Hosting a Live Webinar Checklist

Use this checklist when you're hosting a webinar, to make sure you're prepared and your webinar is a success.

Introduction:

Enter checklist details

Plan the Webinar:

Choose a topic

Choose a date and time

Choose the right hosting platform

Promote the Webinar:

Create a registration page

Promote on social

Convert website traffic

Reach out to email list

Create the Content:

Create a slide deck

Write a script

Complete Final Preparations:

Rehearse the webinar

Test your equipment

Run the Webinar:

Be early

Keep spare batteries/power cables handy

Turn off distractions

Ask for feedback

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Introduction:

Hosting a webinar is a great way to engage an audience.

They can be run as a regular occurrence to engage an existing audience, or as part of a bigger virtual conference to perhaps attract a new audience.

They're great for encouraging engagement from participants because they allow for questions, polls, Q&A sessions, and surveys. They're interactive and inclusive.

There are a number of different ways you can host a webinar; live webinars, on-demand webinars, and always-on webinars are just three examples.

But statistics show that 59% of attendees enjoy participating in live webinars.

These are the trickiest to host as they are... well, live!

Doing anything live, in front of an audience is nerve-wracking, but especially webinars. Mistakes can't be edited out, words can't be taken back, and it takes a great deal of planning and practicing to make sure your webinar goes without a hitch.

That's why the team at Process Street has created this hosting a live webinar checklist.

This checklist will help you plan, prepare, and host an engaging, interactive and successful webinar.

Who is Process Street?

Process Street is super-powered checklists. It’s the easiest way to manage your recurring tasks, procedures, and workflows.

Create a template and run individual checklists for each member of your team. Check tasks off as you work through them, set deadlines, add approvals, assign tasks, and track each team member's progress.

You can also connect to thousands of Apps through Zapier and automate your workflows even more.

Enter checklist details

Enter the checklist details by filling out the below fields.

This will allow anyone to pick up this process and know who to contact if they have any questions.

Your name

Contact number

Checklist start date

Plan the Webinar:

Choose a topic

Chances are you have already decided what your webinar topic will be, but to make sure it will inform and motivate your audience, answer these questions, and confirm the webinar topic in the field below.

Tip! Choose a highly specific content idea that you can go into in great detail. This will make it easier to focus on the topic and minimize the chance of going off on tangents.

1

Why are you doing this webinar?
2

Why is this an important topic to cover?
3

How would your audience benefit from this webinar?

Webinar topic

Choose a date and time

Enter the date and time you want to run the webinar in the fields below.

Try and schedule your virtual conference for a time that works well for attendees in different time zones.

Although if you’re planning to record the webinar, don’t worry about this too much.

Webinar date

Webinar start time

Webinar finish time

Choose the right hosting platform

It's important that you choose the right platform to host your webinar on. You don't want to run into any technical glitches partway through and you don't want to overspend either.

The size of your company and your attendee list will dictate how robust your hosting solution needs to be, but something like Zoom works for most.

Zoom is one of the most-used virtual conference platforms around. It’s super intuitive and has a low learning curve. That means it’s more accessible to your audience, who may be less comfortable with technology.

Confirm your webinar hosting platform in the field below.

Hosting platform

Promote the Webinar:

Create a registration page

Create a registration page with a form that allows attendees to sign up for the webinar and put the URL of the page in the field below.

Having a registration form is crucial for letting your attendees sign up for your webinar in advance and also allows you to track the number of attendees.

Convert website traffic

Anyone that visits your site should know about your webinar

Here are some ways you can promote the webinar on your site:

Lightbox Popups
Floating Bars
Countdown Timers (both static and dynamic)
Inline Campaigns
Fullscreen Welcome Mats

Reach out to email list

Since these people have voluntarily given you their email address, there’s a good chance that they’ll be interested in attending your webinar.

Capitalize on that and send them an email.

Follow these guidelines for making sure your email is read:

1

Use a catchy subject line to get attention
2

Write in an engaging, conversational style
3

Include visual media like photos and pictures
4

Check your text for grammar and spelling mistakes

Create the Content:

Create a slide deck

Your slide deck should strengthen and emphasize the points you intend to make in your webinar.

Make sure to do the following when creating each slide:

1

Back up your points with as much data and evidence as possible
2

Make it entertaining
3

Make it interactive by including surveys, Q&A’s, games and questions

Once you're happy your slide deck meets the above criteria, upload it into the field below.

Upload your webinar deck

Write a script

See your script is your guide. It will help you stay on topic, and make keeping track of time much easier.

Upload your webinar script

Complete Final Preparations:

Rehearse the webinar

Make sure you do at least one run-through of the entire webinar, several days before the date of your webinar, to make sure that your content works and all your gear is functioning correctly.

Test your equipment

Few things will ruin a webinar faster than poor-quality audio and technical glitches.

Test all your equipment before you start the webinar and don’t rely on built-in mics on your laptop – the resulting audio may be tinny, distorted, or faint, even if you have some decent hardware.

Instead, use cabled headset microphones to ensure that everything you say is clear.

Run the Webinar:

Be early

Make sure you’re prepared and ready to go at least 10 minutes before the webinar is scheduled to begin, or even earlier if you can.

This will help get things going promptly, and can help you feel more relaxed when it’s time to begin.

Keep spare batteries/power cables handy

Have at least one spare battery on hand for each piece of equipment. Don’t run the risk of a dead or malfunctioning battery ruining your webinar!

Turn off distractions

Turn off your computer notifications, cell phone, and anything else that could distract you or your audience during the webinar.

Ask for feedback

At the end of your webinar, it might be a good opportunity to ask for feedback so you can determine what went well and what can be improved for next time.

You could ask your audience to provide feedback there and then, you could send them an email, you could post a survey link on social or you could do a combination of all three.

Here are some questions you may want to ask your audience: