I just read a great rant with the self-explanatory title of "20 Horrific Conference and Trade Show Staples That Need to End." I love its highly opinionated challenges to the industry, and as a former product marketing guy in Silicon Valley, I have suffered through every one of the observations at far too many events.
I got to the article through a retweet courtesy of @Lee_Potts (thanks, Lee), but the source author is David Spark on his SparkMinute blog. After reading, I wanted to generate the same kind of list for webinars and webcasts. Some of David's points translate to the online presentation world without change, but we have some additional oft-repeated issues that need to die!
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I'll start with the ones that you can simply lift straight out of David's post (using his numbers). I recommend you click through to his article to read his detailed explanations, as he covers them quite clearly:
1) The default one-hour session - As I wrote in 2006, "There is nothing magical about the one-hour webinar. If you can deliver your subject in less time, do it. Your audience will appreciate the break."
2) The unproduced self-indulgent panel session - Every word of David's applies to webinars, but you need to add some technical familiarization time with the conferencing software as well.
3) Letting panelists introduce themselves in a panel session - I covered this recently with much the same recommendations: "Let's kill the long webinar intro"
15) Presenters who do not test their presentation - Applies even more strongly to webcasts, where you have to deal with technology integration and interaction. That's "Why you need a webinar run through."
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The next subset of David's stamp-em-out staples need only small tweaks to apply to webinars:
6) Disengaged presenters - I keep seeing webinar articles geared towards ways to engage your audience, but I find that more often we need ways to engage our speakers! Subject matter experts who know their topic so well that they sound bored by it. People who read a script in a monotone. Presenters who speak only in the abstract, never directly addressing their listeners. Presentation is not just about subject knowledge. It's also about performance.
7) Googleable presentations - I actually think David is a little over the top on his demands with this one. Most of human knowledge is now discoverable on Google somewhere. I would change the rant a bit… Presenters must add value that goes above and beyond the presentation facts. Facts are easy to find online. A presentation offers value by creating connections, emphasizing benefits and application of the presented information, offering examples, engaging empathetically with listeners, and helping people to find a personal stake in the topic.
10) Collecting data as an introduction - At trade shows, David points out how booth workers can kill the chance for opening a business relationship by reaching out and scanning a badge as the first thing they do. In webinars, the analogy is asking for a mass of lead qualification data on the registration form. Demonstrate your value first, before you demand that your new contact proves their value to you!
11) Measuring event success only by number of registrations - This is the fallacy of "the big funnel mouth." If your goal is to increase the size of your house list, then by all means, measure success by the number of registrants. But if your goal is to actually influence people and drive them towards an action (product purchase, charitable donation, political involvement, etc.) stop measuring the number of registrations and find a way to judge the effectiveness of your entire webinar process from promotion through call to action.
12) Not following up properly - Here's another case where the emphasis changes from the physical events world that David talks about. Companies usually follow up with webinar attendees, but they may not do it effectively. Make sure you follow up with no-show registrants. Make the follow up contact as quickly as possibly after the webinar (same day if you can). And emphasize value in continuing the interaction with your organization.
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We have already covered nine disturbingly prevalent webinar trends based on their similarity to things seen at physical events. But now it's time to delve into additional webinar-specific problems that need stamping out as well.
To avoid confusion with the numbering system I was previously using to synchronize with David's post, I'll switch to letters.
A) Poor audio quality - This is the most common complaint I see from webinar attendees. Above all else, they want to be able to clearly hear the presenter. Remember… audio never gets better after going through multiple electronic processing and distribution phases. Make your source audio as crisp, clean, and uninterrupted as you possibly can.
B) Poor video setup - I am so tired of looking up from a laptop webcam into a presenter's nostrils! But there are many more ways that presenters make themselves look bad on video webcasts. Think about the impression you want to make.
C) Not addressing the individual - Most webinar attendees sit by themselves at a computer. They see no other audience members. Make sure you adapt to their psychological viewpoint by speaking to them in the singular voice. (The great thing about always using this style is that it remains effective even when addressing a group!)
D) Prefacing remarks in the future tense - The minute you go live, you are in your webinar and you should be demonstrating respect for your attendees' busy schedule by offering value and addressing their priorities. If you start with a long introduction about what you will talk about later and use the phrase "before we get started," you violate this trust and reduce empathy and engagement.
E) Assuming local participation - The internet is global. It doesn't matter if you only expect local interest, someone in another location is still going to see your advertisement or web link or registration page. Use clear, unambiguous time zone indicators and offer a time conversion link. While you are at it, mention what language the webinar will be offered in.
F) Building linearly - Most presentations start with some historical background, establish a current pain point, and then finally get to the solution or offering at the end. Turn it around. If someone leaves early, you want them to have heard the key thing they need to know. Give away the surprise ending right up front… Start with the key takeaway and then fill in supporting data.
G) Using meaningless polls - Too many webinar vendors and hosts use interactive polls like parents use jingling key chains to stimulate and engage their babies. Polls must contribute value for the attendees. If people don't get something out of participating, you are wasting their time.
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And I'll close out my list of 20 with four particularly frustrating limitations of webinar/webcast technology. Obviously there are technologies that are better or worse at these aspects (just as there are webinar presenters and hosts who avoid the preceding traps). But these are still too common, and we should be demanding more widespread improvements to functionality.
H) Limited customization of registration pages - Registration is the first proactive step a potential contact or lead takes. Finding ways to boost the completion rate is critical. Yet many or most webinar products restrict registration page customization. I want to be able to change all labels, colors, positions, text fields, and logos to test and refine their impact on webinar registration performance.
I) Limited customization of system emails - If the webinar product sends confirmation, reminder, and follow up emails to registrants on my company's behalf, I want to control every aspect of what the recipient sees. Don't just let me add one line of custom text in the middle of your standard email template with your copyright and disclaimer footer. Give me a full WYSIWYG formatted editor for HTML emails.
J) Lack of information about typed interactions - Webinar products should treat every typed submission (chat or questions) as a data element to be included in a fully sortable spreadsheet report. I want the in-session option to label comments with “Answered in session”, “High priority followup”, “Low priority followup”, “Answered privately”. I want a report that I can open in Excel and sort by time, by attendee, by status label. I want the contact email to be associated with every comment. Include comments deleted during the session using a “Deleted” label.
K) No way to see feedback counts - If products give attendees a way to change a status indicator, presenters need a way to see summary counts in real time. How many people have their "hand up"? How many people chose the "smiley face" and how many chose the "frowny face"? Don't make me scroll through a 300-person participant list and make a visual estimate.
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That's my top-20 list (with repeated thanks to David Spark for his original setup and insights). What's on your list that I didn't cover?
