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How To Plan a Webinar | The Planning and Implementation of a Webinar

by Rebecka Anderson on Oct 07, 2009

3,657 views

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This event will provide participants with the information and tools necessary to immediately begin planning a webinar. Participants will receive details on best practices for implementation along with several resources to help in the planning and implementation process. This will be an interactive webinar in which participants will be invited to participate throughout the presentation. Following this 60 minute event, there will be a 30 minute question and answer period.

This webinar is based upon the work of Karen Hyder, eLearning Guild.

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Kevin, Dimdim Web Conferencing , Community Manager at Dimdim web conferencing Rebecka, this is great, thanks! 1 year ago Reply
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Rebecka Anderson , Technology Coordinator at SpecialQuest Birth-Five | Napa County Office of Education The follow-up page to this webinar is available here: http://www.techforfree.org/2009/10/how-to-plan-a-webinar/ This page includes the templates referenced as well as other webinar development resources. This webinar is based upon the work of Karen Hyder, eLearning Guild. 2 years ago Reply
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Rebecka Anderson , Technology Coordinator at SpecialQuest Birth-Five | Napa County Office of Education The audio for this webinar has been edited. Normally, there is a 1 minute pause between each question. Also slides 1-5 lead up the actual delivery of content and while slides 1-5 may not pertain to you as a view via Slideshare.net, they do serve as an example of 'how to' prep your attendees as a new user of whatever tool you select to use as your webinar platform. 2 years ago Reply
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Kathy: Today’s presenter is Rebecka Anderson. Rebecka joined SpecialQuest Birth-Five as their technology coordinator in 2007. She serves as the project’s webmaster, database developer, social media manager and general technology consultant. Prior to joining SpecialQuest Birth-Five she managed the Distance Learning and Technology unit at the California Institute on Human Services which provided a wide range tech support services to a variety of grant-based projects that were funded by local, state, and federal entities. Rebecka is an experienced web designer and project manager in information technology projects including the development of online courses and webinars. Rebecka: Thank you Kathy and welcome to today’s webinar, on the Planning & Implementation of a Webinar.
I want to quickly explain the format of today’s webinar. This is going to be an interactive event, but as you know, I’ve muted your phones, which means you will only hear my voice. So to communicate with me or other participants you will need to use the chat tool. I’ve chosen this format because I feel it actually gives more people an opportunity to speak. Often times, individuals feel uncomfortable speaking verbally so use of the chat tool provides another way to speak. Additionally, by using the chat tool I can hear from many people at one time, which is something that is not possible through the phone. Today I will be asking questions of you and asking for your feedback at various points during the webinar. When I do ask a questions or request feedback you will hear silence on the line, so don’t worry that you’ve been disconnected. I just want to give you time to think and respond. This webinar is being recorded so you don’t need to take notes. I’ll be putting together a web page that will contain all of today’s materials that I reference. So following today’s session will send out the link to the page.
Before we dive into content I need to do a quick overview of the DimDim user interface so that you will feel comfortable in using some of DimDim’s tools when prompted, but before I do, I want to remind you that this webinar is focused on how to plan, develop and implement a webinar, NOT on how to use DimDim or any other web conferencing software. If you want to learn more about DimDim or any of the other conferencing services like webex, the best thing to do is to participate in one of their demo sessions.
Notice on the left side of the screen that you have a participant list. I am listed as PRESENTER. This list includes everyone in the meeting. If you click on your own name you will see you have a number of options. If you want to reset your display name to something more creative you can go ahead and do that. You can engage in a private chat with someone by clicking on their name and then selecting “chat privately” Upon doing so a box with a blue outline will appear on the bottom left side of the screen. Click your mouse into the box to type your private message and when you are done, hit enter on your keyboard. Go ahead and try sending a private message to someone now. To send a public message, move your eyes to the right side of the screen. At the bottom of the screen is box outlined in blue. Click your mouse in the box and type your message, and when you are done hit enter on your keyboard. Go ahead and practice sending a public message now. As questions come up for you, or when I ask for input, please use the public chat tool. If you have a questions your are embarrassed to ask publicly feel free to use the private chat. Depending upon your question I may share the question/answer, but I will keep your name private. If you have problems with the chat tool, you can email me your questions.
