A webinar is an integral part of complete online training. At the same time, a novice expert often has problems with behaving during a lesson and how to conduct it successfully.
Most of the problems appear when it comes to conducting the webinar itself. It’s not a problem to prepare a speech itself. You can even hire a paper writer to edit it for you to ensure it’s well-structured and clear.
In this article, we have answered the key questions and told how to prepare for the online lesson, with what to involve the audience, which will create a harmonious frame and make you more confident.
How an expert prepares and conducts a training webinar
1. Master the technical tools
There are many services and platforms with different functions and features for conducting a webinar. Some of them allow you to run a broadcast without installing special software, using only your browser.
Even if a webinar is well-known to many Zoom, and it is no need to study its features from scratch, it is still worth practicing. We recommend two or three times to go to the platform, check the hearing, and see whether there is a record. Take care in advance about a headset with a quality microphone.
To ensure everything works as it should, you can create a test session and ask your colleagues to connect from different devices: a desktop computer, a laptop with another operating system, and a smartphone. Divide the participants into different rooms. If your audience does the same, demonstrate the presenter’s screen, and try the possibilities of virtual whiteboards.
2. Make a plan and think about the structure of your presentation
The best essay writing service professionals recommend making the plan in the mind map in electronic form or drawing by hand – it is good to see the whole picture.
The approximate structure of the training webinar online course can be as follows:
- analysis of homework and feedback on it;
- goals, objectives, and results of the webinar;
- new information with examples;
- refining skills and application of knowledge in practice;
- feedback on questions;
- reflection.
After each block of meaning, be sure to clarify with the audience whether everything is clear and if there are any questions. Separate time should be set aside for answers during the speech. In addition to practical benefits, such stops allow you to switch attention – the audience will be grateful for a break.
All this is important because, during the webinar, listeners often have questions, but it happens that the presenter is not ready to interrupt them during the presentation. And this can frustrate and demotivate the listener, but even worse if they forget what they wanted to ask – and why they came here.
Ideally, learn the structure of your speech by heart. You must know clearly what elements make up the speech so that, if necessary, you can skip something, shorten it, or swap places. But it is quite acceptable to make a cheat sheet with a brief plan and the main theses on one sheet of paper.
3. Plan a change of activity for participants
Not all of the audience is motivated to listen to an expert’s monologue for an hour and a half. Therefore, it is necessary to switch the audience’s attention and allow them to change activities.
Audience engagement can start to fade after only 20 minutes. To involve them in what is happening, interactives are good. This can be answers to questions and reflection case studies, master classes, brainstorming, and so on.
4. Plan the time
For the main body, introduction, conclusion, and answers to questions. You should not hope for an impromptu rescue. It is better to think about the structure of the lesson in advance. Suppose the material is prepared for an hour-and-a-half webinar. Then the presentation time can be distributed as follows:
- Introduction – 10%. Introduce yourself, check the connection, and talk about the goals and objectives of the webinar.
- Main part – 70%. Content that everyone has gathered for and time for questions on the content.
- Conclusions – 10%. Conclusions and summary of the webinar.
- Answers to questions – 10%. General questions on all materials webinar and reflection of participants.
5. Notify participants in advance of what they need to prepare for the class
If the webinar participants need printed materials, books, notebooks for notes, lists of the best writing services, or special programs that require installation, you should let them know in advance. Otherwise, during the presentation, you can slow down while listeners are urgently searching for what they need and trying to focus on the task.
6. Prepare the space for the event
The room before the webinar should be well-ventilated. A comfortable chair, table, and good lighting. It is best to speak against a light, monochrome background. Care should be taken to have a glass of water at hand during the presentation.
7. Work through the excitement
In case it starts to take over, it is helpful to learn the first few sentences of the speech by heart. Or start talking aloud five minutes before the webinar start, as if the most exciting minutes have already passed.
You should also rehearse: It’s best to record yourself in an empty webinar room or on a tape recorder to see what’s worth correcting and improving. And just before the start of the webinar, we recommend doing some vigorous breathing exercises to relieve stress.
And what do you need to pay attention to during the webinar itself?
The narration, how the audience reacts to the material, and the presentation style. It’s essential to keep the following things in mind.
It’s essential to pay attention to comments
Process them quickly and weave them intelligently into the narrative. If you find comments distracting and fear losing your way, you can respond to them in the pauses after the big blocks we have laid out for control points and questions from participants.
The blocks of meaning need to follow the same pattern
Especially when working with beginners. For example, if you want to talk about channels for attracting an audience, it is better to consider each of them in a single structure: the pros, cons, and tips. This makes it easier for listeners to absorb the information.
Each item on the list or checklist should be detailed
Even if some of the points seem obvious to the speaker. It will be handy for those who are just beginning to get acquainted with the topic or subject.
At the same time should not get carried away with the details
Do not go too deep if the webinar is held for a novice audience. It is not necessary to point out all the details and controversial places. It’s better to give the audience a template to apply knowledge in practice.
The same advice applies to answering questions. Answering briefly and to the point without going into the nuances is better. The audience will not be happy if a simple question results in an additional half-hour lecture.
At the end of the session should summarize
Once again, you need to clarify whether everything is clear. Finishing the webinar is better to list the new things the audience learned today. For such a summary of a special thanks will be newcomers. And to thank those present for their attention.