Most webinar environments provide feedback tools – yes/no check boxes, ‘raise hand’ buttons, polls, chats, etc. If your webcast participants are slow to respond, provide minimal responses or don’t respond at all, they may be tuning out or maybe they don’t understand your content. Have a plan for when this behavior happens during your webinar. You’ll want something that will jar their attention. Maybe a funny anecdote, a surprising fact or a silly question. Sometimes a self-defeating question will bring them back, such as, “Click the raise hand button if my voice is putting you to sleep.” If you think they may not be understanding the topic, open up a quick Q&A. Master your webinar technology before the event. Test it to make sure it does everything you need it to do. If something goes wrong, acknowledge it and move on, don’t apologize repeatedly and continue to draw attention to the problem and away from your content. Your slides should consist of keywords and visuals. People read faster than you talk so if you put your script on the slides, they’ll read through it and zone out as you continue to talk. This isn’t SlideShare, you don’t have to explain everything with your slides, use your voice. ‘Fear’ can be quite the motivator. Not real, harsh, scary fear but the fear of being put on the spot without being prepared. Let your participants know that you will be calling on people to contribute to the conversation. Strategically ask questions and request feedback from particular participants. Similarly, don’t just present your content. Collaborate with your audience by asking for feedback. This starts with calling on participants by name, but can be accomplished various other ways as well. -Ask for feedback using the chat feature and select a few topics to discuss with the group, allowing the person who authored the feedback to present their topic. -Present a scenario and ask one of the participants to tell the group what they would do. -Ask for stories about the topic from the audience. -Ask for opposing views. If someone disagrees with you, allow them a short debate and ask for other’s opinions through the chat feature. Sure, breaking up narration with graphics, charts and video keeps people more alert but you don’t want to overuse multimedia. Overuse of unnecessary videos and graphics can actually distract from your meeting’s message. The old adage “Keep It Simple Stupid” rings true in this case. Start your webinar by letting everyone know that you will be giving away prizes throughout the webinar. Cash gift cards work best. You can purchase four $50 gift cards and giveaway a prize every fifteen minutes. Let them know you’ll be doing the drawing and that they must be present to win or base the entries on the feedback they give. For example, ask everyone to share a short story relating to your topic for a chance to win the gift card in the chat box. Let them know that the winner will then share their short with the group. Engagement is nearly impossible with hundreds of people. Here’s where quality trumps quantity, every time. Would you rather have hundreds of leads bored and confused or 75 engaged leads? Consider capping your webinar registrations at 50 to 75 people, keeping them to under an hour and organizing multiple sessions so more people can attend. You could also record the webinar and make it available on-demand. Always follow up with your meeting attendees within 24 hours of the webinar. Reward their participation with a thank you and provide resources. It’s a good idea to also include a short survey so you can make improvements on future webinars. Use incentives to increase response rates. Keep attendees and potential clients engaged with small, collaborative and engaging webinars by using these tips and you’ll find you get higher quality leads with better conversion ratios. For more insights and tips from Teamings, please sign up for our newsletter.
Attendee engagement is critical if you want your webinar to attract new clients. Engagement can mean different things to different people, depending on their meeting’s objectives. For these purposes, I define meeting engagement in webinars as attendees actively listening/watching and participating in the webinar. How do you turn attendees into active participants? To increase webinar engagement, create a webcast that captivates your audience.
