Webinars For Dummies

292 Pages·2016·17.51 MB·English

by  Sharan S.

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Webinars
by John Carucci
Sharat Sharan
Contributors:
Tricia Heinrich
Mark Bornstein
Mark Szelenyi
Webinars For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013957975
ISBN 978-1-118-88572-7 (pbk); ISBN ePub 978-1-118-88551-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-88567-3 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents at a Glance
Introduction ................................................................ 1
Part I: Getting Started with Webinars ........................... 9
Chapter 1: Webinars with Maximum Impact ................................................................11
Chapter 2: Planning Your Webinar ................................................................................31
Chapter 3: Putting Together a Webinar Team .............................................................47
Part II: Preparing an Effective Webinar ....................... 59
Chapter 4: Choosing a Platform .....................................................................................61
Chapter 5: Planning Your Material ................................................................................73
Chapter 6: Making Your Point with PowerPoint ..........................................................89
Chapter 7: Establishing a Location ..............................................................................109
Chapter 8: Practice, Practice, Practice .......................................................................121
Chapter 9: Getting the Word Out .................................................................................133
Part III: The Day of the Show ................................... 157
Chapter 10: Being the Presenter ..................................................................................159
Chapter 11: Engaging with the Audience ....................................................................167
Chapter 12: Lights, Camera, Action . . . .......................................................................177
Part IV: Beyond the Webinar .................................... 193
Chapter 13: Continuing the Conversation ..................................................................195
Chapter 14: Evaluating Your Webinar .........................................................................205
Chapter 15: Preparing for Your Next Webinar ...........................................................217
Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................... 227
Chapter 16: Ten T ips for Successful Webinars ..........................................................229
Chapter 17: Ten Common Webinar Mistakes and How to Avoid Them..................237
Index ...................................................................... 247

