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How Long does it take to Get Good at Webinars?

How long does it take to get good at webinars? Potentially grab yourself a gold medal by watching this video.

How Long does it take to Get Good at Webinars? – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip62nj3tAd4

I am a busy person but I have been doing a good job so far keeping track of the Olympics. I love sport, I think the Olympics is wonderful, and I am enjoying watching the Games. One of the fun parts of watching the Olympics is watching someone “become an overnight sensation”. You know the story. Somebody your country has never heard of smashes their personal best at just the right time and all of a sudden is an Olympic medallist. Their photo is splashed all over traditional and social media and it seems that their one or two days of extraordinary performances has made them famous and successful.

Smart operators like you however will quickly appreciate that their overnight sensation success has been preceded by usually years of hard work figuring things out, exercising, strategising, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes and figuring more things out. So, are you likely to become an overnight success at webinars? Perhaps not, but I hoping that you may have already figured some stuff out prior to clicking the start button on your webinar software that will help you quickly attain the skills you need to become a respected webinar presenter. My three best tips to help you become good at presenting webinars faster are all mindset issues, as follows.

1. Don’t let fear hold you back

One of the themes I have been consistently hearing during the early episodes of the Webinar Skills Podcast is a plea from the interview guests for wannabe webinar presenters to “just get going”. As Michael Bloom explains it in Episode 7 scheduled for release on 15th August “Take imperfect action”. All good webinar presenters improve their skills over time and make some mistakes along the way. If we have a mindset that we don’t want to do any webinars until we are perfect and there is no reason to be scared then your future successes as a webinar presenter will never happen because you will never start. Instead, acknowledge your fear, practice and prepare diligently then schedule your webinar (not necessarily in that order). Don’t let the fear factor stop your future success.

2. Become an enthusiastic student

Becoming a webinar presenter is a great new set of skills to develop because you can learn by watching others whenever you want. There are lots of free webinars delivered by many of the world’s best webinar presenters. Watch them live, or if you can’t do that watch the recordings. And learn. In fact, you can learn about content of interest to you at the same time as learning their skills by watching them. That is a win-win proposition.

Become an enthusiastic student. The world’s best swimmers love swimming. It would be impossible to push through those early morning training sessions and keep improving all the finer details of improving your stroke technique and developing a fitter, better shaped body without loving getting into the pool and swimming fast. Duplicate the determination of the Olympians and get good at presenting webinars by becoming an enthusiastic student of webinars.

3. Get help

The Episode 1 guest for the Webinar Skills Podcast was John Lee Dumas from EOFire. JLD is a legend at many things, including breaking objectives down into simple quotes or action steps. One of the phrases he says a lot is that “We become great by standing on the shoulders of giants”. Find someone you respect who understands the skills you want to develop and solicit their help. Olympians become better by engaging coaches, so it makes sense to do the same if you want to fast-track your journey of becoming a successful webinar presenter. Look for a mentor in your workplace or else look for support from an experienced online presenters whose values and approaches mimic what you want to do. This is perhaps the critical step to getting good faster at virtually anything, including presenting webinars. Tennis immortal Roger Federer has always had a coach. Need I say more?

In summary, don’t let fear hold you back, become an enthusiastic student and get the help you need to get good at presenting webinars quickly. Go for gold!

Participate in the Webinars Survey

If you love webinars just a little bit then I have something exciting for you. The Webinars Survey is currently available at the time this article was published. By participating in the survey you will get free gifts, have the opportunity to enter prize draws and find out the aggregated quantitative data from the survey. This last point means that by taking the survey you will find out what other webinar presenters prefer in terms of webinar software, webinar presenters and webinar training resources. This is valuable information that can help you, I and all webinar presenters figure out better ways to improve our webinar performance so in alignment with today’s training topic I enthusiastically commend participating in the survey to you. I cannot wait to share what you and others choose as your favourite software, presenters and resources. For detailed information visit http://webinarssurvey.com.

If you visit the Webinars Survey after the survey has concluded you will be able to join a waiting list to get notified when the survey is activated again.

How long do YOU think it takes to get good at webinars?

