presentation webinar meaning

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Blog Beginner Guides What Is a Webinar & How Does It Work? [Beginner’s Guide With 10+ Presentation Templates]

What Is a Webinar & How Does It Work? [Beginner’s Guide With 10+ Presentation Templates]

Written by: Aditya Sheth Apr 08, 2021

With a global pandemic taking the world by storm and forcing people to work from home, webinars have seen a resurgence in popularity and usage across the globe.

In the last decade (especially in the last few months) webinars have become a staple for educating students and potential customers, lead generation for your business, and captivating large online audiences.

If you’re new to webinars, you’re probably asking yourself…

• What is a webinar?

How does a webinar work?

• Why are webinars so effective?

What are the different types of webinars?

• How do I create and host a webinar?

In this guide, I’ll give you a crash course on what is a webinar, how you can create a webinar and showcase plenty of presentation examples to answer all your webinar-related questions!

Let’s dive right in.

What is a webinar? Webinar definition:

According to  Merriam-Webster , a webinar (or web seminar) is “a live online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments.”

You might be wondering, “well, what is a seminar?” Seminar definition: “a meeting for giving and discussing information.”

Webinars are events, video presentations, workshops, seminars, training sessions, or classroom lectures hosted and delivered online using webinar software .

What makes webinars effective is that they’re a two-way form of communication where the attendees and presenters give, receive and share information with each other, in real time.

Webinar vs. Webcast

A webinar is not a webcast. Webcasts are pre-recorded sessions that broadcast online (on TV or YouTube). Webinars are live sessions allowing real-time interactivity between the presenter and attendees.

For example, our growth by content live webinar teaches business owners how to use content marketing to drive business growth without a massive budget:

If you’re new to webinars, a great way to familiarize yourself is to attend other webinars (like the one above) and take notes.

Hosting webinars has plenty of uses and benefits, but before we dive into creating a webinar it’s important to understand how and why webinars work in the first place.

Webinars allow presenters to share documents of all kinds including but not limited to voice notes, videos, presentations and other documents, etc with their attendees.

Webinars have plenty of uses (often business-related) but the most important and biggest use for webinars is to educate and engage an audience).

Your audience could be anyone from new or existing customers, industry peers or even the students in your classroom.

This means webinars are useful in any industry where communicating with your audience is a key factor in your personal or professional success.

Webinars can also help you with all of the following: 

• Educate your audience about your business.
• Build authority in your industry or niche.
• Demonstrate your product to customers. 
• Onboard new customers to your product. 
• Training both new and existing employees. 
• Generating leads for your business. 

In the marketing world, the main use for webinars is lead generation.

For example, our “ Infographic Design 101 ” webinar is aimed at helping our current customers visualize their ideas and attracting potential customers to sign up for Venngage:

If you’re new to webinars or want to learn how to visualize your ideas, I highly recommend checking out this webinar.

Another way marketers use online webinars is to build authority, credibility and thought leadership in their industry.

Drift ’s approach to thought-leadership webinars is a prime example:

Drift leverages webinars for multiple purposes ranging from educating new and current customers, establishing thought leadership, and collaborating with other SaaS companies.

This helps Drift position themselves as a subject matter expert in the SaaS industry.

Another example is  R&D tax credit software  Boast.AI.

Boast Events  produces two webinars per week in their community, branded Traction, bringing founders and leaders from some of the fastest-growing companies to share actionable, tactical advice on business growth.

If you’re creating a marketing plan and your goal is consistently generating high-quality leads for your business, webinars should be a crucial piece of your strategy.

Webinars are also used extensively in eLearning. As an educator, your ability to reach more students expands dramatically. Right from the comfort of your home.

Students don’t need to travel and with the current crisis that’s forced everyone to stay home, online webinars can be the most important learning tool in a teacher’s arsenal.

Here’s an example of how HBR approaches educational webinars:

After reading this guide in its entirety, you’ll have a better understanding of how to replicate their approach to webinars for your own institution or classroom.

Why are webinars effective?

What makes webinars effective (compared to physical events or workshops) is that with webinars, you don’t need to rent out a physical location or deal with complex logistics that arise from hosting in-person events. 

In fact, in 2020, the number of organizations planning a virtual event has doubled .

With a plethora of webinar pros (vs physical events), rich-feature sets, support for multiple content types, the possibilities are essentially endless.

Advantages of webinars

Since webinars are online events , they’re convenient for both presenter and attendee as you can host and attend webinars right from the comfort of your office (or home.) 

Whether it’s presenting to a small group or a group of 100+ attendees, webinars work in both these scenarios.

Webinars can be pre-recorded and played at any time for participants. This makes them easier to set up, repurpose, and budget-friendly compared to in-person events.

Offline events have their own merits, but with live webinars you don’t need to spend time agonizing over venue rentals, food, beverages or making sure your presentation equipment works. 

People have used webinars creatively for education, marketing, sales, branding, human resources, user onboarding, etc. So when it comes to what you can do with webinars: the sky’s the limit.

A lot of webinar tools come with interactive whiteboards, surveys and polls, live-chat features which make them far more personalized, engaging and interactive for your audience.

These are just some of the reasons why webinars have been exploding in popularity in recent times. 

Webinar formats

Webinars come with tons of customizable features as well as support various content formats such as:

• Live video: the most common type of webinar. Live webinars tend to garner the most engagement.
• Pre-recorded: most webinars are live, but you can always record a live webinar and future participants can register for them as they please. Most Ideal for evergreen topics.
• Text: Most webinars tools come equipped with text chat features. Ask and answer your audiences’ questions, in real time.
• Whiteboard: used to draw out and explain important concepts.
• Surveys and polls: want to keep your audience engaged? Use surveys and polls to get attendees to answer questions and organize it all in one place.

But the most common way to conduct webinars is by creating and presenting a slide deck presentation .

Here’s an example of a webinar presentation you can edit and customize right now:

Once you learn how to make a great webinar presentation, you can always kick things up a notch by experimenting with different webinar tools as well as whiteboards, polls, surveys, etc.

Venngage has a fair amount of experience when it comes to participating and hosting webinars for marketing, lead generation, and joint collaborations.

But that’s not their only use. Here are just some ways you can harness the power of webinars:

Webinars for marketing, lead generation and partnerships

When it comes to lead generation, there’s a lot you can do: 

• Creating in-depth industry white papers , 
• Publishing case studies to promote your product, and 
• Designing ebooks and offering them up as lead magnets.

But, the greatest bang for your marketing buck can come from hosting webinars due to the high-quality leads they help generate.

Companies like Drift , ConvertKit , G2 , etc have successfully leveraged webinars to scale their lead generation and in turn, increase revenue.  You just need to learn some essential webinar statistics if you’re planning to create one. If webinars worked for them, they can work for you too. 

For example, G2 hosts webinars regularly with the goal of generating leads for their software:

G2 covers a wide variety of topics in their webinars. Not only that, joint webinars are the perfect way to team up with other companies and subject matter experts in your industry. 

Conducting joint webinars allows you to:

• Partnering with other companies gives you access to their audience. They could even be potential customers who would otherwise be oblivious about you. 
• Collaborating with other companies adds credibility and authority to your content establishing you as a thought leader in your industry. 

At Venngage, we use webinars to educate our audience and lead generation becomes a natural by-product of this goal:

With this webinar our goal was simple: helping businesses navigate the pandemic by outlining how they can grow using content marketing (like we have).

With physical event cancellations and the world being forced to work from home, companies are slowly transitioning from hosting physical events to events hosted virtually (with webinars).

For example, Wishpond opted for a virtual event to make it easier for participants and attendees to partake (even from home):

Pro Tip: If you provide massive value to your audience in your webinars, chances are you won’t even need to promote your product. Help your audience with their struggles, and they’ll not only become a customer but also a raving fan.

Webinars for education

Webinars have exploded in popularity in the last few years as a powerful learning tool, not only for marketers but also for schools and universities.

For educators, webinars are the best way to reach and engage students. No classroom required. For students, they get to learn from the comfort of their own homes.

Due to the pandemic, colleges and universities have transitioned to distanced learning. So webinars as a learning tool have surged in popularity.

My alma mater, Seneca uses educational webinars for all occasions—from educating potential students to onboarding new students and also hosting virtual open houses:

If you’re a college or university trying to onboard incoming students for the new semester, webinars are an absolute no-brainer. Here’s an onboarding webinar template you can use:

I f you’re a professor looking to experiment with webinars as a learning device, you can use this webinar presentation template for your next online class:

Pro Tip: Want to make your webinar even more engaging? Invite external educators and subject matter experts to collaborate with you on your next webinar.

Webinars for product demos

Companies have started adopting webinars for product demos to strategically sell their products and build a deeper relationship with prospective customers.

But when is the ideal time to start using webinars for product demos? The answer: Now!

Today’s buyers are digitally savvy and comparing competing products to make the best buying decision. Sending over a business proposal and hoping for the best isn’t going to cut it anymore.

A product demo webinar is an opportunity for you to showcase real case studies of your current customers, how they’ve used your product successfully, and how your prospect can achieve the same results.

OroCommerce, the B2B eCommerce platform  does a great job with product demo webinars . Every time they release a major product update they hold product demos going over the benefits of every new feature.

When presenting a live webinar that targets your audience’s pain points , strategically tie in your product into your presentation and how it helps your attendees solve their burning problems. 

Here’s an example of a product demo webinar presentation you can use to demo your products or services:

Pro Tip: Product demo webinars also helps you gather critical customer feedback . If you’re a startup, start conducting regular webinars to gather crucial feedback to make your product better.

Webinars for employee training

Webinar tools can double as meeting software and training tools for training both new and existing employees.

This is especially useful if you’re communicating with a remote team . Or even a team that’s too big to sit in one room together.

You can start by including webinars in your onboarding materials or conduct a webinar-esque orientation where you outline your company’s expectations, vision, mission and address questions your new hires might have.

They can also be used to showcase your company’s culture and how it will matter to your new recruits. 

Related : How to Create a Successful Employee Training and Development Program

Webinars are the perfect tool for educating your employees on niche but important topics like productivity, workplace diversity, safety, employee engagement, etc.

Want your next company-wide webinar to cover the topic of workplace accessibility? Here’s a presentation you can use for your next webinar:

Webinars for user onboarding and retention

Webinars have been among the most popular marketing  trends among SaaS businesses .

If you’re a digital storefront or Software as a Service (SaaS) company like us, you know how important customer onboarding and retention is for the bottom line of your business.

You may already have onboarding flows in your product, but it’s never a bad idea to explain to your new customers how your product works by inviting them to a user onboarding webinar. Also, utilizing a user onboarding software can help create a seamless user journey.

With your user onboarding webinar, make sure you cover the most important aspects of your products, keep the learning curve as low as possible and invite users to ask questions while you’re presenting.

Saas company Drift takes the cake with their ingenious use of webinars (especially the third one) to onboard new customers:

Once you sign up for Drift, they send you an email with a webinar-style video tutorial on how to get started with Drift. Genius.

Pro Tip: It’s 5x more expensive to acquire new customers than to retain an existing one. Use tools like onboarding emails, push notifications, webinars, etc. to retain your new customers so they stick around, upgrade to your paid plans and spread the word about you.

How to create and host a successful webinar

There are plenty of free, paid as well as ad-supported webinar tools available in the market. And most of these webinar hosting tools come with similar features.

Picking a webinar tool that’s right for you comes down to your business goals, budget as well as what you value in a webinar tool.

Here are some webinar tools to help you get started:

• Zoom (freemium): The most well-known online meeting tool also doubles as a webinar tool. Starts with a free plan and offers paid business plans with robust features.
• WebinarJam (paid): Starts at 499$/year and includes features such as live chat and automated recordings.
• WebinarNinja (paid): Starts at 39$/month for upto 100 attendees. It also comes with a free 14-day trial so you can take them for a test drive.
• ON24 (free trial): Comes with powerful attendee, reporting and marketing features. Integrates with plenty of other tools, but every integration is priced.
• Zoho Meetings (paid): Starts at 15$ for 25 attendees. You can also host up to 250 attendees for just 63$/month.

Want to dig deeper? Our friends at G2 have reviewed every popular webinar tool to help you make the right buying decision for your specific needs.

Create your own webinar in five steps:

Once you’ve spent the time on picking the right webinar hosting tool, now onto better things: creating your first webinar!

Creating your first webinar can be overwhelming but I’ll outline the exact steps you need to follow to make your first webinar a roaring success. Here they are:

1. Identifying the goal of your webinar

Webinars have many uses and by extension, webinars also help you accomplish different goals.

Start by asking yourself, “What’s my goal with this webinar?” Is it:

• Generating more leads for your sales team?
• Educating your students studying from home?
• Selling an idea or concept to potential customers?

Once you’ve identified the goal of your webinar, think about what your key performance indicators ( KPIs ) will be to determine the success of your webinar. 

After determining your goals and KPIs, make sure everything you do: creating your webinar content, promoting it, etc ties back to this goal.

If the goal of your webinar is to teach potential clients motivation 101, your best bet would be a purely educational and non-salesy presentation:

Pro Tip: Above all else, put your audience first. What are their pain points? What kind of content do they care about? If you tailor your webinar to your audience’s needs and pain points, success is imminent.

2. Attend other webinars

The best way to plan, create, and host a webinar successfully is to scope out the competition.

Look at your industry and start researching companies that are successfully using webinars to educate or sell to their audience.

What can you do differently or do better? Can you better interact with your audience? Can you ask better questions? Can you improve the content of your webinar?

Be curious and take notes whenever you can.

Once you attend a few webinars, you’ll have a general understanding of which webinars are hits and which are misses. All that’s left is to emulate webinars that were a roaring success.

To start, check out our webinar on driving business growth with the help of content marketing:

3. Plan and outline your content

In this step, you’ll start putting together your webinar outline and lay down the groundwork i,e. Invite your attendees, plan your event logistics, and decide on a webinar promotion strategy.

Creating an outline for your webinar content is easy if you already have a goal in mind.

For example, if the goal is to educate new users on how to create an infographic using Venngage, here’s what an outline might look like:

• Introduction
• What is an infographic?
• Use cases for an infographic
• How to make an infographic?
• How companies use infographics

A webinar outline can help you stay focused on the topics your audience cares about (based on research) and prevent you from getting side-tracked. 

The best part? You will eventually end up with a webinar presentation like this:

Pro Tip: Like any presentation, you need to rehearse for your webinar. This is even more important if you’re presenting to a large crowd online many of which could be potential customers. First impressions are everything, as they say.

4. Design your webinar presentation slides

Once you’ve identified the contents of your webinar, time to start designing the actual webinar presentation!

To start off, hop onto Venngage and pick a presentation template you like. We’ve got 100s of templates for all occasions and types ranging from professional to quirky:

Starting from a blank presentation is hard. Trust me, I’ve tried. 

So pick a presentation template you like, you can customize it to your heart’s content anyway.

Start playing around with the template, editing various elements like fonts, headers as well as the presentation layout .

If you’re on our business plan, you can use MyBrand Kit to automagically import your brand guidelines (logos, colors, and fonts) into your designs:

Need a helping hand? Bring on your team to edit your presentations and bring your webinar to life! Turn on real-time team collaboration (a business plan feature):

Once you’ve put all the final touches, export or download your presentation:

The real kicker? Venngage’s presentation maker can export your presentation in a .pptx format for importing within Powerpoint. Pretty cool right?

If you’re a fan of keeping it simple, you can present your webinar from right within Venngage using our presenter view feature.

And that’s it — once you’ve made an engaging presentation , prepared your speaking notes, and tested your webinar you’re officially ready to present your webinar to a live audience! 

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to collect feedback from your audience after the webinar! A tool like Paperform can help you survey attendees and improve your future webinars.

5. Marketing (or Promoting) your webinar

You’ve front-loaded the most important work: planning your webinar, setting up webinar tools, goal setting, competitor research, etc.

But unless you promote your virtual event , nobody will know how valuable it will be for them. So the final piece of the puzzle is webinar marketing.

Webinar marketing isn’t complicated, all you have to do is create event posters , social media visuals as well as event timelines informing attendees about the agenda of the event.

Here’s an example of a virtual event poster template you can edit (paid plan only) right now:

If you’re a business that engages in email marketing and has an existing email list, leverage it.

 If not, use email marketing software like Brevo or Hubspot to build your email list and automate your email marketing campaigns.

We promote all our webinars to our customers through our email newsletter and I recommend you do the same. 

Here’s a webinar invitation newsletter template you can send out to your email list:

Promoting your webinars on different social media networks is the lowest hanging fruit you should go after.

Head over to our templates page and you’ll find a huge collection of eye-catching designs for every social network (all sized to the right dimensions).

Need to promote your next non-profit webinar on Instagram? But don’t want to use boring stock images? We’ve got you covered:

Creating, customizing, and sharing promo materials for your next webinar is easy and intuitive with Venngage.

With access to 1000+ professional templates, an ever-growing collection of icons and illustrations (all of which are free), features like Brand Kit and real-time team collaboration :

Looking for a one-stop shop to design event posters , banners , social media graphics , email newsletters , and much more? Sign up for Venngage today!

Now you know the basics of everything from what’s a webinar, how to make a webinar, and the webinar conferencing software you will need to host a webinar. 

If you’re ready to start creating webinars that educate and captivate your audience regardless of industry or profession, make sure you keep the following webinar hosting best practices in mind:

• Pick the right webinar tool. This comes down to your budget, goals as well as features you want in your webinar hosting software.
• Identify your goal. What are you trying to achieve with your webinar? What content does your audience care about? What are their pain points? Clarity on your goals is crucial above anything else.
• Snoop on your competitors. How are your companies leveraging webinars? Take notes and think about what you can do differently or better with your webinars.
• Promote your webinar. You’ve worked days, weeks (or even months) to create an awesome webinar. Let the world know about it! 

This article is also available in Portuguese: O que é um webinar e como ele funciona? [guia para iniciantes]

Did you enjoy this in-depth guide on webinars? What was your favorite tip? What are you struggling with? Drop them in the comments below, and let’s talk about it! 

Check out some of our other popular design and how-to guides:

How to Make an Infographic in 5 Steps (Guide)

How to Write a Business Pro posal [Examples & Templates]

20+ Amazing eBook Templates + Design Tips [Beginner Guide]

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What is a webinar?

Definition: A webinar is a live event held online with a purpose to teach or inform virtual audience members about a topic.

More specifically, a webinar is a real-time presentation with audio, video, and/or multimedia components. It’s a popular format for information sharing across various industries and fields from B2B marketing sessions to classroom lectures.

In the context of businesses that support employees, customers, and partners across multiple locations and time zones, webinars can connect everyone at one time, in one place. Since they’re virtual, they can efficiently scale to thousands of concurrent attendees, helping organizations reduce travel and venue costs while broadening their opportunities in areas such as sales.

Webinar vs. virtual meeting

Often people wonder what is a webinar, and how is it different from a video conference? While similar to video conferencing , a webinar's purpose is usually instructional or educational in a one-to-many format.

While webinars and video conferences can be highly interactive, video conferencing usually describes regular meetings, discussions, or brainstorms.

Video conferencing is what you might attend with your colleagues multiple times each day, whereas a webinar is a unique event you may have signed up for months before it happens.

How does a webinar work?

There are three main steps any webinar participant will need to complete before they can view the session. The organization hosting the webinar can manage these details within their webinar software:

1. Receiving the webinar invitation

Holding a webinar begins with creating and sending an invitation to the intended audience, typically through email. A webinar solution can enable automated email management, with customizable HTML and text templates for invitations as well as for confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups. Email isn't the only channel to promote a webinar, however. Social media updates and blog posts are also common methods for raising awareness of either an upcoming webinar or the existence of a recorded webinar.

2. Registering for the webinar

Once someone accepts the invitation in their inbox or clicks on a link elsewhere, they're taken to a webinar-specific landing page where they can enter key details like email address and phone number, as well as credit card or PayPal information if the webinar is monetized. This collected participant information is often used to score and track leads. Overall, the webinar landing page is pivotal. It should have a compelling headline and concise copy that communicates the webinar's value, duration, and some background on the webinar presenter(s).

3. Joining the webinar

When it's time for a webinar to begin, attendees click or tap on a link to view the proceedings within a webinar software client. Modern solutions make it easy for attendees to join and participate in webinars from any desktop or mobile device, as long as they have an adequate internet connection.

Ideally, the webinar experience will be seamless on any device. Attendees should be able to hear the presenter's audio clearly, view any live streaming video, see any shared content such as annotated documents or slide decks, and take advantage of features such as polling, live chat, and threaded question-and-answer functionality.

How these three steps are handled is crucial because webinar attendance rates hover in the range of 40% to 50% of those invited. In other words, the design of an email invite or the interface of the webinar software itself can be the difference between someone joining and getting something out of the webinar or not showing up and not benefiting from it.

Guide: Best Practices for Your Webinar

Discover useful tips for hosting great webinars, from preparation to execution to follow-up.

What is a webinar platform?

A webinar platform is the kind of technology that is used to host virtual events. Webex Webinars is built to reach and engage global audiences of any size, and our production services team offers step-by-step guidance from start to finish if that’s something you want or need.