In the next set of slides we are going to talk about determining if a live webinar format is right for you, the role of the event producer, other roles and duties, and the time it takes to plan a webinar.
If you are NOT planning on having your attendees participate throughout your presentation, you would probably be better off pre-recording something and posting it to a website. That way you can spend time polishing your presentation and not worry about the potential technical problems you might experience as a result of being live. If you post a presentation to the web for “anytime access” you can then use email, discussion forums or even schedule a teleconference if you are looking for a way to do some follow-up with your pre-recorded PowerPoint. I’m not trying to discourage you from a live format but you need to know that it takes a fair amount of planning and if something goes wrong you’ve got to be prepared to react in the moment and that might mean your event wont happen in that moment. That’s just the nature of technology and the internet…..there are so many places where something can potentially go wrong. That said, don’t put yourself through all that work and worry if you don’t plan on hearing from your participants throughout the event. www.slideshare.net as a way to share a PowerPoint. Its FREE!
So you are here today because you’ve either been commissioned to organize a webinar, or maybe this is something you have been thinking about doing. Regardless, if you are the person that is going to be responsible for pulling a webinar together you are likely going to be in the role of the event producer. The event producer is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the webinar. The event producer may not be the person actually carrying out each and every task, but it is the event producer’s role to make sure the ducks are in a line, and if they’re not, they’ve got to get the ducks back in the line. So today I will be covering the different pieces of work you will either need to do or manage as an event producer.
I’d like for each of you to take a moment to think about the skills or qualities you think an event producer should possess, and then I would like for you to use public chat to list a skill you feel an event producer should have. I’ve started the list out with being comfortable with technology. These are all great skills for the producer to have. I think that one of the most important skills the event producer needs to have is organizational. There are a lot of details that need to be taken care of.
The event producer usually isn’t the only person involved in a successful webinar. On the left side of this slide I’ve listed out some roles, and to the right I’ve listed out some of the core areas of responsibilities.
Each organization is different with regard to its expectation of staff and their roles. In this slide you can see that I drew lines from roles to duties and you can see that event producer is lined up with all of them. That’s because at minimum the event producer should be following up with whoever is responsible for each duty to make sure that the production of the webinar stays on track. You may find it helpful to print this slide and use it as a guide to create your own role list and assign names to those roles. You may also find it helpful to then draw your own lines to the duties categories because as I previously mentioned each organization is different with regard its expectations of staff. You may also want to keep this list handy when it comes to making your timeline which, we will talk more about shortly.
A common question I receive is how much time does it take to plan a webinar and before we go any further I would like for you to make your best guess at how much time it takes to plan one. You can specify this in literal hours or planning weeks. Use the public chat tool to respond.
If this is your first webinar and if it’s a webinar that you are putting together with others presenters or a committee, give yourself 6-8 weeks. A common myth is that doing something online takes less time. The reality is that it takes as much or more time than a face-to-face event. On this slide I’ve listed the primary reason’s you need to spread this work out over time. You should keep this list handy also for when you are working on your master timeline. I delivered the first session of this webinar in October and I began planning this webinar at the end of August. I put in 78 hours and aside from marketing this event I took care of everything that needed to be done. I filled the key roles of event produce, presenter, and technology.
Ok, staying on track with time…..once you know your event date, you need to create a detailed master timeline to ensure all tasks/deadlines are being hit. This is especially important if you are working with a committee. On the screen I’ve posted a snippet from the timeline I used for this webinar. I will make this available so you can customize it as needed. Notice that my list is pretty detailed, and that it lists the task, a due date, and the person responsible for the task. When you assign a task to someone, make sure they know what is expected of them and when its due. As their due date draws near, send them a reminder. As the event producer its your responsibility to create and manage the timeline.
If you are working with a committee in preparing your script and PowerPoint, I suggest a 1 hour weekly check-in. It may be that you don’t use the entire time, but I suggest you check-in on everyone’s progress. There’s nothing like a checkin meeting to hold people accountable to their deadlines. If you don’t use the full hour you can adjourn early.
