In this series, we’ve discussed building your webinar presentation and promoting it. Now it’s showtime! This is where all your hard work pays off. It’s time to deliver an engaging and persuasive webinar to your prospects and COIs.
At Oechsli, we’ve presented hundreds of webinars over the years, the following are a few best practices we’ve garnered.
1. Host a Practice Session
Presenting can make some people a bit nervous; layer on some new technology and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. It’s always a good idea to conduct a practice session a few days before the actual event. You’ll also want to log in at least 15 minutes before your actual presentation takes place.
2. Dress for Your Audience
Even though you may be conducting your presentation from home, you’ll need to change out of your pajamas. Think of this as you’re presenting during an in-person workshop or seminar. You can probably ditch the tie, but make sure you’re polished.
3. Ensure Good Lighting
While you’re sharing your screen, you’ll always want to be on camera. Why? It helps your audience connect with you. To avoid looking like you’re presenting from a dingy basement, you’ll want to make sure your face is well illuminated. There are plenty of options for lights that don’t break the bank, but here are a few of our favorites:
5. Ensure Good Audio
While you can certainly dial in via phone, a decent microphone plugged into your computer will always provide a much richer and clearer tone. It’s worth the money to upgrade to a decent USB microphone. Here are a few we recommend:
- Blue Snowball iCE USB Mic
- Fifine Metal Condenser Recording Microphone
- Blue Yeti USB Mic for Recording
4. Script the First 60 Seconds
First impressions are everything! You certainly don’t want to stumble your way through an introduction. Instead, you want to open your webinar with confidence and conviction. This is an area where it’s worth taking some time and scripting out what you plan to say.
5. Keep Things Lively
The last thing you want to do is come across like the infamous economics teacher played by Ben Stein in the classic movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But we’ve seen some advisors pull off a seemingly perfect impression … not good. You can’t forget that people do business with people they like. Don’t be afraid to smile, show some personality, crack a joke and present with energy. Your audience needs to feel your passion coming through the presentation.
6. End With a Strong CTA (Call to Action)
As you close your presentation you can’t forget your No. 1 goal, conversions. Conversions can come in two forms. First, you’d like prospects to schedule a meeting with you. Ensure this offer doesn’t feel threatening or too aggressive. Instead, think inviting and low risk. Second, if prospects aren’t ready to schedule a meeting just yet, consider offering a secondary CTA. This could be in the form of a PDF of the presentation, a white paper, an exclusive video and more.
If you’ve been following this three-part series you probably realize that hosting effective webinars takes a lot of work. That said, when done correctly, they are worth it. There’s no doubt that webinars are the new seminar. Not to mention, they’re more cost-effective and scalable.
Stephen Boswell and Kevin Nichols are partners with The Oechsli Institute, a firm that specializes in research and training for the financial services industry. @StephenBoswell @KevinANichols www.oechsli.com