I’m looking through the questions that came in during my Asia-Pacific webinar with Citrix Online covering how to engage prospects with web conferencing. Here are a few that didn’t make it into our on-air Q&A period.
Q: How do you limit the number of questions you respond to? Is it OK to suggest that you will cover them on a fact sheet?
Q: Should we answer all questions? Or should we encourage them to email them instead?
A: As with so many things, best practices are situationally dependent here. In a large public event, there can be a huge number of questions, and the audience tends to feed off them so there is always “just one more.” I believe that in something like a marketing presentation, it is more important to respect your audience’s time and to keep your session limited to the duration you announced. That’s why I’m answering some questions on my blog… It would have taken too much time to answer them all on the air. There is a competing line of thought that advises telling people they have the option to stay on the line or drop off, but I find that this frustrates some people who have conflicts and can’t stay. They worry that they are missing important and interesting information that other people get. Plus, it weakens your closing call to action, which should be a strong and powerful end to your session. It is definitely okay to tell your audience that you are keeping note of all questions and will answer them in a post-event channel. That could be a fact sheet distributed as a document, it could be an online FAQ, or it could even be a blog posting!
Q: Ken, do you think that a webinar is an appropriate forum for demoing software features?
A: Yes I do. But you need to be aware of some demo techniques and considerations that apply specifically to the online world. That’s a subject for a longer dedicated blog post (or a webinar on the subject).
Q: What microphone do you use?
A: I’m surprised by how often I get this question!
I was using a Logitech USB headset for direct audio connection into the GoToWebinar conference. Those aren't too expensive in America, but I have no idea of the market in Australia/NZ. Mine is in the $40-$50 USD range.
When I use a telephone connection for conferencing, I use a higher quality and higher priced product. I have had good luck with Plantronics equipment - especially their Supra and Encore series. Here I'll pay in the $100-$150 USD range.
That’s a good start. I’ll address some additional questions tomorrow.