Please click here to tell me and share your thoughts in the YouTube video comments.

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Why Do I Love Webinars?

Step inside my head and find out

Why do I love webinars? Please step aboard a tour bus inside my head and find out by watching the video.

Why Do I Love Webinars? – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h2mL1_-uFU

I love my wife, my son, my dogs, my Mum, my Dad (miss you always) and maybe ice cream. And I definitely love webinars too. There are 5 main reasons why I am so excited about webinars, which are:

1. Massive future potential

Nothing converts like webinars. I hear this phrase all the time. Clearly, webinars already have a demonstrated record in enabling skilled presenters to communicate their training content and/or marketing messages very effectively. However, for most schools and educational institutions, businesses and industries this potential is largely untapped. Webinar software is becoming easier to use, less expensive and is on the threshold of becoming a more popular medium for conducting education, business and other communications. And I am excited about positioning myself to be ready for the opportunities this growth will present, which leads us onto #2.

2. Potential advancement opportunities

When it comes to webinars it feels like I know the winner of an upcoming race. I have “invested” my wager and I am waiting for the race to run so that I can collect my money. As Michael Hyatt says, WII-FM is a very popular radio station, and my love for webinars is certainly motivated in part by a What’s In It For Me factor. For several years I have been motivated by an awareness that possessing superior webinar presentation skills will open up more career options for those of us who step outside of our comfort zone to learn how to present webinars with confidence and authority.

3. Opportunity to train without travelling

My son is now 7 years old and moving into the webinar world has given me the opportunity to participate more in training, both as an attendee and a presenter. Participating in training without requiring travel is a great option for me.

4. Improved engagement and connectivity

I firmly believe that webinars are the next best thing to presenting face-to-face. In fact, unlike live face-to-face events, even where there is a large number of attendees webinars can be extremely effective in promoting improved engagement and connectivity. This is because the presenter’s face and screen and voice is right in front of the attendee. The opportunity for the presenter to do that live for every attendee and create that closeness is a big advantage over face-to-face presentation situations where big crowds minimise the opportunity for the attendees to get up close and personal with the presenter.

5. Powerful and functional features

Polling, interactive chats, hands up and call to action offer placements are all examples of the powerful and functional features prevalent in webinar software. Used cleverly these types of tools present lots of fun options for skilled webinar presenters.

Participate in the Webinars Survey

If you love webinars just a little bit then I have something exciting for you. The Webinars Survey is currently available at the time this article was published. By participating in the survey you will get free gifts, have the opportunity to enter prize draws and find out the aggregated quantitative data from the survey. This last point means that by taking the survey you will find out what other webinar presenters prefer in terms of webinar software, webinar presenters and webinar training resources. This is valuable information and I cannot wait to share what people are choosing. For detailed information visit http://webinarssurvey.com.

If you visit the Webinars Survey after the survey has concluded you will be able to join a waiting list to get notified when the survey is activated again.

Why do YOU love webinars?

Do you love or hate webinars? Please click here to tell me and share your thoughts in the YouTube video comments.

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The 2016 Webinars Survey is Live

I am very excited to announce the launch of the 2016 Webinars Survey.

The 2016 Webinars Survey is Live – https://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=ndW2Ap64ziE

For detailed information visit http://webinarssurvey.com. On this page I will keep it simple. By participating in the survey you will get free gifts, have the opportunity to enter prize draws and find out the aggregated quantitative data from the survey. This last point means that by taking the survey you will find out what other webinar presenters prefer in terms of webinar software, webinar presenters and webinar training resources. This is valuable information and I cannot wait to see what people choose.

The Webinars Survey is for a limited time only

The 2016 Webinars Survey will be available for a limited time. Some gifts and prizes will only be available for short periods within the survey’s duration. However, whenever you take the survey you will be entitled to receive all the gifts and entries into the prize draws that are available at that time and that are added to the site at a later date. As a result, you will get maximum benefit from participating in the survey as early as possible.

If you visit the Webinars Survey after the survey has concluded you will be able to join a waiting list so that you get notified when the survey is activated again in a future year.

Why are you still reading?