Types of webinar presentations

Webinar formats come in all shapes and sizes. A presenter can choose from many possible types of webinars that are suitable to a wide variety of use cases. Here are a few possibilities:

1. Panel discussions

Moderated conversations between panelists, especially ones with different perspectives on the same issues, are good for sustaining audience interest while also giving them useful information. Plus, they work well with interactive webinar features such as real-time polling to gauge viewers’ reactions.

2. SME interviews

An interview can be useful for a nurture campaign, as the subject matter expert being interviewed can provide deep insights about a particular product, service, or market. Audience polling can help reveal where participants are in their journeys, so that interview questions can be further refined.

3. Multi-presenter presentations

A webinar doesn’t have to be a lecture from one person. Multiple presenters can take turns, sharing unique perspectives along with different types of content. This highly engaging arrangement could take the form of someone explaining the high-level benefits of a product, and then their co-presenter diving into its technical details.

Webinar best practices

An effective webinar presentation goes beyond a static slide deck. To drive a truly interactive experience that increases audience engagement, there are many techniques that can be used.

Keep your webinar audience engaged by having:

• Multiple live streaming video feeds of the presenters and panelists.
• Rich content and screen sharing, including multimedia.
• Live Q&A to track and answer incoming questions from the audience.
• Interactive polling to monitor interest and attention.
• Private or public chatting and messaging with panelists or attendees during the event.

In addition, webinar best practices include the ability to support:

• Thousands of participants in video or audio-only sessions.
• Integrated audio connection options for attendees, including via VoIP, global teleconference, or broadcast.
• One click recording.
• Automated registrant approval and filtering.
• CRM integration.
• Follow-up analysis.
• Secure data encryption.
• Audience participation across any platform or device.

What happens after a webinar ends?

Much of the value of a webinar is in its real-time, interactive nature or – if it’s recorded – in the informative and easy-to-follow structure of its contents. At the same time, it’s useful as part of a long-term nurture and content marketing campaign.

An end-to-end solution such as Webex Webinars makes it easy to analyze attendance statistics, send participants to a post-webinar landing page, and integrate data into CRMs and marketing automation systems. A recording of the webinar session itself can also be promoted across multiple channels to support customers at different points in the sales funnel.

Webinars provide distinctive advantages over in-person events and meetings, thanks to their high versatility, affordable costs, and extensive scalability.

Live and on-demand webinars from Webex.

Watch recent Webex webinars on topics ranging from Customer Experience to the future of Hybrid Work.

More commonly asked questions

Does a webinar have to be live.

While many webinars begin as a live event and are held only once, they can also be recorded for later viewing and distribution.

For example, a company could link to a webinar recording’s registration page in its blog posts, email campaigns, and social media updates as part of a concerted content marketing initiative. In this way, webinars are more than just a valuable source of information for attendees – they’re also a forum in which organizations can reliably reach and convert customers and generate revenue. Many companies monetize webinars at registration.

Numerous possibilities exist within the webinar format. They range from an organization using a recorded session to build its email list after a product launch to simply holding a one-time event such as an internal all-hands meeting. Whether live or recorded, webinars are helpful for multiple parts of the sales funnel as they can effectively sustain audience attention.

Does your face show if you are watching a webinar?

If you are an audience member, in most cases your face will automatically be set to not show—and you will most likely be muted as well. But it doesn’t hurt to double-check at the start of the presentation. Many webinar formats will utilize live question submission to allow audience members to participate in place of live video. On the other hand, presenter videos will be turned on and, in some cases, like with Webex Webinars, may overlay deck slides or presentations if desired.

What are hybrid webinars?

Hybrid work is becoming the new norm for many businesses across the world, so it makes sense that events will also straddle both in-person and virtual settings. Webex’s integration with Socio allows for hybrid events to cater to both kinds of audiences in a seamless and sophisticated way.

What do you need to watch and conduct a webinar?

You can easily watch a webinar on your computer or smartphone. If you are looking to host a webinar, you don’t need much else, but you could equip yourself with a noise-canceling headset or an advanced webcam so that you present at your best.

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What is a webinar your definitive guide to how webinars work.

• 24 Nov 2022

Ah, webinars. Almost all of us can say we’ve attended at least one (or a hundred) of them. But if you’ve found your way to this article, you’re probably thinking about flipping the switch on webinars and hosting one of your own.

Great choice.

Webinars are a tried-and-true tactic that drives results for many companies. If you do it right, a webinar can help you connect with your current and potential customers in a way that adds real value to their lives.

This comprehensive guide shows you everything you need to know about designing, promoting, and hosting webinars of your own. You’ll learn:

• What a webinar is.
• When you should use them.
• How to design, promote, and host webinars.
• The best webinar software.

But don’t forget: a good webinar is a well-attended one. When it comes time to promote your webinars, use  Biteable  to create a promo video in minutes. Brandable video templates, ready-made scenes, and smart editing tools make the whole process a breeze.

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What is a webinar?

As we already mentioned, a webinar is a style of  video conference  employed often by businesses, trainers, and entrepreneurs in all industries. Webinars are used to teach, train, or demonstrate a concept.

Webinars are sometimes pre-recorded, but more often they are live and interactive, with time built in for Q&A, discussion, polls, and other features.

People use webinars to reach a larger audience in scattered locations or when meeting in person isn’t convenient or feasible. Many businesses and entrepreneurs use webinars as a way to engage with potential customers.

A webinar example

Here at Biteable, we know the value of a good webinar. To give you an example of a webinar in action, here’s a recorded video of our live talk on making on-brand marketing videos.

How do webinars work?

Just like an in-person workshop or seminar, a webinar will usually consist of one host or a panel of participants presenting live for 30-60 minutes.

Attendees watch a live webinar from their computer screen. Then can often interact via chat and messaging, though some webinar hosts also allow them to use their microphones to speak during the Q&A portion.

The  average webinar  has around 100 attendees (with 260 registering and 40-50% actually attending). That said, it’s not unheard of for webinars to have 500 or more viewers in attendance.

Webinars are generally free, but may be paid as well. The value in free webinars tends to be lead generation, though they may also be used for onboarding or training purposes.

When should I use a webinar for my business?

Many companies use webinars as a way to connect live with new customers, demonstrate expertise and build brand authority, or to promote a launch. Webinars can also be aimed at existing customers for training or onboarding, as an extra value add, or to upsell.

Generally webinars work best for B2B or  SaaS  companies, bloggers, and small business owners who want to share their expertise.

For e-commerce companies, other marketing tactics tend to work better, though B2C companies who offer bigger-ticket items or services may also benefit from the webinar format.

6 tips for hosting effective webinars

Though actual attendance may be low, a well-promoted webinar may drive hundreds (or even thousands) of leads. Paid webinars can also be a source of revenue for bloggers and thought leaders who have a niche audience eager to learn from them. No matter who your audience, here are some general tips to keep in mind for an effective webinar:

1. Schedule smart

Consider your audience’s schedule — a B2B audience is  very unlikely  to attend a webinar on a weekend, but Wednesdays and Thursdays tend to be good days. If you have an audience across multiple time zones, aim to land somewhere in the middle.

In the U.S., 11am and 2pm local time tend to work well. Don’t get too hung up on scheduling though — many of your viewers will likely opt to watch a replay over attending live anyway!

2. Prepare well

With a webinar, it’s important to be well-prepared so you’re not stumbling over your words or leaving out key points, but you also don’t want to be blandly reading from a script.

Instead, you should map out a detailed outline of the information you want to cover, with plenty of time factored in for questions and audience interaction. You should also always do at least one dry run — preferably in the software that you’ll use.

If you’ve never used your webinar software, make sure to take time to get familiar with all the tools so there are no surprises on the day.

3. Know what you want to achieve

Are you hoping to build your email list? Provide well-qualified leads to your sales department? Onboard new customers? Market your product?

Generate revenue with paid registrations? The structure of your session, the content you cover, and your promotion strategy will vary depending on your goals, so be clear from the start about what you want to achieve and you’ll save a lot of time.

4. Leave time for questions

81% of marketers use Q&A  as a way to engage webinar audiences. Be sure to pause for questions, and/or leave time at the end. Make audience interaction part of your session too, by incorporating real-time polls, chat, and surveys.

5. Surprise the audience

People love surprises! Teasing a surprise in your promotions is a great way to drive interest and registrations. Try inviting a special surprise guest, providing an exclusive download, like an eBook or worksheet, or offering a limited-time discount for attendees.

6. Have one big takeaway

Be sure to clarify exactly what you want audiences to walk away with. Depending on your goals, that might mean sharing a handout or worksheet, clarifying next steps, or ending with a specific call to action.

How to promote webinars

How you promote can make or break your webinar’s success. The key here is to promote early and often. Keep in mind that about 15% of registrations will occur well before the big day — around 3-4 weeks ahead of time.

That said, some 33% of people who register will wait until the day of the event, so make sure you continue sending reminders right up until it starts.

Even if you do everything right when it comes to promotion, expect that only one quarter to one third of people who register will actually attend. That’s OK. Just by registering, they’ve identified themself as a lead and opted into your email list. Reach out to them with special offers or send a link to the webinar recording after the fact.

Here are the top marketing channels for promoting your webinar:

The  majority of marketers  cite email as their top promotion channel, so make sure you’re sending invitations to your existing email list. In the weeks leading up to your event, you can re-send emails to any recipients who didn’t open last time.

If you don’t have an email list, that’s OK too — webinar registration is a fantastic way to grow your email list and generate warm leads.

Social channels

Start promoting your webinar on your social channels several weeks ahead of time. Share sneak peeks of what attendees will learn in the session and invite your followers to submit questions ahead of time. If you’re holding a paid webinar, consider offering a special discount for your social media followers.

Your website​

You should definitely include information about your webinar and registration links on your website. Many webinars are aimed at either onboarding new customers or marketing and demand generation. For both objectives, your website is an ideal place to get the word out.

Pop-up or banner calls to action, blog posts, videos, and dedicated landing pages can all help you drive interest and registrations.

Whether embedded on your website or landing page,  embedded in an email blast , or shared on YouTube and  social media , video can greatly improve your click-through and engagement rates, ultimately driving registrations for your webinar.

Use  Biteable  to make a beautiful, affordable webinar promo video in minutes. Our video templates make it simple to get started with just a few clicks:

Best webinar software

While sharing unique and valuable content is hugely important for a successful webinar, perhaps the most important decision you’ll make is what  webinar software  to use.

There’s nothing worse for a webinar host than dealing with embarrassing technical problems that prevent you from delivering the information your audience has made time to hear (or even worse, paid for).

Luckily, there are some great  webinar software options  at every price point. As you’ll see below, choosing the right one comes down to your budget, the number of attendees you expect, and the features you need.

Free: YouTube Live or Facebook Live

While not the platforms you usually think of when you think ‘webinar,’ we’d be remiss not to include  Facebook Live  and/or  YouTube Live . Both offer live streaming features that can be used to host a webinar, provided your feature needs are simple and a more informal session is what you’re after. Let’s look at some pros and cons to hosting your webinar on social media:

• Browser-based, no additional software needed
• No limit on audience size
• Long duration limit (240 minutes on Facebook, 36 hours on YouTube)
• Potentially massive audience
• No barriers to participation like registration or downloading an extension
• Live chat functions can be difficult to manage — you’ll likely need someone else to help field questions
• Audience interaction is limited — no polls, surveys, etc.
• No registration pages means fewer lead development opportunities
• Less polished and professional appearance than a custom, branded webinar room
• No webinar-specific features like join by phone, Q&A tools, automated email, or CRM integration

While Facebook can be used for webinars, in terms of features, YouTube’s  video-specific features  make it a more powerful tool if you must choose just one, though it’s also possible to stream simultaneously on both.

The other option is to  choose webinar software with Facebook and YouTube integrations, which offers the best of both worlds — all the tools you need, combined with the large potential reach of social media.

Low-cost: Zoom Webinars

This popular conference calling software has a number of features that can be used for  webinars  too, but there may be some drawbacks depending on your needs:

• Free for up to 100 participants (however, free calls are limited to 40 minutes)
• An affordable $14.99/month plan removes the call duration limit and gets you some other helpful features, like reporting and a custom meeting ID.
• All plans include traditional webinar features like whiteboarding, messaging and chat, raise hand, and more.
• Participants don’t need a Zoom account to join meetings or webinars.
• Integrations with Facebook Live and YouTube Live allow you to stream simultaneously to both platforms.
• Zoom allows you to have multiple active participants without extra cost — ideal for panel discussions or webinars with multiple hosts.
• Duration limit on free calls.
• The  webinar-specific Zoom plan  increases the price to $79/month, which puts the cost closer to more expensive competitors.
• No built-in monetization, but an integration with Zapier allows you to charge a registration fee via PayPal for your Zoom webinars.

Mid-range: BigMarker

With strong user reviews and an affordable base price,  BigMarker  has some compelling features built specifically with webinars in mind.

• Many webinar format options, including live, simulated live, on-demand, recurring, and automated
• Audience interaction tools including chat, polls, Q&A, and handouts
• Built-in marketing features like email invitations, registration pages, customized landing pages, and custom branding
• Integration with CRM and email platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, and MailChimp
• Built-in monetization allows you to sell tickets for your webinar
• The $49/month Plus plan (billed annually) gets you unlimited webinars for up to 100 attendees with two hosts
• No downloads required
• May be less reliable — some user reviews reported technical issues with audio and video
• Lacking some advanced webinar features like breakout rooms or practice sessions
• Top-tier plan allows 1000 attendees — if you need more than that, you may need to go with a competitor

High-cost: GoToWebinar

Created by the same company as the popular GoToMeeting conference call platform,  GoToWebinar  offers some top-of-the-line features for webinar hosts. However, those features do come at a higher cost.

• Robust audience interaction features, including polls and QAs, handouts, whiteboarding, and more
• Custom registration pages and branding, automated emails, and reporting and analytics
• CRM and email integration for lead management
• Simulated live webinars for pre-recorded sessions that feel like live ones
• Many advanced features, including mobile webinar management, practice sessions, and more
• Join by phone or computer
• Free, 7-day trial
• It’s expensive — the lowest pricing tier is $89/month (billed annually) for just 100 participants
• Users must download software in order to join the webinar — this can be a barrier to attendance if they have trouble downloading or just don’t want to
• The platform’s user interface has a dated appearance compared to some competitors with a more streamlined look

Further options

The webinar and  web conferencing  space is a crowded field, and we’ve just scratched the surface. Depending on your needs, other options you may want to investigate include Cisco’s  WebEx on the higher-end enterprise side, and WebinarNinja ,  WebinarJam  or  LiveWebinar , some other mid-range favorites of bloggers, startups, and small businesses.

After your event is over, don’t let your webinar go to waste! Share the recording on the same channels you used to promote it, including email, social media, your website, and recaps on your blog.

You can also  repurpose the webinar  content into other formats: email courses, ebooks, training and course materials, or videos.

Remember, many B2B consumers will opt to watch a replay over a live webinar. To get the full value of your webinar, be sure to send the recording to all your registrants, not just those who attended.

After the webinar

Webinar faqs.

You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. Here are the most frequently-asked-questions about webinars.

A webinar can be live or pre-recorded. Most (but not all) webinars start as a live event. The hosts often make a recording of the webinar available for people who couldn’t attend the live event. It’s a good idea to lightly edit your webinar recording before releasing it (add an intro scene, cut out dead space, etc.).

Zoom is a webinar software platform. More precisely, Zoom is a video conference platform that can be used for live video meetings of all types, including webinars. Zoom has a specific “Zoom webinars” plan. This plan allows hosting up to 500 attendees and includes other features ideal for webinars.

A webinar is a  type  of video meeting, while Zoom is a platform for  hosting  video meetings of all kinds. When you meet on Zoom, it might be for a webinar, but it can also be for a regular video meeting. Webinars are usually less interactive than video meetings, and they almost always include a learning component.

To make your webinar engaging and effective, the most important thing is to speak as though you were in front of a live audience. Don’t read from a script, and make sure to give plenty of “eye contact” to the camera. Also include interactive elements like polls, breakout rooms, and Q&A so people stay engaged.

Here are some ideas for making your webinar interactive:

• Enable chat at the beginning for attendee intros.
• Create breakout rooms.
• Take a poll(s) during the webinar.
• Let attendees submit questions ahead of time.
• Let people raise their hands or ask questions in chat (with the help of a moderator).
• Draw for a raffle prize.

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Automatically fetch your brand colors from your website and apply them to your entire video with a single click. Record video clips, add a voice over, or include a screen recording without ever leaving the app. Share your video with a single, trackable link on all your platforms and wait for the magic to happen.

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How to Create and Manage an Effective Webinar

Turn your presentations into conversations with webinars.

What is a webinar?

A webinar is an online seminar that turns a presentation into a real-time conversation from anywhere in the world. Webinars allow large groups of participants to engage in online discussions or training events and share audio, documents or slides – even when they’re not in the same place as the meeting host or in the same room where the event or presentation is taking place.

Engaging online discussions

Used effectively, webinars help you better understand your audience, their pain points and the topics most relevant to them.

Actionable content

Effective webinars often pick up where traditional slide presentations leave off, adding screen sharing, presenter video and audio and downloadable materials.

How do effective webinars work?

An effective and engaging webinar starts with three roles: an organizer, at least one presenter and attendees. A few quick steps can help you reach your target audience and spread your message to people online.

Set a clear objective

Understand your audience, schedule your webinar, promote your webinar, build out your presentation, advantages and uses of a webinar software.

Increased participation is just the beginning. Check out these webinar benefits for your business.

Train employees & customers

• GoTo Webinar lets you interact effectively with a widely dispersed workforce in real time. Provide pre-recorded or live workshops to audiences of up to 2,000 people.

Build rapport

• Whether you use it to inform customers or educate employees, GoTo Webinar helps you engage authentically. This leads to improved customer satisfaction and increased employee engagement.

Generate leads & awareness

• GoTo Webinar helps you better know your customers. Harness data and questions to develop a more accurate customer profile. The result: better customer targeting.

Improve sales

• Focus on high-quality leads for your sales team. With GoTo Webinar, you spend more time with the leads most likely to pay off.

Tips for creating effective webinars

60 minutes or less.

• Keep your webinar to under an hour; if the webinar is too long, participation may drop.

Promote participation

• Use polls, ask thought-provoking questions and provide actionable content. The advantage of webinars over standard webcasts is that webinars encourage discussion, so be sure to take steps to keep your attendees thinking, asking questions and commenting.

Quality is key

• When participants feel that something is being hurried, they unconsciously try to help move it along, which means participation dries up. Instead, plan wisely so that you'll have enough time to get through what you need to, while still leaving space for Q&A.

How to create a webinar

GoTo Webinar reviews

GoTo Webinar is easy to use. Creating a webinar is just a few steps away.

Extend your reach

Tailored to your business, start for free, get answers to all of your webinar questions.

• Spark a discussion
• Ask questions
• Launch surveys
• Challenge your audience
• Provide exclusive information or offers to only attendees

Talk to a specialist

Try goto webinar free for 7 days.

Or contact us to learn more about live webcasting for larger events with GoTo Webcast.

Call 1 800 514 1317

What is a Webinar and How does it Work: The Full Guide

Discover what is a webinar and learn how to make engaging webinar content that converts your audience.

What is a webinar ?

Webinars are workshops, video presentations, or lectures hosted online .

It is a virtual presentation in which the hosts share valuable information with their attendees—like an online seminar.

Most webinars are business-related and allow webinar hosts to share knowledge, expertise, or tips with a vast global audience.

Webinars are a smart addition to your content marketing strategy . They are great way to build brand awareness and authority.

They're interactive, engaging, and with the right webinar guests or key-note speakers, they can be highly informative .

As an added bonus, webinars are easy to host, especially compared to in-person events. Instead of renting out a large venue and paying for flights and hotels, an online conference just needs a reliable webinar hosting platform and a set time.

How does a webinar work ?

Webinars can be live-streamed or accessed on demand . To host a webinar you need a video engagement platform that allows people to join remotely through their web browser or download the recording.

The webinar host (or guest speakers) will share a virtual presentation with attendees, where they explain the topic at hand and emphasize the most important points by going through a slide deck.

Afterward, the webinar attendees typically have the chance to raise queries . A strong webinar platform will have a Q&A function and question upvoting to help you manage audience questions.

Get an introduction into webinars

In this video, we explain:

• What you can expect from a webinar
• Who to involve when running a webinar
• How to create a webinar presentation

What are the benefits of webinars?

Now you know exactly what webinars are, here are some of the benefits of webinars , of the reasons they are so popular in the business, education, and marketing communities.

Showcase your product

Webinars are an excellent way to demo a product in front of an interested audience. Features can be highlighted, ensuring your prospects understand your product’s value.

Webinars provide companies with a great way to showcase their products. They can be used to educate your existing customers about a new product or features.

Hosts can learn from potential through polls and interactive chat. The data from the polls and questions asked are added to the post-webinar analytics and can help shape future webinars.

Engage, educate, and onboard customers

A user onboarding webinar is an excellent way for companies to engage users and help them achieve their "a-ha moment" with your product.

