Webinar Checklist
Detailed preparation for moderating a webinar is essential if you are to maintain participants’ attention and keep them from being distracted. Here are some “best practice” webinar prep tips to help you prepare for your next webinar.
Before
- Edit your presentation – slides, notes, multimedia – to make sure they are all necessary and relevant to the topic, and that the slide text boxes are not cluttered
- Prepare an introduction that will:
1. Establish the webinar’s topic, time frame, and ground rules for questions
2. Prepare succinct bios of all presenters including their role and expertise - Test all technical aspects of the webinar in advance including audio
- Record your presentation rehearsal and critique your performance
During
- Sit on front half of your chair to maximize energy
- If you can be seen via a webcam, make sure you are properly attired and centered
- To keep audience focused, use rhetorical questions, and suggest that participants write down key points
- Refer to specific cities and locations if possible to engage audience
- Increase your voice modulation by 20%
Q&A Closing
- Repeat rules for answering questions, whether it’s a moderating selecting them from a Question Manager text box, or over the phone bridge
- Ask any live questioner to identify him/herself and where he/she is calling from
- Explain that any questions that you can’t get to will be answered offline, and how that will be accomplished
- When responding to a challenging question – bridge to key points
- Thank the participants for their time