How to Give Effective Teleseminars & Webinars
Build your brand and attract more customers with 6 tips for better teleseminars and webinars.
Lisa B. Marshall
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How to Give Effective Teleseminars & Webinars
How to Give Effective Teleseminars and Webinars
The popularity of teleseminars and webinars is skyrocketing because these means of communicating are the cheapest, fastest, and easiest ways to attract more customers. Not only do you create new relationships, you also build stronger relationships with your existing customers.
However, many businesses are still struggling to delivering effective teleseminars and webinars. So today, I’m going to cover the common mistakes people make and how to overcome them.
Tip #1: Teach People
Today it’s all about the soft sell. People don’t want a sales pitch. Instead, they’re interested in receiving valuable information. They want to learn something. So teach them something; don’t sell them something.
For example, I have a client who is a new doctor at an OB/GYN clinic at a hospital. She volunteered to deliver a seminar on women’s health issues to build her practice and attract new patients. The seminar was well-received, it served it purpose, and now the hospital is considering making it available on-demand.
By the way, it is important to advertise correctly. If your program is not what was promised, your audience will drop off.
Tip # 2: Use Interactivity in Your Teleseminars and Webinars
It’s important to keep in mind that a teleseminar or webinar is an event, not a speech. So the organization is slightly different; you’ll need to deliver the information in much smaller chunks. By the way, that’s why “the expert interview” format works so well. The natural Q&A breaks up the content into manageable chunks and it keeps it interesting.
When you are flying solo in a teleseminar or webinar the idea is to keep each content area very short and–if possible–include audience interaction. For example, briefly explain a topic and then ask participants to provide examples using chat or voice. Or pose a question and ask participants to vote or give a one word answer in response.
By the way, using interaction at the beginning of the seminar is also a good idea. Attendees tend to arrive late to these types of events. By asking questions, such as “How much experience do you have with this topic?” or “What is the size of your business?” you immediately engage the audience, you get them warmed up to interacting in this manner, and you kill a little time at the beginning, which gives your listeners or viewers a chance to arrive before you begin the meat of the seminar.
So tip number two is interact, interact, interact.
Tip # 3: Ensure Good Sound Quality
Next the sound quality needs to be excellent. It helps to also have good video, but good sound is most important. Turns out people will tolerate poor video, but if they can’t hear properly, they hang up.
Do not use the built-in microphone and speakers on your computer. Use an external mic and a headset to listen. If you are delivering by phone, then be sure to use a landline phone–cordless and mobile phones run the risk of low batteries and poor reception. Do a test run to check the sound quality.
You’ll want to mute all listeners until verbal feedback is requested. You don’t want barking dogs and crying babies in the background, right? Also, remember to turn off your own cell phone and lock your door to avoid unexpected interruptions.
For me, part of good sound quality is ensuring that you speak without disfluencies. Ah, you know, filler words like, um, well, don’t add to the content, and ah, um, you know, are just, like, annoying! When you do your test run, be sure to deliver real content because you’ll want to check for these nasty credibility killers. (If you do have a problem, then listen to my episode about it!) It’s a good idea to eliminate disfluencies, but don’t let your concern about these filler words stop you from delivering your seminar.
So tip number three is to remind you that sound quality is critically important.
Tip #4: Effectively Soft Sell During Your Seminar
Next, although I said you should provide information instead of a hard sell, you still need to keep in mind that is still a sales event. That means you’ll need to subtly incorporate selling during your seminar. Don’t wait until the end, because the longer the call, the more likely you will lose people as the event goes on.
So what exactly do I mean by subtly? For example, at the beginning of the call, you can mention that as a thank-you you’ve created some exclusive bonuses just for them. The idea is to direct them to a special landing page on your website that sells yours stuff and includes the bonuses. During the seminar, you just need to mention the landing page a few times.
By the way, I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I used this same technique in my new audiobook, The Public Speaker’s Guide to Ace Your Interview. Several times during the book I mention interviewextras.com, which contains bonus materials but also sells services.
Tip #5: Include Your Name a Few Times
Also, as I just demonstrated in this podcast, you’ll want to try to include your name, company name, and product name a few times during the seminar. Telling stories with dialog is the easiest. For example I might say, “A client once asked me, ‘Lisa B. Marshall, why Lisa B. Marshall, and not just Lisa Marshall?'”
Of course, you’ll need a call to action at the end of the seminar as well. Mention the landing page, but at the end be more specific about bonuses or free gifts that you are offering. Always provide an incentive. Give them a free report, a recording, or perhaps a personal consultation.
Always include the ability to sign-up for your newsletter. Email marketing is still the most effective marketing tool. Again, keep in mind the reason businesses deliver seminars is to build trust and earn the opportunity to sell.
Tip #6: Record the Call
Finally, don’t forget to record the call. Digital recycling is critical to the success of your teleseminar or webinar, especially for a small business. You’ll want to be able reuse, reuse, reuse. Use the content as a later give away–perhaps as part of your blog, maybe as a twitter post, or maybe as part of a bonus offering for the product you’re selling. In fact, you should get in the habit of recording conversations (of course with permission) in general. You never know when a great conversation can be turned into a digital asset. Even if you don’t use the recording for prospects or customers, you’ll want to use it to capture funny comments or interesting stories that you told so you can incorporate them into future seminars.
So there you have it tips and tricks for delivering effective teleseminars and webinars. Remember don’t sell, be a resource. Interaction and excellent sound quality are both critical. Develop ways to soft sell throughout the seminar, not just at the end. And don’t forget to record your call.
This is Lisa B. Marshall; passionate about communication your success is my business.
Remember my audiobook, The Public Speaker’s Guide To Ace Your Interview: 6 Steps To Get The Job You Want, is available now. it can help you get in the door and make a powerful first impression that will get you hired. You can support your job-searching friends (and my book), by sharing this information.
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If you have a question, send email to publicspeaker@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email. For information about keynote speeches or workshops, visit lisabmarshall.com.
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About the Author
Lisa B. Marshall Lisa holds masters with duel degrees in interpersonal/intercultural communication and organizational communication. She’s the author of Smart Talk: The Public Speaker’s Guide to Success in Every Situation, as well as Ace Your Interview, Powerful Presenter, and Expert Presenter. Her work has been featured in CBS Money Watch, Ragan.com, Woman’s Day, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and many others. Her institutional clients include Johns Hopkins Medicine, Harvard University, NY Academy of Science, University of Pennsylvania, Genentech, and Roche.