Video is proven to help users retain information , which is essential for services with a steep learning curve.

Modern products can be pretty complex, so helping users understand how your product can help them solve their pain points is a vital point for adoption.

Generate new leads and marketing opportunities

Webinars are a great way to get high-quality leads . Webinar attendees are people who are interested in your niche and open to your product.

Webinar registration can provide you with the names and contact details of warm prospects. And if your webinar is valuable, they could be very receptive to your outreach.

Additionally, webinar platforms provide detailed analytics about who attended, how long they watched, and whether they watched the replay.

This information can give you further insight into which leads are the most interested in your product or service.

Learn how we do it here at Livestorm

Increase your authority online with webinars

Webinars provide an excellent way to showcase your expertise through unique and valuable content . They allow you to speak specifically to a problem that prospects are facing and then provide them with the solution to their problem.

Webinars allow you to demonstrate that you understand the problem, know the solution and are able to help implement it.

Read more on how You can see how Recruitee used Livestrom to build their authority .

Improve internal business communication and employee training

Of course, webinars aren't just limited to customer outreach. They can take the place of traditional internal business meetings , which is especially valuable in the age of remote working .

The versatility of many webinar platforms allows you to go from 1:1 meetings to large-scale company events.

Additionally, you can use webinars for training sessions and employee onboarding. Video can help your remote employee onboarding process by connecting your team no matter where they are in the world.

Webinars benefit marketing teams

A web seminar or virtual event is an excellent way to engage with an audience or your actual customers .

By providing attendees with valuable and useful content , you can build up your engagement funnel or generate warm leads. Of course, webinars are about more than just marketing.

You can use them to educate the public, help with user onboarding, or share thought leadership on a wide range of products.

Webinars are an effective tool in your marketing strategy , to reach a global audience or engage a remote workforce.

Whether you've got interesting things that you'd like to share, or you want to use webinar marketing to boost sales or awareness, this exciting video conferencing tool allows you to communicate and engage with anyone around the world, as long as they have an internet connection.

Livestorm’s Guide to Webinars

Get the most out of webinars. Learn how to set up great webinars, promote them, and follow up on your leads.

What are the different types of webinars ?

There are lots of different webinar formats or webinar types that you can use to get across your message or reach your business goals. Some of which include live webinars, paid webinars , on-demand webinars, evergreen webinars, and more.

Live webinar

Live webinars are online presentations that take place in real-time . These live events are interactive and the audience can engage with the content as it actually occurs. Live webinars are the most engaging kind of webinars.

A live webinar is usually interactive and attendees have the opportunity to ask questions or share comments.

On-demand webinars

Just like on-demand screening services, on-demand webinars allow users to access an online seminar when they want . Once someone registers for the webinar they can watch it on-demand.

Paid webinars

Some information is too valuable to give away for free. A paid webinar can be your entire business model , with attendees tuning in just to hear your message. Some integrations can facilitate payment walls for your webinars.

Evergreen webinars

An evergreen webinar is a great way to attract qualified leads because they are always relevant, no matter what is happening in the news or pop culture.

The key to producing evergreen webinars is selecting content that is relevant for a long period of time.

Learn more about Evergreen Webinar

Evergreen webinars are a great way to communicate information that can be available to your audience either on-demand, where it's available 24/7, or as an automated webinar that can be pre-recorded and scheduled at a certain time or even on a recurring basis.

How to successfully plan a webinar ?

A successful webinar requires good planning and even better content. Here are some tips for your webinar, to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

First, you need to lay out your webinar skeleton . Choose a topic and format, truly know your audience, approach guest speakers, and sort out the technical requirements. Here are all the steps to plan a webinar:

Plan and outline your webinar

• Define your target audience
• Choose the topic that will interest your audience
• Invite guest speakers
• Pick your format
• Choose your webinar platform

Create your webinar presentation

• Get high-quality video and audio
• Define your goals

Webinar conclusion and action plan

You are planning your first webinar? The first thing you need to do is define what you want to get from your event.

Is it about brand awareness? Generating new leads? Educating customers or employees on a new product?

Always understand what you want to achieve from each webinar and use this as your North Star Metric to guide and define the KPIs or business goals you want to achieve.

The next thing to consider is the script . While you may not be giving the talk yourself, you'll need to work out what needs to be said by way of introductions or between each speaker.

Then, decide which guests you'd like. Remember, valuable guests are often busy people, so contact them well in advance so their schedule can accommodate it.

Finally, your webinar will need a host. It could be you, or in some cases, a hired presenter.

Get to know your target audience

The most important part of planning any type of marketing intervention is to get to truly know your audience.

You need to be able to tell:

• If they prefer a live or on-demand video webinar
• At what time they’re more likely to join the live streaming
• What’s keeping them awake at night and how can your webinar solve that problem
• If they’ll be willing to attend or would rather consume any other form of content
• What are the type of problems they usually encounter at their jobs and personal lives

Plan your webinar content

Use your published content to define your webinar title .

Review your social media and blog analytics and spot the topics that perform best. Look at your social media comments and user feedback to plan your webinar content.

Another idea is to center your webinar around industry trends or news . Make it specific, e.g. instead of presenting “marketing trends for 2023”, host a webinar on “TikTok trends for promoted content in the first quarter of 2023.”

Learn how to create and host a webinar

Webinars are growing in popularity, and for good reason. Compared to live, in-person events, they're easier and cheaper to plan, and allow audience members to connect from anywhere. If you're interested in getting started, this video is for you!

Reach out to partners and guest speakers

Your speakers are one of the most important parts of your webinar. They should be subject matter experts and have an existing audience of their own that will be drawn to register for your event. Choose experienced public speakers to entertain (not bore) your online event attendees.

List out all of your potential guest speakers and start contacting them in order of preference. Also think about any partnership you would do with other companies.

If you have a flexible date, stick to your first or second option and adjust to their agenda.

Choose a webinar format

Webinars can happen live or on-demand. Choose which one suits your purpose best.

Host a live webinar if the content you’re presenting is:

• Likely to generate doubts that you don’t want to leave unanswered
• Designed to facilitate idea sharing, brainstorming, or networking (e.g. in breakout rooms)

Plan your event to be accessible at any time using an on demand webinar software if:

• The content is pretty straightforward and you can anticipate most of the questions
• It’s an introduction to your product or a topic in which you’re an expert

Take time to determine other considerations such as:

• The number of speakers
• The flow of the presentation (panel, Q&A session, standard presentation)

Pick the right webinar platform

To ensure your presentation goes smoothly, you'll need a reliable webinar platform .

Look for a webinar software that lets you:

• Host your expected number of attendees without crashing
• Record your session and create on-demand links that you can gate for lead generation purposes
• Create custom registration landing pages
• Invite people on stage so only they can speak
• Automate the start and end of an event, e.g. use this feature to play an intro and closing video
• Send automated email reminders
• View and export all your attendees' contact information and spot the most engaged ones

Livestorm is webinar software for companies of all sizes that lets you plan, promote, and host all kinds of virtual events, from webinars and sales calls to internal meetings.

Plus, this automated webinar software can help you follow up with all registrants via integrations with CRM tools like HubSpot and Marketo.

To keep your webinar engaging, visually interesting and to increase the impact of your talk, it's a good idea to have presentation slides to back up your talking points.

Prepare them well in advance and even do a run-through to identify and solve any potential issues you might run into. You can do this through screen sharing or integrated presentation software.

Our 5 tips for webinar presenters

In order to stand out from the crowd, optimizing your presentation and engaging your audience is key.

From incorporating storytelling into your webinar presentation, to finding moments to interact with your audience, don't miss these 5 tips for webinar presenters!

Make sure your video and audio tech is high quality

Organize a set and pick your hardware to present your audience with good audio and video experience.

There are several technical issues that can affect your webinar. Echoes, choppy sound or video, invitation emails not being sent. If you want to do things right, choose a professional webinar hosting platform .

If you plan to be on camera some or all of the time, make sure you have a webcam that works and outputs a decent picture.

You'll need to think about sound too. A decent microphone will offer a crisp, professional sound at a reasonable price.

Buy or rent a high-quality 4K camera that’s compatible with your webinar software and use an external microphone . Don’t rely on your computer-integrated options and have a backup in case a device fails on the event date.

Define goals and success measures

Set yourself specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) goals. Define what a successful webinar looks like and how you’ll measure it.

For example, if you’re on Livestorm, you can use the analytics dashboard to measure things like attendance rate, audience retention, and poll engagement.

See how your webinars stack up on our webinar statistics page

Once the webinar is done, it's not over. There are many actionable insights that you can get from your audience .

These can be on your presentation itself or the product or service that you are using the webinar to promote.

Additionally, conducting a webinar post-mortem is crucial to learning the lessons which will improve your next webinar.

Build the best webinars

Create engaging webinars with Livestorm and delight your audience.

How to create a webinar ?

You have well planned your webinar strategy and now you’re ready to create your webinar!

Create your webinar registration page and invite people to join .

Determine other crucial steps regarding branding and logistics of your webinar marketing. Follow these steps:

• Pick a date and time
• Design your registration form
• Set automated emails
• Invite others
• Promote on social media

Share resources with your speakers

• Brief your moderator
• Host a dry run

Confirm the date and time

Confirm the date and time with all the key stakeholders . Manually block the time in their calendars after they’ve confirmed.

Then, invite them to the webinar event and let the platform send them automatic email reminders. If you’re inviting a global audience, be mindful of the different time zones before setting a time.

Build your registration page

Create your registration form for the audience and embed it on your webinar landing page.

With Livestorm, you can build your registration form and add custom fields to gather as much information from the attendee as you need. Automatically include that form in your registration page and customize your branding.

Check your email cadence

Email cadences are important to ensure a high participation rate .

Depending on your webinar platform, you might need to set email reminders manually in your customer relationship management (CRM) system.

With Livestorm, these are set automatically as soon as you create your registration page. Every attendee that joins gets a series of automated messages:

• A “thank you for registering” email
• A reminder email X days before the event
• Another reminder email X hours before the event
• A post-attendee email with the webinar recording link for them to watch on-demand Adjust the cadence and delivery time to your liking.

Send out invitations

It’s time to invite your potential attendees by email. Rather than spamming everyone on your mailing list, segment your audience and reach out to the ones that will find it interesting.

You can also use personalized fields to tailor each invitation to the recipient. Generic emails that aren’t relevant will irritate your audience and make them unsubscribe from your email list.

Promote your webinar

The next step is to promote the event . You should have some idea of who your target audience is and where they congregate.

If you have a mailing list, that's one of the best ways to get the word out. Additionally, social media is a great tool to find people who are interested in your online events.

Use your social media channels to promote your webinar . Don’t stick to your mailing list alone, find communities where a potential audience is already engaged and reach out to them.

This means joining and participating in Facebook and LinkedIn Groups and eventually promoting your webinar (watch out for specific group guidelines). You can also pay for influencer marketing or Facebook Ads.

11 ways to promote your Webinar

Looking to promote your virtual event across all marketing channels? Check out this video for 11 tips to promote your online event via your website, email, social media, and through collaborative marketing.

Share the final presentation and any other relevant resources with your speakers ahead of time.

Give them a how-to-join booklet if your platform isn’t intuitive enough, or choose a platform like Livestorm that has one-click browser-based access.

You can also provide them with audience insights like pain points, motivators, and desires to help them tailor their presentation.

Brief your webinar moderator

A webinar moderator works behind the scenes to make sure the entire event goes smoothly.

While the moderator won’t be on-screen during the presentation, they’re an important member of the webinar team. Brief them on the flow of the event, the speakers, and the actions they’ll need to handle for you.

Test your software and hardware

Schedule a practice run for your webinar several days before the actual event. Run through the slides and script with the speakers and ensure that the moderator is aware of all their responsibilities.

Ask your team members to use the webinar tools to test the microphone and camera. Consider this your webinar training for organizers.

Make sure that everyone involved with hosting the webinar is comfortable with the technology and software you’ll be using. If you run into any issues, take care of troubleshooting before the big day.

What are the webinar mistakes to avoid

People will forgive you for being nervous, making mistakes, and even a few technical glitches on one condition: that you provide valuable content .

Good content is paramount. It needs to be helpful, fresh and provide audiences the sorts of insights they can't get elsewhere.

Otherwise, some of the other webinar mistakes you'll want to avoid are:

• Under-promoting the event : A lot of organizers send reminders a week before. But don't be afraid to up the cadence.
• A boring presentation : A little interactivity goes a long way. Polls, live Q&As, and group chats are excellent ways to keep your audience alert and absorbed.
• Too sales-focused : While the focus of your webinar might be to sell products, your audience shouldn’t feel like they are being pitched. Try to help people solve their problems. Again, offer valuable content.
• Poor quality video or audio : Try and make the best product you can. Avoid presenting from a mobile phone, test your equipment beforehand, and present from a room with good sounds and no echoes.

Learn all the webinar best pratice in our dedicated guide

How to find new webinar topics ?

To keep your customers engaged and use webinar marketing to generate leads, you'll need to produce great content frequently. Here are some tips that you can use to develop ideas that will resonate with your audience.

Customer feedback and questions

Your own customers are one of the most valuable and rich sources of potential content. As the end-user of your product or service, they know and understand the pain points your product solves.

There are several ways to get customer feedback, from open-ended surveys, product reviews, social media, etc. Look for interesting questions that come up a lot. These are often the subjects your audience wants to hear about.

Key website and marketing data

Use your website and marketing data to evaluate which topics and areas engage your audience the most. It could be the pages or products on your website that drive the most traffic, your most downloaded ebook, or even your most liked or shared posts on social media.

Online research

We are living through the information age. There are resources for every type of niche or discipline you can imagine, no matter how arcane. Subscribe to industry newsletters, website feeds, follow thought leaders on social media, and read relevant magazines and websites to stay up to date on the latest news, and you'll never be short of ideas.

Attending other webinars

To keep your finger on the pulse, you should occasionally attend webinars by competitors or adjacent industries. You'll pick up ideas, new approaches, and strategies that you can use to power or improve your own webinar.

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What are the key webinar features ?

There are many webinar tools available, and some are better than others. If you want to start creating webinars, you'll need a webinar tool packed with features that can keep your audience engaged.

Below, we list some of the things you should look for when choosing the best webinar software .

Avoid cumbersome, featureless webinar solutions

The best webinar software is browser-based, meaning they don't require you or your attendees to install software to access the event. They should be end-to-end platforms, that will allow you to organize, promote, activate and report. Additionally, you should look for a webinar solution that captures analytics.

Webinar landing page

A webinar landing page will help you attract as many attendees as possible. After all, it's the best place to describe your event and turn page visitors into registrants. Webinar tools like Livestorm allow users to create a landing page with one click and easily customize them to fit around your brand identity. Additionally, you can even manage and send promotional emails straight from the dashboard.

Activation features

An effective webinar engages the attendees. But it can't just fall on the guest speaker or webinar host to keep the attendees interested. Interactive tools like chats, polls, and emoji reactions are an excellent way to get feedback and build a relationship with your audience. Automated page redirects and CTAs during your webinar are great ways to drive conversion.

Integrations

Integrations allow you to extend the functionality of your webinar platform even further.

CRM and Marketing automation integrations are also very important when creating a webinar in order to pass the data from your webinar platform to your CRM. The Livestorm app marketplace provides integrations for more than 1,000 apps, such as Google Analytics, Google Calendar, Zapier, Slack, Salesforce, Marketo, Pardot, and hundreds of others. You can also connect Livestorm with HubSpot by using the native integration within the two platforms.

Whiteboard presentations

Digital whiteboards are another powerful webinar tool. They allow you to present ideas and collaborate with your attendees. Users can enrich their webinar content with text, drawings, shapes, and more. These compelling and creative tools will add a professional edge to any presentation.

The most important features of a great webinar platform should help you to plan, host, and follow-up after your webinar. All-in-one solutions will give you the tools you need to create powerful marketing tools.

>> Find out how Untapped New York used Livestorm to increased attendees by 84% and save time

Livestorm, the best webinar software for video engagement

When it comes to hosting webinars , video engagement is absolutely critical. An audience that isn’t engaged with the material won’t retain the information and they probably won’t take any meaningful action after the webinar is over. They won’t sign up for a product demo or schedule a follow up call or any other action you want them to take.

Livestorm is designed specifically to help you keep the audience engaged before, during, and after a webinar .

• Automated emails make it easy to invite contact lists and remind registrants to attend
• Pre-built registration pages can be customized to meet your exact needs
• Polls, chat tabs, Q&A, emoji reactions, and virtual backgrounds help to activate attendees
• Automated recordings take the guesswork out of following up with registrants

These features, along with others, allow you to make your webinars far more engaging than they would be otherwise. And higher engagement almost always translates to better results down the road.

Discover the world's first video engagement platform

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What is not a webinar?

By now, you might be wondering what is not considered to be a webinar. Since there are so many different ways to communicate online, some clear distinctions need to be made.

Webinar vs. online meeting

A webinar is like a live event or conference. They typically happen on a much larger scale. Online meetings, on the other hand, are typically smaller, more collaborative events. They are a lot more like a typical office meeting.

Webinar vs. webcast

Webinars generally have attendee limits. A webcast is something more like a television broadcast. TedTalk is a good example of a webcast. People are free to watch these casts, often on-demand.

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Table of content

Frequently asked questions about webinars

Is there a free webinar service.

Livestorm offers a free version of its software with some limitations on lengths and attendees. A paid version of any webinar platform will come with significantly more features and overall quality.

Can people see you in a webinar?

If you are the webinar host, you can choose to let your audience see you. If you are attending a webinar, other attendees won't be able to see you unless you are invited "on stage" by the guest speaker or other team members.

How to schedule a webinar?

Scheduling your own webinar requires a few considerations. What day (Wednesday and Thursday traditionally have the highest attendance), how and where you'll promote the webinar, and how long you plan the event to last are all factors to contemplate. 

How to record a webinar?

Webinar software tools like Livestorm come with an option to record the webinar automatically. You just have to set it and forget it. It's good practice to offer an attendee or a registrant a link to a recording after the event.

How to be more confident during your webinars?

Public speaking is a big fear for many people. But like everything, practice and preparation will go a long way to becoming a more accomplished speaker at a webinar or similar event. Just relax, breathe, and focus on the topic at hand. 

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What is a Webinar & How does it Work? Full 2024 Guide

Everyone is watching more video content. That means your prospects, leads, and clients, too. So businesses have to keep up: 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool.

Webinars are a form of live video content with a lot of potential for interacting with your audience: increasing brand awareness, engaging viewers to turn them into leads, and converting leads into customers.

This article will cover everything you need to get started with webinars: what they are, why you should host them, how to successfully plan and host one, and more.

Let's dive right in.

What is a Webinar?

Webinars (short for web-based seminar) are real-time video presentations, workshops, or lectures hosted using a webinar platform .

Business-related webinars are often lead generation, authority-building, or trust-building tactics — but can serve any business purpose such as onboarding new customers, training employees internally, and more.

Webinars are a great format for businesses because of the ability to provide high-quality personalized experiences at scale: hundreds or thousands of people can register and attend the webinar live. They are much more scalable than in-person events and a lot easier to organize. No need to pay for a venue, flights, hotels — a webinar platform and a laptop are enough.

Another bonus to webinars is that they create tons of content the business can use to keep engaging and educating their audience even after the live webinar is done. Notably, this can be done by using on-demand or by repurposing the webinar (more on that later).

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How Does a Webinar Work?

Webinars can be accessed live, or made available on-demand.

There are 3 main parts to hosting a webinar :

• Using a webinar platform, someone will create the webinar. They will set a date, time, give it a name & description. Most tools will automatically create a registration page, so people can sign up for your webinar and access the content.
• The host is the person in charge of running (and sometimes moderating) the webinar: they make sure your webinar's content is engaging, interactive, and full of relevant value to the business' audience. They will invite guest speakers , write the webinar script, host Q&A sessions, and ensure the session is on-pace — all this to make your session as informative and interactive as possible.
• Viewers can register to an upcoming webinar on the dedicated landing page. They will get an invitation in their calendar and reminder emails before the session goes live. By showing up when the session live, attendees can interact with the hosts, guests, and other attendees through the chat, or use other interactive features such as Q&A or polls. Attendees can also access the webinar's replay on-demand to watch back their favorite moments or share it with their colleagues.

Make sure you choose a webinar platform built for interactivity to provide attendees with the most modern experience possible.

What are the Benefits of Hosting Webinars?

Now that you understand these 3 main parts of hosting a webinar, let's look into why you should consider hosting a webinar of your own.

These are the main reasons you should be hosting webinars:

Establish your Expertise

The #1 reason you want to be hosting webinars is to show your audience that you have expertise about a specific topic. You want to establish yourself as an authority in your market and be the go-to source for information about your industry.

Webinars are a great format to not only show that you have expertise about specific problems your audience are facing, but also show that you have a solution. Once you build this trusting relationship with actors in your industry, you will be top-of-mind and the go-to solution for anyone facing this issue.

Showcase your Solution

Once you've established this preliminary trust with your audience, webinars are also a great way of showing your product to a group of interested people.

Product demo webinars are the opportunity to have one of your product experts show the main features of your product, how they fit together to solve the problems mentioned previously, making sure that prospects understand the value of your product.