Just click here to take a look at the Webinars Survey. I hope you enjoy answering the questions about webinars and the goodies that are heading your way.

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Webinar Feedback: 3 Ways to Guarantee More Responses

Webinar Feedback – It is only as good as the number and variety of responses you receive.

Webinar Feedback: 3 Ways to Guarantee More Responses – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2MaT-cjh3E

I was desperate for information on one bizarre morning back in the early 1990s. I had come into my work as a University lecturer to be immediately summoned by the Dean of the Faculty. This was unusual and usually not a good thing. On this occasion he told me that we needed a fill-in for that morning’s Advanced Marketing Research lecture because the lecturer was very ill and couldn’t come in. The lecture had to go ahead because it included essential content that was on the following week’s end of semester exam. I was identified as the only person on-site with experience in marketing research who was capable of delivering the content. Regrettably, it was an advanced unit and being the final week of the semester the content was beyond anything I had learnt. I had less than 30 minutes to prepare and I just had to give it my best shot. Ouch.

Have you been in situations where you needed to discover your A-game? One way to upgrade your skills to be ready for A-game performance is to collect more webinar feedback surveys. The more surveys you collect the more golden nuggets and little ideas you will identify to help you improve your future webinars.

How do we collect more webinar feedback?

I have identified 3 ways to guarantee that you will get more webinar feedback responses. Let’s get stuck in.

1. Ask!

To obtain webinar feedback ask for it. The Bible says “Ask and you shall receive”. Whether or not you are a believer, you can be confident that there is wisdom in these words. So then, when do you ask your webinar participants for feedback? My best answer includes all of these options:

  • Before the webinar
  • At the start of the webinar
  • During the webinar
  • At the end of the webinar
  • Immediate website re-direction at the conclusion of the webinar
  • Follow-up email after the conclusion of the webinar

You must ask. To get more survey responses you must ask for them with deliberate genuine intention. Let your attendees know that you do highly value their feedback. Don’t be dismissive about it in any way. Let them know that you really care that they provide it to you, whether what they have to say is good, bad or ugly.

2. Improve your survey design

Improve your survey design through the following general principles.

  • Ask only a small number of easy questions.
  • Ask more closed questions instead of open questions.
  • Don’t ask personal questions.
  • Don’t unnecessarily ask demographic questions.
  • Make your first question a very quick and easy one.
  • Show your survey design to at least two other people to solicit improvement ideas.

After you have taken these factors into account don’t over-think it too much. Let your survey rip out into the Universe.

3. Thank your survey respondents

After you receive a survey write to your respondents and thank them. I guarantee you that only a very small percentage of webinar presenters do this, which creates a great window of opportunity for those of us who adopt this strategy. Sending this email takes time to organise. I get that. But send it anyway because it is powerful in communicating your genuine enthusiasm for your respondent’s feedback. And as a nice side benefit to you it makes them more likely to submit feedback next time they attend one of your webinars. That is a win-win result.

What happened with the marketing research lecture?

The lecture was an awesome reminder to me about the value of preparing for training. It felt awkward. Difficult. Clumsy. Then the survey results from the students came in and they voted it the best lecture they had received all semester. Yes, seriously. You’ve gotta love feedback survey results like that.

What do you think can improve feedback for your webinars?

Do you agree that asking questions achieves interactive presentations? Which types of questions work for you? Please click here to tell me and share your thoughts in the YouTube video comments.

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Webinar Feedback Survey: Do I Need One?

Webinar feedback survey – Do I need one? Yes. Thanks for reading. Actually, there is more useful content below, but today it is time for you to give your brain a bit of a visual rest and enjoy some of bloopers at my expense. I assure you that some of these clips were very untasty. Watch the video to see what I mean. Also, please tell me if “untasty” is a real word.

Do you sometimes over-think things and make them more complicated than they need to be? I know that I see my students do this A-L-L the time. Every single day. Sometimes it happens because people try too hard to think about the “what ifs” or they are trying to be extra clever. Sometimes, they are just trying too hard.

Is a webinar feedback survey difficult to create?

