

Webinars are great for selling your products. Webinars can be a part of your main focus in sales.

You can use webinars to collect leads and nurture them into paid customers. When constructing your webinar sales funnel, you need to think of the whole process: from getting people to sign up to your call to action during the webinar.

You will need to:

Steps to a webinar funnel

  • 1 Get people to sign up
  • 2 Invite people to attend
  • 3 Follow up
  • 4 Close the sale

Get people to sign up for the webinar

Calling out for webinar participants can happen in many ways, but mostly through social media channels . Create a Facebook or LinkedIn group/page and reach out to other businesses and bloggers, asking them to promote the event to their audience.

In the meantime, do the same with yours. But before you start sending out invitations, think about how many registrants you will need or can handle.

Usually, there is a 3 to 5% conversion rate. This means that to secure 10 registrants, you might need to send out more than 200 invites.

How to promote a webinar

If you want to promote your webinar effectively, try the following:

  • Create a spot-on sales pitch : come up with a sales pitch that sounds natural, letting words speak from your heart. When you are genuinely trying to help people, they feel it and will sign up for the event with no further questions. In your pitch, give a short description of what the webinar is all about, explaining the 4Ws – What, Who, When, Where. You can also urge more people to enter, creating scarcity with the availability of seats.
  • Run Facebook Ads : promote your webinar through Facebook and/or Instagram ads. Send out the invitation link to people who are more likely to be interested in it.
  • Come up with a lead magnet : create a pop-up form offering a short free webinar, an ebook, or a coaching session with you to entice potential participants. Ask for their full names, email, and telephone numbers. Use their contact details to send them a welcoming email and two or three more webinar reminder emails along the way. Let your email marketing strategy take the lead from then on to convert webinar attendees into future course buyers.

Create a strong webinar landing page

Creating a winning landing page that can host your webinar registration page and your ‘Thank You’ page or confirmation page is the best thing you can do to promote it.

Research conducted by GotoWebinar , which analyzed 350,890 webinars hosted by more than 16,000 of their customers, showed that the company site is the top channel for webinar promotion. This means that the company site is the ideal place to direct people to learn more about and join a webinar .

infographic on webinar stats

Image Source: Marketing Profs

To get your webinar landing page right, clearly explain when the webinar will take place, what the topic of the session will be, who will be presenting, how to register for the event, and what people can gain from attending it. Make sure to also optimize it for SEO using relevant keywords.

How to charge for a webinar

Most webinars are offered for free, but you also have the option to charge for them if you want to. In this case, your webinar is your product instead of your funnel, but it can also be part of a more intricate, premium product funnel.

To do this first, determine the costs of webinar production – how much you pay to host it. Usually, this is around $100 at the minimum. Depending on which webinar platform you choose and the results you’re after, pricing will differ.

Then, calculate the amount of time it takes you to create the webinar content and measure how many participants you expect to have in your webinar to come up with the final price.

How to host a paid webinar

Choose a webinar platform that allows you to charge attendees, and follow the guidelines to set up and connect your payment gateway e.g. PayPal. Then, encourage people to ‘Pay to Register’ using the appropriate CTA (call to action) in all your webinar marketing efforts.

Invite people to attend the webinar

The ideal number of webinar emails to send out is three to four, depending on the registration day. You can use an email automation tool to set this up.

For example, if you are counting down to the webinar from Day 7, you can send the first to say ‘Thank You’ and confirm registration on the day of the signup. Send another one or two in the middle of the week – Day 5 and Day 3 to prepare them for it, and one on Day 1 as a reminder email. Those who register in the middle of the week will get fewer emails as a reminder.

Send a follow-up email

Once the webinar has taken place, it’s a good idea to send out follow-up emails. Those reminder emails you sent out to people before the event can prove useful after it’s completed.

With these emails you offer the opportunity to those who took part in the online event, as well as those who didn’t make it, to replay the webinar and review the information you have given.

On top of that, you can ask them to provide some feedback on your presentation. This can help you improve the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy and discover more creative ways to reach out to your target audience.

Close the sale

This is the part where you sell.

You will need to have a clear call-to-action that is repeated in your whole funnel in order to make the sale. Whether you are selling online courses, products, services, or software, you will need a way to “activate” your attendees.

You have several opportunities to do so. The best way is to mention an offer or a Call-to-Action inside the webinar. This can be at the beginning, middle, or end of the webinar. Alternatively, you can follow up, usually with an email sequence or – in the case of high-ticket sales – a personal call/email.

You could also use remarketing to reach out to everyone who attended. But that works best if you have thousands registering or attending your webinar. If you’re using a webinar as a sales funnel, good luck!

And, don’t forget your CTAs and follow-ups to close that sale!

Frequently Asked Questions About Hosting Webinars Online

Despite their popularity, not many people know a lot about webinars. Knowing what a webinar can or cannot do is the best way to create a successful webinar that gathers the attention it deserves.

These are our answers to some of the most popular questions regarding hosting webinars:

What is the purpose of webinars?

The purpose of webinars is to discover customer needs , educate, present new ideas, gather leads, or increase your brand awareness.

How to create a webinar presentation?

Choose the webinar presentation tool that suits your needs and give your presentation a structure. Start with the following:

  • Come up with a catchy title : use industry-related keywords and show what it is about.
  • Provide a presentation outline : explain what you’ll talk about.
  • Give an introduction of yourself/company : tell who you are and what you do.
  • Deliver your training to attendees : teach people how to do something.
  • Talk about your product : introduce your product and describe what it can do for them.
  • Present your product offer : list all the reasons why you are the best in your niche.
  • Close the ‘deal’ : talk about the next steps and how people can get in contact with you.
  • Hold a Q&A session : answer any questions people have at the end of the webinar.

How long should a webinar be?

According to Zippia webinar statistics , the average webinar length is 60 minutes, while the average viewing time for webinar attendees is 56 minutes.

Slightly shorter webinars are more popular with attendees. 44% of attendees prefer webinars that last 45 minutes and another 41% prefer 30-minute long webinars.

What are webinars?

A webinar (or web seminar) is an online event (usually a live meeting or conference), that is organized and hosted by an individual or an organization/company, which gets presented in front of a small or large group of people via the online means – using an internet connection, computer, laptop or mobile.

What is a webinar session?

A webinar session is a live virtual event that takes place online. It may be an educational or instructive session that includes audio and visual communication between a speaker and attendees.

Are webinars effective?

Webinars work and are one of the most effective marketing tools every entrepreneur or company that wants to promote their product and services can use in their advertising strategies.

Are webinars interactive?

Webinars have many interactive elements, such as the sharing of presentation slides and a chat box, which allows webinar attendees to talk directly to the webinar host through a Q&A session.

Are webinars live?

Yes, typically webinars are real-time meetings, presentations, or events that take place online. However, there are occasions when a webinar is not live but is presented as live, or it’s pre-recorded.

What describes a live webinar?

The main feature of a live webinar is interactivity – the ability to connect with viewers across the world to discuss, send, and receive information.

Can the instructor see you on a webinar?

It depends on the kind of webinar. Typically, a webinar is a one-to-many format. This means the webinar instructor can’t see the students while in a webinar, but the audience can send out questions to the instructor and the instructor answers them through the live session.

Some webinars allow for two-way communication through video as long as the person who created them permits it.

How to use webinars for training?

A webinar for training your business team members can be used as:

  • A lecture-based training : one-way communication where the trainer presents to attendees.
  • Virtual classroom training : use of traditional webinar presentations, combined with interactive tools including videos, surveys, polls, Q&As, or breakout rooms .
  • A mixture of the two : a combination of both training types.

Bear in mind that each trainer uses a different type of instructional video and has a unique teaching style. Therefore, the nature of the webinar may differ from person to person.

What is an evergreen webinar?

‘Evergreen’ in marketing refers to content whose topic is always relevant and fresh for readers. An evergreen webinar is a webinar that can withstand the test of time.

What are some good webinar title examples?

Catchy, short, and easy-to-remember titles are ideal for webinars:

  • How to Lose 3 Pounds in 10 Days
  • 5 Steps to Create a Winning CV That Gets the Job
  • Baking 101: 7 Ingredients to Make the Best Brownies
  • Instagram Tips: 10 Secrets to Increase Brand Awareness

These are some examples of specific industries. Take a few examples and templates to create different variations that suit the niche of your business or your online school .

You are ready to create your first Webinar!

While there is no definite way to promote and host webinars, there is always a way that works.

If you’re planning to create a webinar and invest in webinar marketing, make sure you choose the right webinar service that helps you create great and valuable content along with coming up with creative ways how to promote it.

All you have to remember is to prepare, have your goal in mind, and always aim to give value to your audience before self-promotion!

You’ve got this, good luck!

Further reading you might find interesting:

  • How to Teach Online & Earn Money in 2022: Definitive Guide
  • How to Create and Sell Profitable Online Courses: Step-by-Step Guide
  • How to Start an Online School in 2022 + Infographic
  • How Much Money Can You Make Selling Online Courses?
  • How To Start A Profitable Online Course Business From Scratch (2022)
  • The Essential Guide on How to Create Cohort-Based Courses
  • Introducing the Most Advanced Online School Site Builder
  • Introducing Single Activity Courses: A Better Way to Sell Webinars, Ebooks, Videos & Digital Downloads

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Kyriaki Raouna

Kyriaki is a Content Creator for the LearnWorlds team writing about marketing and e-learning, helping course creators on their journey to create, market, and sell their online courses. Equipped with a degree in Career Guidance, she has a strong background in education management and career success. In her free time, she gets crafty and musical.

Androniki Koumadoraki Content Writer LearnWorlds

Androniki Koumadoraki

Androniki is a Content Writer at LearnWorlds sharing Instructional Design and marketing tips. With solid experience in B2B writing and technical translation, she is passionate about learning and spreading knowledge. She is also an aspiring yogi, a book nerd, and a talented transponster.

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What Is a Webinar and How Does It Work?

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Here’s Why I Won’t Be Upgrading to the PS5 Pro

This new browser is a productivity miracle, this is what's slowing your phone charger down (but you can make it faster).

Video conferencing has become a great way of keeping up with work-related things when working from home. When talking about video conferencing, you'll often hear two terms: webinar and online meeting. A webinar may seem like a typical online meeting, but it isn't.

If you've found yourself using the two terms interchangeably, this article is for you. Read on to learn what a webinar is, the difference between webinars and online meetings, and how webinar features on popular video conferencing platforms stack against each other.

What Is a Webinar?

A webinar, or web seminar in full, is an online lecture, workshop, or presentation. Typically, a webinar consists of a single speaker or a small group of speakers/panelists presenting to an audience.

A webinar has two critical aspects: a speaker or small group of speakers and an audience. The audience can interact with the hosts differently, which boils down to the available interactive tools. Essential webinar interactive features include polls, chats, and Q&A sessions, among others.

A webinar can be free or paid, depending on the host and organization. Typically, webinars last between half an hour to an hour, but again, this depends on the host, topic, and so on. Finally, you can host webinars in real-time, but you can also pre-record and share on-demand.

How Do Webinars Work?

