A lot of learning professionals are hesitant to host their own webinars since they think that being successful as a webinar host is a skill they don’t have. Here, I’ll provide the best advice to guide you through this process and ensure that you’re an expert with a webinar platform host who draws in and keeps their audience engaged regardless of who they are.
How To Be A Successful Webinar Host
Engaging your audience via online webinars goes far beyond what you can achieve with social media platforms, on your site or even on your personal blog. It brings life to your online learning content, builds trust between you and your participants, and provides you with the chance to build new connections as well as solid professional relationships. Naturally, hosting your own webinar implies that you are in complete control of its content and flow.
Is this something you could accomplish? Are you able to create engaging eLearning materials and engage with your students while doing it? Would you be able to stimulate the audience’s curiosity, inspire them, and sustain their interest until the very last moment? Sure, you can. Just rely on a good online webinar platform or On-demand live streaming service which can provide an interface and controls to do lots of activities rather than just speaking. Let’s deep dive into the crucial points.
Pay Attention to the Sound Quality
Audio is definitely the most crucial aspect of your live stream or webinar. To ensure that everything goes as planned, take note of the following suggestions:
Find the Best Place
Find a quiet area or, perhaps, an area that is soundproofed to record in. Also, avoid using an internet connection that is wireless and instead opt for the landline option to avoid technical issues.
Get an Assistant for Technical Issues
Concerning technical issues Be aware of the fact that you must concentrate on delivering your message. You should have an assistant who is aware of how to deal with technical issues or someone from the team of webinar services providers should they arise in real-time.
Make Sure to Use the Correct Microphone.
Do not rely on the built-in microphones on your desktop or laptop. Use external microphones. If your webinar will have several speakers, make sure you are equipped with a premium speakerphone.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
Do not underestimate the importance of practising multiple times prior to your live stream or webinar. Practice helps you become better. To ensure that your voiceovers work, it is important to make sure you eliminate every “um” and “err” from your vocabulary. Also, practice will help you develop more confidence in your speaking. Get feedback as frequently as you can. Ask someone to listen to your story and give you their honest opinions.
Request them to describe the one thing you excelled at and something you could improve on. Are you able to speak at a good pace? Are you communicating clearly? What about your tone? Do you sound relaxed or serious and monotonous? Request them to listen more and again as they are timing you to ensure that you don’t need to rush through the last slides. Also, think about recording yourself and analysing the footage to find out what things are working and what aren’t.
Start By Giving an Introduction.
What’s the best way to introduce yourself? Absolutely not by reading a lengthy biography or a slide that lists your goals and objectives; these are ways to make sure you don’t lose the attention of your audience. Tell a story. Sharing your story and describing what has led to it will create confidence and build an emotional bond between you and your listeners.
Be sure to keep your story short and personalise it by adding some suspenseful elements and ending with a powerful end. Further we are also adding expert tips to host a successful webinar are;
Keep Your Viewers’ Attention
A typical attention span for a typical audience is approximately 10 minutes. Webinar audiences are more difficult to please as you compete for their attention by using their laptop screens, their constantly open social media accounts, and their inboxes of emails. That’s why it’s essential to not only capture their attention but also keep it.
Make sure to limit the text in your slides, and try not to overload them with bullets. Instead, you should get your audience engaged with an intriguing mix of mini-challenges, interactive questions, tasks, vibrant images, captivating videos, and music. Not every webinar service provider offers such features to perform the mentioned activities, but still, there are many events live streaming services and virtual webinar platforms to help you out.
Keep a Casual Tone
Be aware that you’re speaking about real human beings, not an automated system. Personalise your webinar by:
Imagine You’re Talking to a Colleague or Friend.
If you’re having, say, 150 people who are listening, you’re having 150 conversations one-on-one. It may seem overwhelming, and you should try to imagine the person you’re speaking to.
Make Your Presentation More Interesting With Q&A.
Q&As are an excellent way to keep the conversation going. There is no one who would want to listen to someone talking incessantly, regardless of how soft their voice is.
Your Audience Should Be Addressed by Using “You” in Your Sentences.
Avoid saying, “Today I’m going to be sharing with you.” Instead, say, “Today you’ll be learning.” Do not ask “Does anyone out there have a question?”; instead, ask “Would you want to ask me something?”. Using “you” makes your audience feel more engaged.
Use Humour
Do not be afraid to use some humour. However, ensure that your humour is appropriate and relevant to the political climate.
Keep in Mind the Voice You Speak Is the link.
Of course, you’ll have to stop speaking. However, make them brief. Do not allow more than two or three minutes of silence. Otherwise, your audience could think they’ve lost the sound. If you’re to remain silent, inform your audience members. For example, if you’re planning to give them time to study, inform them, “I will allow you to read a few words about.”
Bottom Line
In the end, the best advice anyone can give you is to host your event on a good online webinar platform to avoid any interruptions. Besides that, keeping track of your competitors, research, and virtual webinar platforms features can be the best thing you can do. Hope these mentioned suggestions will help you to increase your engagement and make you confident to host your next webinar.