But these webinars aren't limited to potential clients, product demo webinars can be used to educate current customers, inform users of new feature releases, or even used as training sessions for more complex features.

The use of interactive features during these webinars make for a better viewing experience: polls allow the host to gather information about the audience and Q&As allow the product expert to take chat messages and answer them in real-time.

Create Valuable Content

All your webinar content should be recorded, and if your webinar platform does not automatically record your webinars: choose one that does .

How often do you get to have an industry expert agree to a 1-hour interview where they will share their knowledge, anecdotes, personal experiences, and answer questions? Let me guess, not very often. But — invite them to a webinar — and they might just say yes.

Webinars are a goldmine for content. They make for great Hub content in the Hub and Spoke model . An hour-long webinar can easily be repurposed into 4-5 short clips, a blog article, a newsletter, 4-5 social posts, an FAQ, and more! With the right tools and techniques (and a little AI), you can easily extract 10+ pieces of content from each webinar.

All of these shorter pieces of content can be used to keep driving more people to your webinar replay: increasing engagement and building out your lead list.

High-Quality Lead Generation

Marketers generally agree to say that webinar lead generation results in some of the highest quality leads.

You will get information about every person who registers to your webinar: their name, email — you can even ask for their company name or phone number. All these registrants can be added to your list of audience members (using integrations or CSV exports).

Not only do you get information about these people, but you also have pre-qualified them: you know they are interested in the topic of the webinar. And if they show up, that's an even stronger signal that they are interested.

The best webinar platforms will provide you with detailed webinar analytics such as whether they attended the session live, if they watched the replay, and how long they watched (watch time). You can also get information about engagement: chat messages sent, poll answers, etc.

All this information makes it easy to outreach these warm leads, who are interested in your niche, product, or industry — with relevant messaging.

Support Marketing Team's Efforts

Marketing is all about engaging with your audience, prospects, and customers — and webinars can support efforts all through the funnel .

91% of B2B professionals say webinars are their preferred type of content. Paired with the 1-to-many aspect of webinars, this makes them a no-brainer for any marketing team.

Modern webinar platforms help marketers build thought-leadership through innovative and entertaining experiences, while helping generate a ton of value for content teams to redistribute unique and authentic content through different formats.

Increase Brand Awareness

Most businesses struggle with getting their brand out there, and webinars can be a powerful solution to this predicament.

Running branded webinars allows you to associate the authority and trust of the content directly with your brand. This will increase brand awareness and recognition for relevant people in your industry.

However, this can also be a double-edged sword. Make sure your content is on-brand, up to par with your brand's expectations, or you might disappoint your audience and create a negative brand experience.

Customer Education and Onboarding

Closing a new customer might be considered the "hard part" but the job isn't done until the customer is up & running and successful with your product.

Customer onboarding webinars are an excellent way of helping your customer success reps engage with new (and existing) customers. They can guide them through the more difficult features towards your products "aha-moment".

Creating an interactive (and fun) experience for client onboarding will not only help with information recall, but also positively impact the way they see your product and brand — increasing word-of-mouth and retention in the long run.

You can also embed the webinar on your website (or in your product) to make it available on-demand for all your users.

Improve Internal Communication and Training

We've talked a lot about how webinars can help you communicate and build trust with the outside world. But as organizations scale and teams get bigger, webinars can be used to improve communication between and amongst teams (and this is particularly true with the rise of remote work).

Webinars are a much more efficient way of communicating than 1:1 training or onboarding sessions, while providing a fun and human-centric experience. Would you rather watch a video of someone or read a long piece of text? I know what I'd prefer.

Onboarding and training webinars can also be used on-demand increasing capabilities and reducing ramp time for new employees.

Here's what Luuk de Jonge, Product Marketing Manager at Contrast has to say about webinars:

"We're a webinar platform. Obviously, we have to run webinars. But they've become a fun and authentic way to engage with our audience. We always have a fun time interacting with them during our live sessions, building strong relationships and trust. Webinars are a great way to get an expert to hop on a call for an hour with us and dish our some wisdom. We can then take that content and repurpose it into a month's worth of content in a few clicks with repurpose Ai ."

Types of Webinars

There are tons of different webinar types and formats, all with different and unique purposes and advantages. Make sure you pick the right format depending on your webinar's goal.

Here are a few of the most common webinar formats and content types:

Webinar Formats

The webinar category must be chosen before the content of the webinar is decided as it will impact what kind of content is used:

Live Webinar Live webinars are presentations, workshops, panel discussions, or other formats that take place in real-time and are broadcast to an audience. These are the most engaging, authentic, and entertaining formats as the audience can interact with the host, guest, and impact the rest of the webinar with questions or poll answers.

On-demand Webinars On-demand webinars are usually replays of webinars that viewers can access at any time. They help businesses increase the ROI of their webinars by extending the life of a webinar past the live, so it can keep generating leads, building thought leadership, and contributing to revenue.

Paid Webinars Some businesses run paid webinars instead of giving away their expertise for free — some businesses are even entirely built around this model. The registration page includes a payment gateway (using Stripe for example) so attendees can pay for their seat to access the webinar's content. Paid webinars can be live or on-demand.

Recurring Webinars Recurring webinars are are online events or webinars that are scheduled to occur at predetermined intervals. It is common that you find events or webinars to take place daily, weekly or monthly. In most cases, these webinars or events follow a consistent format. These webinars can cover a wide variety of topics: product demos, onboarding sessions, training sessions, or others.

Evergreen Webinars Evergreen webinars are timeless on-demand webinars. They are always relevant, no matter when they were made. Topics tied to current news, statistics, trends, or reports are unsuitable, as their relevance is fleeting and likely to evolve shortly. Evergreen webinars are best when they include content that maintains its value over time.

Webinar Content Types

Once you have decided on your format you can decide what kind of content you're going to put in your webinar:

Live video Showing live video during your webinar is a great way to build trust with your audience. In an age of AI and fake content, live video is pretty much impossible to fake. Make sure you have a nice, tidy background and turn your camera on to show the "human side" of your business.

Pro tip: Even if you're going to share slides, videos, or other assets, you can start the first few minutes of the webinar with just a facecam view to make your content more approachable.

Slideshow Presenting a slideshow is great way to structure your webinar and provide some supporting visuals to help educate your audience on the topic. Make sure you don't have too many slides or too much text on them or you might lose your audience.

Pro tip: Many webinar tools will make you upload slides as a PDF format, so you will lose any transitions or animations that you put in your slides. Either decide that you're ok with not having them or instead share your screen to present the slides.

Screen Sharing Probably the most common webinar content type, screen sharing is very versatile and gives you control over what you want to show during your webinar. For example, if you run a product demo you can share you screen to walk your audience through the tool step-by-step while providing commentary. This can also be useful for onboarding sessions, as audience members will be able to follow along and see where you are clicking.

As mentioned above you can also use screen sharing to share slides or presentations and include animations. At Contrast we like to use FigJam (from Figma ) boards that we prepare for the webinar ahead of time instead of slides. They give a much more fluid feel to the webinar, give visual hierarchy to the information, and makes for a nice asset to share post-webinar.

Pro tip: Make sure to prepare what you are going to screen share ahead of time so you don't make too many mistakes doing it live. If what you have to share is complex, consider recording it and using it as a video asset that you can comment instead of sharing your screen.

Webinar chat The webinar chat is the #1 way of creating a bidirectional interaction with the audience and will be the main way they will have of communicating with the moderator, host, or guest speakers.

Viewers will use the chat to ask questions, interact with each other, and start building a relationship with the people hosting the webinar.

Pro tip: Make sure you acknowledge chat messages so that the audience feels seen & heard — this will increase audience engagement. Try to recognize people who show up often and call them out!

Pre-recorded Video Sometimes a set of slides or a screen share isn't going to cut it — maybe what you need to show is too complicated or it needs some editing (blurring out information for example). For these cases, using a pre-recorded video as an asset during your webinar can be a great solution.

You can also use pre-recorded videos to deal with availability issues, for example pre-recording a speaker's intervention or playing a customer testimonial even though they couldn't make it to the webinar live.

Pro tip: You can go as far as to record the whole webinar in advance and just play it — however we only recommend this for very specific use cases as people will not be fooled: they will know it's a fake live. For most use cases we would recommend using a high-quality replay instead. Honesty is the best policy.

Polls Running a live poll during your webinar is a great way to learn more about your audience. Data suggests the best webinar hosts run a poll every 30 minutes, or on average 2 per hour webinar. You can use polls to ask the audience how they're feeling, what other topics they're interested in, or even asking them if they'd be interested in a demo of your product.

Pro tip: Show the poll results live on-screen during the webinar and discuss the results. This will give the audience the impression they are impacting what's to come with their vote and will increase completion rates of your polls.

Create a Modern Webinar Experience for your Viewers

How to Plan a Successful Webinar

There's a lot that goes into planning a successful webinar , and that can turn it into quite the stressful ordeal. But don't worry, we've got you covered.

We'll cover how to create the backbone of your webinar — A-Z:

• Identify your target audience
• Choose a webinar topic that will resonate with them
• Watch other webinars about similar topics
• Define your goals and objectives
• Pick your webinar format
• Choose a webinar platform
• Assign roles to your team
• Invite your guest speakers
• Create your webinar's assets
• Create an action plan

Let's dive right in:

1. Define your objective and goals

Why do you want to run a webinar? What's the purpose of the webinar going to be?

Lead generation for your sales team? Onboarding new customers? Establish your company as a thought-leader in your industry? Interveiw subject matter experts?

Webinars can serve pretty much any purpose, so you have to be very clear about it before getting started.

Once you've determined what the objective is, you can set goals. We recommend SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals:

• Specific  means your goal should be clear and precise, so you know exactly what you're aiming for. Instead of saying, "I want a lot of  registrants  for my webinar" specify the goal to something like, "I want 300 people to register to my webinar"
• Measurable  criteria allow you to track your progress. For the webinar goal, it's easy to measure the number of registrants in your  webinar dashboard .
• Achievable  means setting realistic goals that you're capable of accomplishing. It's about finding the balance between challenging yourself and not setting yourself up for failure.
• Relevant  ensures that your goal matters to you and aligns with your other business objectives. It's about making sure the goal is worth your time and effort.
• Time-bound  adds a deadline, creating urgency and helping you focus. For example, aiming to achieve those 300 registrants for your next webinar in 2 weeks.

2. Identify your target audience

Now that you know what the goal and objective are, and before you even start to think about content types, content formats, evergreen webinars or anything else, you first need to think about is identifying your target audience .

Identifying your target audience means figuring out:

• Who they are
• What they're interested in
• Where they spend their time

Once this step is done, it will be infinitely easier to determine everything else that you need to know about your webinar:

• What problems keep them up at night that they want to solve
• Where are they based (timezone) to decide date & time?
• What format would they be most interested in?
• What kind of guest speakers would make them show up?
• Where should you be promoting your webinar to get signups?

3. Choose a webinar topic that will resonate with them

Now that you know who you are going to talk to, it should be a lot easier to decide what the webinar topic is going to be. Starting from the webinar goals and objectives, and taking into account information about your target audience, what information can you share with them that they might be interested in?

There are infinitely many webinar topics to choose form, but here are some ideas for finding webinar topics for your target audience:

• Find topics they resonate with on your social media
• Look at webinars your competitors are running
• Analyze industry-specific information or data you have
• Repurpose your most successful blog posts or articles
• What speakers do my audience love & find their topics

Whatever your webinar topic — make sure you're specific about it. You've heard it before: riches are in the niches. For webinars, it's the same: engagement is in the specificity. Remember to use numbers to hook the audience members.

Pro tip: Dispel any objections your audience might have straight away by using "without": Get 10x more content from your webinars with AI, without spending more time.

4. Watch other webinars about similar topics

So you know why you're running the webinar, who the webinar is for, and you have an idea of what the webinar is going to be about. Now it's time to look for some inspiration.

Watching webinars by other actors in the industry can give you a lot of insights into what kind of content works, what people are generally interested in, who the main influencers are (recurring guests across webinars). Take notes of what they do well (and what they do poorly) so you can implement it during your own webinars.

Pro tip: Look for blog posts, social media content, YouTube videos, and other content formats to take inspiration from for your webinar. These will all help structuring your content and making sure it's understandable by your audience.

5. Pick your webinar format and content type

A lot of guides will suggest choosing whether you want your webinar to be live, on-demand, or another format. But whatever you choose — you'd be missing out on ~50% of views. So do both.

Live webinars will be the optimal setup for maximising engagement with the audience: taking questions, starting polls, sharing ideas, allowing for networking.

On-demand webinars will help you maximize the views and leads generated: making the webinar accessible whenever your audience would like, allowing them to go back, rewatch their favorite parts, share with colleagues, and more.

Modern webinar platforms will automatically turn your live webinar and make it available on-demand to help you maximize views.

Then, you need to decide on the content type. Your research (4) should help inform your decision but this is up to you. Have amazing guest speakers? Host a panel discussion. Running a product demo? Screen sharing and some pre-recorded video assets will probably do.

Pro tip: Whatever the format you decide to run with, consider how you can make the webinar more engaging and interactive by making it more fun and authentic.

6. Choose a webinar platform

Choosing the best webinar platform for your needs is an important part of running a webinar and can impact how successful your webinar is. Modern platforms will make your content feel more professional and will leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Some of the factors to consider when choosing a platform:

• How many attendees are you expecting?
• Does the platform's pricing fit your budget?
• Does the platform let you customize with your brand ?
• Can you send automated reminders/follow-up emails?
• How many team members and/or speakers can you invite?
• Does the platform give you detailed analytics on registrants/attendees?
• Does the platform integrate with the other tools you use (eg. HubSpot )?
• How easy is the platform to use? Do they have a free plan/trial to test it out?
• What do the online reviews say?

We might be a little biased, but we'd recommend Contrast — the best webinar platform for companies of all sizes. It's the easiest tool to set up, promote, run, analyze, and repurpose amazing webinars that your audience will love.

Here's what Aurélien from Numeral has to say about Contrast:

7. Assign roles to your team

Webinars are a team sport — they're pretty much impossible to run on your own. Hopefully your webinar platform has unlimited seats so you can invite your whole team to collaborate.

We've talked about a few different roles already but let's cover them in more detail:

Webinar host It's the webinar host's job to make sure that both the guest speakers invited to your webinar and of course the attendees have the best possible experience. People that attend the webinar, will often see the webinar host as the face of the company.

It's the webinar's host their job to create engaging conversations and enable the guest speaker to focus on what to say. This way they make sure that the audience gets the most value out of the webinar possible.

Reponsibilities of the host:

• Settings the agenda with the speakers
• Creating the slide deck and other visuals
• Run a test event to make sure everything is ok
• Engage the audience during the webinar
• Repurpose the best parts of the webinar

Pro tip: The choice of the host is an important factor in the success of the webinar. Pick someone with subject matter expertise, that is a good public speaker, and has good charisma. Bonus points if they perform well under pressure.

Webinar moderator For smaller webinars, the host can be the same person as the moderator. But for 100+ attendees we recommend having a dedicated moderator.

The moderator will be the person interacting with the chat, using the webinar platform's interactivity features (polls, Q&A, etc.), and making sure the webinar is on-pace.

Depending on the size of your team you might even have people who can help you create the content and assets, or help with promoting the webinar.

Pro tip: Consider having a backup host in case your host gets sick!

8. Invite your guest speakers

The speakers (just like the host) are one of the most important parts of a webinar as they set the tone but also bring their expertise to the webinar.

There are 3 main aspects to consider when picking a guest speaker:

• Subject matter expertise: You want a guest speaker that will be capable of talking about the topic of your webinar for a substantial amount of time, with assurance, and expertise. The expertise of the speaker will transfer in part to your company.
• Public speaking skills: Your speaker can be as knowledgeable as you'd like — if they suck at speaking and keeping the audience engaged, you're not going to have a successful webinar. Prefer speakers who have previous experience talking to crowds or on webinars.
• Pre-existing audience: A great speaker will not only know how to talk about a topic (and talk about it well) but will also be able to bring some new audience to your webinar because they will want to hear the guest speak.

Pro tip: Topical influencers make for good guests as they often have a combination of the 3 traits that make a good guest speaker.

9. Create your webinar's assets

We're almost there. Now we need to start preparing the content. This section will depend a lot on the type of webinar you are hosting, but make sure you have at least these:

Webinar title The webinar title is probably the most important asset for your webinar, as most people will decide solely from the webinar title if they will register or not to your webinar. Some tips for writing a good webinar title: 1. Include the keyword of your webinar 2. Speak to your audience's pains or wants 3. Be clear about the outcome of the webinar 4. Good writing 5. Tone of voice

Pro tip: Remember that the title of your webinar only has one function. and that is to get the person to read the description of your webinar. What's the purpose of the description? Get them to register.

Webinar cover image The cover image will be the second asset someone will see when deciding whether or not to register to your webinar — so make sure it stands out. A good cover image will include: - Guest speaker's pictures - Date and time of webinar - Webinar title And remember to use your brand colors and identity.

Webinar script/outline Depending on how confident the host and the guests are, maybe you don't need a webinar script . However, determining at least a rough outline will be beneficial for both the host, guest, and audience. Remember, overprepare and you'll lose the authenticity of the webinar, but underprepare and you'll be jumping from topic to topic without a goal and you might lose the audience.

Guest speaker questions No matter what type of event you are going to run, make sure you have some questions for your guest speaker . A few introductory questions to help the speaker present themselves and then some closing questions at least.

Webinar presentation A powerpoint, figma file, Prezi document, make sure you work with the guest speaker to have a main supporting document for the webinar. Remember to hook the audience at the beginning with the promise of a payoff and keep some space for engaging with the audience. Your presentation can either be a support or a crutch — you decide.

Pro tip: When planning the webinar make sure to build it specifically around audience engagement. How will you break the ice? Will there be a Q&A section and when? Will you take audience questions during the presentation? How will you use polls to keep the audience interested?

10. Create an action plan

Even before the webinar starts it's worth considering the post-webinar workflow.

• Where are we going to find the webinar analytics ?
• How are we going to get feedback from the audience?
• How will we use this feedback to improve the next webinar?
• How are we going to repurpose the webinar content ?
• How are we going to follow up with registrants?

Pro tip: Consider sending a post-webinar survey to get feedback from the audience on what they liked, didn't like, so you can adapt your next webinars and keep improving.

Modern Webinars your Audience will Love

How to Run a Webinar: Step-by-Step Guide

So you've just finished planning your webinar, not it's time to actually create the webinar, schedule it in your webinar tool, and run it.

Let's cover all the different steps:

• Decide on a date and time
• Create a registration page and form
• Set up reminder emails
• Share assets with speakers
• Promote your webinar
• Practice using your webinar tool
• Test your equipment

Here we go:

1. Decide on a date and time

The first step to running your webinar is to finalize the date & time of your webinar. Discuss with your team and guest and find a time that works for everyone (and block it in their calendars).

What's the best time and day to run a webinar ? There's not one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on your audience and their timezone.

Our research suggests that the best time to host a webinar is 12PM and 2PM in the attendee's local timezone with an average attendance rate of 45-50%.

What about the day of the week? Thursdays are the best days of the week to host a live webinar if you're optimizing for attendance rates (on average 41.5%).

Wednesday and Friday being second best. Mondays comes in close third.

Wondering how long your webinar should be ? Most webinars default to 60 minutes, but our data shows

2. Create a registration page and form

Now you've decided on a date & time it's time to actually create the webinar in your webinar software.

Because you've been following this guide to a T, you already have all the assets you need to create a page (title, cover image, description, etc.). It should only take you a few minutes to create the event (if not — you should consider switching to Contrast ).

Most webinar tools will automatically create a registration page when you create a new webinar. You can customize this page from the webinar settings. You can also customize the fields in the registration form to ask for company name, website, phone number, or any other custom property to qualify your audience and help will follow-ups.

You can also make your own registration page for your webinar and host it on your website. Then, using integrations (HubSpot, Zapier, Make, or APIs), connect it to the webinar so when people fill out the registration form on your website they automatically get registered to the webinar.

Pro tip: Try to keep your registration form as short as possible. There are many enrichment tools like Clearbit to get all the information you need from just an email. Keeping the form short makes it easier for people to register and will increase the number of people who register to your event.

3. Set up emails

Not everyone's going to remember your webinar — so to make sure people show up you need to set up some an email sequence . Contrast creates a default set of emails that are automatically branded, but that you can adjust however you'd like.

3 main email categories you need to remember:

• Registration confirmation emails are sent as soon as someone registers to your webinar. Confirmation emails should contain a calendar invitation, making it easy for registrants to add it to their calendar. Make sure to thank the person for registering, confirm the value they will get by attending, and remind them of the date and time.
• Reminder emails are sent a set amount of time before going live, try creating FOMO around your event and use every email to drill down the value of your event to make sure you maximize attendance rates . They should include a link to access the webinar (and ideally should avoid making the user sign up a second time).
• Follow up emails are sent a set amount of time after the event. They can be segmented depending on if registrants attended the live or not. Make sure they include a link to the on-demand version of your webinar. Follow up emails are also the best place to send a follow-up survey and get feedback from the audience.