Webinars mainly involve the presentation of content to an audience. They are primarily handy in different scenarios, including online lecturers, product showcases, user onboarding, training, and conducting meetings for large teams. You can present different content types from video, PowerPoint slides, whiteboards, and screen sharing in a webinar.

Webinar vs. Online Meetings: What's the Difference?

Up until this point, you might still be wondering what differentiates a webinar from an online meeting. The main difference between a webinar and an online meeting is the interactive aspect. Online meetings involve the collaboration of all participants. In an online meeting, anyone could present by screen sharing and talking. Participants also see other users in the meeting.

Webinars work slightly differently because only the host and panelists can talk and present. Other attendees in the meeting can only view what's happening. Attendees interact with the host or panelists via interactive features like chats and polls. Another differentiating factor between meetings and webinars is the number of participants.

Webinars are more appropriate if you plan on hosting lots of attendees, while online meetings are ideal for small teams. For instance, Google Meet's webinar feature can accommodate up to 100,000 participants. In contrast, a typical Google Meet meeting only supports up to 250 participants.

Related: Unique Team Video Chat Apps for Remote Working and Work-At-Home Offices

Webinars on Popular Video Conference Platforms

Ongoing meeting in Zoom

Webinar features are currently available on the most popular video conferencing platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet. Depending on which platform you choose, however, you will have different features at your disposal.

Also, webinar features are mainly exclusive to paying subscribers as well.

Webinars on Zoom

Zoom's video webinar feature supports up to 50,000 view-only attendees and unlimited webinar sessions for up to 30 hours each. The minimum number of users supported is 500, but you have an option to scale up to 50,000. The maximum number of attendees depends on your Zoom webinar license.

On Zoom, a host can screen share and present via audio or video. Attendees interact with the host via the chat feature and the built-in question and answer feature. It also includes polling and surveys.

As a host, you have the option to require pre-registration or let attendees join instantly at the time of hosting by clicking the webinar link. If you require attendees to pre-register, you can manually approve them or allow the system to approve everyone automatically.

One thing to note about Zoom's webinar feature is you can choose to unmute attendees.

Zoom's webinar feature is available in its dedicated Zoom Events & Webinar plan. Zoom Events & Webinar starts at $79/month/license for up to 500 attendees.

Additional pricing options include $340/month/license (up to 1,000 attendees), $990/month/license (up to 3,000), $2,490/month/license (up to 5,000), and $6,490/month/license (up to 10,000). However, an annual subscription will save you some good cash.

If you're interested in plans that can accommodate over 10,000 participants, be sure to contact Zoom .

Related: How Much Does Zoom Cost to Use?

Webinars on Google Meet

In Google Meet, a webinar can include a maximum of 100,000 attendees. Like Zoom, the maximum number of attendees will depend on your Google Workspace edition. If you're unfamiliar with Google Workspace, our guide on what Google Workspace is and how to use it should come in handy.

To create a webinar in Google Meet, you'll have to create a live stream event for presenters first. After that, you'll then have to create a second, view-only event for guests. Google Meet's webinar feature, which the company calls "Live Streaming," is only available on select Google Workspace plans.

These select Google Workspace editions include Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Teaching and Learning Upgrade.

For all of these editions, Google isn't open about the pricing, so you'll have to contact the company for that.

Webinars on Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams has a more conservative cap on the maximum number of attendees. Currently, it only allows up to 10,000 view-only attendees but plans to double that number in the future. However, you can host up to 1000 attendees, with each accessing different interactive features inside Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams allows you to create an optional registration form as well, like Zoom. And unlike Zoom and Google Meet, Microsoft Teams allows you to enable attendee audio and video after creating a webinar.

In Teams, your attendees can interact with you via chat, polls, live reactions, and they can also raise their hands to get your attention.

Webinar features are available in Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Business Premium plans (up to 300 attendees) which cost $12.50 and $20 per user a month, respectively, billed annually. If you're an enterprise user, you can select between Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, which cost $32 and $57 for each user per month on an annual commitment. Microsoft 365 Government G3 and G5 plans also include Teams' webinar support as well.

In the meantime, for the rest of 2021, any Microsoft 365 subscription plan has access to Teams' webinar features.

Host a Webinar Yourself!

Webinars are a great way to host large online meetings. However, you should only use webinars if you mainly plan to present something. If you want to host interactive meetings, you're better off using the typical online meetings. The biggest thing to know about webinars on popular video conferencing platforms is that you must pay for a subscription.

In contrast, you can host an online meeting without paying a dime, as long as you don't have many participants. So if you plan to host a webinar, shop around and see what features are available on the different platforms.

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  • Getting started

6 Webinar Definitions and What They Tell You About Webinars

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Webinars have become popular over the last couple of years. Many people are regular participants or attend webinars from time to time.

However, there still are Internet users who have never heard of, or heard very little, about online events you can host and attend via webinar platforms. If such a person asked you what a webinar is , would you be able to give them one, concise definition?

In this article, we gathered six webinar definitions, each of them focusing on different webinar features. Let’s take a look at them together.

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Table of Contents

1. Definition by English Oxford Living Dictionaries

A seminar conducted over the Internet . #

No doubt about it. You need to be connected to the Internet to be able both to run and attend a webinar. Webinar platforms enable you to host online events for people based in many different locations. So before you start your first webinar it’s good to check if your Internet connection works properly so as to avoid unexpected problems during the event.

2. Definition by Collins

An interactive seminar conducted over the Internet. #

The interaction between the host and webinar attendees is one of the main ideas behind a webinar. You don’t just sit and talk to your microphone and webcam, and they don’t merely sit and listen to and watch you. You can interplay with your participants all the time during your webinar and you both can benefit from this. The next webinar definition elaborates on this topic.

3. Definition by Merriam-Webster

A live online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments . #

You can actually have a conversation with your participants. They can get in touch with you via chat immediately when a question related to the webinar topic comes to their mind. They can also take part in a Q&A session, e.g. at the end of the event, to ask you to clear up any doubts that appeared during your presentation. You can answer their questions, give further explanations and provide them with any details they need. Then you can ask attendees to take part in a survey to answer your questions – e.g. about your performance, whether they expectations have been fulfilled and what topic they would like you to discuss next time.

4. Definition by Cambridge Dictionary

An occasion when a group of people go on the internet at the same time to study and discuss something. #

Webinars are, among others, educational events. You can take an expert’s role and share knowledge on important topics your audience is interested in. You can host a video-tutorial webinar to show attendees how to e.g. build, cook, fix, draw, or choose something. You can also give them tips and tricks from your own experience. Many different tools available from webinar platforms will help you achieve that aim.

5. Definition by LifeWire

A webinar is a live web-based video conference that uses the internet to connect the individual hosting the webinar to an audience–the viewers and listeners of the webinar from all over the world. Hosts can show themselves speaking, switch to their computer screens for slideshows or demonstrations , and even invite guests from other locations to co-host the webinar with them .  #

Speaking of tools, there are many at hand when you need to deliver your online lecture. You can use your camera so the audience can see you all the time. You can present a slideshow, share your screen to show attendees how to use an app or demonstrate something on a virtual whiteboard – to name just a few. And if you need a helping hand and your webinar platform provider offers such an option (ClickMeeting does!) you can ask an expert to be the second host and run your webinar with you.

6. Definition by Webopedia

Short for Web-based seminar, a webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web using video conferencing software . A key feature of a Webinar is its interactive elements is the ability to give, receive and discuss information in real-time. #

And last but not least: all you do during your online event – interaction, knowledge sharing, asking and answering questions – happens in real-time, as if you were all sitting together in a conference room! This lets you react instantly to any question your audience asks, any comment they write or any doubt they need you to clear. They don’t have to wait for you to help or support them. You don’t have to wait to learn what their needs are.

As you can see, if we were to write a precise and exhaustive webinar definition, we would end up creating a longish piece of text. Each definition discussed above focuses on one or several important features that let you host awesome online events for your audience. If you would like to try them out, check the tools ClickMeeting offers .

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Webinars vs Online Meetings: Which One Are You Planning?

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5 Tips to Help You Avoid Sounding Like a Robot During Your Next Webinar

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What Is A Webinar?

Webinars and content marketing.

When it comes to content marketing, businesses want to create engaging, in-depth content that will not only educate prospects and customers but also help to establish themselves as an authority in their industry. While many types of content can help to achieve these goals, a webinar is particularly useful in doing so because it requires a committed level of engagement from audience members, as opposed to passive consumption of content such as blog articles.

Types Of Webinars

Although webinars are typically presentations, lectures, or, in some cases, workshops, there are several different types of formats that you can present your webinar in. The following are some of the more common types of webinars that you can host:

Live Webinars

Live webinars are filmed and streamed to a live audience. They’re a good way to capture the interest of an audience since they create a natural sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) because people don’t want to miss a scheduled event. For a live webinar to be effective, you will need to schedule it well in advance so that viewers have time to register and will know when to tune-in.

Live webinars don’t limit you to only streaming whatever it is you’re filming. There’s a lot of technology available that can help make your webinar more engaging. For example, you can supplement the video with a whiteboard or a slideshow feature, both of which can provide the speaker with a visual aid that makes it easier for the audience to follow what they’re saying.

Interactive Webinars

One of the unique things about a webinar is that the audience doesn’t have to be passive. There are several ways that you can make your live webinar interactive. Using a chat feature, you can ask the audience questions as well as answer questions during the webinar itself. You can also request viewers to answer brief surveys over the course of the presentation, the results of which can be shared almost immediately during the webinar to prove a point or to spur a discussion.

Of course, hosting an interactive webinar means it will have to be live. By making your webinar interactive, you’ll engage your audience much more effectively.

Pre-Recorded Webinars

Not all webinars have to be live. You can pre-record presentations and then publish the webinar at a later date (or use the webinar as a lead magnet). While you do sacrifice the interactivity of a live webinar, there are some advantages to pre-recording.

For example, you might have a guest speaker who can only do the presentation at a certain time on a certain date that may not be convenient for your audience (such as early in the morning on a Monday). In a case like this, pre-recording the webinar will give you a chance to attract a larger audience. Pre-recorded webinars may also be a better option if the speaker is a little uncomfortable speaking to a live audience. By pre-recording, you may put them more at ease.

The Benefits Of Webinars

Because most webinars are streamed live, some companies might have the misconception that they only provide short-term value. They may even doubt the value of pre-recorded webinars, especially when they could be investing in other types of video content instead. However, both live and pre-recorded webinars can benefit your content marketing efforts more than you might realize. Just consider these benefits that a webinar can provide:

Provide A Great Middle Of The Funnel Offer

A successful content marketing strategy is one that addresses every stage of the buyer’s journey. Webinars are particularly effective when it comes to nurturing prospects who are in the middle of the funnel. At this stage, prospects will already have a good understanding of what their pain points are. It’s at this point where they will be evaluating potential solutions and the companies that offer them.

Webinars are an excellent way to nurture these prospects further along the sales funnel by not only educating them about specific solutions to their pain points but to also give them insight into your personality and expertise. Encouraging prospects at this stage to register for a live webinar or to download a pre-recorded webinar that’s relevant to their needs can be very effective.

