Getting Started with Webinars (Part One)

We’re a chatty bunch, humans. From about 12-months on, we pretty much won't stop communicating. And while in-person meetings are off the table, people everywhere still want to connect with their audiences. To share. To learn. Just to see how they’re doing. There has never been a better time to consider a webinar strategy and dip your toe in these digital waters. Nervous? Don’t worry. We’re here with a handy guide to get you started. Gather your stream team and let’s go live. 

Let’s start with the hard part. Working with new tech can feel a little intimidating, but we believe in you. Risk and exploration are part of your business strategy. Webinars shouldn’t be any different. And the good news—spoiler alert—it’s really not that hard. Once you pick a platform and get everything in place you'll be set up for success.

Platform Choice

Your choice of platform depends mostly on your intent with the webinar and your audience. What sort of budget do you have for this work? How long will you be recording and how many attendees do you expect? Do you need to include other panelists or hosts? Weigh your options and decide what’s right for you.

• Zoom: Zoom offers free personal meetings with up to 100 participants for a limited duration (40 minutes). Their paid plans start at $14.99 per month and include unlimited meeting duration with up to 100 participants. Webinar tools are an add-on monthly expense starting at an extra $40 per month for up to 100 attendees. Fancy bonus: Zoom Webinars allow you to live stream on Facebook and YouTube as well. 
• Cisco WebEx: WebEx's default free plan offers conferencing for up to three users with HD video, screen sharing on desktop and mobile devices and limited recording options. It supports up to 50 participants per meeting, with meeting times capped at 40 minutes and online storage limited to 1GB. 
• Google Hangouts Meet: Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities are available for all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers. Enjoy their temporary free access or level up to host larger meetings (up to 250 participants per call), live stream for up to 100,000 viewers within a domain and record meetings to Google Drive. 
• Microsoft Teams: A handy collab platform from Microsoft, the basics of Teams are available for free, but to broadcast (or use their Live Events feature, as they like to frame it) you'll need to fork over $20/user/month with an annual commitment. This includes Microsoft 365 and access to their (surprisingly robust) webinar and video production platform.
• LogMeIn: LogMeIn is another video conferencing company that comes with a 14-day free trial. Starting immediately, they will provide critical front-line service providers (including non-profit organizations) and current LogMeIn customer with free, organization-wide use of many LogMeIn products for three months through the availability of Emergency Remote Work Kits. This includes its flagship programs, GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar.
• Messenger Rooms: This new kid on the block from Facebook offers free, 50-person meetings with unlimited time. Users don't need to have a Facebook account, and you can count on this tool adding features and expanding to other Facebook platforms in the near future.
• Other Social Media: Looking for something slightly less structured? Perfect. Social media can be a lot of fun for experimenting with live content. Day-to-day featurettes, Q&As with staff, “behind the scenes” content, interviews with team members, etc. We bet you’ve already got some amazing ideas. Let loose in an experimental, “safe” space where you can capture and share content for the future or let it disappear as soon as you’re done.

System Requirements

It may seem redundant, but there are some basics to consider when planning the technical side of your webinar. These essentials are easy to forget and become major problems to resolve in the middle of a presentation.

WiFi

Do you have it? Great. But is it strong, reliable and not supporting eight other devices in your home? That’s where problems come in. Try to set up close to your router and, if possible, kick other users off so your connection stays as steady as possible during your presentation.

Audio

• In most instances, you are fine to use the built-in mic on your computer. Modern tech tends to come with fairly reliable audio, so you’ll sound fine in a space without background noise. To clean things up a bit, though, you might consider headphones or earbuds with a built-in mic or even an external mic that can plug into a USB port.
• And about that background noise... Try to set up in a place where air conditioning, traffic, pets, large appliances, children, weather or the karaoke bar downstairs aren’t bleeding through. Smaller spaces and rooms with carpet are typically less echoey, and you definitely want to record a test to hear how things sound before ever going live.
• Need a little extra audio help? Some microphone headsets have noise canceling mic capabilities. But you might also look into a background noise canceling app if investing in new hardware isn’t an option. Here’s one we like, but there are many out there.
  