So far we’ve talked about determining if this format is the right format for your presentation. We’ve looked at the role of the event producer and some of the other roles and duties involved with planning a webinar, the amount of time it take so plan a webinar, and the need for a master timeline. Lets take a couple minutes for questions or comments. Use the public chat tool.
In the next set of slides we are going to talk about how to select a web conferencing service, the training required, developing your script, the ppt, the maximum length of a webinar, and user feedback frequency.
A great free tool is Dim Dim. It’s free for up to 20 people. Other reputable companies include WebEx, Elluminate, GoToMeeting, and Adobe Connect. Each tool has its own set of positive and negative attributes. I’ll make this list available to you following the webinar. The best way to become familiar with each tool’s offering is to sign-up for the demos led by the sales or tech staff so you can learn more about what the tool is capable of. If the company isn’t already offering you a free trial period you need to ask for one, and if they are only offering two weeks, you can ask for more time. I’ve never been declined on a request like that. Its one thing to watch a demo of how something is supposed to work and another to actually make it work for you. Another really great way to get to know a tool, and to learn some more creative ways about using it, is to participate in webinar regardless of what the content is. This will help you as either the presenter or as someone giving advice to a presenter. One last thing to note is that the rates are negotiable. This is a pretty competitive market right now so don’t be afraid to mention that you are shopping around.
Once you’ve selected your service, you need to begin training yourself and presenters in its use. The best way I’ve found to do this by having your planning meetings online (even if you are in the same office). It’s not enough to just show the presenters how it works. They need to be familiar and comfortable with it in advance of the event. The last thing you want is for your presenter to begin ranting about how “unfriendly” the software is during the event because they forgot how to advance their PowerPoint slide. Also, because of your role as the event producer there is an assumption that you know everything about the tool, so you need to become comfortable with it. Its ok if you don’t know all of the technical nuances, but you do need to inspire confidence in those around you. You need to be the bridge between your presenter and tech support. You really need to master the ins/outs of the tool and the best way to do this is through practice. You’re not mastering a complicated technical process, you are mastering how to navigate a website.
Aside from getting yourself up to speed on the web conferencing software you need to make sure that your presenter has a script. The presenter needs to plan what they are going to say because there is a limited amount of time to say it. So whether they are showing a PowerPoint slide show or taking people on a tour of a website, the presenter needs to know exactly what they are going to say for each screen. Its your job as the event producer to ensure that this gets done. In a face-to-face situation you can easily get away with going over in time because you essentially have a captive audience. When you are doing an online event, things are much different. People have scheduled your webinar in the midst of an already busy day, so when your time is up, its up. If people have other appointments or work to do, they will have no problems logging off, so make sure there is a script and that you stay within the timeframe you specified to your participants.
There are many different ways in which you can choose to prepare your script. I’m going to tell you about 1 way you could do it. This particular approach worked really well for me when I was planning a webinar with a committee of 5 and I had an 4 additional presenters. Everyone needed input and everyone needed to know what the other person was saying so their content could fit within the context of the entire presentation. We started out by creating a basic outline in a MS Word document and estimated how much time each section would take. Once everyone was comfortable with the outline & timing, we then moved to this table format that you are seeing on the screen. As you can see, the first 3 columns are basic pieces of information you could pull in from your outline. You would use the script column to specify the details of what will be said, and the visual column to specify what it is you want your participants to see at that point in the presentation. When you are done, you would ideally have a row for each slide. Once you have this table in a near or final form you can begin working on the details of your PowerPoint. Tip: insert your script into the notes field of each slide if you are using PowerPoint. I have two templates you can checkout that will help you plan out your script.
So as you are planning your script you need to know what the length of your presentation is going to be. Using the chat tool, make your best guess at what the maximum length of a webinar should be.
Keep the presentation to 60 minutes. The best way to ensure this is to script your presentation, to practice it out loud, and to account for the time that will be used for questions or other interactions. So just to give you a frame of reference in figuring out timing, my script (exclusive of any pauses) is about 30 minutes…that’s me reading straight through. The interactions and Q&A periods that are built-in take up another 20 minutes which leaves me with 10 minutes of time in case any of the Q&A periods go longer than anticipated. There are no webinar police so if you feel its absolutely necessary to go longer you can but don’t go over the time you scheduled. Tip: Schedule a webinar series if your content can’t fit into 1hr.