Deliver Valuable Information

The growing popularity of video content has proven that it’s the most effective way to deliver information to an audience. People are visual creatures, which means that it’s much easier to hold their attention with video content than text-based content. A webinar also focuses on a presentation or workshop delivered by a speaker. The audience is more likely to remain engaged if they can relate to someone on a personal level. A good speaker can engage viewers not just through the information they are sharing, but through their personality as well.

Generate More Leads

When you schedule a live webinar, you can require that people register ahead of time. When they register, you’re essentially capturing valuable lead information. You can also require that leads fill out a form to access any live or pre-recorded webinars that you post to your website.

Because webinars should focus on specific topics, you’ll automatically collect insight into the interests and pain points of those leads. This could make it easier to nurture those leads as well as provide you with more information about what your audience is looking for, allowing you to adjust your marketing efforts accordingly and to generate more leads in the future.

Build Your Brand Authority And Trust

Webinars arguably do more for your brand authority than any other type of content. They give you a chance to focus on a more specific or niche subject that’s relevant to your brand and industry. This kind of information tends to be more valuable to your prospects since information on broader subjects can be easily attained through simple web searches. The more webinars you host, the more authority you’ll begin to build, which will translate into more trust in your organization.

It’s not just the subject matter delivered in a webinar that can help build brand authority and trust either. It’s also the fact that this information can be delivered by someone at your company. This gives viewers the chance to see your organization’s authority first-hand. It also gives them the chance to connect on a more personal level, which can help to establish more trust in your company as a whole.

Increase Your Reach Through Partnerships

You can invite guests from throughout your industry to appear in a webinar. This can have a similar impact as writing a guest blog or having an expert write a guest blog on your website. For example, by inviting someone from a non-competing business within the same industry as you to appear in a webinar, you can build a mutually beneficial relationship with that business. They will likely share the webinar with their audience, thereby helping to increase your brand awareness.

Besides getting more eyes on your webinar via such partnerships, you can significantly improve your authority among your own audience and within your industry as a result of hosting an expert or a specialist. Such a reputation can go a long way towards increasing your reach as well.

Create Cost-Effective Content

Webinars are a form of video content, which means that they are a great way to build up your content library. Both pre-recorded webinars and live webinars (just because you stream them live doesn’t mean you can’t post a recorded version at a later date) function as evergreen content to help attract leads over the long term. You can find multiple ways to use your webinars. You can post them to your blog, you can post them to social media, and you can use them to nurture leads via your email marketing campaign.

Finally, webinars are often more affordable to produce than other types of video content. While you will still need equipment to film the webinar, most of the cost is in the pre-production and production phases of creation. Unlike other video content, you won’t have to invest in post-production (editing, graphics, color correction, sound design, etc.).

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Webinars

As beneficial as webinars can be to building your brand authority, engaging your audience, and generating leads, you will need to put a lot of effort into their creation to ensure that they are effective. It doesn’t matter how many people register to watch your webinar, if you’re not providing the information they were looking for or your speaker isn’t engaging, your audience will drop off throughout its duration. Any viewers that you lose won’t likely give future webinars you stream or publish a chance. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your webinars:

Prepare Thoroughly

If you don’t prepare properly, your webinar will end up being unfocused and messy, leaving a poor impression on many of your viewers. Preparing for a webinar will require:

  • Determining the subject that you will focus on and making sure that it’s well researched (you won’t want to provide false or outdated information to viewers).
  • Establishing a structure to follow in order to explore the subject effectively.
  • Ensuring that the speaker (or speakers) rehearse what they will go over.
  • Identifying and reserving an ideal location where you can film and stream the webinar with no distractions.
  • Making sure that you have all the right equipment needed on the day of the webinar (film equipment, sound equipment, lighting equipment, and more).

Promote Your Webinars

When you consider how much work goes into preparing for a webinar and streaming/filming it, it’s going to be a huge waste if nobody sees it. This is especially true if you’re streaming a live webinar. To ensure that this doesn’t happen, you need to promote your webinar ahead of time through your website, email list, and social media channels. Your audience needs to know about the existence of your webinar, how and where they can view it, and when it will stream if it is live.

Provide An Incentive To Register

The webinar itself should be incentive enough to register. However, if your registration count is low for an upcoming live webinar, consider offering an incentive for people to register. This can be as simple as a free eBook download or access to an older webinar recording.

Keep Your Webinars Focused

When promoting your webinar, highlight what it will be about. It’s incredibly important that you stick to your script. If the content of the webinar doesn’t match what you promoted, you’ll leave your audience frustrated and annoyed. This is especially true if you attempt to pull a bait and switch. For example, if you promote your webinar as a presentation on how people can save money and then spend the entire webinar going over how they have to purchase your product in order to save money. If anything, doing this will only hurt your reputation.

Engage With Your Audience

While the content of your webinar and the personality of your speaker (or speakers) will have the biggest impact on whether your audience remains engaged, there are other ways to keep viewers from losing interest as well. For example, using live chat, whiteboard, and slideshow features can all help to keep the audience’s attention as well as allow them to interact with speakers in real-time. In fact, giving your audience the chance to engage directly through live chat allows you to answer specific questions and address specific needs that you may not have had a chance to do otherwise.

Follow Up With Registrants After The Webinar

If a prospect took the time to register for a webinar and to stream it live, then you can’t afford to not follow up with them. There are several ways that you can follow up. If you send your registrants an email follow up, make sure to thank them for registering and watching the webinar. You can then:

  • Ask them for their opinion on the webinar   – This can be done in the form of a short survey. You can get an idea of whether the webinar was effective this way as well as provide more guidance to help improve future webinars.
  • Ask if they have any questions   – A good webinar might incite the desire for more information, so find out if they have any questions regarding the webinar they viewed.
  • Recommend similar content   – Assume that if they registered and viewed the webinar that they are interested in similar content. If you have content related to the subject matter the webinar discussed, send them a link to it.
  • Send a link to a recorded version of the webinar   – Some prospects may not have had a chance to catch the webinar live or were only able to watch a portion of it. You can assume that they wanted to view it in its entirety simply by the fact that they registered. Sending them a link to a recorded version may be very much appreciated.

The Challenges Of Hosting A Webinar

At first glance, it might not seem that difficult to host a webinar. It might appear like it’s just a matter of pointing a camera at a speaker and streaming and recording it. However, it’s a little more complicated than that. Some of the main challenges that you’re likely to encounter should you decide to host a webinar include:

Finding The Time

Creating a webinar is a time-consuming process. Actually doing a webinar takes time, but it’s the preparation for the webinar that tends to be the most time-consuming aspect.

Getting People To Register

Promoting your webinar is a lot easier said than done. Firstly, know who your target audience is. Then determine where that audience can be found (such as what social platforms to promote your webinar on), as well as when the best time to promote your webinar is. And then the promotion itself needs to be eye-catching, with a good title and description to entice registrants. All of this can require a fair bit of time and effort.

Dealing With Nervous Speakers

Some people are natural public speakers. You can sit them down in front of a camera and they’ll have no trouble sticking to their points and keeping an audience engaged. However, there are plenty of people who have a tough time speaking to a large number of people or who may be camera shy. If the person who is performing the presentation is nervous, it will come across and it will hurt the quality of your webinar.

To prevent speaker nerves from ruining your webinar, you will need to go through a practice run. This will help you identify whether or not the speaker is capable of performing in front of a camera without appearing nervous. If it’s apparent that nerves will be a problem, then they will need to practice their presentation until they are comfortable and familiar with their content. You will also need to put some effort into calming their nerves and making them feel relaxed within the environment that the webinar will be filmed in.

Keeping The Audience Engaged

Knowing how to keep an audience engaged with a personable speaker and visual aides doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be successful at it. Audiences are short on patience in this day and age, especially when it comes to content consumed on the web. A lot of effort will need to go into ensuring that you have speakers and content that will keep your viewers engaged throughout the entire webinar.

Determining Success

Just because a lot of people registered for your webinar doesn’t mean it was automatically successful. It just means you did a good job promoting the webinar. Determining whether or not it was successful can be trickier. Identify what metrics to monitor and what they mean, such as the registrant-to-attendee conversion rate, average time spent in the webinar, recorded webinar watch rate, percentage of registrants that turn into qualified leads, and more. Note that the metrics you need to monitor will also depend on what the goal of the webinar in question was.

Generating Added Value From A Webinar

Once you’ve streamed a live webinar, generating additional value will depend on whether or not you know what to do with the recording. Turning a recorded webinar (or a pre-recorded webinar) into useful evergreen content can be a time-consuming challenge.

Technical Challenges

Unfortunately, hosting a webinar requires technical know-how. In order to record and stream the webinar, you will need to know how to set up and operate film equipment. This includes not just the camera, but also the audio and lighting equipment. And you’ll need to use the right software applications to host the webinar online. Software errors can lead to all kinds of issues, such as:

  • Issues that prohibit people from registering for the webinar.
  • Problems preventing registrants from accessing the webinar stream.
  • Challenges with the stream quality (such as a low-quality feed, a lack of sound or video, the feed crashing completely).

Incorporate Webinars Into Your Marketing Strategy To Improve Lead Generation And Engagement

While hosting webinars do require some work, if done properly they can have a significant impact on your ability to build your brand authority, engage with your target audience, and generate new leads. Webinars are well worth investing in and deserve a place in any content marketing strategy.

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Delivering teaching online with webinar

How to run lectures, workshops, seminars and meetings online whilst still allowing audience interaction.

Lady taking part in a webinar at her computer.

What are webinars?

A webinar is short for web-based seminar. A webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop, or seminar that is transmitted over the web, instead of in person.

As a result each member of the webinar, from the presenter to the attendees, can be at a different location providing they have an internet connection.

This means you can present from your desk, your home or anywhere while your attendees can watch on their computers, tablets or even smartphones.

webinars

A webinar will typically transmit:

  • audio – from a microphone the presenter is using
  • the presenters' screen – showing a presentation, website, or file
  • webcam – showing a video of the presenter.

Unlike podcasts, webinars still facilitate interaction between you and your audience. Depending on the product you use, you’ll have several features available to you such as:

  • taking questions (text-based or verbal)
  • running polls and seeing responses
  • creating interactive whiteboards
  • changing presenter.

Logistical benefits

  • Location – presenters and attendees no longer have to be in the same room. Providing they have an internet connection they can be anywhere in the world.
  • Student numbers – you’ll be able to present to up to 500 attendees at once – larger cohorts than our lecture theatres can support.
  • Audience – your attendees or guest/joint presenters can be from other organisations such as the NHS or other institutions.
  • Recorded – you can record your session for those that can’t attend.
  • Green – by reducing travel, webinars are an environmentally friendly option.

Pedagogic benefits

  • Providing you record your webinar, students can watch the content again, make notes and study at their own pace.
  • Webinars cater for a variety of different learning styles.
  • Interactivity increases – as students can type questions, engagement typically increases as students don’t have to speak or be judged in front of their peers.
  • Attendees can learn in a familiar and comfortable setting as they choose where to watch from.
  • Time – students save valuable time from not having to travel that can be used for independent study.
  • Surveys, polls, and evaluations allow you to get instant feedback from your attendees to help confirm learning.

