10 Steps for Planning a Successful Webinar

Nonprofits and libraries can use webinars for training, sharing information about a new product or service, or promoting a program. There are many tools that make it easy for any organization to host a webinar, even with limited technology expertise. Below, we'll outline some of the major steps you can take to plan quality, affordable webinars at your organization.

1. Ask Yourself Whether a Webinar is the Right Tool for Your Needs

A webinar can be a powerful training and outreach tool, but the decision to use a particular tool should be based on your goals and the needs of your audience.

When determining whether a webinar is the best medium for your needs, consider

Your audience.
The subject matter.
The time you'll need to cover your topic. Most online audiences tend to lose interest after about two hours (or less!).

While webinars work well for some topics, they're not suited to every training need.

You may also wish to solicit the feedback of subject matter experts, other nonprofits that have conducted their own webinars, and even the audience you plan to address. Informal conversations, formal interviews, and surveys can all help you assess whether a webinar is right for you and your audience.

2. Recruit Speakers and a Support Team for Your Webinar

There are usually three main players in a webinar: the organizer/facilitator, the presenter or presenters, and assistants.

Organizer/facilitator. The organizer is the person responsible for developing the webinar topic, locating a speaker, marketing the event, setting up the registration, and communicating with participants before and after the webinar. During the webinar, the organizer usually participates by introducing presenters, interviewing the subject matter experts, moderating audience questions, and encouraging audience participation. The organizer also helps troubleshoot problems. Time commitment: roughly 10 to 20 hours per webinar.
Presenter(s) (also known as subject matter experts). Ideally, presenters should be able to concentrate their efforts on preparing and delivering their presentation. Worrying about the webinar software, event registration, troubleshooting, and other logistical details detracts from the presenters' ability to give an engaging presentation. Time commitment: four to six hours per hour of webinar.
Assistants. Assistants can help by answering questions that the organizer and the presenter don't have time for. Assistants are particularly helpful for answering technical and logistical questions ("I can't hear the audio," for example). Experienced organizers often produce webinars without any assistance, but you should consider asking for help if: you or your audience is unfamiliar with webinars and webinar tools; you plan to play a large role in the conversation (either as an interviewer or a participant); or you expect a large audience. Time commitment: one to two hours per hour of webinar.

In most cases, you should at least divide up the organizer and presenter roles. For large, complex webinars, you'll often need an assistant or assistants.

3. Determine the Format of Your Webinar

Below are some popular formats you might consider:

	Description	Pros	Cons
One Speaker	A single presenter speaks, demonstrates, and answers questions from the audience.	Fewer people to coordinate and train on how to use the webinar tool.	Lack of variety in voices and perspectives.
Interview Style	Interviewer asks a set of predetermined questions.	More engaging to hear multiple voices. The fact that the interviewer is asking questions of the expert(s) often encourages the audience to do the same.	More people to schedule, train, and coordinate.
Moderated Panel Discussion	Multiple people on the line at the same time, with a moderator facilitating the discussion.	Offers a variety of voices and perspectives.	More people to schedule, train, and coordinate. Can be challenging to keep panelists from talking over each other.
Interactive	Audience members participate fully via instructor-led exercises and facilitated conversations.	If done well, participants receive a deeper understanding of the topic because they're fully engaged in the dialogue and the exercises.	Can only accommodate a small group. Requires a very skilled, experienced facilitator.

4. Plan the Visuals for Your Webinar

Because webinars rely on audio and visuals to get the message across, both should be engaging. Plain slides with a lot of text don't work very well. Here are seven ways to make your presentations more engaging.

Some slides you may wish to include are

An introductory slide reminding your audience how to log in to the audio and what time the webinar will begin.
A slide introducing each presenter, including job title, organization, and a photograph if available.
A quick overview of the webinar agenda and the topics to be covered.

5. Pick a Webinar Tool

Dozens of web conferencing tools exist.

Eligible nonprofits and libraries can request discounted access to ReadyTalk and Citrix webinar and training platforms through TechSoup.

When weighing your software options, here are a few questions to ask:

How Many People Will the Webinar Tool Accommodate?

Most tools and pricing plans set a cap on the number of participants. For free and low-cost web conferencing packages, the cap is often as low as 15 or 20 participants. Other plans limit you to 50 or 100, while enterprise-level packages allow 1,000 or more participants per webinar.

How Much Does a Webinar Cost?

Some packages are free. Other vendors charge for web conferencing and audio separately, some charge per participant per minute, and others charge a flat fee per month or per year. When you add in the fees for hosting recorded webinars and the cost of a toll-free telephone number, the pricing schemes can be complicated.

Which Features Will You Need?

Do you want to just show a presentation or demonstrate how to use a specific piece of software? Would you like your participants to be able to take control of your desktop? Do you want a live video feed of the speakers? Make sure you choose a tool that allows you to do what you want.

How Is Audio Handled?

Some products offer integrated, web-streaming audio, which allows participants to listen to the presentation through their computer speakers or headsets. Other webinar platforms require that participants and presenters dial in to a special phone number.

You usually have two options for this:

A toll number, for which the participants have to pay the fees charged by their long-distance or cellphone provider.
A toll-free number, for which you or your organization will usually pay a set fee per minute for each participant. This can add up quickly during webinars with a high turnout.

Finally, many webinar platforms offer you both web-streaming audio and dial-in phone options. You can choose to enable one or the other, or both.

Do You Want to Record the Webinars for Later Viewing?

If so, ask how the webinar vendor handles recording and whether the vendor charges extra to make that recording available online. Most vendors charge for storing the recording online, rather than the recording feature itself, but you should check to be certain.

You will also want to ask what exactly gets recorded. Some tools record the slides along with audio, but don't record the chat conversation or the desktop sharing. Vendors also vary in terms of how long they save the recording. Some delete it after a month, whereas others save it until you delete it yourself.

Still need help with planning a webinar? Click below, we can help!

Read the full article at:Tech Soup

Written by Tapp Network

Tapp Network is a marketing & technology firm serving nonprofits and organizations seeking to accelerate their social impact, capacity building, and revenue growth for good.