As you plan your script try to have have some type of user interaction every 5 minutes. An interaction can be use of the chat, poll, quiz, whiteboard, or voice. It really depends upon your content and also the web conferencing software you selected. The reason for this is that you need to keep your participants engaged & awake. You also need to make sure they are following you and understanding you. Because you are online you can’t see people’s body language and facial expressions. In a face-to-face situation its probably pretty obvious to you when you’ve got someone who isn’t getting it. Online you need to be intentional. For example I did a check-in back on slide 16 and we are about to do one now.
So far we’ve covered selecting web conferencing software, the importance of training yourself & the presenter on its use, scripting, 60 minutes as a maximum length, and the importance of user feedback. Lets take a couple minutes for questions. If you have a question or comment, use the public chat tool to ask it. Ok time, to move on.
Next, we are going to talk about some of the technical requirements of a webinar, the importance of a time keeper and practice sessions, and lastly why you should have a plan b.
Technical Requirements for the host and presenter. If possible, do not use VoIP (using your computer to send your voice). It will eat-up bandwidth and potentially slow the rendering of images for your attendees. Use your own teleconference service or the built-in teleconference service. The person who starts up the web conferencing software is known as the host. The host and the presenter should be using land lines. NOT CELL PHONES. Encourage your attendees to use landlines if you will be asking them to use the phone to communicate. Do not use the video feature. It eats up bandwidth and for the most part does not add any value to the presentation. Additionally, don’t attempt to show a video/audio from your computer. If you want to try it, you of course can, just know that it adds to your list of things that could go wrong. The host and presenters need to have a wired broadband connection, NOT WIRELESS. Wireless signals can fade and web conference services need a steady internet connections. Without a steady connection you run the risk of being disconnected from the meeting and that’s the last thing you want to have happen to a presenter.
Guess how many computers it takes to run a webinar ---meeting attendees aside. Use the public chat tool to respond.
Technically 1, at minimum 2 and Ideally 4! The computer in which you start the meeting on is known as the host. A presenter can present from that computer but its BETTER to have the presenter working on a second computer. So you would start the meeting on one computer (known as the host) which has full administrative access to the web conferencing software. From that computer you then designate a second computer for the presenter who also has admin access. The purpose in having 1 computer designated as the meeting host and the other as a presenter is protection against the entire meeting ending in the event the host computer gets disconnected from the internet. If the host computer goes down the presenter can keep on with the presentation and maintain full administrative control over the webinar. If the presenter’s system goes down, the host can still manage the environment. So maybe that means advancing slides while the presenter talks through the phone, or reassigning presenter privileges. So at minimum you want 2 computers. One for the presenter and one for the host. If possible, you should also have sitting next to you 2 more computers. Here’s why….the presenter and host screens look different from your attendee’s screen. Its extremely helpful to have a view of what your attendees are seeing. For example as you turn features on/off you can verify that those changes took affect by looking at the screen instead of constantly asking your participants. I suggest have a view of a mac and windows. The reason for having both is because there are some subtle nuances in how each platform handles web conferencing software.
That was a lot of information, so before we move on I just want to see if there are any questions about the need for 4 computers and their purposes.
Ok lets do another pop quiz. Does anyone remember the maximum time of a webinar? Use the public chat tool to respond. 60 minutes! To stay on track, designate a timekeeper. This person’s role is to keep the presenter informed of the time during the event. They can show the presenter time alerts every 15 minutes and monitor the amount of time spent on questions. Make sure the presenter practices their timing, and be sure to include your timekeeper as part of your practice sessions.
How many practice sessions do you think you should have? Use the public chat tool to respond.