Which tools are available?

The University currently provides two tools for running webinars:

Zoom (recommended) Great for simulating real world lectures of up to 500 participants. Equipped with chat, breakout rooms, polls and engaging features.

Microsoft Teams Covering anything from small meetings and tutorials to seminars and lectures up to 250 participants. Equipped with chat and collaborative features.

Skype for Business part of Office 365

Contact the Digital Education team

[email protected]

University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA

@PlymUniDigiEd

Pediaa.Com

Home » Technology » Electronics » Consumer Electronics » Computers » What is the Difference Between Webinar and Video Conference

What is the Difference Between Webinar and Video Conference

The main difference between webinar and video conference is that webinar is a one-way communication that allows the presenter to speak to a remote audience with limited interactions with the audience while video conferencing is a two-way communication that allows transmitting video and audio simultaneously between multiple participants at different locations.

The rapid development of Information Technology has improved lifestyles as well as businesses. Today, it is easier to communicate with many people around the globe at the same time using various technologies. Two such technologies are webinar and video conference.

Key Areas Covered

1. What is a Webinar      – Definition, Features 2. What is a Video Conference      – Definition, Features 3. What is the Difference Between Webinar and Video Conference      – Comparison of Key Differences

Webinar, Video Conference

Difference Between Webinar and Video Conference - Comparison Summary

What is a Webinar

A webinar is also called a web-based seminar . It is a presentation, workshop, lecture, etc. that we can distribute to a large number of participants. Most webinar services offer live streaming options. It is possible to record the webinar and upload it into social media networks such as YouTube.

Difference Between Webinar and Video Conference

The person who hosts the webinar (presenter) can connect to viewers around the globe using a strong internet connection. It allows him to present his ideas to the audience in real time. He can share his computer screen, and, PowerPoint slides with the participants. The participants can see and hear the presenter, but the presenter cannot see and hear the participants. Moreover, the participants cannot directly ask questions from the presenter. Instead, they can write their questions on the chat window.

What is a Video Conference

Video conference is a live connection between two or multiple participants in different locations of the world. It is necessary to send the audio and video both at the same time across the network to reach all participants. Therefore, everyone in the video conference must have equipment such as microphones, speakers, and, video cameras. It is also possible to share documents and other presentation materials among the participants.

Main Difference - Webinar vs Video Conference

Nowadays, many companies are multinational, and they have branches located in different countries. These organizations use video conferences to conduct meetings. Therefore, the managers and other employees do not have to travel to participate in the conferences. Instead, they can communicate while staying at their original working places. Therefore, video conferences allow business organizations to conduct meetings in a cost-effective manner with minimum infrastructure.

Difference Between Webinar and Video Conference

A webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the web using a video conferencing software. Video conference, on the other hand, is a live, visual connection between two or more people residing in separate locations for the purpose of communication.

The main difference between webinar and video conference is that webinar has a one-way communication while a video conference has two-way communication.

Communication

In a webinar, the participant cannot ask questions directly from the presenter. However, in a video conference, each participant can talk with each other directly.

Requirements

Technical requirement is another difference between webinar and video conference. In a webinar, it is not necessary to have special equipment to maintain communication whereas, in a video conference, both ends should have special equipment to maintain communication.

Moreover, in a webinar, there is not much involvement with the audience like in a video conference. This is another difference between webinar and video conference.

Webinar and video conference are two methods to communicate with multiple users. The main difference between webinar and video conference is that webinar is a one-way communication that allows the presenter to speak to a remote audience with limited interactions with the audience while Video conferencing is two-way communication that allows transmitting video and audio simultaneously between multiple participants at different locations.

1. Beal, Vangie. “Webinar (Web-Based Seminar).” Router vs Switch vs Hub: What’s the Difference? Webopedia, Available here . 2. “What Is Video Conference (Video Conferencing)? – Definition from WhatIs.com.” SearchUnifiedCommunications, Available here . 3. “What Is Video Conferencing? – Definition from Techopedia.” Techopedia.com, Available here .

Image Courtesy:

1. “2636738” (CC0) via Pixabay 2. “Videoconference classroom” By Arthur Grigoryan – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia

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About the Author: Lithmee

Lithmee holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Systems Engineering and is reading for her Master’s degree in Computer Science. She is passionate about sharing her knowldge in the areas of programming, data science, and computer systems.

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What’s the Difference Between a Webinar and a Virtual Meeting?

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Rapid advances in technology, changes in communication trends , and global connectivity brought about by the Internet have made webinars and virtual meetings integral to many aspects of our personal, educational, and professional lives.

A webinar is a type of virtual meeting that takes place between individuals or groups at different locations, whereas a virtual meeting is a broader term that includes any type of interactive meeting or communication conducted online.

Webinars typically feature one or a few presenters delivering content to a larger audience with limited interaction. In contrast, virtual meetings encourage dynamic, collaborative discussions among fewer participants, encouraging active engagement and real-time interaction.

However, both can break down geographical barriers, allowing people from different parts of the world to connect, learn, and collaborate without the constraints of distance, which is why their popularity is increasing nowadays.

In this comparison guide, you’ll learn more about webinars and virtual meetings, along with the key differences between them and which one to consider for better communication nowadays.

So, let’s get started.

What is a Webinar?

Webinars, also known as web-based seminars, are digital seminars or presentations conducted over the Internet. It usually involves a speaker or group of speakers delivering a presentation, lecture, or workshop to an online audience.

This is commonly used for knowledge sharing, training, marketing, and communication purposes.

Webinars example

Webinars can cover a wide range of meetings including educational, professional, and informational topics where participants can join the webinar from different locations using their computers or mobile devices.

What is a Virtual Meeting?

A virtual meeting is a real-time interactive gathering of individuals or groups using digital communication technology.

Two peoples in online meeting - Virtual meeting explained

These can be used for team collaborations, remote work, client meetings, and various types of business communication, fostering active engagement and efficient communication despite physical distance on a wide range of platforms and software.

Now let’s look on what’s the difference between a webinar and a virtual meeting.

Differences Between Webinars and Virtual Meetings

PurposeWebinars are typically designed for one or a few presenters to share information, skills, or insights with a larger audience. They are often used for educational, promotional, or thought-leadership purposes.Virtual meetings mainly focus on collaboration, discussion, decision-making, and teamwork. They allow participants to interact and communicate in a more dynamic manner.
Audience SizeInteraction is an essential feature of virtual meetings where participants can discuss in real-time, share ideas, collaborate on documents, and provide instant feedback.Virtual meetings mainly focus on collaboration, discussion, decision-making, and teamwork. They allow participants to interact and communicate more dynamically.
RegistrationWebinars often require participants to register in advance, providing their contact information, to receive access details. Additionally, in many cases, there is a requirement for a ticket fee to gain entry.Virtual meetings may or may not require registration depending on the platform and the nature of the meeting. Platforms like and don’t require participants to create an account to access a meeting. Most of them allow immediate access with a link or user passcode and username.
InteractionInteraction in webinars is usually limited. Participants can often ask questions through chat or Q&A features, but the host can control the level of interaction.Interaction is an essential feature of virtual meetings where participants can discuss in real-time, share ideas, collaborate on documents, and provide instant feedback privately or publicly in a group meeting.
DurationWebinars are usually more time-limited and structured, with specific start and end times. They tend to be shorter in duration to fit the content of the presentation and the engagement of the audience.Virtual meetings are flexible in duration, adapting to the needs of the participants and the topics discussed. These can be short or long, depending on the agenda.
FeaturesWebinar platforms offer features such as screen sharing, polling, Q&A, and chat to enhance the presentation and interaction between the host and participants.Virtual meeting platforms offer features such as video conferencing, screen sharing, remote access, breakout rooms, chat, document sharing, and collaboration tools to support dynamic interactions.
RecordingWebinars can be recorded and shared later. This is useful for participants who could not attend live and for archival purposes. But most of the time, it is usually recorded with an external camera.Virtual meetings can be recorded internally and externally for participants unable to attend live or for future reference. However, the main focus remains on collaborative discussion rather than content delivery.
Security and PrivacyWebinars can be promoted to a larger audience through registration. The purpose of promotional efforts is to attract participants interested in the topic being presented. However, Webinars are less secure than virtual meeting platforms.Virtual meetings can be more private or restricted to invited participants, making them suitable for internal team discussions or sensitive topics, and roles can be assigned to ensure seamless team coordination and management.

Which is a Better Choice Webinars or Virtual Meetings?

The choice between webinars and virtual meetings depends on your specific goals and the nature of the interaction you want to facilitate.

If you need to deliver a presentation, lecture, or training material to a larger audience, webinars are useful. Otherwise, for group discussions, team collaboration, brainstorming sessions, and decision-making, virtual meetings are the better choice.

Conclusion:

By understanding the unique strengths of each and the differences between different platforms, you can now confidently select the ideal mode to enhance your online interactions and achieve your communication objectives.

We’d love to hear how beneficial this guide on differentiating webinars and virtual meetings has been for you. If you found it valuable, consider sharing it with your friends, commenting to share your thoughts, and rating this article below!

If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding this guide, please feel free to  contact us .

We’ll be happy to hear your thoughts, thanks.

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The Editorial Team is a committed group of virtual meeting enthusiasts and accomplished online business experts. Our editors contribute from various corners of the globe, enabling us to provide comprehensive coverage of premier online meeting platforms, solution guides, reviews, comparisons, invaluable tips and tricks, as well as the latest global news in the industry.

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What Is A Webinar? – Features, Types, & Benefits

webinar

Holding and conducting seminars are some of the most taxing and time-consuming deals for individuals and businesses alike.

This is even more apparent when the target audience is not one available locally – gathering everyone in the same location for training or workshops becomes an overwhelming task.

The amount of time, money, resource and planning required is not economical or feasible to hold seminars.

Enter webinar – a solution that uses the internet to solve the issues faced in hosting and attending seminars.

What Is A Webinar?

Webinar essentially means seminar sessions held over the internet . The term is the portmanteau of two terms “Web” and “Seminar” and refers to a web-based conference which is either conducted live or presented pre-recorded. Since it is held online, anyone with appropriate equipment and access can attend a webinar from anywhere using the internet.

When expanded, the webinar definition can be put as “an online seminar , workshop or lecture where the speaker(s) deliver presentations and share information to large audiences.”

A webinar, just like its offline counterpart, is a live event with a specified date and time of occurrence. It allows for the easy presentations of slideshows and documents that would generally be done during a face-to-face gathering.

Webinars come under the category of web conferencing – a general term encompassing various other online conferencing methods.

This brings us to –

Features Of Webinar

Here are some of the basic features of webinars commonly available throughout different webinar software and services –

  • Real-time audio, video and text-based communication
  • Easy presentation of slideshows, documents and screen content
  • Sharing, downloading and recording of complete lectures and sharing or viewing them afterwards
  • Surveys, polls, MCQs, exams, and quizzes

Webinars help presenters interact with their audiences using various elements such as chats, surveys, polls, quizzes, and questionnaires. Attendees can also share the webinar event using social media sites for others to join.