Creating a webinar feedback survey is typically very easy to do. If done well they inevitably provide useful feedback that you can use to help improve your future webinars. However, some webinar presenters don’t use them and when I quiz them about this I usually come to the conclusion that like many of my students they are over-thinking the situation.

Getting useful feedback from your webinar attendees is a great thing. Just don’t try to be too clever otherwise you might create a monster survey that scares people away faster than if Usain Bolt needed to run to get on the last flight to the Olympics.

Keep your surveys simple, in terms of:

  • The number of survey questions;
  • The difficulty of the language in the questions; and
  • Ease of access for your participants to access the survey.

If you have access to an automated webinar survey that your webinar software will deliver to your participants then take full advantage of it. Webinar Jam gives you the chance to survey your registrants after they sign up for your webinar whilst GoToWebinar provides a survey option after your webinar. If your preferred software does not provide this type of functionality then there is nothing wrong with setting up your own survey using Survey Gizmo, Survey Monkey or an alternative and then providing the survey link to your participants before the webinar ends and/or in a follow-up email.

If you are sold on the idea of obtaining more feedback from your webinar participants then the next question is how to organise your survey to get maximum benefits. On 14th July I am publishing an article titled Webinar Feedback: 3 Ways to Guarantee More Feedback. If you want to improve your future webinars I recommend that article as a must-read.

What do you think about webinar feedback surveys?

Do you agree that webinar feedback surveys are valuable? Whether your answer is yes or no please click here to tell me and share your thoughts in the YouTube video comments.

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Control Your Webinar Fear

Use this Simple Jedi Mind Trick

Webinar Fear – Yuck! This article and video tells you how to nip it in the bud using a simple Jedi mind trick.

Control Your Webinar Fear – https://www.youtube.com/embed/GtDU03XyfDQ

Do you like Star Wars? I am guessing you have already worked out that I am a fan. Star wars is the classic goodies v baddies conflict. The characters are larger than life (especially Jabba the Hut) and there is some humour too (Thank you, Han Solo).

In Star Wars, the Sith Lords (baddies) are frightening but we feel safer because of the Jedi (goodies) and their ability to use the force. I recommend you use the force during your webinars to control your fear and empower yourself to succeed. And there is one focus point that can make this much easier for you. You can call it clever, wise, or a Jedi mind trick – The choice is yours.

Ultimately, the intention of hosting a webinar should be for the benefit of one person. No, not you (or your Boss), but your participant (or attendee, if you prefer). If your webinar does not provide value for your participant then they won’t enjoy it and you will not accomplish your goal (educational instruction, sale or other key objective). This is an application of Marketing 101, but embracing this dogma has an additional benefit that is very empowering to the webinar presenter.

Put simply, if you focus on remembering that the webinar is really about your participants and not you, this can be a huge relief to you. With this philosophy you will realise that any of the following “disasters” don’t really matter:

  • You have a bad hair day
  • You stumble over some words
  • You tell a funny story that falls flat
  • You have a temporary technology hiccup

If you are focused on yourself these types of events can dent your confidence, but if you are focused on helping your participants then you will shake off these types of speed bumps and remain focused on creating a webinar that is beneficial to your participants.

Webinar Fear is Unhelpful

Nerves are OK, but fear can be unproductive. Fear can distract your focus. People who practise mindfulness will understand that fear takes your mind away from the important present and can cause you unnecessary anxiety about things that may never happen.

I encourage you to take action to control your webinar fear. Bury it underneath your expectations of having a successful webinar that provides great value for your participants. In my experience, if you focus on the positives and keep striving for great results then you are much more likely to enjoy yourself, have a fun webinar, and provide greater value for your participants. And that is inevitably a win-win for everyone.

Do you have my Webinar Platforms Guide?

To learn more about webinars click here to grab my free Webinar Platforms Guide. It includes:

  • What are Webinars?
  • What are the 4 Types of Webinar Platforms?
  • What are the Pros and Cons of the Webinar Platforms?
  • Select the Best Platform for YOU
  • Where is the Software?

Click here to grab your copy.

How do you control your webinar fear?

What works for you? Please click here to tell me and share your thoughts in the YouTube video comments.