5 Tips for Presenting an Effective Web Seminar

A web-based seminar (or webinar) is a tool you can use for your business to effectively promote your products and services. The key to a quality session is communicating clearly to keep the attention and interest of your online conference attendees. In addition, the interactive elements of webinars are important for connecting with your target audience.

The following are 5 tips for presenting an effective web seminar:

1. Feature benefits

Those accessing your session are doing so for a reason – they want answers and resolutions to their individual concerns. Therefore, present benefits regarding your products and services that answer these questions.

Don’t waste time in your meeting with peripheral discussions. Focus on the primary issues that attracted your audience to sign-up for your webinar in the first place. Highlight your unique product and service benefits to your attendees. Show them, with first-rate features, why your business is the solution provider they desire.

2. Present attractive visuals

With the advent of the Internet, and now fast-swiping interaction on mobile devices, people desire visuals that present succinct information. Gone are the days of long-winded, tedious text passages on session slides that bore your audience.

We live in an increasingly visual information environment. Present your business with stylish and striking visuals that quickly show what your business and your solutions are all about.

You stand a better chance of holding your audience’s interest when you concentrate on pleasant visuals that tell your story with fewer words. In so doing, you help them gain a clearer understanding of what you are offering, which helps them make informed decisions faster concerning your products and/or services.

3. Be a storyteller

Sometimes you have no choice but to present dry information to your audience. This may involve product specifications or service details that are not typically interesting. You can enliven your presentation at this point through storytelling. Most everyone loves a good, compelling story.

Impart to your webinar attendees stories from customers who have successfully used your product or service. Highlight how real people in real situations benefited from what you offer. This can include customer testimonials, with your customers’ approvals of course.

A story is a ‘slice-of-life’ and is usually more interesting than facts and figures that do not always inspire an audience. You connect with your attendees emotionally through storytelling. Storytelling that touches emotions helps people relate better to your value proposition because stories are usually relevant to our daily life.

4. Be cognizant of length

Today, whether people like to admit it or not, attention spans are shorter. This is the result of fast-cut commercials and televisions shows and also short-messaging. It’s also because of reliance on visuals for information and less on meticulous reading.

People desire top-notch information and they desire it fast. This doesn’t mean your online presentation will be the length of a television commercial, or short-short. It does mean any webinar beyond approximately an hour in length runs the risk of losing your audience’s attention. Therefore, strive for a one-hour session tops.

5. Encourage interaction

An effective web presentation engages conference attendees. The emphasis here is keeping people interested through keeping them involved. Interaction enables instant answers to questions attendees may have and need answered.

Give them all the opportunity to present their ideas and views. Let them engage in discussions (in real-time) with the presenters and others, concerning the information they receive in the seminar. This makes for a vibrant and useful web conference.

An effective webinar can build trust and credibility for your business. Take the time to build a solid framework for your online meeting to ensure you cover the most important questions your audience wants answered. A well-planned webinar, executed properly, helps you build your brand, your bottom line, and opens a dialog with potential customers.