If you show up late to a seminar, you miss a portion of it. But there are different types of webinars, some of which help mitigate this issue.

Types Of Webinars

Webinars can be classified into three types based on the release and availability of content –

Live Webinars

On-demand webinars, automated webinars.

Webinars are usually one-time events that occur during a specified date and time. There are no options for scrubbing or pausing a webinar. It goes on just as it would in a seminar taken by a person. Show up late, and you miss a portion of the webinar.

Considered a great marketing tool , on-demand webinars allow audiences who have signed up to view it later on at the time of their liking. Based on the features of the webinar software used, it can even allow for the usage of interactive elements such as polls and quizzes to be used by the viewer.

Automated webinars work in an orderly fashion –

  • The presenter records and uploads the webinar to the platform
  • The date and time of release are set
  • The webinar is streamed live to the audience when the specified date and time arrive.

But this raises the question –

What is the difference between a webinar and a video conference?

Let’s find out.

Difference Between Webinar and Video Conference

Even though webinars and video conferencing use the same underlying technology of live video streaming, their use cases differ.

This raises the question –

How do webinars work if they are quite different from regular video conferencing? Does hosting a webinar require special “webinar software”?

How Does A Webinar Work?

how webinar works

Setting up a webinar involves similar steps and software to set up a video conference. Now, let’s look at how to create a webinar.

Creating a Webinar

Here’s a list of steps to be followed in order to ease into the nitty-gritty of creating a webinar –

  • Use a professional SAAS to host your webinar.
  • Set a date and time for your webinar
  • Select and prepare your webinar topic and content, respectively
  • Promote your webinar – tease the webinar to the world by using social media and landing pages to raise awareness and interest; usage of hashtags are recommended for better reach.
  • Practice before going LIVE – check your equipment and their settings.
  • You’re all set! Best of luck on your webinar.

While a webinar can be created and held using regular video conferencing software that allows for group calls like Skype, Google Hangouts, it is not advisable to do so. The video conferencing software and services are optimised for making group video calls and not exactly for conducting webinars. Many software and services are optimised to provide you with specific tools and make your webinars look more professional.

Webinar Software

Here’s a list of free and paid webinar software and services that can help you get started –

  • GoToWebinar
  • Zoho Webinars
  • EverWebinar

Once a webinar is created, all that is left is to send out the invites, share the link on social media – if it is a public webinar – and promote it for maximum reach.

Participating In A Webinar

Participating in a webinar has become quite easy because all it takes to join one is to click on the webinar link and register using any of your internet-connected devices. The said device used for registration and viewing should have –

  • Stable connection to a high-speed network
  • The necessary software required to access the webinar (if required)
  • Good video and audio output capability

Most of the devices owned by many can support webinars right out of the box without a lot of setups – except for installing the webinar software if required.

Once registered, you are able to participate in the webinar at the specified date and time. It is to be noted that the method of joining and participating in a webinar varies based on the webinar software used to create the webinar.

The benefits of a webinar over holding a regular seminar.

Benefits Of A Webinar

Webinar offers a lot of advantages and removes many of the limitations posed by offline seminars. While a seminar has the following drawbacks to it –

  • Requires physical presence
  • Not independent and flexible
  • Lesser number of interactive options
  • Takes a lot of time, money and planning to hold just a single seminar

Webinars take the best of both worlds and help provide users with a seamless and flexible experience. Here’s the list of benefits of hosting a webinar –

A webinar helps save on travel costs and significantly reduces the amount spent by organisers and attendees for creating or attending a seminar. Webinars also tend to be mostly free while providing a lot of value to viewers and businesses respectively. This makes webinars a lot more cost-effective than holding seminars.

Since webinars are held online, it allows people to host and view them right from the comfort of their home or office. Most of the gadgets we own come more than equipped to host or attend a webinar, making it even more convenient. All that is required is a stable internet connection to connect and view the webinar.

Worldwide Reach

A person can host a webinar for audiences worldwide for a fraction of the cost. It is easier to reach a larger audience pool that includes people from all over the world, instead of just your locality by hosting a webinar. Compared to this, the travel expenses for hosting a seminar for a large group or attending a seminar in another country itself would come out to be higher than the amount that would allow you to create or watch webinars for months.

Interactive

Webinars are quite interactive – with all the surveys, polls and questionnaires , it is bound to keep the audience interested and helps make the webinar much easier to understand. Webinars also help manage a larger audience since everyone tends to receive their very own video and audio stream, giving it a more personalised touch .

Promotes Brand Image

Webinars act as a platform for businesses to reach their target audience and make direct contact with them. This tends to improve brand recognition , perceived quality, and status of the presenter (individual, brand, or business representative) in the eyes of their audience members.

Obtain Sales Leads

In order to attend a webinar, a viewer has to be interested in it to voluntarily register. This proves to be a valuable data collection and lead generation tool. Since only the interested people voluntarily sign up, webinars help businesses generate a long list of potential sales leads and customers within no time. Webinars can also be used to increase sales by converting viewers into potential customers. This can be done by selling to the viewers while educating them about the product simultaneously.

Final Thoughts

Webinars can be successfully used in a lot of industries and fields. They are convenient for both attendees, speakers and organisers on the whole. This is why webinars have risen to become one of the most important sales tools for individuals and businesses alike.

Go On, Tell Us What You Think!

Did we miss something? Come on! Tell us what you think about our article on What is a Webinar  in the comments section.

a is a web based presentation lecture workshop

Started out to become a developer but felt at home in the home of startups. The journey started from a single novel. Been an entrepreneur since schooling days. Interested in coding, reading and movies.

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Webinar as a marketing tool

What is a webinar and how does it work? A simple guide to webinar marketing

Ada Durzyńska

A webinar , short for ‘web-based seminar’, is an online presentation, meeting, or workshop that allows individuals or groups to interact in real time.

With the increasing popularity of video content in marketing, webinars have become a go-to strategy for businesses looking to educate, engage, and convert their audience.

In this article, we will explore the key benefits of webinars and provide tips on how to create and host a successful one.

What is a webinar?

What is a webinar?

Webinars (web seminars) are video presentations, workshops, or lectures hosted online, usually via webinar software . These online events are usually interactive and business-related and allow you to share your knowledge with virtually anyone in the world.

Web presentations and conferences are a highly interactive form of marketing and can be used as a relationship-building or authority-building tactic. But the possibilities are endless. You can even use webinars for internal team meetings if you’re part of a remote team.

Planning a webinar is so much easier than organizing a seminar or lecture in real life. Mainly because you don’t need to have a big venue to host a large number of attendees. You can invite people from all around the globe to meet in real time, and if they can’t participate live, you can record the webinar and send them the recording later.

Editor’s note: Are you looking for a webinar platform that’ll let you run, promote, and even sell webinars in one single dashboard? GetResponse Webinars come packed with all the necessary tools that’ll help you grow your online business with ease using both live and on-demand webinars. Go ahead and sign up today to try our webinar + marketing automation + landing pages combo! Not convinced? See how our team leverages the power of GetResponse to drive success in our webinar campaigns.

What are the benefits of a webinar?

So, now you know what webinars are. But why do you need webinars?

Here are the main reasons you should host a webinar :

  • First of all, they help you build a list . Every registered person is a new contact in your database.
  • Online seminars e stablish you as an expert , a trustworthy and reliable source of information in your industry. They allow you to share your expertise with your target market. You can personally provide solutions to their problems, which can clear their doubts about your product.
  • If you record your webinars, they will serve you as valuable content you can share with your audience later.
  • By registering, people are demonstrating an interest in what you are offering – they become qualified leads , making it easier to nurture and convert them.
  • They can help you train and onboard new employees in a ‘fun’ way – it’s always better to explain important issues by talking, not writing long-form text.
  • Every webinar you run gives you many branding opportunities . With webinars, you build brand awareness and set the brand voice.

Michael Leszczynski, Head of Content Marketing & Partnerships at GetResponse, says:

Here, at GetResponse, webinars play an important role and not just because we provide webinar software. We use them to onboard new customers, support our product launches, and establish authority when inviting world-class experts. We also use them internally, when onboarding and training our new employees who are joining our remote offices. They’ve been great for knowledge-sharing, especially given the fact that you can record and re-use the content later.

Case study: Learn how Ravenol , a producer of high-quality automotive lubricants, moved online and started using live webinars to reach their yearly email-list growth target in just three weeks.

Webinar types

There are many types of web seminars you can use to achieve specific goals or to adjust to the needs of your audience and your business. Here are some of the most popular types of content and techniques you can use while video conferencing and planning your webinar marketing strategy. Follow by them are the most popular webinar types categorized by the goals you can achieve with them.

Keep in mind these might look slightly different depending on what webinar software you’re using.

Webinar content types

  • A slideshow

If the purpose of your webinar is educating your audience, the web presentation itself should provide accompanying educational visuals – and presenting what you want to convey in presentation slides is the easiest option.

Here’s how we do it with GetResponse webinars:

How to run a webinar – a presentation slideshow.

A quick tip: The first slide of your presentation should have all the important “technical” info – how long the webinar will last, whether it will be recorded & sent to participants, and the agenda for the video seminar.

There’s, of course, more to creating an engaging presentation . If you’d like to learn more about the best practices, read this article on how to create a webinar presentation and this post by Chloe West .

Creating a web seminar in a live-video format is great if you want to build closer relationships with your customers or conduct a team meeting. It’s very personal, and you can show the “human side” of your business in a professional way. This type of webinar could also be useful if you’re making a video presentation of a physical product.

When you’re hosting a webinar, your audience can use the chat option to ask questions or answer yours. It builds the relationship between you and establishes your authority when you provide answers to their problems in real time. People feeling seen by you makes the connection stronger and creates a bond that keeps the customers coming back to you.

You can use the whiteboard to better visualize more complex topics. By drawing over charts, images, or mapping out various concepts from scratch, you can help your audience follow your thought process.

getresponse webinars whiteboard.

A quick tip: While explaining concepts on whiteboards during the web conference, don’t hesitate to collaborate 😉

  • A pre-recorded webinar

If you need to do an online presentation on a specific topic more than once – or maybe you even need to do it regularly – you can use a pre-recorded webinar instead. This option is also useful if you’re doing a webinar with a guest speaker who’s unable to schedule a meeting around the time that best fits your audience.

Once you’ve got a polished presentation, all you need to do is hit the play button once the webinar has started. To make sure the video presentation remains personal and your audience is happy with the experience, you can run the chat and answer their questions live while the pre-recorded webinar is running.

This is a common practice among SaaS companies that need to run product training webinars for their new customers on a regular basis.

  • Screen sharing

When your topic requires demonstrating some step-by-step in software or online, there’s no better way to do it than by sharing your desktop during your live webinar. The attendees will be able to see exactly what you’re doing and follow along. This format is especially useful while onboarding new users to your software.

You can also use screen sharing if you’ve created your presentation in a non-standard way, e.g., using Prezi. Since these aren’t based on slides, the best way to present them is through sharing your screen with your audience.

