How to design powerful, engaging webinar programs.

1. Effective Webinar Design
and Facilitation
iCohere, Inc.
Walnut Creek, CA  Washington, DC
iCohere.com
Lance A. Simon, CVEP
Executive Vice President
The views expressed and examples shown here do NOT represent any official views of, nor endorsement by, any professional organization or any agency of the U.S. Government.
iCohere educational webinars provide 0.5 credits toward CAE application
or renewal professional development requirements. Live attendees only.

2. Click on Arrow in the upper left corner of your Webinar screen. Click on the map to
show your location. Click the Arrow (upper left corner) again when you’re finished.

3. Session Learning Objectives
In this educational session you will learn…
• An overview of webinar best practices
• Various effective engagement techniques
• How to turn webinars into on-demand courses and an online
resource center
• Elements of the iCohere® unified learning system

4. Disclosures
• Lance A. Simon, CVEP is Executive Vice President for iCohere, and
is the creator & instructor of the Meetings Without Walls course.
• This presentation is provided free and with no obligation for
practitioners and consultants only. We follow-up with all program
registrants.
• Competitors are not allowed to participate in this live program
or to view the program archive.

5. iCohere®
Unified Learning System
• Custom development shop since 1987
• Platform first launched in 2001
• Headquarters in Walnut Creek, CA
• Independent, owned by CEO/Co-founder
• Developed and cloud managed by iCohere
• On U.S. Government Federal GSA schedules
• Section 508 Accessibility

8. Resistance To Engagement (Participants)
• Multi-tasking
• Boredom
• Lack of buy-in
• Lack of shared purpose
• Fear of looking “unprofessional”
• Fear of being caught “not knowing”

9. Resistance To Engagement (Speakers)
• Insufficient practice with tools
• Multi-tasking
• Lack of live team support
• Nervous without physical audience
• Fear of looking “unprofessional”
• Fear of being caught “not knowing”

10. Poll: Which resistance(s) ring true to you?
• Choose one or more of these:
 Multi-tasking
 Boredom
 Lack of buy-in
 Lack of shared purpose
 Fear of looking “unprofessional”
 Fear of being caught “not knowing”
 None of these apply

11. 1. Schedule Pre-Event Connection Opportunities
• Most people don’t engage during
webinars because they don’t know
anyone in the audience and they
don’t personally know the speaker.
• When planning your webinar,
include opportunities for attendees
to engage with each other and you
before & after the event.

12. 2. Send Personalized Pre-Event Emails
to Build Rapport
From a real person, not a “donotreply” email
Include a calendar
appointment so
your webinar is
added to their
calendar

13. Online community
Personalized email
Pre-event Blog
More info about the
online community
3. Provide Pre-Webinar Engagement Opportunities
in the Confirmation Email

14. 4. Foster Engagement During The Webinar
Webinar platforms include a
variety of tools to foster
engagement and interaction.
Use them but be careful not to
over-engage.
• Annotation / Drawing Tools
• Polls & Voting
• Open Attendee List
• Open Chat
• Private Q&A

15. 5. Bring Along a Webinar Engagement Team
• Call on team members to elaborate on a
key point or solution.
• Ask engagement team members to spark
the first questions.
• Engage people you know (clients, friends)
• As a webinar icebreaker, ask all attendees
to introduce themselves and their
organization in the chat box. Your
engagement team can get this moving.
Colleagues, industry partners,
or subject-matter experts can attend the
webinar and support you.

16. 6. Designate a Chat Monitor
• Choose a subject-matter expert or
specialist on the topic to monitor the
chat room.
• Provide them with presenter authority,
so they can interact with the speaker if
needed.
• Introduce the monitor at the beginning
of the program as a key co-presenter.
Share about their background and
expertise on the topic.
Colleagues, industry partners,
or subject-matter experts can attend the
webinar and support you.

17. What’s Your Favorite Engagement Tool…?
Annotation
Polling
Anonymous
Polls
Open Chat
Private
Q&A
Use the
Annotation Arrow!
Click on Arrow in the upper left corner of your Webinar screen.
Click on the box to show your choice.

18. Let’s Look At Real-Life Examples
Turning Webinars into Courses
and Building an Online Resource Center

19. Webinar Design Checklist

20. Webinar Presenter Checklist

21. Meetings Without Walls™ Course
Fall semester begins September 15
Sign up at: MeetingsWithoutWalls.com

22. Unified Learning Design Studio ‘16
 10 session, free series!
 Real education, not advertising
 Second Tuesday each month
 1 CAE hour per webinar
 Includes iCohere Academy membership
Learn more & sign up at: iCohere.com/WhatsNew
www.adbpartners.net
abatson@adbpartners.net

23. • Look for your invitation email from this address:
sqldba@iCohere.com
• Our hub for developing your skills with eLearning and
virtual meetings
 Archives and handouts for all our webinars
 Unified Learning Design Studio™
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 eBooks, Guides and Case Studies
 Free and discounted online courses
 Online discussion boards
• Learn more at iCohere.com/Academy
Join 1,450+ of your peers in this worldwide
professional learning community!

25. Effective Webinar Design
and Facilitation
iCohere, Inc.
Walnut Creek, CA  Washington, DC
iCohere.com
Lance A. Simon, CVEP
Executive Vice President
The views expressed and examples shown here do NOT represent any official views of, nor endorsement by, any professional organization or any agency of the U.S. Government.
iCohere educational webinars provide 0.5 credits toward CAE application
or renewal professional development requirements. Live attendees only.