The best answer is actually as many as it takes for you to feel comfortable. In anticipation of this webinar I’ve done 6. Informal and formal meaning some of my practices were just me reading my script, and others included me firing up the web conferencing software and pretending I was actually doing the webinar live. At minimum, plan to have 3 practice sessions using the computer/phones that will be used during the event. I can tell you right now people will complain as soon as they find out this is a requirement, but in the end I guarantee they will thank you. My recommendation is to make sure that the practice sessions are stipulations of your contract and hold them to it. If your presenter can’t commit to the practice sessions, you need a new plan. If don’t practice you can expect failure. If you only do 3 practices here’s I suggest using them: Use the first session to go over the storyboard and rehearse who will do what. You don’t need to have a detailed script, but you should actually move through an outline of the presentation. Ideally your second session would be in a nearly final and its about fine tuning your script and timing. Practice as if this were real, but stop as needed to make adjustments. Your 3 rd practice is your dress rehearsal. Behave as if this were the real deal. Don’t stop to make adjustments unless absolutely necessary. The purpose of this 3 rd practice is to help everyone feel confident about the upcoming event. During your 2 nd /3 rd practices secure volunteer participants and ask them to behave as if they are an actual participant of the webinar so ask them to to respond to the presenters questions, and to also ask questions.
You need to have a Plan B. What happens if your internet connection fails, or your participants lose their connection? Plan B is one of the other reasons I like to use teleconferencing with web conferencing software instead of voice over IP. If the web conferencing software isn’t working, I can have participants open up the PowerPoint presentation that was sent to them earlier, and I can have them follow along because we’ve still got a voice connection. If you’ve got web-based interactions, I just need to be prepared to handle those interactions through the phone. Its possible that you may need to reschedule. There are a number of things that can go wrong that are out of your control. For example we had a situation here of needing to start our webinar but WebEx was having technical problems. Maybe your local ISP is having issues. Regardless there’s a lot that can happen that’s out of your control so with this in mind you might want to have a clause in your contract that if there is a situation like this your presenter will participate in a make-up session. As an accommodation, record your presentation and make it available online so that those that were not able to log on or were kicked from the webinar can still access the information.
We covered the technology that host/presenters should/shouldn’t use and we know that at a minimum we want 2 computers running our webinar (ideally 4). We also went over the importance of having a time keeper, multiple practice sessions, and a plan B. Lets take a couple minutes for questions. If you have a question or comment, use the public chat tool to ask it. Ok great lets move on.
Next we are going to go over some PowerPoint tips and tips on preparing your attendees.
On each slide, include a photo of the person who is speaking at that time. This is especially helpful to participants if you have multiple presenters. If you will be showing a PowerPoint presentation, number the slides. This will prove invaluable if go to Plan B. In the event of a tech glitch you can refer to slide numbers. Use a light colored background and dark colored text. Rely upon the notes and outline sections for details. The text on your slide is an enhancement….a visual aide. Its not meant to speak for you.
When preparing your PowerPoint, choose visuals that enhance your presentation. If you don’t have a meaningful visual aid, don’t force the inclusion of one and always use quality images. You can get some great images at istockphoto.com for $1-3. The extra small or small versions are perfect for PowerPoints.
Provide your event attendees with the technical information they will need at least two weeks prior to the event so they have time to configure their computer. Some people may not have full administrative access to their computers, and they may need time to schedule an appointment with IT. If you wait until the last minute to share the technical details of the webinar they may not have time to have IT assist them. Its particularly helpful to have a webpage created that holds all of the event details so you can refer that single page----its just nice to have all of your information centralized. Be sure to provide your participants with an orientation of how to use any of the tools you will be expecting them you use during your webinar. Lastly, give yourself enough time to get your computers setup, connected with the internet so you aren’t rushed, and if possible start the webinar portion of the meeting 30 minutes in advance. That give you time to troubleshooting any unforeseen problems, and it gives your participants the opportunity to also get on early so they have time to troubleshoot.
So to summarize what we just covered, make sure you number your slides, include photos of who is speaking, select appropriate visuals, and make sure you have adequately prepared your attendees by providing with the technical details in advance of the webinar, provide an orientation of the tools to be used at the start of the webinar, and setup early.
We are at the end of today’s webinar. Tomorrow I will be sending out to you an evaluation form. Upon submitting the evaluation you will receive a link to a web page with this recording and the other supporting documents I reference. I’m also going to remain online for the next 30 minutes to take any final questions you may have about planning your own webinar.

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Rebecka Anderson , Technology Coordinator at SpecialQuest Birth-Five | Napa County Office of Education 2 years ago