I had a great online session yesterday with several hundred people registered to hear about online presentation skills. A big thank you to Arkadin, who hosted the event for free.
There was no way to get to all the fabulous questions submitted during the event. I have the log from the session and I’ll sprinkle answers to audience queries over the next few days as I get little breaks between client projects.
I won’t repeat answers to questions that I covered in my series of Webinar FAQs over on Webinar Wire. I encourage you to read through that series for lots of information about some of the most commonly asked questions. If the link didn’t come through in your reader, visit www.WebinarWire.com and enter the term FAQ under the option to Search Posts.
Let’s take a look at a few choice goodies from yesterday’s audience:
B.J.: How many technical assistants do you work with on the day of the event?
Answer: It varies from program to program. I always want at least one assistant to take the load off me and provide backup. On this Arkadin event, I had Priscilla acting as an on-air moderator and my primary backup in case I lost my Internet connection. Nick was working behind the scenes to manage the audio, start and stop the recording, and troubleshoot. And Russ also helped out a bit as a technical trainee. I put them through the wringer by asking some chatty audience questions that filled up the chat queue. They had to sort through the responses for real questions!
Sue: Should you acknowledge people as they log into the webinar if the presentation has commenced?
Answer: No. They know what time it was scheduled to start. They know they are joining late. It’s not like they are tripping over people’s feet in the room as they maneuver towards the one open chair in the front row! You have momentum going with the existing audience… Don’t squander it by stopping cold.
Karloff: How about delivering ad hoc with no preparation?
Answer: Bad idea. You will never feel as comfortable and confident in your delivery as you do with some preparation time and practice under your belt. I love a good, confident ad hoc delivery that is conversational and doesn’t use a script. Those work when you have put in so much preparation and practice that you know what you are going to say and how long it will take to say it. If you just start talking and see what comes out, you will never hit your timing goals. You’ll end short, or more likely end long – requiring you to rush or eliminate information.
More answers later. Stay tuned!
