Improving the Attendance Rate for Your Webinars

Whenever you run a free webinar, you'll find that some people won't turn up on the day. That's not surprising - they haven't made a commitment to it, so what have they got to lose? But you might be surprised at how many people don't turn up! Some webinar presenters say they get as low as 25% attendance of the people who registered.

Somebody recently asked this question on a LinkedIn group about webinars:

"I heard that 50% of the people who register for a live webinar attend, and then an additional 30% watch the recorded webinar. Does anyone know where those numbers come from?"

This is a very broad question, and a single figure isn't useful. But here's my experience...

I run 10-12 webinars a month, of which 2 (maybe 3) on average are free. The attendance percentage at the free webinars varies greatly, depending on the topic and the format (e.g. workshop vs facilitated discussion). I rarely get below 50%, even for the free webinars.
But I also know (because they tell me) that some people are registering KNOWING they won't be attending but will watch the recording - that makes the figures look worse.

On the other hand, I also know some people DON'T register, knowing they can access the recording on my blog - that makes the figures look better.

Interestingly, I think the numbers I get for paid webinars are about the same. Sometimes they ARE as low as 50%, but that doesn't mean attendees are throwing their money away. They might watch the recording (which of course is private, because it's a paid webinar), they might just want the e-book that's bundled with the webinar, they might just want the recorded PowerPoint presentation that gives them an overview, etc.

All of this just goes to show that the attendance rate by itself isn't a useful indicator of anything.

So, what does this mean?

First, expect the numbers to be lower than you'd like.

Second, consider how you can serve the people who don't turn up. For example, if it's a promotional webinar, the people who don't turn up miss out on your sales pitch. But you can still send them a follow-up e-mail later, repeating your offer and perhaps offering them a link to the recording.

Third, if you're really concerned about attendance rates, think of ways to improve this rate - for example:

Send reminder e-mails to attendees before the webinar - for example, a week before, a day before, and an hour before.Give them some preparation to do in advance.Remind them of the value they will get from the webinar.

The key is to focus on their outcomes, not yours!

Gihan Perera is the author of "Webinar Smarts", the smart way for professional speakers, trainers, thought leaders and business owners to deliver engaging and profitable webinars. If you want to know how to reach the world with mic, screen and mouse, visit http://webinarsmarts.com/ for your copy.

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Adding the Human Touch to Your Webinars

A common question about webinars - especially one that's raised by experienced trainers and presenters - is about webinars seeming more distant and remote than a face-to-face presentation.

I saw the question phrased like this recently on a LinkedIn group:

"In a webinar environment how does this lack of human interaction impact on how well a webinar can be delivered in comparison to the tradition face to face session?"

Obviously, this person was already making the assumption that webinars had no human interaction!

I challenge that assumption.

First, just because somebody is there in person doesn't mean they are truly present. Your audience members might be paying attention, but they might also be drifting off elsewhere in their mind. And in modern presentation environments, they might be on their iPhones, laptops, netbooks or tablets, doing something else entirely.

But that's the negative side of the coin. On the positive side, some people feel more comfortable interacting from the "privacy" of their desk - much more than they would in a group. They don't have to feel any group pressure, they are more "anonymous" and they can ask questions anonymously (by typing them).

My own experience as a webinar presenter is that some webinars are just as intimate and "real" as small-group workshops, and more intimate than larger groups. You do have to be comfortable and confident with the technology; otherwise your audience will feel disconnected and distant (not to mention this hurting your credibility!) But when you can put them at ease, it can make them feel more connected than ever before.

Here are some specific things you can do to increase the level of human engagement:

Allow people to speak out loud - for example, when asking questions - rather than just typing questions into a chat room.Address people by name when answering their questions (being aware of privacy and confidentiality, of course).Start the webinar a few minutes early, and use that time to greet people as they join.Stop for questions at various points during the webinar, not just at the very end.Ask for their questions in advance, and answer them during the webinar.Tell people they can remain anonymous, if they wish, when asking questions.

So be confident that you can reach your audience.

I hope you feel more confident now about making a real human connection with your webinars. I'm not just saying this for your benefit, but also because you'll probably have to convince some clients that webinars really can work well for them.

Gihan Perera is the author of "Webinar Smarts", the smart way for professional speakers, trainers, thought leaders and business owners to deliver engaging and profitable webinars. If you want to know how to reach the world with mic, screen and mouse, visit http://webinarsmarts.com/ for your copy.

Original article

Make Your Webinars More Interactive

I remember attending a presentation that my friend and colleague Alicia Curtis made to a group of professional speakers at a National Speakers Association of Australia meeting. She was speaking about younger people in your audience - particularly Generation Y - and how to engage them in your message.

One point that particularly stuck with me was her comment that young people don't come to a training session for you to tell them stuff; they want to tell you stuff. Alicia wasn't saying they are arrogant know-it-alls. No, she was making the point that you have to involve them in their own learning, so they discover things for themselves rather than having it spoon-fed to them by the person at the front of the room. If you don't involve them, you don't engage them.

Alicia wasn't talking about webinars specifically, but I think her point applies equally to them. In fact, in webinars you have to do even more to involve people, because it's so easy for them to get distracted otherwise.

So what can you do?

First, when you're designing your webinar, ask yourself whether your audience could get exactly the same value by simply watching the recording. If the answer is "Yes", beware! The whole point of doing webinars is to create an interactive experience.

Here are some things you could do:

Poll the audience at various pointsStop for questions at various times (not just at the end)Stop for discussion at various timesAsk the audience to write something, and stop speaking to give them time to do itAsk a question, and invite the audienc to type their response to youShow a chat room (if your webinar technology allows it) or a Twitter back-channel (if it doesn't)Ask a couple of audience members in advance to prepare a short segment, and hand over the webinar to them to present itAsk another audience member to answer somebody's question (pick somebody who knows the answer, of course!)

The main point is to be creative about engaging the audience. At first, you might think this is more difficult than in a face-to-face presentation, because you have fewer opportunities to interact. But that's not necessarily the case. In fact, a webinar can be more interactive because audience members take responsibility to engage in an individual way, rather than as a group.

Of course, the good news is that if you do any interaction at all, you'll immediately be creating a better experience than most webinar presenters offer!

Gihan Perera is the author of "Webinar Smarts", the smart way for professional speakers, trainers, thought leaders and business owners to deliver engaging and profitable webinars. If you want to know how to reach the world with mic, screen and mouse, visit http://webinarsmarts.com/ for your copy.

Original article