The same applies if, instead of using one presentation, you’re sharing multiple apps or files like spreadsheets. Rather than taking screenshots and adding them to your presentation, you can share your desktop and jump between different apps freely.

A polling tool is something that will provide both you and your audience with stats and information not available anywhere else. You can set it to be either anonymous or public.

Webinar types by different purposes

1. educational webinars.

If you want to educate your audience on the field you’re an expert within, webinars are one of the most effective ways to do it. To run an educational webinar, it’s best to use well-prepared slides or a whiteboard video, as it utilizes the visual capabilities of webinars.

Also, don’t be afraid to ask external expert speakers to collaborate with you!

2. User onboarding webinars

If your company is offering software, you will benefit from a user onboarding webinar the most. Make sure the learning curve is as soft as possible by inviting new users to participate in a webinar that you run for newbies regularly, for example, once a month. Run a user onboarding webinar making use of a screen-sharing option.

3. Product webinars

When you have a great product to showcase to a lot of people, turn your usual event-goers into webinar participants. You can give them a detailed presentation, including every detail, answering their questions. While running a product webinar, you’re educating the participants and getting their attention with your product, so you’re able to nurture your leads and even convert them into actual customers, making a sale. This allows you to collect much-needed feedback on your product or tool.

4. Lead generation and list-building webinars

When you promote your webinar across different channels, focus on one persona that you’d like to attract. When they register, they will trust you with their email address, and that’s the starting point. You’ll gain valuable and interesting leads you can follow up with and nurture them into conversion later. You can also host paid and free webinars with the help of marketing funnels .

5. Employee training and team meetings

Of course, running webinars to convert is beneficial to your business. But that shouldn’t stop you from using webinars for team meetings and training your employees when you have a remote team or a team too big to fit into a room together. Webinar training is the best way to pass the knowledge and teach practical skills to your employees when you made the switch to remote work, as this type of content is more engaging than written material.

6. Customer retention and nurturing webinars

While hosting inspiring webinars may be great for attracting new people to your brand, it’s equally as good for nurturing customers that are already on board with you. The personal relationship you build along the way is key to keeping them coming back. With such webinars, they can keep track of your newest products and announcements. It’s also a great opportunity for your clients to ask important questions when you’re more approachable than ever.

How to run a webinar + webinar best practices

If you’re wondering how to start creating webinars, here are a few webinar tips and steps you need to take.

1. Attend other webinars beforehand

It’s hard to imagine how to prepare for such an event if you’ve never attended one yourself. Find a few seminars with experienced hosts, like industry influencers, and register now. Make notes of everything you find interesting, starting from the webinar’s landing page to the way the speaker talks. See what you can implement in your own preparation.

2. Choose the right topic, title, and format

First of all, think of what the purpose of your webinar will be.

Is it to generate leads, grow your list, sell a product, or onboard new users?

Then, decide on the topic. What is the most important knowledge you can share with people in an hour or so? If you’re looking for inspiration for your webinar’s content, you can run through your other content’s stats to see what drives traffic to your site and what your audience is the most interested in. This step will definitely ensure a higher engagement.

Remember to be precise. It helps people understand what they’re signing up for, and it also helps you with your landing page’s SEO. Consider naming it with a question, e.g., ‘How to make a webinar sale? Free webinar with *an industry influencer*’. Specify whether it’s a webinar directed toward people new to the subject or experts. It will save you from lots of negative opinions like “I already knew that” and “It was too complicated; I need to know the basics first.”.

When you’ve decided on the topic, choose a format that would suit your webinar’s needs.

3. Choose the presenters & team

When preparing for a webinar, you’ll need to pick a qualified presenter. It should be a person who’s knowledgeable on the subject, not afraid of public speaking and answering tough questions, has good charisma, and is at least a bit immune to stress. Of course, your web seminar can have more than one presenter and even a separate webinar host.

Webinar hosts usually organize the event, introduce the presenters to the audience, and simply make sure the webinar runs smoothly. At the same time, charismatic webinar hosts can make all the difference and help your brand stand out in a crowded market.

Then, you can choose an assistant who could admin the chat and possibly answer some of the audience’s questions while the speaker continues with their presentation.

After you’ve found the perfect people who will create the webinar’s content, you can also ask someone (or a few people) to take care of the technical side of your web seminar (make sure the Internet connection is strong and that you can be heard and, if required, seen)

Webinar resource cover.

Webinar setup checklist

Want to be sure that your webinar is a success?

Then grab this handy checklist to make sure you’ve covered all the bases.

4. Plan out the content of your webinar

Planning is crucial If you want to construct an online seminar that’s engaging from start to finish.

Webinars that involve the presenters running through subjects in chaos and stumbling aren’t the best and most memorable. If you plan your webinar right, it should deliver on your promise and have the perfect amount of content for your audience to absorb.

The webinar’s outline

When you know the topic and purpose of your online seminar, it shouldn’t be hard to create an outline. Remember that the average webinar lasts about 40-60 minutes, so that’s the standard timeframe you’re going to work with. If you’re creating a prerecorded webinar, create a storyboard first, just like a film director would.

The webinar’s structure

The content you provide throughout the webinar should be engaging enough to keep the participants until the end. You can also tease a bonus at the start to create an incentive to keep watching. Then, it should naturally lead to a paid offering if that’s a part of your webinar’s purpose. There’s an 80-20 rule for this – make the webinar 80% solid content, and you can promote your product for the remaining 20%.

Always start by welcoming participants. Ask them where they are joining you from, and you’ll create instant engagement.

Make the participants sure that it’s the right place for them to be by specifying who will benefit from the online seminar. Also, introduce not only the subject of your webinar but yourself. Start with a relatable story to prove you’re trustworthy, and keep it brief.

Remember to always save some time in the end for a Q&A session. Mention it at the beginning so that the audience will have time to think through the questions they want to ask.

Read more : How to structure your webinar content .

How long should a webinar be?

In most cases, webinars last from 30 minutes to an hour. 60 minutes is enough time to have a 45-minute presentation and leave room for answering questions the audience might ask throughout the webinar in a designated Q&A session.

But, the ‘usual’ webinar length isn’t set in stone. If you have well-structured content that will take you over an hour to present – go for it. If you have just a short presentation, TED Talks style, you can make it a webinar on demand, as audiences tend to engage with longer video content when it’s live.

5. Prep the tech & environment

Before you run a webinar, make sure you have a camera (a working laptop camera is good enough) and a working microphone with settings adjusted to the environment you’re in. Speaking of which, choose a set for your webinar – it can be your office or even your living room, but keep it professional and ensure nobody interrupts you during the webinar. It can throw you off guard and disrupt the focus of participants.

To minimize the risk of some miss-ups, check if your Internet connection is stable, make sure your laptop charger is plugged in, or that your computer won’t start updating itself.

And it should go without saying – if you’re going to share your screen, don’t have any unnecessary tabs open in your browser and possibly clear your desktop.

It’s also best to log into the webinar room 20 minutes before the scheduled meeting and check if everything goes smoothly.

6. Schedule the webinar using your webinar software

What is the best time to run a webinar?

It’s hard to pinpoint the ‘perfect’ date and time, but the rule of thumb is to schedule a webinar for the middle of the week, Tuesday to Thursday (with Tuesday as the winner). The other days are more likely to have people vacationing. Most people will only commit to one webinar per week, so you’ll be competing with other players in the field.

While you may assume people want to attend web seminars in the afternoon when they’re off work, it’s not entirely true. Some statistics suggest that the time most people prefer to attend webinars is 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. Keep in mind that you’ll probably have guests from different time zones, and if you’re really far away from your targeted audience, you may even have to sacrifice some sleep to host. And try not to schedule the seminar for lunch hours.

While promoting your video seminar, mention that it will be recorded – people will know it’s worth signing up even if they can’t attend and that they’ll receive the recording later.

7. Promote your webinar

To run an online presentation, you need people to register for it. It’s not just the content that makes them register – it’s how you promote it. Mixing different digital marketing tools is the way to go.

Webinar landing pages

Create a landing page with an invitation that will encourage people to sign up and tell the audience everything they need to know beforehand.

First, write a short copy explaining the topic. In a few pointers, highlight what the participants will take away from it. Then, place a signup form where your leads will leave their name and email, and finish it off with a clear CTA button – the word “register” should be enough.

Don’t forget to introduce the hosts. It’s a nice touch that will set the foundation of your newly-built relationship.

And there’s the last step that you should never skip – highlight the date and time of your webinar (especially the timezone if you expect participants from all over the world).

Below’s an example of a webinar registration page we used for one of our webinars.

In this post, you’ll find more great webinar landing pages .

A webinar's landing page.

If you’re feeling extra fancy when creating a webinar registration page in GetResponse, you can add a countdown timer .

A countdown timer on a webinar signup page.

Banners, popups, ads

Place a banner on your website or blog in a visible spot at least a week before the scheduled date. The CTA button, again, is of the utmost importance – build a sense of urgency by using phrases like “save your seat” or “register now”. Then, link it to your landing page.

You can promote your event in popup forms on your website if you want a quicker way to get people to register.

Advertise where the people are. If you know your audience’s preferred means of communication is social media like Facebook or Instagram, create social ads that lead to the registration page.

Spreading the word

When you have a great following on social media like Twitter, you can use it to your advantage and spread the word, possibly gaining new followers along the way. Create a dedicated hashtag – it can engage the participants before, during, and after the seminar and allow you to interact with them.

Share links and tease the presentation’s content. And, just before the start of your online seminar, state that it’s about to begin – the audience will be reminded of it in real-time while scrolling their feeds.

Webinar invitation emails

You may use the webinar as a means to build your list. But what about the people that are already on it? Seize the opportunity and invite them to your web seminar by email.

Start with the subject line. To make clear what you’re promoting, consider stating it first, in brackets, like so:

Inbox preview of a webinar invitation in an email.

If you’re partnering up with an industry expert, don’t shy away from namedropping here 😉

In the copy, don’t just communicate the details and reiterate the webinar’s topic. Address your prospects’ pain points and tell them how the webinar will help. Only then should you jump into the details and write about the overall agenda, the date and time, how long it will last, and how they can register.

I will touch on the subject of emails one more time in a minute, but in the meantime, you should definitely check out our article on how to design great webinar invitation emails .

promote webinars.

How to Promote Your Webinar in 9 Easy Steps

Want to make sure your next webinar is a success? Promote it in 9 easy steps. In this guide, you’ll find our best webinar promotion strategies plus tips on how to sell more with your online presentations.

7. Practice

You shouldn’t jump into your first webinar without proper preparation, with the hopes of improvising. Sure, being flexible in your presentation is an asset, but practice a lot in the days leading to your seminar to make everything smooth and sound convincing and knowledgeable. Also, everyone on your team should have a bit of first-hand experience and know how to use the webinar software you’re going to use – so it’s great to do a dry run with everyone involved.

Keep away from last-minute tweaks and changes in your scenario. They usually make everything a bit messier and cause unnecessary stress.

8. Send reminders

As I mentioned before, there are more emails you should send than just invitation emails.