Pro tip: We recommend sending a reminder 1 day before, 5 minutes before, and the follow-up 1 hour after the end of the webinar to maximize attendance and views. Make sure you write a good email subject line to increase open rates.

4. Share assets with speakers

Your speaker should have access to all the assets for the webinar: name, cover image, presentation, short description, personal link, etc. This will make it a lot easier for them to both prepare but also share the upcoming webinar.

You can provide them with insights about the audience, information about your company so that they can give relevant anecdotes or share personal experiences that fit well with your company & content.

5. Promote your webinar

Promoting your webinar is a complex topic that deserves a dedicated article. But the goal is to get your webinar registration page in front of as many of your ideal audience members as possible.

Let's cover some of the most common ways of promoting your webinar:

Webinar invitation emails Data suggests that webinar invitation emails are still the #1 channel for driving webinar registrants. Reach out to people in your mailing list, people who have registered to your previous webinars, etc. with a relevant message and making it very clear why they should attend the webinar: what's in it for them.

Social media promotion Another great way of driving registrations to your webinar is social media promotion . LinkedIn is the most common platform for B2B but you can also look into Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or other platforms depending on your target audience. You can also partner up with your guest speaker (or influencers) to help marketing your webinar.

Website, banners, pop-ups You're already driving tons of qualified traffic to your website, try to convert them with banners, pop-ups or other webinar CTAs . Try to create urgency by mentioning how much time is left before the webinar or how many spots are left to drive even more registrations.

Communities and network Don't forget to share your webinar with your customers, leads, prospects, and more! They're likely to be interested in the content you're creating. But you can also look for other communities on Facebook, Slack, Discord, or other platforms. Look for communities of people in your target audience and keep the messaging value-driven. Don't make it look like you're just trying to get leads or sell your product.

Pro tip: Don't forget to ask your guest speakers to share the link to the registration page to their audience. You can give them a link with UTMs to track how many registrations they're driving, and include some social media guidelines for sharing links to maximise distribution.

6. Practice using your webinar tool

Make sure you practice using your webinar tool, especially if it's the first webinar you run with it!

Jump into the webinar's green room (or Studio ) with the guest speakers, host, and moderator and practice using the main features of the platform.

Running a Q&A session at the end of your webinar? Make sure you know how to take a question from the audience and show it on-screen.

You can also upload all the content you're going to use to the webinar studio (slides, videos, etc.) and run through them with the guest speaker to make sure everything is ready for the live event. Polls and other assets can also usually be created ahead of time to avoid the stress of creating them during the live.

Pro tip: If you want to practice going live it's best to create a new test event, most webinar tools will start recording when you hit go live and this will turn your upcoming event into a replay.

7. Test your equipment

While you practice using the webinar tool, you can also test your webcam and mic . Make sure everyone's camera and microphone are being picked up, that there are no quality issues, and look into improving someone's setup if necessary.

Best Practices to Make a Webinar Engaging

Running a webinar (as you've seen already throughout this article) is a lot of work. But if there are 2 aspects where you need to focus 80% of your energy on it's: creating good content & engaging your audience.

People will be lenient if you are stressed, if your internet goes out, or if you get a little lost in your presentation, but only if the underlying value of the webinar is there.

Make your event interactive

An easy way to engage your audience is to make your webinar interactive . You can do this through the chat, polls, Q&A, and other features. But this is also done in the way you choose to present the content — make sure to include the audience: ask for their opinion, feedback, and thoughts.

Don't make it too salesly

The underlying goal of most webinars is to sell a product or service. But if you spend 45 minutes or an hour selling your product it's just going to bore your audience. Instead focus on delivering valuable content, building trust with your audience, and solving their problems — your product will sell itself.

High quality video and audio

It's 2024 — 240p video and audio that sounds like you're 10,000 feet under the sea just won't cut it anymore. Your mobile phone has a powerful camera and if you have a new-ish version of any major laptop brands you also have a good enough microphone. If not — you can get a high quality one for <$100.

Act like a human being

Yes, a webinar is a professional content piece — but that doesn't mean you have to act like a robot (or an NPC). Smile, have fun, crack a joke, tell a personal anecdote... just be yourself! People buy from other people and humor, vulnerability, and sharing personal experiences are powerful relationship-builders.

Repurposing your Webinar to Increase ROI

You spent all this time creating and hosting this webinar, you can't just let it die after the live.

Webinar repurposing involves taking existing webinar content and adapting it for use in different contexts or platforms. You'll often see that it includes editing, reformatting, or repackaging the original video to suit the requirements or preferences of a new audience or platform.

Modern tools like  Contrast  use Ai to speed up the process of repurposing video content:

The first step of repurposing a webinar is to get the transcript. Then it can be fed into different AI tools to extract the main value and transform it into different formats. Sound complicated? It doesn't have to be.

Every time you run a webinar on Contrast you automatically get:

• Transcript of the webinar
• Easy repurposing into 5 different formats
• 5 suggested subtitled clips
• As many subtitled clips as you want

You can use this to keep driving people to watch your on-demand webinar, which will feel your sales & marketing team with a ton of data about your viewers, as well as helping you fill your content calendar in just a couple of clips.

You can also consider embedding your webinar on your website once it's over so your website visitors can watch the webinar. Some webinar platforms will have features to make it easy to embed your webinar in just a couple of clicks.

What Equipment do you Need for a Webinar?

Webinars are a very cost-effective marketing tactic because you can start running they with very little initial investment.

All you need to host a webinar is:

• Stable and high-speed internet connection
• Reliable and modern webinar platform
• A webcam or external camera (you can use your phone and Camo for a very high-quality camera you already own).
• A microphone (and ideally a headset to avoid any echo)

Make sure you're sitting in a room with good lighting and a nice background, and you're ready to run your webinar!

Pro tip: Want to improve your webinar setup ? Look into improving your equipment in this order: Lights > Microphone > Camera.

Key Webinar Takeaways

Webinars are an amazing communication channel for businesses of any size — allowing them to reach infinitely large audiences while creating engaging and powerful experiences.

They can be of many different formats and serve different purposes but the fundamentals remain the same: identify who your target audience is, figure out what's bothering them or what they want to learn, and create high-quality, engaging content for them.

If you follow all the steps of this guide and follow the relevant links, we're sure you'll put on an amazing show for your audience.

Wondering where to start? Check out Contrast — whether your a webinar beginner or expert it offers all the tools you need to run a modern, high-quality, and engaging experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to participate in a webinar.

As a viewers, participating in a webinar is as easy as first registering through the form on the registration page. You can then add the webinar to your calendar with the link to access the live. The day of the webinar, you can join the room (a few minutes early to make sure you don't miss anything) and when the host goes live, the webinar will begin.

Can they see you during a webinar?

Webinars are view-only for attendees, meaning attendees cannot see or hear each other, and the host cannot see or hear attendees either. The host can decide whether or not they want to be seen during the webinar.

Do you have to talk in a webinar?

Webinars are view-only meaning attendees can't talk during a webinar: they cannot be seen (or heard). However, they can participate by using the chat feature to communicate with other attendees or with the host/the speakers.

What is the best webinar platform?

Contrast  helps you run your webinars in an easy to-use platform. With their webinar studio you create engaging live webinars that your audience will love. And Repurpose Ai helps you turn your webinar into a content goldmine.

Max is a content creator leading Growth and Marketing at Contrast.

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What is a Webinar? The Complete DNA Behind Video Conferencing

From sharing valuable ideas and knowledge, through teaching and training online, up to selling products and services. Webinars have become a powerful multipurpose digital business tool. Before you take a deep dive into the “webinar ocean”, let’s take a closer look at the fundamentals and discover what is meant by a webinar. To put it simply – what is a webinar?

Quoting after the latest State of Webinars 2020 Report , we are talking about 627,033 webinars organized in 2019, on ClickMeeting platform alone! Those online events have gathered a total audience of 8,504,770 unique attendees all around the world.

Where is this phenomenon coming from? Let’s take the definition under the microscope.

Table of Contents

What is a webinar?

To cut to the chase, a webinar is a video conferencing and video marketing  tool designed to deliver content more engagingly, in real-time.

Although the term itself implies the “seminar run on the web” meaning, there’s so much more to it! Webinars, packed with multimedia and plethora of interactive features , take business communication to another level.

Armed with webinar features like screen sharing , whiteboard with drawing tools, presentation ,  survey , or chat , you can unlock new possibilities to share (or sell) your knowledge and expertise during timely-scheduled, super-organized online sessions.

Here’s a fantastic example of a webinar. Watch how Owen Video hosted his online event for ClickMeeting:

The fact of meeting your audience online in one virtual conference room  is a win-win situation for you and your attendees. You can reach your audience scattered all around the world and anyone interested in what you have to say can get easy access to it. Regardless whether they live on another continent or just around the corner.

That’s why webinars are winning business solutions. Rajmund Dziemaszkiewicz , the Product Owner at ClickMeeting , explains why:

In my opinion, there is no better way than webinars to effectively share your knowledge with large groups of people, regardless of where they are. Knowledge sharing is now a must-do for every business , and empowering leads with relevant content brings them closer to your brand.

However, according to Rajmund Dziemaszkiewicz, the potential of webinars reaches even further:

Many start-ups bring their MVPs to life and start to test their business assumptions on a local market. They do that locally to reduce the costs they would spend on going worldwide. To evaluate their product, they don’t have to limit themselves! With webinars, they can scale up their actions and ship their MVPs globally, get meaningful insights from their prospects and leads located in different parts of the planet, and eventually convert that feedback into tweaking their product.

What are the types of webinars?

Yes, it’s getting more exciting! You can differentiate webinars by:

• the purpose;
• the event types;
• the access types.

The purpose:

Let’s begin with defining webinars when it comes to their purpose. Depending on what you want to achieve businesswise, you can take leverage on these types of webinars:

Knowledge-sharing  lead generation   webinars . If you are a digital marketer , this should be your weapon of choice. That sort of online events aims to share your valuable and relevant expertise with your prospects and leads. Thanks to giving away your significant insights, you have a chance to create a long-lasting relationship with your leads, and eventually convert them into customers.

These webinars are content marketing  at its finest and serve as a remarkable tool to establish your position as an expert in your niche.

When you think lead gen, you consider various activities to maintain high quality and convert the leads. The risk is always the same: you perform costly actions and, as a result, you generate many leads that won’t convert into paying customers. Webinars, as a lead generating tool, are a very effective way to build your customer base effectively. You share your knowledge and record your presentation that you can publish as a content available on-demand to whoever drops their contact detail. As a final result, you produce content that can be a very powerful tool to generate a high-quality database that you can nurture with further content adjusted to your audience’s preferences – says Agnes Józwiak , Senior Product Marketing Manager at Spartez Software .

Product demo webinars . Demonstrating your product online comes in line with webinars. Taking into consideration that 94% video marketers say that video has helped users in understanding their product or service , and the fact that 79% of interviewees admitted that watching a video has convinced them to buy a product , webinars are one of the most important online sales tools in the digital landscape.

Let the numbers do the talking:

Another striking aspect of product demo webinars is that they work exceptionally well for the B2B sector . Decision-making process (when it comes to buying business services) is longer and more complex than in the B2C reality.

In contrast to a B2C fast-media consumption , webinars provide a chance to take a deep-dive into a product, and that is often a decision-trigger for C-level managers in larger companies and business owners in the SMB sector.

Let’s see how ClickMeeting’s Brand Manager, Tomasz Bołcun ,  regards product demo webinars:

The more complicated your offer is, the harder becomes the final buying decision. If your leads find your product difficult, the chances of converting them into clients grow thin. You may find it frustrating that despite all your self-education resources, your leads stop somewhere in the customer journey and decide to bounce . For me, running a live product demo with a webinar is a remedy here because a salesperson can answer all the questions in real-time, clear doubts or even bust myths if any of them pop-up during an event. Product demo webinars are also a great opportunity to entice leads with some special deals  offered only for webinar attendees. They have all the features it takes to make your offer super-attractive and unique.

Online courses . Over the last few years, e-learning has grown to a thriving industry, giving tremendous opportunities to sell knowledge to students and professionals around the world.

Webinars are a dream tool to monetize your know-how and expertise , especially when you integrate your webinar account with services like PayPal and Moodle .

Imagine a virtual classroom equipped with all the tools you need to have to deliver your knowledge efficiently and engagingly: presentation, video, whiteboard with drawing tools, chat and Q&A, polls, and surveys (just to name a few).

If you are interested in selling your online courses with webinars, we have a real treat for you:

Here’s what Arturo Tedeschi , the world-class computational designer, says about running online courses with webinars:

Thanks to webinars, I can reach a hundred or two hundred people at the same time. It’s about starting a new kind of relationships with people. You can talk with much more people and create a new form of dialogue with this form of communication.

Let’s get back to our Product Owner, Rajmund Dziemaszkiewicz :

The online education sector is in its renaissance phase right now. From solopreneurs teaching online, through small and medium training companies, up to renowned educational institutions – they are all embedding webinars into their offer. What’s more, universities  are more likely to run entire courses with webinars. Thanks to this technology, they can reach more students than ever before.

Onboarding and training sessions . This is where medium and large companies benefit from webinars and video conferencing the most. With branches located around the region, the country or the continent, there’s no other way to conduct onboarding or training sessions of the new employees, and then going online with the entire process.

Organizing webinars for training purposes saves time, effort, and money  that enterprises used to spend on traditional offline training sessions. Instead of burning resources on business travels or hiring venues, you can run it all in one virtual conference room .

Take a look at Nest Bank’s experience:

Today, if we had to come back to stationary training events, we would have to organize 16 large sessions in 16 different regions. It would take ten times longer to achieve it, not even mentioning the travel costs, venues, accommodations, and so on – says Krzysztof Grodecki from Nest Bank . – Instead of wasting two weeks of our time, we spend only one day to do this all with a single webinar!

The event types  

OK, as soon as you know your purpose, it’s time to analyze the types of webinars you can organize to achieve your business goals.

We distinguish three types of events:

1)   Live webinars . A classic and most popular version of webinars. You schedule your online event to happen at a specific time, and then you meet your audience live.

The main advantage here is about real-time interaction with your webinar attendees . It gives you a chance to make the most of two-way communication via a chat window. It also allows you to receive instant feedback , especially when you explain a complex topic, and you need to make sure that everything you said is clear to everyone.

Live webinars are an ideal match with:

• Onboarding and training  purposes because you can evaluate how your trainees absorb your insights as you move along.
• Sales and product demos  as they open an opportunity to maximize your impact on your audience and influence them to make a final purchase decision.

The problem with live webinars is that not all of your registrants show up at the live event . It has nothing to do with the quality of your offer. On the contrary – it has everything to do with the lack of time we’re all facing in today’s crazy world.

Don’t give up on the people who didn’t join your event. There are two compelling ways to reach them with your content.

First, you send them the recording of your webinar .

Second, you go for:

2)   On-Demand Webinars.  In this option, you can anticipate that your audience is utterly busy, and pre-record your webinar to release it to your contacts, leads, or students so they can watch it anytime and anywhere they want .

This way, you’re letting yourself go from being present at each webinar as a presenter, and let your audience watch and listen to your presentation whenever it suits them. It’s a win-win situation!

Watch this video to learn how to create an On-Demand Webinar:

On-Demand Webinars will do the trick for all purposes, but if you aim at generating leads  with your content and running online courses , you should certainly employ them to your webinar tactic plan. Releasing several on-demand events to the digital stratosphere will save you the time you would spend on hosting numerous live events.

3)    Automated Webinars. Yes, automation is a buzzword nowadays. Why? Because we’re all going around the clock to achieve our business results and automation takes the repetitive and mundane work off our shoulders.

Unlike on-demand events, you schedule Automated Webinars to take place at a specific day and hour (in what it resembles live webinars). However, just like in on-demands, you need to record your webinar first , and then compose it with some additional video materials , a survey , and a custom Call-To-Action button .

Here’s how to do it in real life:

The automation does the rest for you. Imagine creating twenty lessons of your online course as automated webinars. They will gather your students at a particular time, but you won’t have to be in the webinar room physically to host the entire thing.

The access types

It’s the last aspect of distinguishing types of webinars. As the above title suggests, it’s all about the way you want your attendees to access your online event.

Here, you need to choose from:

• Open to all events.  This option gives your attendees a chance to join your webinar for free . Works great if you want to inspire and share knowledge to enhance your brand awareness and generate leads.
• Token- or password-protected events.  It’s an excellent choice if you don’t want to go public with your content and limit it with passwords or tokens. That goes to companies internal training events with sensible data or sharing specific knowledge only with your sales qualified leads or customers.
• Paid webinars.  Remember the part about monetizing your expertise? Here’s how! By choosing a paid event access type, you set an entrance fee to your webinar and make money on your valuable content.

Bear in mind, that you can create Live, On-Demand, and Automated Webinars as paid events .

What is the webinar software? How does it work?

Okay, now you are fully aware of why to go for webinars and what types of online events you can run to achieve your business goals.

But to do that all, you will need a tool. Webinar software is an application designed and developed to keep all your video conferencing and webinar activity under one roof .

It’s a platform where you create your webinar account , and manage all your online events – from integrating with useful tools like Google Analytics , PayPal , HubSpot , Slack (and much more ), scheduling your Live, On-Demand , and Automated Webinars , inviting your audience and sharing your content on social media , up to exporting contacts to your CRM , and analyzing your webinar efforts.

ClickMeeting is a browser-based webinar software  which means you don’t need to install anything on your device to run webinars and your video conferencing actions are secure .

Instead of a summary – webinar cycle method

In terms of delivering sales and marketing results, webinars have been regarded as a video content marketing format that fits into each stage of the sales funnel .

But webinars have grown to be a stand-alone business, and there is much more to achieve with them than within a traditional, linear funnel.

That’s why, in ClickMeeting, we have come up with an alternative concept for webinars  which no longer leaves you with the plethora of features and integrations. Instead of telling you “ hey, there you go – it’s a platform with plenty of tools and ingredients, now feel free to deal with it” , we have come up with a different approach.

And that’s building use case scenarios and cycles  to achieve growth with webinars.

We called it webinar cycle , which is a step-by-step blueprint  bringing together features, integrations, and automation . Starting up with webinars is now easier than ever. Are you ready?

Posted by Jakub Zielinski

Content Writer @ClickMeeting, Co-Founder @ Much2Kind Marketing

Time to move your events online. Do it with ClickMeeting

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The Ultimate Guide to Creating Compelling Webinars

Discover how webinars allow you to host events for your target audience and customers that impact your bottom line.

FREE WEBINAR PLANNING KIT

Free Strategy Template, Checklist, and Guide

Updated: 09/07/22

Published: 09/02/20

Have you ever considered holding a unique and fun business event for your target audience and customers? An event with engaging content, interactive exercises, and networking — all with the potential of improving your brand awareness, converting more leads into paying customers, and boosting revenue?

While the idea for and potential results of this event are great, you also may have thought, "... it’s impossible to host this event — our base of customers, colleagues, and members of our professional networks are spread out all over the world.”

What if I told you that you can host this event and do so live with all of these people who are critical to your business’s success included?

You just need to host your event via webinar .

Webinar Benefits

Webinar formats.

How Does a Webinar Work?

How to Record a Webinar

Webinar software.

Host a Webinar for Free

What is a webinar?

A webinar is an online video presentation, seminar, lecture, or workshop delivered via the internet. Typically, webinars are shared live, or in real-time, but they can also be recorded before being shared with audience members.

Whether or not a webinar is live, it must include an interactive element that allows viewers to participate, ask questions, make comments, or collaborate with the presenters and/ or hosts.

Let's review the typical anatomy of a webinar.

Elements of a Webinar

• Host and presenter(s)
• Desktop computer or laptop with a camera and microphone
• Presentation (usually in the form of slides)
• Interactive element for attendees to participate in (e.g. survey, poll, or discussion)
• Webinar software (we’ll review some of these options shortly )

What is the purpose of a webinar?

Webinars provide businesses with a way to host a digital, interactive event for members of their target audience and customers, no matter their location.

Webinars can be used to boost conversions, improve brand awareness, increase revenue , and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Webinars are an effective way of reaching many members of your target audience at once through an engaging event that doesn’t require anyone to be in the same location.

Let's dive into some of these benefits in greater detail.

1. Personalize your content and event.

Webinars are an easy way to create unique and personalized content for your brand. You can include a variety of presentation features in your webinar to enhance the experience for viewers and audience members. These include drawing tools, interactive activities, slides, surveys, chat, and more.

2. Stick to your budget.

Webinars are budget-friendly. Think about it this way: If you’re hosting an in-person event for your target audience and customers, you’ll likely have to rent out space, order food and drinks, purchase presentation equipment, and more.

If you have this event catered, you might need to organize wait staff and pay for clean up, too. Meanwhile, webinars are low cost and can even be hosted for free .

3. Educate prospects and customers on your product of service.

Webinars are a simple way to educate your audience. You might choose to explain the benefits of your product or service, review its capabilities and features, or even hone in on how it resolves the challenges of your buyer personas and current customers.

