Webinars Don’t Have to be Lectures!

I love webinars!
Actually, I love presenting them more than attending them.

In a post for the Association for Talent Development (ATD) I explain what I mean when I say I love webinars. In the article I share:

Strategies to manage interaction and avoid lecture

For example:

• Use the feedback tools to track your audience reactions.
• Ask open ended questions to gain insight into the thoughts and ideas of your audience and then tailor your messaging accordingly.
• Use “purposeful silence” after receiving feedback and asking questions. People appreciate moments to reflect on the content and ideas you have shared and they
  need the time to process to remember it enough to be able to apply it.
• Consider the ways your audience can share what they are thinking. It is increasingly easier to use breakout functionality, even in webinars. See if your webinar
  platform permits it, and if not, at least ask the audience to share using an interactive polling tool or the chat feature.

Features to Use
I frequently use a mix of these platform features when presenting a webinar:

• Chat
• Polling
• Feedback and reactions
• Breakout rooms
• Webcams
• Screen share to slides or media
• Interactive presentation programs, like Mentimeter or Slido
• Shared collaboration applications, like Padlet or Miro

Ways to Motivate the Audience
We all know it is not the features that engage an audience; it’s how we use those features. Here are some solid ways to engage an audience enough that they’re motivated to participate:

• Appear on web camera and look great.
• Design compelling visuals using modern slide design practices.
• Personalize the experience by involving your audience from the beginning all the way through to the end.

I also share how YOU can Bring it All Together to make #webinars something you love too!