Camera

• Here too, you’re probably fine with what is built into your device. So long as it’s just you, seated, and the quality doesn’t need to be Hubble-Telescope-clear, the camera shouldn’t create an issue. If you’re dealing with a much older device, however, you may want to consider your phone’s camera or an external webcam. Again, run a test or two.
• Camera upgrades: If you’re planning on filming multiple participants in the same space or doing anything active, you may want to consider a nicer camera that can send a feed to your computer. Your built-in computer camera likely fisheyes and can’t capture distant objects super well. Or you could get real classy and have a friend shoot with a few cameras and a small video mixer to capture multiple angles live. Add a wacky neighbor and a laugh track, and you’re almost ready to start your own sitcom.
• Your mobile device may seem a little less professional, but it’s actually a strong option when you’re live on social channels. In those spaces, people are used to broadcasts from phones. And your phone camera is likely going to capture you and your audio quite capably. Consider investing in a small tripod or getting creative with a music stand or an easel.

Setting up the webinar

It’s easy to get sloppy when you’re creating a webinar in a hurry. This part can be time consuming (writing automated messaging, formatting logos, making sure you’ve checked all the right boxes, etc), but it’s worth it. Thankfully, many platforms let you templatize webinars or duplicate settings, so once this is done you don’t have to start from scratch every time.

Title

“Big Kevin’s Webinar to End All Webinars.” “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Relying on Biomedia as an Indicator of When to Clean Your Koi Pond Filter but Were Afraid to Ask.” “tuesday_01.” This should be the easy bit, and yet. Somehow. Some. How. We still see insane titles on webinars out there all the time. There are common sense reasons why you want to keep your webinar title simple, clear, honest, but there are also technical considerations as well. Your webinar title will end up in many places throughout the life of your event. Consider a title that is understandable but short enough to sit well in social posts, email subject lines, registration forms, automated text reminders, promotional graphics and more.

Branding

Many platforms give you a chance to control a few brand-specific features on your webinar. Logos or watermarks on the stream itself, graphics on the registration page or a custom redirect link once the webinar is over. Take advantage of these, even if they feel tedious. It ties the work to your brand, helps create a visual story in your audience’s mind and—if nothing else—makes you look a little more put-together. “Oh? A watermark? I didn’t know the Queen was leading this webinar!”

User Experience

We’ve all been there. Stuck in a digital waiting room for ten minutes while the webinar host fails to kick things off. Logged into a live stream of a guided meditation when a dog starts barking through an unmuted user’s audio. Lost in a presentation but without the ability to ask a question. Think carefully about how people will be interacting with your webinar. Keep their experience front of mind when you decide whether or not to allow public chat. Q&A. Unregistered users joining the webinar. Call-in participants. Audience live audio. We generally err on the side of caution, limiting users to questions that aren’t publicly visible and chat that is moderated. We say this not because we want the audience to feel limited in the ways they can participate, but in the interest of everyone having a positive experience. Also. We do this for security reasons…

Security

It has become a popular antic for bored web pirates to jump onto random meetings and wreak havoc. “Zoom bombing” is every presenter’s biggest fear, but it is very easy to avoid.

• To start with, never host an open webinar that doesn’t require user registration or a password. Additionally, don’t use an open Personal Meeting ID for connecting. It is easy to get hold of links to events like these and hop on at random. Rather, create some gatekeeping so you can see who’s joining in advance.
• You may also want to consider the “Waiting Room” feature to look at a list of participants in real-time before launching your broadcast. You can also “lock” a room in many platforms once you’ve begun a webinar. This is risky, as, obviously, it keeps out latecomers or anyone who accidentally closes their window, but for smaller talks, it can be a good move.
• And as we allude to above, limit audience capabilities. You still want them to be heard and have an avenue to connect with other participants; however, they don’t need to screen share, transfer files or turn on their audio or video during your presentation.
• Then finally, have a few plants to help you out. Set up an inactive panelist or co-host who can mute or kick out a user who begins to act up. Have someone in the audience watching along who can let you know if another audience member tries to send them a file or begins harassing them through chat. And be sure you have a plan in place for what to do if someone shows up uninvited.
  

AND THAT'S IT! Well. Not entirely. But that does set you up for success as you transition to the next part of the process. Check out our second part to learn about the presentation itself and how to make the most of your screen time.