4. Demonstrate your product or service.

In addition to educating your webinar attendees about your product or service, you can also provide an instructional demonstration on how your attendees can use or implement your product or service.

5. Establish yourself as a thought-leader in the industry.

By hosting webinars, you can establish yourself as a thought-leader in your industry. If you're regularly hosting educational webinars through which attendees are gaining actionable tips and learning from you and your guests, you'll be more likely to gain more authority in your industry.

6. Improve your brand awareness.

And speaking of establishing yourself in your industry, webinars are just another way of improving your brand awareness.

You're able to target your target audience and personas through this channel and encourage audience members to share your webinar, or invitation to your webinar, with their peers and coworkers.

7. Boost conversions and revenue.

You can use your webinar as a source of conversions and revenue . By establishing yourself as a thought-leaders, prospects will be more inclined to trust you and therefore, your product or service. Additionally, as you promote and share your webinar, your increased brand awareness will naturally lead to more conversions, too.

Another benefit to hosting webinars is the fact that you can choose the format that is most complementary to your goals and whatever it is you're trying to achieve. Here are some of those formats to give you a better understanding of what I mean.

• Industry Expert Panel
• Product/ Service Pitch or Demo
• Casual Chat

1. Industry Expert Panel

Invite an industry expert — internal or external — to discuss their niche, or whatever it is they're known for. You'll attract your audience and the experts' audiences, too.

2. Interview

Host an interview with an internal or external thought-leader, a member of your team, a current and loyal customer, or even someone outside of your industry.

Think about the various topics your audience members want to hear about, and then find the right interviewer and interviewee for the discussion.

3. Product/ Service Pitch or Demo

Provide your audience with a product or service pitch or demonstration to clearly show people the benefits and applications of whatever it is you sell.

Host a question and answer webinar between your brand and the audience. You might invite a member of your leadership board to host the Q&A and have employees (sales reps, service reps, marketers, product managers, etc.) sit in to answer questions that audience members have.

Offer audience members an instructional how-to webinar — teach them how they can achieve a goal that many of your current customers have. Or, look to your buyer personas and review their challenges — choose one of those roadblocks and offer a how to that describes effective resolution.

6. Casual Chat

Whether it's with a member of your team or an external thought-leader, have a casual chat during your webinar. This way, audience members can tune in, sit back, and enjoy wherever the conversation naturally goes — and they can ask questions to spark new directions for that discussion.

7. Case Study

Look at your past case studies — which one is most compelling or has the most views on your website or social platform?

Invite that client to come onto your webinar to talk about how your product or service resolved their challenges and why they're advocates for your brand. You may also allow time for Q&A at the end if you and your client choose to — this way, audience members can ask your loyal client any questions they may have.

Now that you have an idea about possible webinar formats, let's dive into how a webinar actually works.

How does a webinar work?

The host (and fellow presenters, if any) must set a date and time for the event and invite target audience members to register and attend. Then, host the event, likely using webinar software.

Whether or not your webinar is live, it should always be recorded. This way, you’ll have the recording for your files, future reference, and your website since webinars are often an excellent source of evergreen content .

As you host more events, share your evergreen webinar content via a resource library — similar to HubSpot’s Free Webinars library — on your website. Your site visitors, loyal customers, and team members will be able to easily reference your webinars in a central location.

A major part of understanding how a webinar works is also understanding associated best practices.

Webinar Best Practices

Let’s cover some webinar tips and best practices so your event is sure to be a success.

• Choose an intriguing, personable, and qualified presenter(s) to get your audience excited about attending and to hold their attention throughout the event.
• Determine whether the webinar is going to be live or pre-recorded based on factors such as topic, presenters, industry, and audience.
• Invite members of your target audience and your buyer personas to register (this will ensure your webinar content is shared with people it’ll be relevant and valuable to).
• Clearly set and share the event’s date, time, and other logistics so attendees can log on, view, and participate without experiencing any roadblocks.
• Stick to one major topic per webinar to avoid confusion and keep attendees engaged.
• Establish a format for the webinar (e.g. panel, FAQ, single or multi-presenter, demonstration, interview, or discussion).
• Complete a dry run (or several) before going live or recording the webinar.
• Find the right webinar software for your specific business needs.
• Allow ample time for attendee participation.
• Record and save your webinar —whether or not it’s shared live — to your webinar library.

Now, how do you actually record your webinar ? Let’s review the answer to that question next.

To record a webinar, you need a computer with a camera and microphone, and webinar software so you can manage and share your event.

No matter how you decide to format your webinar, simply click Record when your event begins and Stop Recording when your event ends (or similar commands).

Speaking of webinar software, let’s look at some of your options. Your software is how you’ll host the webinar , share it with attendees, analyze its performance, and more.

Webinar software offers features that streamline all aspects of hosting your event. There are many webinar software options available with a range of features and pricing options. Here are four options to get you started.

1. GoToWebinar

GoToWebinar simplifies your event planning, promotion, engagement, and reporting. The software provides several webinar templates, custom registration, different presenter webcams, interactive surveys and polls, source tracking, and webinar analytics.

Note: GoToWebinar integrates with your HubSpot CRM.

Cost: GoToWebinar offers three plans starting at $89 per month.

Demio is a webinar platform built for engagement. Demio is a great option for Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success teams because it is a simple, no-download webinar experience, makes engaging attendees easy and effective, and provides the analytics tools you need to generate better business results. Whether you want to host a live, on-demand, hybrid, or automated webinar, Demio is a great option.

Note: Demio integrates with your Hubspot CRM.

Cost: Demio offers a free trial (no credit card required) and three plans starting at $49 per month.

3. ClickMeeting Webinars

ClickMeeting makes hosting and sharing your live or pre-recorded events easy no matter your webinar format (e.g. conference, group discussion, Q&A, or product demos). The software includes a feature to live stream your event via Facebook or Youtube to expand your audience.

Note: ClickMeeting Webinars integrates with your HubSpot CRM.

Cost : ClickMeeting is free for your first 30 days, and then you can choose to upgrade to one of their three paid options , which start at $25 per month.

Depending on the Zoom plan you choose, you can share your webinar with over 10,000 people at once. The software offers HD video and audio, live broadcasting features, reporting, and analytics. There are also various participant engagement tools such as chat, attendee-raise-hand, and polling to ensure your webinar is interactive.

Note: Zoom integrates with your HubSpot CRM.

Cost : Zoom has a freemium option in which you can host a discussion-based webinar event where everyone can see and interact with each other. If you choose one of their paid options , which start at $14.99 per month, you can host your webinar in any format (e.g. lecture-based, single presenter, or multi-presenter).

5. EasyWebinar

EasyWebinar is a great option for anyone new to the world of webinars because the software has users work through a five-step campaign process to ensure event success. It includes customer tracking tools to learn more about who your attendees are and why your content is relevant to them. EasyWebinar integrates with WordPress and YouTube so you can expand your reach among your target audience and current customers.

Cost : There are three tiers of EasyWebinar which start at $78 per month.

6. eWebinar

eWebinar is your best option for creating and hosting automated webinars (also known as evergreen webinars) since that is 100% the focus of their software.

Their setup process is simple and starts with uploading a video of your pre-recorded presentation. From there, you can program polls, questions, tips, and other interactions to appear at key moments in your webinar to make the experience interactive. Their unique and flexible chat system lets you chat live with attendees or respond to messages later through email at your convenience.

Cost : eWebinar offers a free 14-day trial and has four pricing levels based on the number of published webinars you have, though each webinar can have unlimited sessions and attendees.

How to Host a Webinar for Free

To host a webinar — and do so for free — you’ll need to combine all of the elements we’ve reviewed above. You might think about the following five steps to hosting a webinar for free as your webinar strategy .

1. Choose free webinar software.

The first step in hosting your webinar requires you to choose software that suits your specific needs. We reviewed some popular examples above , but for more options that are easier on your budget, take a look at these free webinar tools .

2. Invite your target audience to register for and attend your event.

It’s time to invite people to register for and attend your webinar. When you invite these members of your contact list and network to register, likely via email, clearly indicate the date and time of your event. This way they’ll know if they’re available or if they need to make time on their calendars to attend.

3. Send a confirmation email to anyone who’s registered to attend.

Next, confirm webinar registration is complete for each attendee who has signed up. You might do this by sending registrants to a new landing page with their confirmation details. Another option is to send a follow-up email to attendees shortly after they complete registration.

Either way, include details in your confirmation message about the equipment needed to participate in your webinar such as a laptop with stable Wi-Fi, speakers, a microphone, and a camera. You can also provide information about your presenters or the interactive element of the webinar to get attendees excited.

4. Provide a link for attendees to “Join” if the webinar is live or “Watch” if it’s pre-recorded.

One of the most important things you do pre-webinar is provide clear directions on how your attendees will join or watch the event. For example, you may include a link to Join or Watch your webinar on the confirmation landing page or in the follow-up email we mentioned above.

5. Set expectations for webinar participation.

Again, webinars must be interactive in some way. Set these expectations early on, and have your presenters reiterate them at the beginning of the event, so everyone is on the same page. If your event is live, facilitate participation and discussion throughout the event or set aside time for discussion and Q&A at the end.

If your event is pre-recorded, set a window of time after the webinar has been shared for attendees to send in questions. Then, presenters can either record or type their responses and send them back to the corresponding attendee.

6. Host the webinar, and follow up with attendees afterward.

It’s time to host your event! Explain the agenda to attendees at the beginning of the webinar so they know what to expect. (This is also a great time to reiterate those expectations for participation we mentioned above.)

Don’t forget to review all other details, like follow-up communication, any further inquiries, future webinars you’re hosting, and how attendees can learn more about your business. Feel free to email this information to your attendee contact list post-webinar so they can review it in greater detail later on.

Reach Your Target Audience With Webinars

Webinars have the power to propel you towards becoming a thought-leader and expert in your industry. They can also help you improve brand awareness, reach your target audience and buyer personas, and boost conversions. Determine which webinar software is right for your business, keep the best practices we reviewed in mind, and begin hosting your online events.

Don't forget to share this post!

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What is a Webinar: The Ultimate Guide

Webinars have become an integral part of many companies' event programs. But what is a webinar? For starters, they're an excellent way to engage an audience between larger events, create a reputation as an industry thought leader, and educate attendees on niche topics. 

So, how do you craft a webinar that can do all this? And how do you attract attendees when there are so many other digital events going on? Let's start with the basics, then we'll dive into everything you need to know about hosting successful and memorable webinars.

What Is a Webinar?

Webinars are seminar-style virtual events hosted by an individual or panel of experts who share their knowledge on a particular topic. Webinars generally last about 30-60 minutes, providing an opportunity for attendees to learn from experts in a convenient and cost-effective way using a video conferencing tool .

Your Guide to Planning and Conducting Webinars in 2024

For planners, marketers, and sales teams alike, building an effective webinar program is a major priority. In fact, 73% of B2B marketers say webinars are the best way to generate quality leads , and 99% of marketers believe webinars represent a critical element of their marketing plans .

Clearly, webinars are a necessary part of your organization's total event program, and your webinar strategy should evolve to meet current expectations and technological advancements.

This ultimate guide to webinars will help break down webinar basics and offer tips to improve your webinar programs to better feed your webinar funnel and maximize your ROI.

Benefits of Hosting a Webinar

Types of webinars, webinar formats, 6 tips on how to conduct webinars effectively in 2024, planning a successful webinar, webinar best practices, difference between webcast and webinar, must-have features in an ideal webinar tool, choosing the right webinar platform, let your webinar software lead the way, webinar faq's.

Webinars are held for a variety of reasons, including generating leads, educating or training attendees, conducting product demos or product launches , and hosting internal meetings . Webinars have long been used as an effective way to expand a brand’s reach, establish a company as a thought leader in the industry, and engage with prospective customers through an accessible platform.

In meeting these goals, webinars offer immense benefits not only to attendees but to the organizations who host them. The benefits of hosting a webinar include:

• Reaching a global audience
• Cost savings associated with virtual events
• Ability to offer access to on-demand recordings for those who cannot join the webinar live
• Increased brand engagement
• Continuous between larger events
• Lead generation (this one is HUGE, with webinars offering an average conversion rate of 55% )
• Establishing hosts as industry thought leaders
• Building brand trust and loyalty
• Opportunities for networking

If you're unsure whether a webinar is the right format for your event or you just want to see all the possibilities of hosting webinars, read on to understand the various types of webinars, including webinar formats and reasons you might choose to host a webinar. 

Webinars can serve many purposes, and with a short window of time to engage attendees, webinars must have a clear intention. Here are just a few examples of webinar types your organization might choose to host:

Thought Leadership Webinar

A webinar hosted by an industry expert or influencer to share insights, trends, and expertise on a particular topic within their field, positioning themselves and their company as a thought leader.

Panel Discussion Webinar

A webinar that features a panel of experts discussing a specific industry topic or issue, providing different perspectives and engaging in interactive discussions with the audience.

Educational Webinar

A knowledge-sharing webinar hosted to deliver lectures, workshops, or training sessions on a specific subject or topic.

Training Webinar

A webinar conducted by a company or organization to provide training and education to employees or clients, covering topics such as onboarding, software training, or compliance regulations.

Professional Development Webinar

Similar to a training or educational webinar, professional development webinars are intended to educate attendees with a specific goal of helping them achieve their professional goals.

Internal Communication Webinar

A webinar conducted within an organization to communicate important updates, share company news, or conduct a webinar meeting with remote or distributed teams.

Product Demo Webinar

A product demo webinar is a great lead generation tool companies can use to showcase and demonstrate their product or service to potential customers, highlighting its features, benefits, and use cases.

Sales Webinar

A webinar hosted by a sales rep or team to showcase products or services, address customer pain points, provide solutions, and allow for feedback and questions from prospective customers, with the goal of generating leads and closing sales.

Customer Success Webinar

A webinar hosted by a company to onboard new customers, provide ongoing support and guidance to customers, showcase best practices and new features, and answer customer questions.

How-To Webinar

A webinar that breaks down simple concepts, product features, or service options to help attendees better understand how to accomplish a particular task.

Now, you might be wondering, Does a webinar have to be live? No, a webinar does not have to be held live. There are various types of webinar formats to choose from, including live streamed, simu-live, and pre-recorded. Let's break down these options:

• Live Video:  The webinar occurs in real-time. Doing a webinar live can be more challenging, as there is no room for mistakes, but it also allows more options for attendee engagement through live polls, Q&A, and responding to comments in a live chat.
• Simu-live:  This is a webinar that is mostly recorded ahead of time, but the presenter jumps on to answer questions or discuss recorded elements. This format can allow for greater production value and requires less on-the-spot involvement from your hosts.
• Pre-recorded:  This is a webinar that is recorded ahead of time so attendees are logging on to watch at their leisure. This format allows you to push your content on-demand immediately without the hassle of live streaming. The downside here, of course, is decreased engagement from attendees.

The type of webinar you choose to host will play a large part in determining the best webinar format for your event. In many instances, on-demand Webinars offer a great solution for quick and routine communication, such as internal onboarding, new customer onboarding, trainings, and how-to content.

In 2024, we've reached an age of digital disruption — one that is helping planners and marketers alike reimagine the webinar format and reevaluate how they utilize webinar programs to make the biggest impact. Webinars can range from single speaker presentations or multi-person discussions to open forums and interactive conversations with attendees.

With improved webinar software, webinar programs have grown leaps and bounds, offering exciting new ways to engage with attendees, increased levels of interactivity, and heightened production value. If you aren't making the most of the latest webinar tech , it’s time to rethink your strategy and tools to meet attendees' heightened expectations for webinar engagement .

Before we dive deeper into the finer details of planning your webinars, here are a few tips to help you conduct webinars effectively in 2024:

• Choose a reliable webinar platform: Select a Webinar Platform that offers advanced features, seamless integration options, and excellent technical support to ensure a smooth and glitch-free webinar experience for both you and your attendees.
• Make your webinars free to attend: While there may be instances where it makes sense to charge for attendance, if your webinars are part of your total events program and help feed your marketing funnel, you'll likely get more out of them by charging no fees and raking in as many attendees as possible.
• Leverage interactive features for improved engagement: Encourage active participation by using interactive features like quizzes, audience polls, live chat, Q&A, and breakout rooms for group discussions. This will make your webinars more engaging and help your attendees find greater value in the experience.
• Incorporate multimedia elements: Make your webinar visually appealing and dynamic by incorporating multimedia elements such as videos, animations, and interactive slides. This will enhance engagement and make the content more memorable.
• Keep it concise and focused: Webinar attendees likely spend many hours a day at their desks staring at their screens. Keep your webinar content concise, focused, and relevant to ensure maximum engagement and keep the attention of your attendees.
• Provide valuable takeaways: Offer valuable insights, practical tips, and actionable takeaways that participants can apply immediately after disconnecting. This helps attendees recap what they're learned and decide how to put this knowledge to use.

Of course, there's always more to learn and consider when planning your webinars. Forbes even has  12 commandments for hosting a great webinar if you're looking for more tips!

Though webinars are everywhere, not all are created equal. It takes careful planning to create an effective webinar . From content to engagement, webinars must be created with the attendee in mind, and webinar hosts should utilize a webinar hosting platform that's up to the job.

Define the Purpose of Your Webinar

What is the purpose of your webinar?  It's a simple enough question, but your answer guides everything else — content creation, the tech you need, how you interact with attendees. It's important to view the purpose of every event through two lenses: what you want attendee to gain from the experience and what you want to gain from the experience. Webinars are no different — webinars boost your profits  and provide valuable data, and they also offer attendees something they were missing, whether it's information, training resources, access to experts, or otherwise.

Webinars work so well for both hosts and attendees because they’re accessible. They don’t take an enormous time commitment those producing nor attending them, they're often free, and getting to the "venue" is as simple as clicking a link. That’s why webinars are a wonderful lead generation tool. With the right form fill, you can collect key information about your attendees that can be used to set them off on their  attendee journey  to engage with more content, establish their level of intent, and get them in front of sales.

Set Goals for Your Webinar

Once you've defined your purpose, you can set more specific goals for your webinar. Whether this is your first webinar or hundredth, you need some benchmarks, or key performance indicators (KPIs) to help you track and measure your success. 

The best goals are based on past performance. If you regularly get 100 registrations, make the goal of increasing that number by 20%. If you often achieve huge registration numbers but significantly lower attendance rates, set a goal for attendance to better measure the impact of your webinar. Because webinars use technology at every stage, there is no end to what you can track and improve upon.

Think about your attendee touchpoints when setting your goals. Set goals for  email marketing campaigns, social media, time on the webinar event website, form fills, attendance, view time,  and, of course,  survey results  after the event. Data is powerful. It should be analyzed, learned from, and used to set new goals.

When choosing goals, don’t forget to think about your stakeholders. What do they want to see? Do they care how long an attendee watches the webinar, or do they care more about how many leads are sent to sales and the quality of those leads? Often, your internal stakeholders — from leadership to marketing , to planning, to tech — all care about something different. Articulate stakeholder needs, and use them to guide your goals.

Build Engaging Webinar Content

Find the Right Topic

You have your purpose, now you need to create a webinar topic that will match your purpose. A great webinar starts with great content. What do your attendees want to see? What products is your organization trying to drum up interest for? Once you have an initial idea of your webinar market, you can refine your topic. Want to teach customers to use new product features? A how-to webinar with an open discussion style allows attendees to learn and ask questions in real time. Trying to spark discussion in the industry? Start thinking of expert speakers to bring in for a lively panel discussion.

The right topic can only be chosen when you have an audience in mind. Who is your target audience? The topic you choose should interest potential attendees and align with a pain point they need to solve.

Pick Your Webinar Content Format

This is where content creation gets interesting.  Webinar tools  have grown leaps and bounds, and you no longer have to put up with a pre-recorded webinar built from simple slides, zero video elements, and no live features like chat or Q&A. You have options! As you consider the format of your content, keep in mind the different webinar formats available, including live streamed, simu-live, and pre-recorded.

Popular Webinar Content Formats:

• Single speaker presentation
• Multi-speaker presentation
• Panel discussion with moderator
• Live Polling with moderator
• Interview led by moderator
• Open Q&A led by moderator

Choose the Right Date

While a webinar can be thrown together quickly, the best ones take preparation, especially if you’re planning to promote the webinar in advance. A strategic email marketing campaign cannot be thrown together at the drop of a hat. When choosing a date and time for your webinar, first consider your webinar process. How long will it take to find a speaker, build the event, create a marketing campaign, and so on?

With an idea of how long it will take to execute, it’s time to open the calendar. Go as many weeks in advance as it will take to build your webinar. Webinars that take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday see higher registration than those on Monday or Friday (and much higher than those on the weekend).

If your webinar is global, consider that when choosing the time. Otherwise, choose 11:00 am or 1:00-2:00 pm as your start time. Why? Participants are unlikely to attend webinars early in the morning, during lunch, or late at night.

Most importantly, be aware of holidays or special events. If you decide to plan a webinar on a government holiday, there is a good chance you will have very few registrations. Remember, attendees want times that are convenient and don’t take away too much time from their personal or professional lives.