On average, only about a third of the people who have registered will attend your webinar, so you should really make sure they don’t forget to join you.

When people have registered for your event and left you their email addresses, it’s expected of you to first thank them for registering.

Secondly, remind them of the upcoming seminar.

Marketers usually agree that the best times to send event reminder emails are a week before, an hour before, and 5 minutes before.

One week before, encourage the registrants to mark the date in their calendar for the next week.

And the email sent 5 minutes before the webinar creates such a sense of urgency that they make up for the greatest percentage of attendees.

Sounding both professionally and personally in these emails is crucial. One of my favorite examples is an email from GetResponse’s Irek Klimczak. It asked a question in the subject line: “Will you make it today?”. This line alone gave him surprising results. It generated a 42.41% open and a 3.67% click-through rate and boosted the registrants-to-attendees rate by 5%. It also received a decent number of personal replies.

9. Run the webinar

It’s time to host your live webinar. Get ready and familiar with the number of attendees you’ll be dealing with.

Keep a glass of water nearby. Now, focus and go through the planned agenda. Don’t let anything distract you – you’ve got only about an hour, and there are many people excited to hear you. Good luck!

10. Follow up!

Now that the webinar is over, you need to follow up on it.

If you were recording the webinar, make sure to send the recording to people who have registered but couldn’t attend.

If the attendees didn’t make a purchase, it doesn’t disqualify them from being valuable leads. They may need more information.

Ask for feedback – you could use it in the future to improve your webinar endeavors. Provide them with additional resources to continue the nurturing process, and guide them through your sales funnel, converting them as a result.

What equipment do you need for webinars?

If you’re planning to host a webinar, the equipment you need is:

  • A webcam (if you’re showing your face)
  • A good headset with a microphone – you don’t want to use speakers, as they might create an unpleasant echo when you talk during your presentation. A microphone will be necessary to host.
  • Reliable webinar software
  • A steady internet connection.

Are you unsure if you can get good-quality video while presenting from your laptop? Check out what our colleague, Irek, does to improve his video’s quality in a few simple steps.

How to record a webinar?

You may want to record your webinar to repurpose it later (please, mention the recording to your audience before you begin). If so, you should find out if the webinar room has a “Rec.” button in the menu. Then, after clicking, usually, the recording will be saved as an mp4 file. Also, make sure that you don’t exceed the time limitations.

If you want to learn more, read our article: How to Record a Webinar: Everything You Need to Know .

When you’re comfortable recording webinars, consider using on-demand webinars to make your webinar available to new leads anytime, anywhere, even long after it has taken place.

On-demand webinars

When you know, you’ll be hosting a webinar so good that it could be promoted and generate leads long after it has ended, that’s when you should start using “webinars on demand”.

On-demand webinars (evergreen webinars or webinars on demand) are the best option to extend the shelf life of your live webinar. With such webinars, there are no time-zone constraints, there’s less manual work and higher engagement potential, and they’re an ongoing & automated list-building method. What’s not to love about it? See the article about on-demand webinars in GetResponse to learn more.

How to make your webinar more engaging?

There are many rhetorical tactics to make a speech or presentation insanely engaging, but webinars give you more (and slightly different) options to get your audience involved and listening.

Here’s how to engage the audience during your webinar:

  • Make the waiting time more pleasant

Greet the attendees. Mention that you’ll wait a minute for the other registrants to show up, or ask the attendees where they’re from, what industry they’re in, etc..

  • Start by introducing yourself in a relatable way

The attendees know you’re an expert (they wouldn’t register otherwise), so make sure to show them you’re approachable – so that they can ask questions and relatable – so that they can empathize with you, which will result in higher engagement.

  • Speak with passion for what you present

Why should your audience care if you sound uninterested in what you preach?

  • Make relevant comments throughout the webinar

Don’t just read aloud what’s on the slides. Allow yourself to digress in moderation, but keep the digressions relevant to the webinar or your audience. A good-ole pop-culture reference or an inoffensive joke is also a good idea ;).

  • Do regular check-ins with your audience

Pause for a minute and ask the attendees if they understand everything you’ve covered so far. Make sure they’re comfortable sharing what they’re struggling with at this point.

  • Answer a question

During your webinar, people might get stuck on something hard to grasp, and if a burning question pops up – answer it along the way. It will result in a sigh of relief from the audience, and they’ll be able to get back to listening carefully.

  • Have the right people around

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with an overload of questions from the webinar attendees – that’s why you should have a dedicated moderator on board. They should regulate the chat and direct its course in a professional way.

Also, if you can bring in a guest during your webinar, the element of surprise, the slight change in tone, and the additional expert to learn from will surely get the audience’s attention!

Making the webinar interactive doesn’t have to be all about you answering questions – stimulate your audience’s brains by devoting a few minutes during the webinars to a pop-up quiz. Share the answers straightaway, or make them wait until the end!

  • Ask your audience for feedback

This one has two main benefits – it will make the attendees active in the comments and provide you with information on what you can improve for the future or what was great ( bonus benefit: good webinar feedback will make your day!).

How to create a paid webinar?

Free webinars are a great option for spreading brand awareness, generating quality leads, presenting an offer, or maybe even holding a meeting. But, you might be wanting to gain something more from a webinar, and you’re sure the knowledge or a skill you’ll be teaching is worth investing in. That’s when you host a paid webinar.

Remember that your audience will expect more from a paid webinar than they would from a free one. When hosting a paid webinar, try to steer clear from up-selling your audience at the end. Also, a “thank-you email” afterward will be greatly appreciated.

You can create a paid webinar funnel in GetResponse . It’s really easy and quick, and GetResponse provides you with four of the most trustworthy payment processors to choose from. With a webinar funnel, you’ll also have an easier time setting up the funnel stages I mentioned earlier (like a signup page, post-registration welcome email, a sales page, and a confirmation page). Once these steps are set up in the funnel, you’ll be able to see how many people completed the funnel and purchased access to your paid webinar.

A paid webinar funnel.

For detailed instructions, click here .

How to participate in a webinar?

To participate in a webinar, you need to register first through a form provided to you via a landing page or a registration email. Then, on the day of the webinar, join the room a few minutes before the start (via the link provided after registration). When the presenter joins the room, the webinar will begin.

Do you need to be on camera for a webinar?

If you’re hosting a webinar, you don’t need to be on camera as long as you have a visual presentation to engage your audience with. Although, an added webcam segment is always recommended, as it makes the experience more personal and enjoyable.

If you’re attending a web seminar, you don’t have to participate on video. Unless the host invites you to co-present, neither the host nor the audience will see you. Usually, the preferred way to engage with the host is in the chat window.

What do you use webinars for?

Now that you know everything, from what a webinar is to how to promote it effectively, it’s time to hear your opinions—what do you / will you use webinars for?

If you’re curious about how we’re using webinars in GetResponse, be sure to check our Webinar Library , where we share all our past events and other educational materials.

Also, here are some tips for you if you need to know which mistakes to avoid while creating webinars .

And if you’re looking for a marketing solution that has a built-in webinar platform, too, be sure to give GetResponse a try!

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a is a web based presentation lecture workshop

Notifications

a is a web based presentation lecture workshop

Mairead Louise Corbet commented on Education Committee Draft Minutes, 27th September 2023 PLEASE REVIEW & COMMENT BY 16th NOVEMBER 2023 | International Continence Society 6 days ago

Web-based seminar

Short for Web-based seminar, a webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web (website/internet) using video conferencing software. A key feature of a Webinar is its interactive elements: the ability to give, receive and discuss information in real-time.

Using Webinar software participants can share documents and applications and audio with webinar attendees. This is useful when the webinar host is conducting a lecture or information session. While the presenter is speaking they can share desktop applications and documents.

Webinars are particularly suited for the following content:- • A detailed examination of a niche topic from a fresh angle • A panel discussion of a timely, news-based issue • A thorough, example-driven “how-to” tutorial • An adaptation of a presentation from a conference speaking engagement • An interview with a thought leader

This document has been designed to assist those Working/Committee groups/individuals who wish to develop a Webinar and to ensure adherence with the approved process.

The final product will contain: • A clear outline of learning objectives • A clearly defined specific topic • A skilled presenter/host • A PowerPoint presentation • Content which is recorded and is then made available to full membership online

Creation of Working/Committees Please follow the SOP for creation of a working group here .

Disclosure and sponsorship guidelines Please follow the ICS SOP for Disclosure and sponsorship when creating content here

General Information

  • Webinar presenters should consider that all healthcare disciplines may participate in the webinar. This is preferred by ICS standards, however, depending on the nature of the content, is not always possible to have multidisciplinary involvement.
  • The presenter must ensure that he or she can be clearly understood to an international audience, e.g. clear speech, free of strong accent, speaking at an understandable pace.
  • All external content (published images, videos etc) should be referenced and used only with the permission of the publishers.
  • Webinars should not last longer than 1 hour.
  • ICS standard terminology should be used throughout.
  • The ICS will not provide financial support for face to face meetings of any group preparing webinar content but will consider budget proposals with economy travel for and individual to attend the ICS office for the webinar.
  • The ICS office will assist with setting up a forum for the group to exchange ideas and content for review. The office can also offer facilities for teleconference, upon approval of a budget request.
  • Normally, a timeline from inception to completion should not be more than four months.

Webinar creation procedure

Stage Action Comment
Proposal Stage Creation of committee/working group/individual to prepare proposal. This can be a committee who have decided to prepare a webinar or a group of ICS members or an individual. ICS Membership is expected except by exception.
Proposal Stage Proposal format is according to the . Budget and proposal is sent to ICS office. Proposal should explain the content in no more than 2 pages outlining the aims and objectives, learning outcomes, target audience and requirement for content. The target audience should be identified, the strategy for invitation, and the educational needs identified. A clearly defined specific topic and a skilled presenter/host should be identified. Plans for technical quality should be presented to ICS IT. 3-4 independent reviewers should be requested at this stage for approval, selected by the first author. It is acceptable to ask for recommendations for reviewers. These reviewers are notified that they have been selected by the office. ICS Office will ensure no overlap with other working groups and will advise the appropriate committee. ICS office to inform Board of Trustees, Education, Standardisation committee and relevant Committee of proposal in progress, comments by objection only. Budget to be approved by Board of Trustees.
Preparatory Stage Content, script and PowerPoint/videos are prepared Office will assist with creating online fora for easy discussion and monitoring/chasing if required.
Review Stage Where relevant script and slide set is sent to three/four independent ICS experts. The independent reviewers are to provide constructive feedback to the authors. This feedback will need to be seriously considered and incorporated into the content where appropriate. The experts should respond within 3 weeks with appropriate feedback.
Final Review Stage The final revised manuscript and slide set are sent to the Education, Standardisation Steering Committee, and any relevant ICS Committee. It should be noted that the Education and Standardisation committees are not commenting on the content of the module but are reviewing for educational value and terminology adherence. These Committees should respond within 2 weeks.
Publication Stage In conjunction with the ICS office the time and date for the live webinar is announced to the proposed audience and invitations are sent requesting members to join.
Implementation Stage Once the live webinar has occurred the content is then reviewed for technical quality by ICS IT, edited and the content disseminated via the ICS website, Institute, ICS TV, member emails, social media and other outlets.

