Are you leading a webinar?

I can’t wait to share my training checklist and tips for webinar speakers! What’s better than being trained from the comfort of one’s own office or home? I know what is!  Being the trainer facilitates a webinar from the comfort of your office or home! Webinars are incredibly convenient (and sometimes) even more efficient than traditional, face-to-face learning environments.

Though it requires some focus and concentration, webinars can provide a very specialized and personal learning experience. The key is to have a solid online platform and be a prepared, knowledgeable training facilitator.

Excellent tips for webinar speakers are:

• Take care of your voice before the day you present.
• Set the tone for your webinar or online presentation early in the process
• Prepare your work setting with all supplies you need (and may need)
• Know your technology and do a test run.

The first of my tips for webinar speakers is to pick good webinar software.

A simple Google search yields tons of internet training software and many reviews.

Personally, I like GotToTraining and GotToMeeting’s GoToWebinar – I know that’s a weird sentence, but those are the brand names.

I won’t spend much time on this subject because I feel the software is like a car. While the vehicle takes you to your destinations, the make and model are not really that important.

Sure, my Lexus is much more comfortable than my old Toyota Corolla (in real life, I have neither), but in the end, both will get me to my destination.  One vehicle may offer more “bells and whistles” than another, but the contents and destination are everything.

Training software is useless if the training is poorly designed or the facilitator is unprepared, easily distracted, and isn’t knowledgeable.  With that said, if you know your stuff, the software is just a tool.

Let’s dive into my tips on how to get ready for your webinar. I welcome your feedback!

Now for my tips for webinar speakers…

Take care of your voice on training day.

For successful online training classes or courses, our voices are instruments of utmost importance. Sure, it sounds like a dramatic statement. But I’ve been a trainer long enough to experience the results of not taking care of my “instrument” on a robust training day.

Once, I attended a basketball game on the morning of a workshop.  I never realized how weak my voice could become after even mild cheering.  I really wasn’t doing that much.

However, I did enough to affect my voice. So, nowadays, I try to be quieter before my online sessions.

Maybe there is something to singers not speaking before a performance.

Go figure.  Some singers even gorge on hot tea with honey, which brings me to my next point.

Another one of my tips for webinar speakers is to drink warm tea and honey before a long webinar or online training. Avoid sodas  – no explanation needed. #burp

Finally, my Kansas City office is dry. The air in my entire house is simply arid.  Aaaah…the joys of a cool-mist humidifier. I keep one in my home office just in case I feel that dry feeling a cup of tea or water won’t soothe.  All this may sound like a lot, but people pay me for these online modules, and they deserve the best I can offer.

Set the tone for your online training – this is the second of my tips for webinar speakers.
Background noise is a big “no-no.” Even faint mechanical sounds (i.e., furnaces and such) can be easily picked up by a mic. No good; it’s unprofessional. Most of my trainings are in my home office, but sometimes my guest room is my training spot of choice. The bottom line is that you need a closed door, an excellent microphone, and a set training environment. Confession:  sometimes, my favorite classic TV show is playing on a muted television.  It strikes an emotional tone that soothes me.  Is that weird?

I need my rations.
You will always find water, cough drops, and tissues near my laptop. That’s just me.  Depending on how long my training is and how vocal I was during that day, I can quickly lose my voice toward the end of it.  So, tepid water always helps. If I do get a case of the coughs, I pop in a cough drop, and I’m back to me. I’ve even been known to do a Wendy Williams and drop a cough drop into my warm water from time to time.

Prepare technology.
I usually log in to my software at least 30 minutes before the training start time. If there are any tech issues, I want to know sooner rather than later. Logging in that early is unnecessary, but it’s a risk, you’ll assume.

I start with a fresh reboot for my laptop. Sometimes, my tech baby can get slow and bogged down from a day of usage and moving around (i.e., rendezvous with public Wi-Fi and such.)

I like a fresh start so my clients get the best experience.

Now, this lesson I want you to learn from my own personal failure:  always have your laptop charger close.  Yeah, this is another “no explanation needed” moment.

 Then, it’s time to re-check my training supplements.  Are my online polls completed and ready? Are the handouts or videos where they should be? From time to time, GoToTraining drops my docs. I like to check prior to training time to be on the safe side.

Again, if I have a problem, I want to know sooner rather than later.

Well, that’s it. Now you know how to get ready for your training webinar.

Good luck!

Note: Most of my webinars and workshops have been exclusive to my real-life clients in Kansas City. 

They include supplemental True Colors modules, DISC, The Principles of Customer Service, and Increasing Human Effectiveness. However, soon, I will schedule them online for anyone interested. Subscribe to stay up to date!

What’s important to me as an online trainer and personality consultant:

Leveraging the four personality styles to help you when working with different personalities in the workplace.  I also often discuss how business personalities affect how you approach work and manage work personalities. I also answer the question” “how does personality influence communication at work?” Your temperament plays a role in everything. I love talking about it and exploring exactly how!