“Friends Don’t Let Friends Launch Bad Webinars”

When creating webinars, once the presenter has determined who their audience will be, and what education need is to be served, (discussed in Part One and Two of this article series) the next step is to design the event itself.  Following three basic steps, with some creativity and diligence, the presenter thus formulates the groundwork for a positive attendee learning experience.

Step One:  Develop Learner Objectives (LO’s) – This is an absolutely critical part of the process!  Jeff Hurt wrote a great article at  his blog, Midcourse Corrections, addressing this topic.  Jeff believes, as I do, that presenters must “begin with the end in mind.”

Speakers must identify, in this first step, the major learning points participants will derive from the webinar.  LO’s propose what the attendee (learner) will take away, or gain, from the experience.  They are the compass guiding the presenter through the task of crafting their presentation. They also serve as a strategic focus for promoting the event.

Simply put, strong LO’s must be:

• Observable
• Measurable
• Achieved by the learner (not the presenter)

“Your LO’s serve as guideposts along the path of your presentation to help your attendees learn and retain information. They are critical to the presentation and vital to your conference marketing materials. The ultimate test when writing a LO is whether or not the action taken by the participants can be assessed immediately upon their departure from the presentation. If not, the outcome probably does met meet all three of the characteristics.”
– Jeff Hurt, Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

For more in-depth information regarding learner objectives please read Jeff’s complete article.  There are some great tips and insights contained there.

Step Two:  Create Presentation Outline – Referring to the LO’s discussed in Step One, the presenter should write a high level overview of the key webinar discussion points.  This forces the presenter to gather and organize their thoughts.  It will also assist them in creating visual support for the event.

A couple of best practices for speakers to follow while building the outline:

• Use simple, key words, in brief sentences, or phrases, to frame up the discussion points quickly.   A concise outline not only helps the speaker maintain an organized focus, but may serve as a terrific reference tool during the presentation.
• Avoid lengthy or complex sentences, as they may create confusion, disrupting the natural flow of the presentation.  An outline is supposed to document the flow of discussion, not serve as a script.

Step Three:  Create Visual Support — As previously discussed,  a webinar is one of the most difficult presentation formats to engage attendees.  The most significant challenge is lack of  face2face contact, or much multi-directional interaction, between participants and the presenter.  Visual aids can be a highly effective tool to add life to the presentation.

Here are some thoughts regarding their use:

• High Graphics/Simple Text — Create powerpoint style slides with vivid, interesting images, accompanied by simple text.  The goal is to capture attendees interest (brain stimulation).
• Slides are for Accent, Not Focus — visual aids should add style, energy and interest in the presentation.  In most cases they should not become the major audience focus.  Just as salt & pepper adds flavor to food, so should visual aids to the presentation.
• Create a Slide archive — Once the final slide presentation is completed, a useful value-add is to make them available online.  Sites like “Slideshare” are great tools for posting this content for public consumption.

The information outlined in this article is a solid starting point for creating a successful webinar presentation.  I am sure there are other techniques and practices that could be employed during the development process, that I did not address here.

All thoughts are welcome, as I clearly do not have all the answers.  Is there some unique or new technique or idea you have implemented with a webinar event?  What challenges have you encountered with these presentations?  Please share those thoughts and experiences with us!

“Friends Don’t Let Friends Launch Bad Webinars”

In Part One, of this article series I offered ideas regarding why an organization should consider adding webinars to their education curriculum.  I also shared, based upon my own experiences and research,  some potential roadblocks to their success.  Now, in part two lets review the strategic components that help organizers shape these events.  Before creating education content, the design team must first identify the following:

• Who is the targeted event audience? Who is the organization trying to reach? It could be a combination of the below.
  • Customers
  • Internal team members
  • Suppliers
• What is the audience’s education need? What is the content that needs to be delivered?
  • Common Business Challenge — Is there a hot topic that is stirring up a lot of discussion in your business sector.  If so, then it is a golden opportunity to show thought leadership, and initiate a meaningful conversation addressing the issue.
  • News Style Information — Is there some exciting new development in the organization that should be introduced to the marketplace.  Are there new products/services to discuss?
  • Internal Company Initiatives/Policies — Inside the organization is there a need to roll-out a new business initiative, new business processes, or policy statements?
  • Partnership Opportunities with Vendors – Has the organization developed a new alliance with another organization resulting in a new partnership to be shared?  Perhaps this alliance results in a value enhancement for  customers, or requires new internal processes & guidelines.
• How should messaging be delivered? The delivery style is driven by the content and the circumstances.  Whenever possible it is best to avoid a lecture style format, because it is not engaging.
  • Lecture style — This format usually is selected because there is some information or news to be shared.  It is most effective when the messaging is quick, and no significant audience interaction is required.  There could be a “Q&A” to follow the presentation.
  • Facilitated Panel Discussion — This style of delivery is most effective for webinars, as it can be lively and interactive, if executed properly.  Interspersing Q&A at fifteen minute intervals is a good practice.  Also, assigning someone the responsibility of tracking/forwarding questions and comments from the audience adds flavor to the event.
  • Workshop — When work-groups, or pods of attendees are collaborating, this presentation format can be utilized.  The presenter lays the foundation, framing up the focus of the discussion.  Then the remote work-groups work on an exercise together.  A nice follow up piece is for the pods to report back on their findings, either by chat or audio feed.

