As more companies employ work from home policies, corporate webinars are being used more than ever before. Since the start of COVID-19, businesses who utilize webinars have seen an 87% increase in attendance, with the average webinar generating between 500-1,000 leads. But here at StagePost, we don’t shoot for average. In this blog, we’re sharing our best tips and tricks to make your corporate webinars stellar!
The Importance of Webinars—What Makes Them So Attractive?
So why do 60% of businesses use webinars? In 2020, over 60 million people attended a webinar, and reports have shown that webinar usage increased by over 162 percent. For a corporation, webinars are cost-efficient, save time, and allow your company to reach a global audience. With this means of communication becoming more demanding, there are many factors that add to the appeal of your corporate webinar. More importantly, these factors can determine whether your audience is engaged.
Seeing that the main portion of the webinar consists of speaking and sharing information on behalf of the company, your video speaking skills are a determining factor in evaluating engagement. Our video-speaking tips that increase engagement include:
Be Passionate and Energetic
Nobody likes a long and drawn-out webinar! Want to avoid disengagement? Speak with energy! A good way to keep your audience hooked is to be excited about what you’re talking about and demonstrate your passion sincerely throughout your presentation. When leading the conversation, you are controlling the webinar and the audience will feed off whatever energy you’re displaying. A good reminder may be keeping track of people who the company considers to be interactive and engaging presenters – people who can captivate the audience with their voice.
When looking to speak with energy and enthusiasm it’s important to focus on the following:
- Pronunciation: Aim to speak clearly and pronounce each word. Practice going over your script before presenting to ensure you can articulate what you plan to say.
- Choice of Words: Your vocabulary and word usage play a part in your presentation. Aim to use dialogue that’s not too complicated, is relatable and can be easily understood.
- Tone, Pitch and Volume: Ensure you are speaking with a welcoming tone and pitch. You want to avoid dragging words and not speaking loud enough.
Ask Engaging Questions
Don’t worry – it’s okay to talk to your audience! When hosting a corporate webinar, having casual chats throughout the session allows the audience to really hone in to what’s being said and be included in the conversation. A good way to establish a sense of conversation is to ask questions that require the audience to provide feedback or collaborate with each other, essentially creating a two-way exchange of ideas from the company and attendees. With collaboration, the audience is not just strictly observing but listening and paying attention to the presentation.
Another good rule is to avoid leaving open opportunities for the audience to speak and resort to selecting specific people to answer questions. We know, calling on people may seem like the fifth grade way of doing things. However, it will keep the audience engaged by listening to hear if they are selected to answer a question.
Interact With The Audience
According to GoToWebinar, the average attendee viewing time is 57 minutes. In other words, you have about an hour to capture and hold the attention of your audience. A good way to do this is to interact with your audience. Audience interaction improves learning, expresses inclusivity, and provides the corporation with instant feedback. In another blog we wrote that gave webcasting tips, we outlined a few ways you can interact with your audience in a genuine way. This may include incorporating a Q&A session, hosting quizzes during the webcast and conducting a poll.
Audience interaction may look different for each company. On the bright side, it’s not hard to do. Simple and meaningful ways to interact with your audience include:
- Speak with, don’t speak at: Speak directly with the audience instead of speaking at them. Speaking with your listeners can look like asking their opinion on the information you’re presenting, giving them opportunities to ask questions and establishing a dialogue between you and the audience.
- Attendee recognition: The truth is, getting recognition for anything feels good. Recognizing the efforts of those participating during the webinar can increase engagement by pushing listeners to interact more, and in return, they will be looking forward to being highlighted for their participation.
Utilize Taking Breaks During The Webinar
We know, corporate webinars may be more information heavy. However, a good way to increase engagement is to avoid talking for the entire presentation and encourage short breaks. If a webinar lasts longer than an hour, experts recommend taking a 5-minute break every 15 minutes to encourage other media sources that support your webinar. It may also be a good idea to have a timer visible so that everyone stays on track – knowing when to stop & start their break.
Examples of breaks include:
- Incorporating breakout sessions and allowing the audience to chat with each other
- Adding a give-away portion to the presentation
- Playing games with the audience
- Including pop quizzes and live call-ins in the presentation
- Providing Q&A sessions
Get Started On Planning Your Corporate Webinar
With an overall average conversion rate of 55%, it’s no surprise that 83% of U.S. marketers find webinars effective. Hosting a corporate webinar may just be the easiest project your company ever took on! Being passionate and energetic, interacting with the audience and utilizing a variety of media will keep your audience engaged during your corporate webinar. Ready to get started? Give us a call to learn more about how we can accomplish your corporate webinar goals!
