When you are ready to present your first webinar, one thing that you should keep in mind is that some people will come to the link site early. You don't want them to get bored and leave before you start. What can you do to keep them online until you're ready to begin? How do you do this?
There are several things you can do to make waiting easier for people who are early for your webinar. You can broadcast only the visual screen with no audio until you are ready to start. You can display a timer on the screen so that people know exactly how long it is until the webinar begins. You can set up a PowerPoint slide with the outline of your presentation and the information that you want your audience to be aware of when you begin the webinar.
Sometimes people presenting a webinar get online well before the scheduled time for it to start. They talk away about nothing and try to keep the early arrivals from leaving. That is not very professional and can hurt your credibility. It is better to have a screen showing that gives people the information that they need to know so that they don't leave. If you use GoToWebinar it will show your screen before it broadcasts the audio. Once a minute GoToWebinar will automatically broadcast the audio message, "The broadcast has not yet started. Please standby. Please wait for the webinar to begin." This is very helpful as it means you do not have to manually tell people to wait.
A really beneficial thing to have displayed on your screen is a countdown timer. You can set the timer at a time, say 30 minutes, before your webinar and it will count down the time, second by second, until it's time to begin. This tells the people who've arrived early exactly how long they have to wait. Countdown timers are readily available to download by searching on the internet.
It is important that you make a PowerPoint slide with information or instructions that you want people to be aware of when the webinar begins. Give them the title of your webinar and an outline of what you will be covering. Often, this can also be used as the first slide of your presentation.
If you have special instructions that you want the audience to follow, put that on the slide. Then people arriving early will find a screen with all the information they need; when the webinar starts, how long it is till that time and what they are going to learn.
Keep your 'early birds' happy by preparing a screen that gives them the information that they need to know about when your presentation is going to begin, a countdown timer so that they can see how long they need to wait and information and instructions regarding the webinar. GoToWebinar will also give then audio messages every minute that will remind them to stay online, that the webinar is about to begin.
You've spend a lot of time preparing your webinar, so ensure that people who arrive early for it do not leave before you begin!
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