Webinars which are planned and executed properly can provide training for a large number of geographical dispersed attendees. There are my 10 tips to manage any Webinar.

1. Plan, in fact over plan: Create a webinar plan that includes schedules, potential speakers, what you want out of the registration process, what your budget is, what promotion are you capable of doing, and be sure to create metrics, which will be sued to judge success.

2. Timing is everything: Schedule your webinar when the greatest number of people can attend. If your audience is geographically dispersed, plan to run the webinar in the mid-afternoon. That way, people from a greater number of times zones can attend. Experience has shown mid-week days [Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays] are generally best. People are not just starting or ending their week.

3. Promote it: If you present it, will they attend? It depends. Do they know about it? Do they care? Study your key audience and develop a targeted marketing strategy. Plan to test different messages and ad sources. Try to be creative. See, and TEST what works. Try to reach your audience via alternative networks. Word-of-mouth is key, so include an “invite-a-colleague” link in all exchanges with potential attendees. No webinar can occur in a vacuum. Make sure your webinars are integrated into your overall marketing strategy.

4.Engage your audience: E-mail, the web, to do lists and phone calls are just a few of the many distractions competing with your speakers. Work to insure that your content is informative and your speakers are interesting. Work to get input from your sales team and marketing staff on all aspect of the presentation.

5. Conduct polls: Don’t miss out on a chance to ask your audience about their opinions. Use your webinar to learn more about your audience and what they care about.

6. Practice, practice, practice and plan for the worst: Have your speakers practice, practice and practice again. Presenting at a webinar is very different from presenting in person.

7. Avoid PowerPoint only: The most captivating presentations tend to be multimedia. Include animation, flash, photos, web-demos or other visual aids to make your presentation more interesting.

8. Don’t forget: Insure that your speakers use land lines with headsets. Make sure that they have a hard copy of their presentation in front of them. Thus insuring your presenter can continue with the webinar if their Internet connection is disrupted. Technology isn’t foolproof. Prepare for all calamities.

9. Schedule at least one run through that covers:
Web conferencing technology
Webinar presentation and timing
Polling - Engage your audience by including polling questions at key points in your presentation. This will help keep your audience’s attention.
File Sharing
Question & Answer management
How to handle a loss of audio or web access

Work with a good conferencing vendor. There are many web conferencing vendors out there. Can yours handle your volume and support you when there’s a problem?

10. Make the most of registration: Every time someone registers for your event, you have a chance to learn more about their interests and needs. Ask qualifying questions during registration. Include different touch points like demos and white paper downloads in all registration emails. Automate the registration process as much as possible and make sure your metrics is capable of capturing what happens.

12. Conduct surveys before and after: This gives you unique insight into your audience. Use this information to tailor your presentation accordingly. As people exit the webinar needs to ask them a short series of follow-up questions to further qualify them. Questions like these can provide timely information for management. For example: What did you like most about this presentation? How likely are you to integrate this new tool? Would you like further training? Would you like for any new programs?

13. Respect Your Audience: People take time out of their day because they are interested in solving a problem. The hard sell doesn’t work. The soft sell does. Join your meeting early and verify that all links and presentations are working. Share a “welcome” slide that says your meeting will be starting shortly. Before your meeting begins, provide a quick review of housekeeping items, such as how to use the chat feature, or how the Q&A session will be handled. Have each speaker identify themselves when speaking, and add a photo and bio of the speakers. Remember to mute all lines until the Q&A session begins.

14. In all circumstances, record your seminar: Post the webinar on your website for future viewing. Build a reference library of past webinars for your customers and employees to peruse at their leisure. Recorded webinars and their Q&As are very helpful in training new employees or reviewing customer input prior to a new product launch, selling event, or internal business strategy session.

15. Follow up: Send a follow-up e-mail to participants thanking them for their attendance. Include additional relevant information; invite them to the next webinar. Send a “sorry we missed you” email to registrants who did not attend. Nurture these staff and customers by enticing them to attend your next event. Record information on all registrants and participants so that your metrics are of value. Include survey/qualifying information.

Review all feedback gathered from your webinar. Consider variations in the registration process, presentation, and Q&A process to determine what else you could do to make your webinar even more engaging. Employing these 15 tips can focus your attention on getting the most out of your webinar’s.