How to create a successful webinar

Points to consider when creating webinar content. • Settle on a specific idea • Choose the right presenter/host • Pick the best format for your chosen topic. Is your webinar going to be hosted by a single presenter? Will it be an interview Q&A-style webinar with two speakers? A panel discussion with numerous guests and a moderator? Will you need attendees to submit questions in advance? Who is the audience? • Promotion of the webinar is key to its success. It is important to allow the office adequate time in order to inform members. • Create an excellent slideshow presentation where images are presented to the audience, markup tools and a remote mouse pointer are used to engage the audience while the presenter discusses slide content. • Write a strong script. • Run test webinars in conjunction with the ICS office. • Consider using whiteboards with annotation (allowing the presenter and/or attendees to highlight or mark items on the slide presentation. Or, simply make notes on a blank whiteboard.) • Allow time for text chat or live chat with participants. • Use polls and surveys (allows the presenter to conduct questions with multiple choice answers directed to the audience)

Other resources: https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/products/adobeconnect/pdfs/web-conferencing/best-practices-webinars-wp.pdf

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a is a web based presentation lecture workshop

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Presenting an Online Workshop – Tips for Engaging your Audience: Part 1 – Visual Representations

Presenting an Online Workshop – Tips for Engaging your Audience: Part 1 – Visual Representations

Part 1: Engaging an Online Audience – Visual Considerations

The simple fact is that it is difficult for anyone to pay attention to a presentation for any real length of time but when the presentation is online, and the presenter is not in the same space as the participant, this becomes even more difficult. The demands of life and the reality of attending a workshop online from one’s home or office presents multiple additional distractions than are likely when the workshop presentation is in person.

To reduce ‘zoom fatigue’ and to encourage active participation on the part of your online audience, several different techniques can be used. First, we begin with Visual Considerations .

Whether online or in the classroom, the first step to engaging your audience is a visually appealing presentation. Heavy text can crowd your slides, making it hard to follow and even distract your participants from following along with you. Striking the balance between presenting the important information while not adding strain on your audience will help keep participants interested and engaged throughout.

Large blocks of text or paragraphs should be avoided   unless absolutely necessary (such as presenting a short vignette). Even too many bullet points can overcrowd our slides and distract your participants from the key points being communicated. You want your audience to be following   you , rather than reading. Between two and four sentences or bullet points per slide is ideal for highlighting the core takeaways that you want your audience to attend to.

Another great way to rely on less text is the use of   visuals, graphs or diagrams . As a rule of thumb, if something   can   be represented graphically,   it should be . This is especially important if you know that you will have international participants, where English may be a second language to many. Example:   Visuals help your audience put things like statistics or prevalence rates into perspective, and can communicate a lot of information in a simple and approachable way. Use tables, charts, or graphs to show participants trends over time, rather than just writing them out.

Online lecture-based presentations can be draining for both the participants and the presenters.   Integrating videos   can be a useful way to break up your slides and lecture to demonstrate practical applications of your content. Example:   Skills-based workshops can pre-record role-plays of core skills being taught to give participants a concrete example of what they’re learning. Afterward, engage your audience in a discussion about what they just watched and how they can apply those skills.

Sometimes, you do have information that you want to ensure your participants can have handy to follow along, or use in the future.   Hand-outs   can be sent out to participants before or after the workshop to cover specific topics in more depth or present additional information (such as further readings) that couldn’t be incorporated into the slides.

Need some examples or more tips and tricks?   Check out these helpful resources for designing engaging presentations!

10 Tips for Engaging Slides

28 Tips for a Great Presentation 

Next Up:   Icebreakers

Leila N. Wallach

Leila N. Wallach

Leila N. Wallach is a clinical psychology doctoral student at Palo Alto University. Her research and clinical interests focus on alternatives to incarceration, culture and trauma-informed care, policy in the juvenile justice system, and risk assessment for community offender management.

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Expert Tips for Effective Note Taking at Webinars

Avatar photo

After the Webinar

What is the best webinar note-taking tool.

Spread the word

Are you seeking effective strategies and tips for note-taking at webinars to ensure you capture essential details without missing a beat?

Having the right webinar note-taking skills can help you accurately capture the most important information while still being able to actively listen and participate in the discussions. 

If you are wondering how, this article will take you through the intricacies of webinar note-taking, comprehensively highlighting these essential tips for note taking at webinar: 

  • What webinars are all about;
  • Expert tips for note-taking during webinars;
  • How to take the best webinar notes.

What are Webinars?

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic paved the way for a significant rise in remote work and online learning. Through these, we have come to adjust how we meet by exploring some of the remote meeting best practices through virtual meetings and webinars. 

A webinar is a live, web-based presentation, lecture, workshop, or seminar that allows participants to engage with the host or presenter. The main purpose of webinars is to share knowledge, deliver presentations, conduct training sessions, and facilitate discussions among a virtual audience. 

Most webinars are fast-paced, and it is important to know how to take good and well-organized notes to avoid missing out on any important details. Moreover, a lot of important discussions take place during these meetings, meaning it is also essential not to focus too much on note-taking instead of actively paying attention. 

So, how do you go about this?

Tips for Effective Webinar Note-Taking

Effective note-taking is crucial to make the most of these virtual learning experiences. Here are some effective webinar note-taking tips to consider: 

Before the Webinar

For you to take effective notes for the webinar, your process starts even before the discussions begin. 

1. Prepare adequately

Adequate preparation beforehand is essential. It is important to go through the agenda, or if you are the host, ensure that you prepare an effective meeting agenda , which will help you understand the key details to watch out for during note-taking. 

Furthermore, you should review any pre-webinar materials, including slides or documents, to gain a preliminary understanding.

2. Set up your note-taking tools

Choose a note-taking tool or platform that suits your preferences. There are numerous note-taking apps that you can use to make the work easier, which may be better than using the traditional pen and paper technique. 

3. Create a structured template

Develop a note-taking template with sections for main ideas, key points, questions, and any additional information you want to capture. Having a predefined structure will help organize your thoughts.

You can find out more about this in our effective note-taking strategies guide.

During the Webinar

The actual note-taking occurs during the webinar itself. In this period, it is essential for you to pay more attention to the ‘how’ of webinar note-taking by considering the following tips: 

1. Actively listen and focus

Engage in active listening to understand the main ideas and key takeaways . Resist the temptation to transcribe verbatim; instead, aim to capture essential concepts and supporting details.

2. Use abbreviations

Develop a set of symbols and abbreviations to expedite your note-taking process. This helps in capturing information more quickly and efficiently.

3. Use bullet points

Organize your notes using bullet points and headings to create a clear hierarchy of information. This visual structure makes it easier to review later.

The art of webinar note-taking doesn’t just end with the meeting itself, but also what happens after it concludes. Here are some considerations to make: 

1. Review and fill in the gaps

Shortly after the webinar, review your notes to ensure clarity and completeness. Fill in any gaps or areas where you might have missed key information while the content is still fresh in your mind.

2. Reflect on the material

Take a few minutes to reflect on the webinar content. Consider how the new information connects with your existing knowledge and its practical applications.

3. Share insights

If appropriate, share your notes and insights with colleagues or peers who attended the same webinar. This collaborative approach can provide additional perspectives. If you are the host, you can consider sending a meeting recap email to help the participants with information retention. 

4. Organize your notes

It is important to organize your notes well, as this helps with information retention and makes it easier for you to track particular details soon after. 

You can categorize the notes based on themes, topics, or relevance. This organization also makes it easier to retrieve specific information when needed.

Implementing these tips before, during, and after the webinar can enhance your ability to capture and retain key insights effectively. Moreover, regardless of the note-taking tool or method you use, by following these insights, you can effectively capture your webinar notes. 

However, it would be prudent to note that much of this work requires manual input. This means you still have to showcase some multitasking skills to concentrate on the meeting while taking stellar notes. 

But what if there was a way to avoid all this hassle?

Here’s where automated note-taking tools come in.

Exploring Krisp for Webinar Note-Taking

Krisp is one of the best note-taking tools for webinars. This tool can automatically capture your meeting notes without any manual input from you. Moreover, the app has loads of useful features to elevate your overall meeting experience.

So, what is Krisp, and is it the best webinar note-taking tool?

Krisp is an AI-powered meeting transcription tool with pristine note-taking capabilities. 

Krisp uses the most advanced artificial intelligence, machine learning, and speech-to-text technologies to faithfully capture all that is said during webinars verbatim. This means there isn’t a chance for you to lose any detail discussed or mentioned during the meeting. 

Krisp has revolutionized the industry, becoming one of the best webinar note-taking tools, with feature-packed capabilities, including: 

Highly accurate meeting transcriptions

Krisp uses the latest and highly advanced speech-to-text recognition AI systems to accurately capture everything said during the meeting. This means there is a low likelihood of you having to spend lots of time after the meeting editing the transcript for clarity. 

Furthermore, the tool automatically captures your frequently used technical jargon, meaning it can correctly convert the spoken word to the right text regardless of your niche. 

Automated transcriptions 

Krisp’s AI meeting assistant automatically jumps into action whenever you have a webinar. This means that once you set it up with the meeting platform being used for the webinar, you do not need to do so again. 

The tool automatically starts the transcription process, making it easy for you to only focus on the discussions and not necessarily have to set up the note-taking tool. 

Automated meeting notes and summaries

With Krisp, you don’t need to divide your time between active participation in the webinar and taking notes. All you have to do is set it up and let Krisp’s AI note-taker do the rest for you. 

You can easily access your well-organized notes immediately after the meeting. This means you can instantly jump into analyzing any follow-up insights.

Furthermore, Krisp also automatically generates a meeting summary. This is a quick run-down of what was said during the webinar, allowing those who didn’t attend to quickly grasp the key discussions.

Sharable and customizable notes

The meeting notes and summaries you get from Krisp are highly customizable. This means you can generate them based on your unique preferences and needs. Moreover, sharing your meeting notes with others is a breeze, as it only takes a click of a button. 

Using Krisp is the ultimate secret to successful webinar note-taking. Try it out today for free and elevate how you take notes, not only in webinars, but any other virtual meeting you will have.

Try Krisp for free today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is note-taking essential during webinars.

Note-taking helps you actively engage with the content, reinforces your learning, and provides a valuable reference for later review. It ensures that you capture key insights and actionable items presented during the webinar.

Should I focus on transcribing or summarizing during the webinar?

Focusing on summarizing key points and concepts is more effective than transcribing verbatim. This allows for better understanding and helps in organizing information for future reference. However, tools like Krisp can do both for you, accurately transcribing and generating reliable notes.

How do I stay focused and engaged during a webinar for effective note-taking?

Stay engaged by actively listening to the presenter, using symbols and abbreviations to speed up your note-taking, and participating in interactive elements like Q&A sessions. You should also minimize distractions and create a conducive environment for learning.

Krisp is one of the best webinar note-taking tools thanks to its automated note-taking and summary generation capabilities with minimal input from your end.

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