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How To Keep Your Webinar Participants Engaged

Forbes Coaches Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Antonia Bowring

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Have you ever wanted to exit a workshop but felt awkward getting up and leaving the room either because you didn't want to offend the facilitator or you felt you'd be judged by the other attendees? Well, no one on a webinar is likely to feel that way. The reality is that the barriers to entry and exit are very low online. And for those participants mandated to be in a webinar for work, it's easy to check messages or write an email while only being half engaged.

I have some practical advice to help you keep online participants engaged. I have learned these lessons firsthand over the past few weeks, and I wanted to consolidate them into one list.

One caveat: Webinars can range from a handful of attendees to several hundred. I am focusing on webinars with more attendees than you can fit in the gallery view on your videoconferencing software.

As the facilitator, start by asking yourself two questions:

• Is the most important purpose of this webinar to deliver content, or to create engagement between participants? The answer to that question impacts the structure of your webinar. If the latter is true, then breakout groups are your best friend and should be the anchor of your structure. If the former is true, then how you organize your content is most critical.

• Are participants obliged to be in the webinar? If so, you have a captive audience but not necessarily an engaged one. If the participants are there by choice, give yourself a break. While they will tend to have a high level of motivation, a percentage of them may have double-booked themselves and are planning to check out early regardless of how fabulous the content is.

Here are my tips from the online trenches.

• Don't do it alone. Always have someone else manage the technology and ideally the chat box content. If you are walking the group through slides, it may be difficult to keep up with the chat box, so rely on someone else to keep track of that content. Trying to do both can be stressful.

• Optimize your use of the technology that your online platform gives you. For instance, to connect with your audience, use the chat box and the "thumbs up" function or emoji. Both can be used in icebreaker activities when you start the workshop. And the thumbs up is a great option if you are looking for a quick response to a question. Polls also are terrific as long as you don't overuse them. My rule of thumb is one poll per 30 minutes. So for a 60-minute webinar, I suggest no more than two polls.

• Use an icebreaker to strengthen your connection. For example, ask people to type into the chat box what they are watching in their free time, or where they're located. Keep it simple.

• Share handout information three ways. If you have a handout, I suggest oversharing. Send it with the confirmation email. Post it in the chat at the beginning of the webinar. And capture the handout's key information in your presentation.

• Hold at least two breakout group sessions. Even if your main focus is sharing content, a short breakout session at the beginning can help create buy-in. And another one further into the webinar is a great way to make your content relevant to participants. Many videoconferencing platforms offer this feature.

• Provide a road map of the webinar upfront. Let your participants know what you'll cover and when, and if there is a key activity toward the end of the webinar that they won't want to miss.

• Deliver your critical content early. As I mentioned, you may lose some participants along the way, so ensure that you deliver the critical content in the first third of the webinar.

My final tip is for helping you, the facilitator, be your best. The energy you bring to your webinar is critically important. To get inspired, try posting a happy face or photo of someone you care about above your camera. It's a great reminder that you are talking to real people on the other side of the screen and that you want them to feel your enthusiasm as you deliver your important content to them.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?