Choose a Relevant Title

Many companies have their own terminology and are used to phrasing things in a specific way. But that doesn’t mean attendees speak the same language. As you refine your webinar topic , look to SEO keywords to guide the way. You’ll want to create an engaging title that will show up in search and explains what the webinar is about.

How to Pick a Title That Will Show Up in Organic Search

• Find trending keywords using Google Trends and keyword tools
• Think about industry terms
• Utilize keywords in the title
• Keep the title short and keyword-focused
• Make sure the title properly conveys the topic of the webinar
• Test a few titles with colleagues to see which resonates most

Find the Perfect Webinar Host, Speakers, or a Moderator

Choosing a group of speakers can be a challenge but can also help to vary the webinar format. A team of speakers that is well-practiced at switching back and forth and sharing their thoughts can help to keep attendees engaged .

A moderator can be used when there are many speakers or if the webinar is a Q&A or an interview. A moderator should be thoughtful, able to think on the fly, and good at keeping the conversation moving. If you’re conducting a live poll, your moderator will need to understand how your  webinar technology works so they can pull questions from the live audience.

Here is a quick list of webinar best practices as you plan your webinars:

• 60 minutes or less
• Schedule for midweek at 11 am or 2 pm
• Pick a title that is SEO optimized
• Make sure the presentation is branded
• Follow presentation best practices
• Vary formats during the presentation
• Engage attendees with quizzes, chat, and surveys
• Break long sessions into a webinar series
• Provide speakers with instruction or tech

Check out the full list of webinar best practices !

The difference between a webinar and webcast is that a webinar is an interactive virtual event designed for smaller groups of attendees in the hundreds, whereas a webcast is a more like a broadcast, allowing for no input from attendees and generally streaming to larger audiences with thousands of attendees.

From high-quality production to chat features, here are a few webinar platform features that will help improve the viewing experience and ensure great ROI for your webinars.

Webinar Registration Page

By creating a branded, detailed registration page for your webinar, attendees will be able to understand the purpose of your webinar, see critical details like the date, time, and speakers, and register for the webinar.

Embedded Video

Display embedded video live streams or recorded videos within the your webinars for a seamless virtual attendee experience.

Live Q&A

With a Q&A feature, attendees can submit questions to speakers for an additional layer of interactivity. This allows attendees to engage with the event more fully, personalize their experience by having their questions answered, and impact other attendees' experiences by bringing forward topics they might not have considered.

Session Chat

If you want attendees to feel more like they're watching your webinar together and have the ability to engage directly with your webinar hosts, allow them to use a session chat. This is a great way to encourage networking, raise quick questions, and highlight great points made during the webinar.

Web Analytics (Clicks & Views)

Get page-by-page web analytics with clicks and views to understand what content is being engaged with the most so you can modify your future webinars and inform your total events program strategy.

Engagement Scoring

Engagement scoring  gives your sales and marketing teams a simple, actionable view of attendee activity for faster and smarter follow-up.

Virtual Attendance Tracking

Track attendance during sessions for governance and enable CE credit tracking. Data from tracking can help marketers and planners understand trends.

Screen Sharing

Screen sharing is a great way to share your screen with others during a webinar. This feature allows you to share your screen with participants and even give others control of your screen so they can navigate and interact with your content. 

Elevated Production Tools

If you want your webinars to be more than a slide deck viewed over screen share, opt for a webinar platform that features elevated production tools to help you build a more engaging, visually appealing webinar. Production tools can help you customize backgrounds with preloaded options, create lower thirds, switch between layouts, and use smooth transitions between videos, speakers, or slides.

You may already have an event management platform that's capable of handling your online events, including webinars. If so, that’s great! But even if you have a tool that works, take a moment to consider whether it does everything you need it to do. 

Webinar hosting technology has exploded in recent years, and capabilities are improving and expanding every day. As you execute your webinars, keep track of what did and didn’t work from a technical perspective, and consider how different webinar platforms might better meet your and your attendees' needs.

As you look at webinar solutions , ask yourself the following:

• What features does my current webinar platform provide?
• What capabilities do I need (Chat, Quizzes, production help, etc.)?
• What is my budget for webinars?
• Is there free webinar software that can meet my needs?
• Do I need a total event management and marketing platform that can be used for all my events?
• Is the webinar software user-friendly?
• Does the webinar tool integrate with the event software I already have?
• How many attendees can a room hold?
• Can I have more than one presenter?
• Do I need to host live webinars , on-demand webinars , or both?
• What data do I need, and what data and analytics can the webinar tool provide?
• Are there support resources available?

Read more -  How to Create and Host a Webinar

Webinars are often lower effort than in-person, virtual, or hybrid events, but the benefits they provide long-term can be just as impressive. From establishing your organization as a thought leader to gathering leads, webinars play a big role in your  total meeting and events program . 

With a great team that combines the expertise of planning and marketing, your event program can be a huge driver for sales and impact the organization as a whole. As you build your webinars, do it thoughtfully and strategically, and consider how your webinar software can not only help you deliver great content but track your success .

Start creating webinars with the Cvent Webinar Platform today!

Still have questions about planning and hosting webinars? Check out these FAQ's!

Are Webinars Effective?

Yes! Webinars can be highly effective for delivering targeted content, generating leads, building brand awareness, and engaging a wide audience. Take a look at the section titled "Benefits of Hosting a Webinar" at the top of this post for all the great ways webinars can bring value to your marketing funnel!

How to Create Webinars?

When you're ready to start creating webinars, you'll first need a webinar platform that can engage your attendees with interactive features, offers top-notch production capabilities, allows your speakers to collaborate easily, and offers you the insights you need to measure your KPIs.

How Do You Make Webinars Interactive?

To make webinars interactive, utilize features such as live chat, Q&A, live polls, post-event surveys, breakout rooms, and interactive multimedia content to encourage attendee engagement .

What Is the Difference Between a Meeting and a Webinar?

While a meeting typically involves collaboration among participants with very little production involved, a webinar is primarily a one-to-many presentation or training session with visuals, audio, and other elements produced in advance.

How to Cancel a Webinar?

Although canceling a webinar is generally worst-case scenario, sometimes it can't be helped. In such cases, you should be able to easily cancel your webinar from within the webinar software you're using and automatically notify attendees that the event has been canceled. Of course, it's best to reach out to attendees directly to explain why the webinar has been canceled, whether it will be rescheduled for a different date, and whether there are any resources or other events they might be able to access instead.

Hope Salvatori

Hope is a Senior Content Marketing Associate who has been with Cvent for more than two years. She has 8 years of experience producing content for corporations, small businesses, associations, nonprofits, and universities. As a content professional, she has created content for a wide range of industries, including meetings and events, government and defense, education, health, and more.

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Definition of webinar

Examples of webinar in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'webinar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

web + sem inar

1998, in the meaning defined above

Dictionary Entries Near webinar

web glazing

Cite this Entry

“Webinar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/webinar. Accessed 4 May. 2024.

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What Is a Webinar?

Here's how webinars are changing the way we connect and learn

• University of Ontario
• George Brown College

In This Article

Jump to a Section

• Reasons to Host or Tune In

Webinar Features

• Attend a Webinar
• Host Your Own Webinar

A webinar is a live, web-based video conference that uses the internet to connect the individual (or multiple individuals) hosting the webinar to an audience of viewers and listeners from all over the world. Hosts can show themselves speaking, switch to their computer screens for slideshows or demonstrations, and even invite guests from other locations to co-host the webinar with them.

Webinar platforms also offer interactive features that the audience can use to ask questions and chat with the host. Many people who host webinars include Q&A sessions at the end to answer viewers' questions about the content from the presentation.

Why Host or Tune Into a Webinar?

Professionals use webinars to give educational presentations related to their businesses or organizations and to connect with their audiences in a much closer way. The main benefit is that they are live and occurring in real-time, which makes it easy for audience members to interact with the host(s).

Many webinar hosts treat their webinar presentations as lectures or seminars to help teach their audience something. Some also use webinars to sell their own products and services.

In addition to teaching and selling, webinars are also helpful tools for conducting live interviews with other professionals. The live aspect of it is really compelling for people who want the opportunity to connect and interact in real-time.

Put simply, if you want to learn something about a particular topic of interest, webinars are one of the best ways to expand your knowledge by learning directly from the experts. And if you're an expert yourself, hosting webinars can be a great way to help you connect with your audience.

Here are just some of the things that webinars have to offer.

• Display slides : A host can display a slideshow presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple’s Keynote, just like you would in a regular classroom, meeting room, or lecture hall.
• Stream video : A host can show a video either stored on their computer or found online, such as on YouTube.
• Talk to an audience : Webinars use VoIP to make real-time audio communication possible.
• Record everything : Webinars often provide an option for the host to record their entire presentation — including all visuals and audio.
• Edit : The host can often use their mouse to create annotations, highlight things, or create markings on the screen.
• Chat : The host can open up a chat box to text chat with the audience, which is especially helpful for audience members wanting to ask questions.
• Conduct surveys and polls : Some webinar providers offer the ability to create polls given to audience members for quizzes or survey purposes.

Tuning Into a Webinar

Depending on which service the host uses, you may need to download a computer application first in order to access the webinar. Some hosts also require you to reserve your spot by clicking on a link in an invitation email — especially if the webinar allows a limited number of audience spots.

Many hosts will send out at least one reminder email an hour or a few minutes before the webinar is about to go live . Some hosts will even go as far as to host two webinars of the same presentation to cater to large audiences — especially if they're from all around the world in different time zones. 

When it's time to tune in, audience members have to 'call in,' sort of like making a phone call to access the webinar. Audience members are often provided with a custom link or even a password by the webinar host in order to get in. For some webinars, there's even an option to call in by phone to listen live.

Some hosts will also give their audiences access to a replay of their webinar if they weren't able to attend the live session. 

Hosting Your Own Webinar

If you’d like to host your own webinar, you need to choose a webinar service provider. It can be difficult to find one to use for free over the long run, but most at least offer some kind of free trial period for 30 days or so.

Webinar Service Providers

Here are three popular webinar service providers that people use, among many others:

• GoToWebinar : A lot of professionals use this one. As one of the most popular webinar platforms today, you can get started with GoToWebinar with its 14-day free trial.
• AnyMeeting : AnyMeeting is another popular webinar platform choice and offers a less expensive plan than GoToWebinar along with a 30-day free trial. It’s got great screen sharing options, social media integration, and a variety of management tools as well.
• Zoom :  Zoom is a great cost-saving tool since it offers a totally free plan for up to 100 attendees and a 40-minute cap on meetings. This service is scalable in price, depending on how many attendee spots you want, and starts as low as $20 a month.

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What Is a Webinar? A Definition and Overview

July 25, 2023

In today's digital world, webinars have become an increasingly popular means of communication and learning. Whether you are a business professional looking to host a virtual event or an individual wanting to expand your knowledge, webinars offer a convenient and interactive platform to achieve your goals. Understanding the concept of a webinar and its various elements is crucial for those who wish to make the most of this powerful tool.

Understanding the Concept of a Webinar

A webinar is a live, web-based seminar or presentation conducted over the internet. It allows a speaker or a group of speakers to deliver content to an audience spread across different geographical locations. Combining audio, video, and interactive elements like chat rooms and polls, webinars provide participants with an engaging and immersive learning experience.

Webinars have become increasingly popular in recent years due to their convenience and accessibility. They offer a unique opportunity for individuals to learn and connect with experts in various fields without the need for physical presence. Whether you're a professional seeking to enhance your skills or a student looking to expand your knowledge, webinars provide a flexible and interactive platform for growth.

The Evolution of Webinars

Webinars have come a long way since their inception. Initially, they were primarily used for training and professional development purposes within organizations. Companies would conduct internal webinars to train their employees on new processes, technologies, or products. These early webinars were often limited to a specific audience and were not widely accessible.

However, with advancements in technology and the growing demand for remote learning and communication, webinars have evolved into a versatile tool used by businesses, educational institutions, and individuals alike. The emergence of web conferencing tools and video streaming platforms has made it easier than ever to host and participate in webinars.

Today, webinars are no longer limited to internal training sessions. They have become an integral part of marketing strategies for businesses looking to reach a wider audience. Companies use webinars to showcase their expertise, promote their products or services, and engage with potential customers. Educational institutions utilize webinars to offer online courses, workshops, and lectures to students around the world.

Furthermore, webinars have also become a popular platform for thought leaders and industry experts to share their knowledge and insights. These webinars attract participants from different backgrounds who are eager to learn from the best in their respective fields.

The accessibility and flexibility of webinars have made them an essential part of today's digital landscape. They provide a cost-effective and efficient way to disseminate information, foster collaboration, and build connections across distances. As technology continues to advance, we can expect webinars to further evolve and revolutionize the way we learn, communicate, and share knowledge.

The Importance of Webinars in Today's Digital World

In today's fast-paced and interconnected digital world, webinars have emerged as a vital tool for businesses and individuals alike. With their numerous benefits and advantages, webinars have revolutionized the way we communicate, learn, and conduct business.

Benefits of Hosting a Webinar

Hosting a webinar offers numerous benefits for businesses and individuals alike. Firstly, webinars provide a cost-effective alternative to traditional in-person seminars and conferences. The elimination of travel and accommodation expenses makes webinars an attractive option, especially for small businesses and startups with limited budgets.

But the benefits of webinars go beyond the financial aspect. Webinars allow presenters to reach a wider audience. With participants attending from various locations, webinars break down geographical barriers and enable connections that would not be possible in a physical event. The potential for global reach can significantly expand the influence and impact of your message.

Additionally, webinars offer the advantage of flexibility and convenience. Participants can join from the comfort of their own homes or offices, saving valuable time and eliminating the need for physical attendance. This flexibility makes webinars particularly appealing for those with busy schedules or limited mobility.

How Webinars Facilitate Remote Learning and Business

Webinars have revolutionized education and training by enabling remote learning. Educational institutions and training organizations can deliver lectures, workshops, and courses to students across the globe. Participants have the opportunity to interact with instructors and ask questions in real-time, providing a dynamic and engaging learning experience.

Similarly, businesses can use webinars to train their employees, conduct product demonstrations, and host virtual conferences for clients and partners. Webinars provide a platform for efficient knowledge sharing and networking, regardless of geographical limitations.

Furthermore, webinars have become a valuable tool for businesses to generate leads and engage with their target audience. By hosting webinars on industry-related topics, businesses can position themselves as thought leaders and experts in their field. This not only enhances their reputation but also helps in building trust and credibility among potential customers.

Moreover, webinars offer a unique opportunity for businesses to gather valuable feedback and insights from their audience. Through interactive features such as live polls, surveys, and Q&A sessions, businesses can collect data and understand the needs and preferences of their target market. This information can then be used to tailor their products, services, and marketing strategies accordingly.

In conclusion, webinars have become an indispensable tool in today's digital world. With their cost-effectiveness, global reach, flexibility, and ability to facilitate remote learning and business, webinars have transformed the way we connect, learn, and engage with others. Whether you are a business owner, educator, or simply someone looking to expand your knowledge, embracing webinars can open up a world of opportunities.

Key Elements of a Successful Webinar

When it comes to hosting a successful webinar, there are several key elements that you need to consider. Planning and preparation, engaging content creation, and effective promotion strategies all play a crucial role in ensuring the success of your webinar.

Planning and Preparation

Planning is paramount when it comes to hosting a successful webinar. It starts with identifying the objectives of your webinar and defining your target audience. By understanding what you want to achieve and who you are trying to reach, you can tailor your webinar content to meet their needs and expectations.

Once you have identified your objectives and target audience, selecting the appropriate topic becomes crucial. Your topic should be relevant, timely, and of interest to your target audience. It should also align with your overall goals for the webinar.

Adequate preparation is also essential for a successful webinar. This includes creating a well-structured outline for your presentation, ensuring that you have a clear flow of information. It is also important to design engaging visuals that complement your content and capture the attention of your audience.

Furthermore, technical requirements should not be overlooked. Make sure that you have the necessary equipment and software to deliver your webinar smoothly. Familiarize yourself with the features of the webinar platform you are using and test them beforehand to ensure everything works seamlessly.

Engaging Content Creation

Creating engaging content is pivotal to capturing and maintaining participants' interest throughout the webinar. Your content should be interactive and informative, providing valuable insights and actionable takeaways.

Utilizing multimedia elements such as videos, slideshows, and live demonstrations can enhance the overall learning experience for your participants. Visual aids can help illustrate complex concepts and make your content more engaging and memorable.

In addition to multimedia elements, you can also encourage audience participation by incorporating polls, quizzes, and Q&A sessions. These interactive elements allow participants to actively engage with the webinar content and provide valuable feedback.

Engaging with participants in real-time fosters a sense of community and involvement, making the webinar more memorable and impactful. By creating an interactive and dynamic environment, you can ensure that your audience remains engaged throughout the entire webinar.

Effective Promotion Strategies

To ensure a successful webinar, effective promotion is essential. You can have the most valuable content and a well-planned webinar, but if no one knows about it, your efforts will go to waste.

Utilize various marketing channels to spread the word about your upcoming webinar. Email marketing is a powerful tool to reach your existing audience and inform them about the webinar. Craft compelling promotional materials that highlight the key benefits and takeaways participants can expect from attending.

Don't limit yourself to just email marketing; leverage social media platforms and professional networks to reach a wider audience. Share teasers and sneak peeks of what participants can expect from your webinar to generate excitement and interest.

Additionally, consider leveraging guest speakers or partnering with influencers in your field. This can help expand your reach and attract a larger audience. Collaborating with industry experts can also add credibility and value to your webinar.

By implementing a comprehensive promotion strategy that utilizes various marketing channels and leverages partnerships, you can maximize attendance and engagement for your webinar.

Different Types of Webinars

Webinars have become increasingly popular as a means of communication and knowledge sharing. They provide a platform for individuals and organizations to connect with their audience in a virtual setting. There are several types of webinars, each serving a different purpose and catering to specific needs. Let's explore some of the most common types:

Educational Webinars

Educational webinars focus on providing valuable and educational content to participants. They can be conducted by educational institutions, industry experts, or organizations looking to share their knowledge on a particular subject. Educational webinars often incorporate interactive elements and encourage active participation from attendees.

During an educational webinar, participants can learn about a wide range of topics, from academic subjects to professional skills. These webinars often include presentations, case studies, and practical exercises to enhance the learning experience. By attending educational webinars, individuals can expand their knowledge, gain new insights, and stay updated on the latest trends in their field.

Product Demonstration Webinars

Product demonstration webinars are commonly used by businesses to showcase their products or services. These webinars allow companies to present the features and benefits of their offerings, answer questions, and address any concerns potential customers may have. Product demonstration webinars can be interactive sessions that provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of the product.

During a product demonstration webinar, participants can see the product in action and learn how it can solve their problems or meet their needs. The presenter may use live demos, videos, or slides to showcase the product's key features, functionality, and unique selling points. Attendees can also ask questions and receive immediate feedback, helping them make informed decisions about whether the product is right for them.

Q&A Webinars

Q&A webinars are structured around answering participants' questions and addressing their concerns. These webinars foster direct interaction and allow individuals to seek expert advice and guidance on specific topics. Q&A webinars can be highly valuable for participants looking for real-time solutions and insights.

During a Q&A webinar, participants have the opportunity to engage with subject matter experts and get their burning questions answered. These webinars can cover a wide range of topics, from personal development and career advice to technical troubleshooting and industry-specific challenges. Participants can submit their questions in advance or ask them during the live session, receiving immediate responses and benefiting from the collective knowledge and experience of the webinar host and other attendees.

Webinars have revolutionized the way people learn and interact online. Whether you're looking to expand your knowledge, explore new products, or seek expert advice, webinars offer a convenient and engaging platform to connect with experts and like-minded individuals. So why not join a webinar today and unlock a world of opportunities!

How to Participate in a Webinar

Necessary tools and equipment.

Before participating in a webinar, ensure you have the necessary tools and equipment. A reliable internet connection, a computer or mobile device, and compatible web conferencing software are essential. Check for any specific requirements or technical specifications provided by the webinar organizer beforehand to ensure a seamless experience.

Furthermore, consider using headphones or a headset with a microphone to ensure optimum audio quality and minimize background noise. Having a quiet and distraction-free environment is also crucial for active participation.

Etiquette for Webinar Participants

When attending a webinar, it is important to adhere to proper etiquette to maintain a respectful and engaging atmosphere. Be punctual and join the session on time to avoid disrupting the presenter and fellow participants. Mute your microphone when not speaking to avoid background noise that may distract others.

Participate actively by asking questions and contributing to discussions when appropriate. Utilize the chat feature to interact with the presenter and other participants. Remember to be attentive and respectful to ensure a positive learning experience for everyone involved.

In Conclusion

Webinars offer a dynamic and convenient platform for communication, learning, and knowledge sharing. Understanding the concept and importance of webinars will empower individuals and businesses to harness their benefits effectively. By mastering the key elements of a successful webinar and exploring different types of webinars, you can enhance your communication skills, expand your knowledge, and connect with a global audience. Whether you are a presenter or a participant, embracing webinars can open up a world of opportunities in today's digital landscape.

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Creating a Webinar Presentation: Tips for Successful Webinars

A guide to creating webinars: how to be a success.