Whatever the delivery format selected, presenters need to have a solid grasp of the material they are presenting.  The largest challenge with webinars is to capture and maintain the interest of the remote audience.  Since there is no video or f2f interaction, the only way to build excitement and interest, is through lively dialogue mixed with some vivid, eye-catching images.  We will discuss this further in an upcoming segment of this article series.

The one universal truth is the “one size fits all” philosophy does not work. Organizations must find that “sweet spot,” … the approach that will have the greatest positive impact on the perceived audience.

Have you found that sweet spot, or approach, to a webinar that has “hit the ball out of the park?“  If so, please share it with us.

This is the first in a multi-part series of discussions regarding Webinars. This first article will examine the potential value of these events, as well as the challenges in making them successful.

Organizations are beginning to utilize a relatively new breed of meetings, called “webinars” as a plausible option for delivering value-added event experiences to their customers.  For context, a Webinar, short for “Web-based seminar,”  is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar transmitted over the Internet.  The data is delivered via streaming technology, either live or in archive format.

Friends Don’t Let Friends Launch Bad Webinars!

For purposes of this article series, video broadcasts will not be part of the discussion.  Our reference point will be on webinars utilizing audio-based streaming, with static (non-animated)  visual support.

So, what value does this type of technology and event bring to organizations, and their customers?  Here are some thoughts:

• Cost Effective — Webinars are inexpensive, from both a producer’s and attendee’s point-of-view.  The operating investment for the webinar platform is far less than any other type of event, online or otherwise.  In many cases webinars are offered free-of-charge to attendees, or at a low-cost fee.
• Easy to Implement – Webinar technology is uncomplicated, and easy to navigate, whether an attendee or presenter.  All that is needed is a computer, with an up-to-date hardware configuration, soundcard, web browser, and a high speed Internet connection.  Presenters will either use VOIP, with a computer microphone, or telephone connection, for audio communication.
• Customer Value Enhancement – Many organizations have added webinars to their education curriculum, in response to the difficult economy.  Some people, unable to attend mainstay “big-dollar” face2face events, because of budget cuts, or travel restrictions, can still at least capture some education, with webinars.
• Brand Awareness – By hosting webinars, organizations add value to their customers service experience.  They also demonstrate thought leadership to the industry they serve.  Ultimately they enhance their brand’s image.

If managed properly, webinars may be a terrific communication channel for organizations to deliver valuable information and educational content to customers, employees, and industry peers.  Unfortunately, many are poorly executed, delivering diminished value to attendees.

Attendees and presenter(s) are not able to connect face2face  with webinars, due to their online nature.  With this crucial attendee engagement element missing, organizers must focus their attention on finding other ways to make these events interactive.  Therein lies the challenge.

Since many event professionals are not experienced in managing these types of events, they don’t realize the webinar experience needs to be crafted differently than its face2face counterpart.  In this article series I will share some ideas with you, based upon my research and experience of how to optimize the webinar experience.

Clearly I don’t have all the answers, so I hope to learn from you as well.  Through mutual learning we can raise the bar of success with these events in the future.

After all, “Friends Don’t Let Friends Launch Bad Webinars.”

Question:  Have you attended any webinars recently?  If so how would you characterize the experience?  What were the benefits, and challenges?  We look forward to your input!

On Thursday (tomorrow) my colleagues Jeff Hurt, Samuel Smith and I are participating as presenters in a free webinar hosted by InXpo.   Below are the details of the event as well as a link to register.  The designated Twitter Hashtag for the event is #inxpolive.

WHAT:  “Beyond Social Media: Uncover New Ways To Connect, Engage and Educate Your Audience Physically And Virtually”

WHEN:  March 18, 2010, 10 am – 11 am CT

FEATURING:

• Jeff Hurt (Director, Education and Engagement, Velvet Chainsaw Consulting)
• Michael McCurry (Strategic Account Manager, Experient)
• Samuel Smith (Editor, Interactive Meeting Technology Blog)
• Moderated by: Elliot Markowitz (Programming Director, InXpo)

Social media is emerging as an extremely effective tool for promoting events and engaging audiences before the event even begins, during the actual live broadcast and even after it has already taken place. Currently the most popular social network tools are Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, but the question is not the tool but the engagement strategy you leverage. Attend this webcast and hear from industry experts as they discuss how to leverage social media technologies that augment how you connect, engage and educate your audiences physically and virtually.