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 1
About This Book ..............................................................................................2
Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................3
Newbies ...................................................................................................3
Business managers ................................................................................3
Presenters ...............................................................................................4
Producers................................................................................................4
How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................4
Part I: Getting Started with Webinars ..................................................5
Part II: Preparing an Effective Webinar ...............................................5
Part III: The Day of the Show ................................................................5
Part IV: Beyond the Webinar ................................................................5
Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................................................5
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................6
Beyond the Book .............................................................................................6
Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................7
Part I: Getting Started with Webinars ............................ 9
Chapter 1: Webinars with Maximum Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Getting a Handle on Webinars .....................................................................11
What a webinar is ................................................................................12
What a webinar isn’t ............................................................................14
Why Do Webinars Work? ..............................................................................15
Save on expenses .................................................................................16
Provide two-way communication ......................................................17
Ideal for global mobile audiences ......................................................18
Can be live or later...............................................................................18
Understanding the Tools of a Webinar .......................................................20
Computer ..............................................................................................20
Software ................................................................................................20
Video......................................................................................................21
High-speed Internet .............................................................................23
Going mobile with some cool devices ...............................................23
Getting to Know the People in Your Webinar ............................................24
Presenter ...............................................................................................24
Producer ...............................................................................................25
Director .................................................................................................25
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Webinars For Dummies
Writer ....................................................................................................25
Stage manager ......................................................................................26
Technical director ...............................................................................26
Audience supervisor ...........................................................................26
You wearing all the hats .....................................................................26
Gauging Effective Uses for a Webinar .........................................................27
Employee meetings ..............................................................................27
Training sessions .................................................................................28
Marketing ..............................................................................................28
Talent development .............................................................................28
Chapter 2: Planning Your Webinar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Setting a Goal for Your Webinar ..................................................................31
Picking Your Poison . . .  er, Format ............................................................33
Single speaker.......................................................................................33
Interview style ......................................................................................34
Moderated panel ..................................................................................34
Real-time audience data ......................................................................35
Selecting the Talent .......................................................................................36
Moderator .............................................................................................36
Presenter ...............................................................................................37
Guest speaker .......................................................................................38
Structuring the Webinar ...............................................................................39
Gauging the size of your audience .....................................................40
Determining the proper length ..........................................................41
Deciding how much is too much .......................................................42
Creating an agenda ..............................................................................42
Having all your content ready ............................................................43
Making sure time is properly allocated ............................................44
Chapter 3: Putting Together a Webinar Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Getting to Know the People in Your Webinar ............................................47
The producer ........................................................................................48
The moderator .....................................................................................51
The presenter .......................................................................................52
The director ..........................................................................................54
The tech team.......................................................................................54
The promoter .......................................................................................54
Getting to Know Your Audience ..................................................................54
Partners .................................................................................................56
Customers .............................................................................................56
Understanding the Types of Audiences ......................................................57
vii
Table of Contents
Part II: Preparing an Effective Webinar ....................... 59
Chapter 4: Choosing a Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Deciding Between Self-Service and Full-Service ........................................62
Exploring self-service ..........................................................................63
Going full-service .................................................................................63
Keeping technology out of the way ...................................................64
Managing interaction between the roles ..........................................65
Evaluating your needs for a partner ..................................................65
Shopping Around ...........................................................................................65
Determining what service is right for your needs ...........................66
Deciding what you need from a provider .........................................67
Assessing broadcast/webcast capability ..........................................68
Getting day-of-webinar support .........................................................68
Getting audience support ...................................................................68
Selecting the Right Kind of Service .............................................................69
Free ........................................................................................................69
On a budget ..........................................................................................70
No limits ................................................................................................71
Somewhere in the middle ...................................................................71
Chapter 5: Planning Your Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Putting It on the Page and on the Stage ......................................................74
Building an outline ...............................................................................74
Writing a title slide...............................................................................75
Choosing content that matters ..........................................................75
Identifying main points .......................................................................77
Evaluating the level of detail ..............................................................77
Comparing your content to your end goal .......................................77
Creating an Effective Flow ............................................................................78
Interactivity ..........................................................................................79
Developing Different Outline Styles for Different Webinars ....................82
Single speaker.......................................................................................82
Interview-style ......................................................................................83
Moderated panel ..................................................................................83
Interactive .............................................................................................84
Going from Outline to Script ........................................................................84
Deciding whether you need a formal script .....................................84
Turning bullet points into words .......................................................85
Managing Time ...............................................................................................85
Accurate scheduling ............................................................................86
A realistic agenda.................................................................................86
Speaker direction .................................................................................86
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Webinars For Dummies
Chapter 6: Making Your Point with PowerPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Understanding the Effectiveness of Graphics ............................................90
Discovering PowerPoint Essentials .............................................................91
Know the lay of the land .....................................................................91
Change the view ...................................................................................93
Make your slides ..................................................................................93
Decide on a layout ...............................................................................97
Take advantage of speaker notes ......................................................98
Use a remote .........................................................................................99
Composing Slides ........................................................................................100
Keep design simple and consistent .................................................100
Write your own text ...........................................................................102
Give your slides a visual theme .......................................................103
Prioritize keywords over sentences ................................................103
Bullet your points ..............................................................................104
Using Images ................................................................................................104
Add a photo to a slide .......................................................................105
Make sure you have the photos on your computer ......................105
Crop your picture in PowerPoint .....................................................106
Keep single pictures to each slide ...................................................107
Show more photos than text slides .................................................107
Use simple images .............................................................................107
Chapter 7: Establishing a Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Selecting a Setting ........................................................................................110
From a desktop ..................................................................................110
Using a studio .....................................................................................112
Other locations ..................................................................................114
Connecting Your Technology ....................................................................115
Shooting video in a confined space .................................................116
Lighting ...............................................................................................118
Lighting video on a budget ...............................................................118
Audio ...................................................................................................119
Putting It All Together .................................................................................120
Chapter 8: Practice, Practice, Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Mastering Your Material .............................................................................122
The script ............................................................................................122
Itinerary ...............................................................................................124
Speakers ..............................................................................................125
Support staff .......................................................................................126
Webinar service providers ...............................................................126
Timing..................................................................................................127
Engagement ........................................................................................127
Flow .....................................................................................................128
Testing Your Equipment .............................................................................129
Rehearsing the Event ..................................................................................130