Webinars are the latest trend. They are convenient for both audience and presenters and can be used for countless different topics and scenarios. Whether it’s online marketing, lead generation, building a brand or conveying content, a webinar is a flexible tool that reflects the current zeitgeist.

But the webinar is still a fairly new medium and planning and conducting one can be a pain in the neck for many. Here you’ll find useful information about the unique nature of a webinar and what you need to consider when creating one.

What exactly is a webinar and what’s unique about it? A webinar is a presentation conducted over the Internet. Unlike a video uploaded somewhere else, the webinar takes place in real time and with participant involvement. Participants are integrated into the webinar through various interactive tools – short surveys, quizzes or Q&A periods.

A webinar can serve various purposes; most often it’s used to communicate content, but it sometimes has another purpose, such as part of a marketing campaign.

How does a webinar work? Webinars require an online platform. Zoom, Skype or Microsoft Teams are all popular choices. PowerPoint is also a good choice for webinars.

Media content, such as documents or videos, can also be shared with the audience using compatible programs. Recommended, but not a must, is the use of a camera so that the audience can see the presenter.

The webinar presentation: just a typical presentation? So, a webinar presentation is basically not much different from an ordinary presentation, right? Yes and no. In fact, many elements are similar, but the virtual space offers many unique features. These features are what you need to understand to ensure your webinar is a success. So here are the crucial differences between presenting in real and virtual space.

• Communicating is different This is something no one should underestimate. When presenting in person, communication goes far beyond what is being said. Audience and presenter are in the same room and can actually see each other. Facial expressions, gestures and eye contact are important communication tools. Even though there is a lot one can do with video technology, it can’ t replace direct, in-person interaction. This means that the content and how it is presented is all the more important. At the same time, the voice becomes more important. Avoid a monotonous delivery by paying attention to inflection.
• Informal environment: There is always a degree of formality during an in-person presentation and there’s usually little opportunity to be distracted. At home or in the office, things are a bit different. If a webinar is dry and slow, the temptation to quickly take a look at the documents or to send an e-mail on the side is strong. This is why it is all the more important to communicate the value of the webinar and structure it accordingly.

Presenting in webinars: different, but not more challenging Keep in mind that these differences are often double-edged swords – they can both advantages and disadvantages. An example: If you’re not aware that your webinar audience is slipping away from you, you won’t be able to draw them back in, but you also won’t be thrown off track, either.

A webinar shouldn’t make you more nervous than any other presenting situation. Having a bit of webinar know-how can help you avoid issues and feel more confident. Here are some useful tips.

Creating a Webinar Presentation: Key Factors and Tips

Factor 1: Careful preparation and planning Tools to share content in a webinar are limited. This means it can be hard to make spontaneous changes during a webinar presentation. If you add something to your spoken content, you may not have the visual material to support it. 

The option to write or sketch something down on a flip char or board – something we take for granted during in-person presentations – is possible with the right equipment, but not always easy.

Choose and promote your topic wisely Your challenge is to engage an audience and keep their attention. You need to plan very carefully what you want to communicate and how. This starts with the topic. Think about what appeals to your audience and how they can benefit from it.

Also remember to advertise your webinar early (four weeks in advance is a good rule of thumb). E-vites are a great way to do this. Afterwards, don’t forget to send out more than one reminder.

Time management is key A webinar presentation usually has a set time and length (usually 60-90 minutes). Running too long can annoy your audience – coming up short can give the impression you didn’t prepare well enough. The best thing to do is to create a kind of script in which you determine how many minutes you dedicate to each stage of the presentation.

Incidentally, there is no such thing as a perfect time of day for a webinar. Your target group and goal are the decisive factors here. Employees are generally available in the evening, whereas self-employed people are often available in the morning.

Factor 2: Choose and present content intelligently There’s actually not too much to say here, because it’s your webinar and you most definitely know your topic. Your webinar will normally have some kind of goal or purpose. Now you need to generate an audience.

Supply and demand The basic rule is: Identify your audience and try to put yourself in their position. Who do you want to address? What is interesting for these people? What added value can your webinar offer them? No one will sign up for a webinar to hear that a circle is round. But the topic shouldn’t be too specific and complicated either. Align your webinar with the interests of your target group.

Find the intersection between what you have to say and what people want to know!

Factor 3: Know your software and equipment In a webinar, success hinges far more on the technology than in other presentations. Technical difficulties, or even failures, are difficult or impossible to make up for. On the other hand, you can score major points in a webinar if you are a pro at using the software and multimedia.

This is reason enough to dedicate enough time and attention to your equipment and how it works.

The right software There are so many software solutions that can be used for webinars or have been specially developed for them. Choose one that fits your requirements and is easy to use. The PowerPoint presentation webinar is popular with many users – it can be used on many devices and most people have used the program for in-person presentations. Using PowerPoint for a webinar is an obvious choice.

The visuals If you decide to use a camera, make sure it’s properly aligned and positioned. The camera should at eye level, and your face should be lit from the front. When using a laptop camera, a laptop stand can create a better angle. FYI: artificial light usually works better in video than natural light. Light sources in the background (e.g., windows or mirrors) can be distracting.

Setting the scene When using a camera, also consider your surroundings. Depending on the purpose of the webinar, you can choose a neutral or complementary background (e.g., bookshelves). Think about small things that should be left off camera, like that framed photo of you in full Klingon gear at last year’s Star Trek convention. If you want to go pro right away, you could purchase a green screen.

During the presentation, make sure you actually look into the camera and are aware of your posture.

The audio There are also a few points to consider when it comes to sound. Make sure that the audio settings are adjusted to your surroundings and try to minimize background noise. Close windows and switch off devices (phone, smartphone, PC notifications, etc.) or mute them. If necessary, ask people in the next room or house to be quiet.

Something that is often overlooked: Feedback and distortion can occur if an internal microphone and speakers are used simultaneously. An external microphone, headphones or a headset may be a good idea. If you’re using a lot of equipment, a checklist can help you keep track of all the necessary steps and settings.

The golden rule for every piece of equipment: Familiarize yourself with it before using it!

Factor 4: Clear, concise structure!

The preshow Webinars are often started with a “warm up”. This could be a short introduction (about five minutes), during which the participants can join the webinar. Or, you can join in directly and chat a little with the first participants, just like an in-person presentation.

Have a few small-talk topics ready to go; this relaxes the atmosphere and can help with any nervousness.

The introduction Check the technical features and welcome your audience. If necessary, give them a few technical notes and instructions on how to proceed. Then start with a short, concise overview of your content. If you want, you can use a slide to communicate this.

The very beginning is also the best opportunity to capture the audience’s attention by summarizing the purpose of your webinar and what added value it will offer your audience.

The main event The main presentation should be clearly structured and easy to understand. Your audience should always be aware of a central theme – a leitmotif. More tips on this can be found in the following sections.

The conclusion Summarize your content and key messages again and/or include your call to action. If you’re giving a sales and distribution webinar, this is the right time to introduce any offers, promotions and/or campaigns.

Remember to ask your participants for feedback. A final, short survey is a good way to do this.

Factor 5: Clear and diversified slide structure The ideal number of slides and how they should be designed always depends on the presentation itself and its content. This is when you have to rely a little more on your own expertise. However, the following tips are worth considering:

Less is more Avoid using too many slides. Although it’s hard to set a concrete amount, as a rule of thumb we recommend about 10-15 slides for content and another 5-7 slides for instructions, interactive elements, etc.

Never overload the slides. They should only contain the essential information and have a clear structure. Limit yourself to one point per slide. A few meaningful words will be remembered better and more concisely than a lot of complicated text. The content of the slides should offer variety. Supplement text with tables, pictures, diagrams and other media to attract the attention of the audience.

The right layout The layout should be the same for all slides and, if applicable, align with the corporate design. Master slides can be extremely helpful. Make sure that the font is large enough. Not all participants will be using a large screen.

Keep the slides simple and use colors and effects sparingly. Otherwise, they’ll distract from the content and can also lead to display issues and problems with some programs. Highlighting important content should be your focus.

Factor 6: Practice, check, back up

A test run is a must Even if you prepare everything perfectly, always assume that mistakes and problems will creep in somewhere. A test run is a sure-fire way to detect any weak points. It will also help your delivery and confidence. Run through your webinar a couple of days in advance, perhaps with a friend or colleague as your test audience. This will provide you with useful feedback.

Constructive self-criticism If you’d rather rehearse alone or can’t find a test audience, you can record yourself. These kinds of recordings can be a bit awkward if you’re not used to it – hearing your own voice for the first time can be a shock! Nevertheless, they’re a great tool for practicing and improving as a presenter. Just remember to not be too hard on yourself. We are always our own worst critics!

Check processes and equipment If you’ re not the only one organizing the webinar, coordinate the processes and content with the other participants well in advance of the event. Make sure that your equipment is ready and working on the day of the webinar (laptop, software, camera, sound, Internet connection, etc.).

When it starts: Double check your equipment so you can begin the webinar on time. Always expect that something may not work at the last minute. If possible, have back-up devices and options on hand.

More tips and hints:

• Try to incorporate lots of different tools (chat, survey, quiz, etc.) to make the webinar even more interactive and varied. Those who feel involved are always more engaged than a purely passive listener!
• Think about how you would like the interaction with the participants to happen. For example, how and when can they ask questions (chat box, requests to speak, …)? Explain these rules to the audience right at the beginning (and again in between if necessary).
• It’s always a good idea to prepare a script or at least notes. Even if you are a bona-fide expert on the topic, you may your train of thought. A script can also help you manage your time more effectively.
• The webinar situation might be unfamiliar to many participants. You can help them feel more comfortable by letting them know how the webinar will proceed and by addressing any technical questions they may have. Also try to create a relaxed atmosphere by behaving like you would in a normal meeting or presentation.
• A small detail that many forget: Have a glass of water ready. For longer presentations, it can be a lifesaver.
• A person’s average attention span is about seven minutes. This means you’ll probably have to “wake up” your audience throughout your webinar. A dry tropic can make this even more challenging. Add a bit for entertainment by throwing in some short anecdotes or funny stories. This generates attention, shows your personality and keeps the atmosphere relaxed.
• A good webinar is one that helps participants remember you and your content. You can encourage this with a recap. Create a summary or recording of the webinar and send the material to the participants after the webinar. Added bonuses like this are typically well received.
• Many webinars take place at a desk and there’s nothing wrong with this. But you may want to think about standing up during your delivery. Your posture and voice will automatically improve.
• If you use PowerPoint for your webinar, don’t be tempted to simply recycle a presentation you’ve already given in person. As mentioned earlier, a webinar is completely different from a “live” presentation and needs a different approach.
• Certain organizational issues arise in almost every webinar. People usually want to know if the webinar will be recorded and if such a recording or other material will be available to them. It’s best to clarify these issues right at the beginning. If you plan to hold webinars frequently, you can create a slide outlining this information and use it over and over again.
• A well-designed webinar can be used over and over again. Why do all that work for a one-off event?

No amount of tips and advice can guarantee that nothing will go wrong. In webinars – as in everything else – there are no guarantees. But we hope these tips provide a solid starting point to help you design successful webinars.

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How to Give a Webinar Presentation

• Dorie Clark

Strategies to make the experience less awkward for you — and your audience.

Presenting in a webinar — when you often don’t have access to visual cues about how the audience is responding — can sometimes feel disconcerting or awkward. Here are a few strategies to improve the experience for you and your audience. First, make use of the camera. Many professionals don’t like looking at themselves on camera, but that’s not a valid excuse when you consider how much more engaged listeners are when watching a real person talk to them. Next, an important corollary point: If you’re using the camera, you have to be mindful of visual aesthetics. Specifically, adjust your camera so that it’s giving a straight-on view of your face, and test out how your chosen backdrop appears to participants. It’s also a good idea to rehearse the mechanics of the webinar software you’re using. And finally, decide in advance how you’ll handle audience participation.

As more and more companies cultivate a global workforce and international client base, it’s increasingly necessary to present remotely. For years, teleconferencing was the best option, but in the past five years internet speeds and web conferencing technologies have become sufficiently robust to support a shift to live video streaming. But presenting in a webinar — when you often don’t have access to visual cues about how the audience is responding — can sometimes feel disconcerting or awkward.

• Dorie Clark is a marketing strategist and keynote speaker who teaches at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50. Her latest book is The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World (HBR Press, 2021) and you can receive her free Long Game strategic thinking self-assessment .

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[ web - uh -nahr ]

• a seminar or other presentation that takes place on the internet, allowing participants in different locations to see and hear the presenter, ask questions, and sometimes answer polls.

/ ˈwɛbɪˌnɑː /

• an interactive seminar conducted over the World Wide Web

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Word history and origins.

Origin of webinar 1

Example Sentences

They were able to interact with one another on the virtual platform, as well as ask questions during webinars and workshops.

We also began hosting webinars, which were interactive opportunities to not only get to know our audience, but also to provide them with something valuable rather than a sponsored post on social media.

Join our experts for this webinar as they demonstrate four key reasons a Marketing System of Record can bring greater efficiency and consistency to creative work and marketing campaigns, while allowing your team to prove their value.

For instance, if your business is currently using only the email marketing tool, consider creating a strategy for expanding that usage – integrating podcasts or webinars.

When your brand is featured on a podcast, live show, or webinar, the feature is going to be promoted across that publisher’s website and social media channels.

She had been seeking not only access to the presentation materials, but also a list of ACE members who attended the webinar.

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• Webinar - Final Rule: Medical Devices; Laboratory Developed Tests - 05/14/2024

Webcast | Virtual

Event Title Webinar - Final Rule: Medical Devices; Laboratory Developed Tests May 14, 2024

Webinar details, webinar materials.

On May 14, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will host a webinar to provide an overview of the Final Rule: Medical Devices; Laboratory Developed Tests .

During the webinar, the FDA will:

• Provide an overview of the final rule amending the FDA's regulations to make it explicit that in vitro diagnostic products (IVDs) are devices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act including when the manufacturer of the IVD is a laboratory; and
• Describe the phaseout of the FDA's general enforcement discretion approach to laboratory developed tests (LDTs).

If you have questions about this final rule that you wish to submit for possible discussion during the webinar, please email [email protected] . All questions must be received by May 7, 2024, to be considered for the discussion. Questions will be not be taken during the live webinar.

Add this to my Calendar Outlook users: Click link, select Open, then click Save & Close

LDTs are in vitro diagnostic products (IVDs) that are intended for clinical use and are designed, manufactured, and used within a single laboratory that is certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) and meets the regulatory requirements under CLIA to perform high complexity testing. IVDs can play an important role in health care; they are used in the collection, preparation and examination of specimens taken from the human body, such as blood, saliva or tissue. They can be used to measure or detect substances or analytes, such as proteins, glucose, cholesterol or DNA, to provide information about a patient's health, including to identify, monitor or determine treatment for diseases and conditions.

On April 29, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a final rule amending the FDA's regulations to make explicit that IVDs are devices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) including when the manufacturer of the IVD is a laboratory. Along with this amendment, the FDA outlined a policy to phase out, over the course of four years, its general enforcement discretion approach to LDTs. The agency also outlined targeted enforcement discretion policies for certain categories of tests manufactured by laboratories.

The FDA considered the large volume of comments received to the notice of proposed rulemaking, and adjusted the phaseout policy in a manner that best serves the public health. The FDA believes that phasing out its general enforcement discretion approach for most LDTs, over a period of four years, will protect the public health by helping to assure the safety and effectiveness of these tests, while avoiding undue disruption to patient care. Additionally, increased compliance with device requirements under the FD&C Act (such as premarket review, quality system (QS) requirements, adverse event reporting, establishment registration and device listing, labeling requirements, and investigational use requirements) will put patients and health care providers in a better position to have confidence in IVDs regardless of where they are manufactured.

After this phaseout, the FDA generally will expect IVDs made by either a non-laboratory or laboratory to meet the same requirements, though certain IVDs manufactured by laboratories may fall within one of the agency's targeted enforcement discretion policies.

Registration is not necessary.

Date: May 14, 2024

Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Please dial in 15 minutes before the start of the call to allow time to connect.

Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://fda.zoomgov.com/j/1616994355?pwd=cWZhS2RucTU4ZUNLbGF5ZFN5Wlo5dz09

Passcode: %KeTf9

Please note: Participants who join the webinar using the Zoom webinar link above should use computer audio (listen through their computer speakers and speaking through computer microphone/headset).

The dial-in information provided below is for participants who will be joining the webinar by phone only.

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• International Caller Dial: Please check the international numbers available
• Webinar ID: 161 699 4355
• Passcode: 066992

The presentation, printable slides, and transcript will be available at CDRH Learn under "In Vitro Diagnostics."

If you have questions about this final rule, please contact [email protected] . If you have questions about this webinar, please contact CDRH's Division of Industry and Consumer Education (DICE) at [email protected] , 1-800-638-2041, or 301-796-7100.

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Gsas students shine in 2024 three minute thesis competition.

April 30, 2024

Ayla Cordell | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

The 2024 Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) at Brandeis Graduate School of Arts & Sciences was not Will Dahl’s first rodeo. “It took me two tries,” the Molecular and Cell Biology PhD student said. “On my first attempt last year, I missed a line and stood silent for what felt like ages. To be honest, I was terrified!” This year, Will took home the first place prize for the Sciences of $1,000 and the overall win. He credits his success to careful planning, refinement, and lots of practice. He focused on formatting his talk as a story that would resonate with a wide audience: “Every sentence must be calibrated to communicate, and there is no room for asides. The talk converges from broader impacts to the actual thesis.”

Explaining your research in just three minutes is a tall order, but on April 5, the third annual 3MT Competition, founded by the University of Queensland , saw ten GSAS students meet that very task. Marika McCann, Associate Director of Professional Development at GSAS and member of the 3MT team, alongside Associate Professor of Anthropology and Faculty Director of Professional Development Jon Anjaria; Anahita Zare of MRSEC ; and Becky Prigge, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at GSAS, said this about the 2024 competitors: “Our team was very impressed with how hard our students worked and the overall enthusiasm they brought to their talks. The audience learned so much from our students in this short time, including the possibility of early detection of Parkinson’s Disease, the importance of examining circadian rhythms, patterns in Honduran ceramics, and Tamil transfeminine performance in post-war Sri Lanka.”

Under the bright white stage lights and looking out upon an audience of friends, family, members of the Brandeis community, and a panel of five judges, finalists took to the Spingold Theatre stage. While it was certainly nerve-wracking, contestants noted the benefits of presenting in this format.

Manning Zhang, who won first place in the Humanities/Creative Arts/Social Sciences category, said the best moment of the competition was standing on the stage for the final round with rushing adrenaline. Acknowledging that few friends and family know about what she researches in Sociology and Health Policy, she began sharing more with them to understand how different people would react to her research. While this helped her prepare for the competition, it ended up holding deeper meaning for Zhang: “It took me a really long time to pursue my research and say, ‘This is meaningful.’ Getting feedback from people and hearing that they understand what I’m doing is really important to me.”

Victoria Khaghani, a Master’s student in Anthropology who was Runner Up in the Humanities/Creative Arts/Social Sciences category, echoed this sentiment. “You have to push yourself pretty hard to be able to condense your research down. But being able to then present my research to my family and have them say, ‘We finally understand what you’re doing,’ where they can understand the importance of it…that was huge.”

While contestants hoped to teach their audience something about their research, some finished the competition having learned new things about themselves. “I really like speaking in front of people,” Pranav Ojha, a Molecular and Cell Biology PhD student, discovered. “Figuring out what words to say, how to communicate them to inspire care - I enjoyed that process, and I’m coming out of it with different career ideas.” His passion for public speaking was evident - Ojha finished the competition with a total $1,250, after winning both Runner Up in the Sciences and the People’s Choice Award, which is determined through audience vote.

The final round may have showcased three minutes of individual presentation, but 3MT thrives as a collective and collaborative effort. “This is one of the only opportunities GSAS students at Brandeis have to share their research with the overall Brandeis community, outside of their departments,” McCann noted. Zhang (Sociology and Health Policy) even reached out to 2022 winner Emiliano Gutierrez-Popoca (PhD English ‘23), whose talk on Master-Servant Relations in Early Modern Drama led him to the National 3MT competition. Though they come from different disciplines, 3MT provided a platform for shared experience, and Popoca helped Zhang revise her draft for the final round. “I’ve gained a lot of rapport with people I didn’t think I could have rapport with…networking is very precious,” Zhang said. The 3MT community at Brandeis continues to strengthen and grow, and we cannot wait for next year!

Special thanks to 3MT sponsors: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Mandel Center for the Humanities, Office of the Vice Provost for Research, and the Division of Sciences

This year’s winners include:

First Place - William Dahl (overall winner), Molecular and Cell Biology, Stressed Cells' Secret Weapon for Survival

Runner Up - Pranav Ojha, Molecular and Cell Biology, What Makes our Clock Tick: A Look at Where It All Starts

Humanities/Social Sciences/Creative Arts

First Place - Manning Zhang, Sociology and Health Policy, Move It or Lose It

Runner Up - Victoria Khaghani, Anthropology, The Devil’s in the Details: Neglected Patterns of Honduras

People’s Choice

Pranav Ojha