Please click here to register.

After attending this webinar, attendees will be able to:

1. Discuss the value of social media as it relates to associations, brands, conferences and organization
2. Identify ways to leverage social media for private, corporate events and public tradeshow
3. Discover how a platform like InXpo can provide an attendee integrated experience.

We hope you will join us for this event and look forward to your participation!

Its amazing, in this new world of robust online technology, just how much there is to learn.  Over the past  year, I have personally spent quite a bit of time investigating the “ins and outs” of creating and producing online events, such as webinars and webcasts.  It has been a rich educational experience.

To date, I have been involved, in various capacities, with a half dozen webinars.  Through experimentation with these events I discovered I have a natural ability as a facilitator, or moderator to lead panel style presentations.  Over time I am becoming more and more comfortable in this arena, although I still have much to learn.

This week I participated, as both a facilitator, and panelist, in a webinar, hosted by PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association).  Our presentation was entitled “Engaging Attendees Today:  How to Combine Virtual and Face-to-Face Meetings.” For a recap of the event please click here for that article.

By most accounts the webinar went very well.  There was a terrific audience, nearly 200ppl.  The topic is very popular right now in the events business, so there was a lot of interest around it.  Our panel was very well prepared to address the learning objectives, for the event,  and we had a strong Powerpoint presentation to support the discussion, which is a key component to a successful webinar.

However, there were some challenging moments, and therefore some learning lessons to this experience.

Learning Lesson #1: The Moderator/Facilitator is the Gatekeeper – As I was the facilitator, it was my responsibility to keep all of us panelists on track, and aligned with the expectations of the event.  See Learning Lesson #2 below — I learned the hard way!

Learning Lesson #2:  Get to your learning objectives as soon as possible – This webinar was a one-hour session.  We spent the first thirty minutes in the Introduction phase, which was entirely too long.  There was an important story, which added credibility to our presentation talking points, but we should have been more succinct in “teeing it up” to the audience.

Learning Lesson #3:  Make absolutely certain the Webinar technology is completely functional – We had two tech rehearsals for this webinar, but neglected to verify one important detail; that the webinar chat window was operational.  It wasn’t.  As the facilitator, I was supposed to monitor the questions and comments from the audience … I could not see them.  We eventually resolved the problem, but it created some awkward moments.

Learning Lesson #4:  Always have a conversation “back channel” available – All three of us panelists are Twitter fanatics.  Yet, we somehow forgot to promote a Twitter Hashtag channel, for the event, ahead of time.  It happened anyways, as our attendees created one, on their own.  But… that was slightly embarrassing.

Learning Lesson #5:  Close the Webinar Platform Immediately After Event – If you plan to have a post-event briefing (a good idea) with panelists, it is wise to first close out of the webinar.  One panelist and I thought the platform was already shutdown to the public, and continued conversing, after the event, only to discover, through feedback from attendees, that we were still live.  Not a good thing!

Looking ahead, I will leverage these lessons in future webinar opportunities.  I tend to be hard on myself, as I strive for perfection, but if life were perfect, it would be boring, for sure. 

Question:  What learning lessons have you benefited from, in your experiences with webinars?  If you attended this session, did I miss anything?  Please share your thoughts with us!

Earlier today PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) hosted a webinar entitled “Engaging Attendees Today:  How to Combine Virtual and Face-to-Face Meetings.“  As you may know this is a hot topic in the events business in 2010, and there were nearly 200ppl in attendance at the webinar.

I facilitated the session, with fellow panelists Jeff Hurt and Christina Coster.  Jessica Levin was also originally slated to participate as well, but unfortunately had to back out at the last minute.

The unusual slant to this webinar was to share our Hybrid event experiences through the lens of the recent Event Camp 2010, held in New York City on February 6, 2010.  Christina was the brain-child, the genesis of that un-conventional conference.  Along with Jeff, Jessica & I, Mike McAllen rounded out a five-person team that produced Event Camp.

In recap the following were the learning objectives for the webinar:

• Discuss how to use Social Media as tool to enhance attendee experience before, during and after meeting.

• Identify ways to manage technology to deliver a seamless Hybrid experience.

• Discuss strategies for increasing interaction between virtual & face2face attendees.

A Twitter Hashtag #EC10W was established for this seminar by our Twitter colleagues and there was a ton of activity in that channel during the event.  A transcript of the chat can be found here.  Here are the stats courtesy of WtHashtag:

A detailed discussion of what we presented in the webinar will be posted on this blog, on another day, but for now here are links to the slide presentation, which is in pdf format.  Also, in approximately two weeks PCMA will have an archived version of the webinar available at their Online Learning Center.

Have a fantastic weekend!