In my last blog post, we discussed the necessary steps to properly plan out your webinar.  Here are 5 more tips to help you create a successful webinar experience.

1.      Sound Natural

You want to keep your viewer’s attention; get rid of the monotone voice! Try standing up, using inflection by practicing and practicing again. Highlight or bold words in your script (tip #1) to remind yourself to use inflection at key stages during the recording process. Try smiling;  I know this sounds odd but it really works.

2.      Start with the Right Apps

You must have quality applications in your toolbox to record, edit and product your webinar. I recommend using Camtasia for video recording and editing and Audacity  for audio recording and editing. To share versions of your Webinar with clients and others take a look at screen sharing software such as Dropbox, Amazon S3 or Screencast.

3.      Pause Early & Often During Recording

Pause, early and often when recording both the audio and video portion of your webinar. This will give you time to re-focus if you lose your concentration. Remember inflection and correct errors as you go. The pause key in your recording software will become your best friend!

4.      Use Custom Settings

Use the custom setting features in your application. This will allow you to create parameters for your webinar that you can use over and over again for future projects.

5.      Repurpose Your Webinar

Once you’ve created an awesome webinar, let it to work for you! You can create CD’s, DVD’s and MP3 podcasts. You can post these on your website as freeware or market them to visitors to your site.

I love getting feedback. Tell me about your webinar experiences! Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. That’s a plug in that allows you to leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment.

Until next time,

Robin

A virtual event is a must for business owners in 2010! But where do you begin? There is so much information available today regarding what platform or tool should you use to hold your virtual event so let me try to simplify it for you. It’s easier that you think. Just remember, regardless of the type of message you want to communicate, a virtual event is the way to go.

1)    Conference Calls and Teleseminars

Conference calls and teleseminars have been in existence for eons, and are a simple way to communicate an audio message. Two teleseminar tools that I find very user friendly are Free Conference Calling and InstantTeleseminar. With both tools you get access to a conference bridge, and recording capability. The bridge details are simply shared with your intended audience, and bingo, at the prescribed date and time you connect with your colleagues and away you go. You can communicate your message, training session, business goals, and services in a timely, efficient manner. Best yet, after the fact, the audio recording can be posted on your website for visitors to your site to access at a time convenient to them.

2)    Webinars

There are some cool tools you can use to conduct a virtual event in webinar format. Two that I like that are easy to use are GotoWebinar and Glance. Glance is a simple and easy to use platform that allows you to share your desktop, or view someone else’s, during a webinar. You’ll still need an audio or conference call bridge to talk to the event participants but they’ll be able to hear your message and see your desktop presentation at the same time. Once again, you can record the audio portion of the call, and re-purpose the event afterwards by using editing software to combine the audio and video files and post this information on your website.

Using GotoWebinar you can reach a larger audience, up to 1000 participants. You’ll have access to live chat, and participants can listen to the session via telephone or webcast.

3)    Videos

Why not produce a professional looking video to promote your business. Wouldn’t it be great to post a video on your website that draw significant attention to your business. It’s easy to do and there are some fantastic tools available to help you. You can produce a live event or pre-recorded event that get’s your message out. It can be as quick and simple as using Skype; all you need is a webcam either plugged into your built into your computer. If you want something more inclusive you can connect via Ustream software which allows you not only to stream video but also poll your audience with pre-determined questions, zoom in our out during the video event , and add a welcome screen in advance of the start of your video. There are great editing tools that a VA can help you with to create inexpensive, professional looking videos.

Have you tried any of these formats? I’d love to get your feedback on how they have helped your business save money! Here on my blog you’ll get commentluv. That’s a plug-in for bloggers. Leave a comment and you can provide a link back to your own blog!But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment, I’d like to hear from everyone!

Until next time,

Robin