Webinar Wire

How To Lose A Webinar Audience

Posted by Ken Molay July 17 2008 12:11 AM EDT

MarketingSherpa has published a short article on factors that act as "turn offs" for webinar audiences. The focal point is a bar chart showing survey results from typical negative aspects encountered in online presentations.

The content is free to visitors only until July 21, so act fast to take a look.

Details are in short supply in the brief article. There is no explanation of what the numbers in the bars indicate, how many people took part in the survey, who they were, etc. But in broad qualitative terms, it does show that promotion, content, and presentation style all influence perceptions of your webinar.

Make sure you set expectations correctly from the beginning. The person writing promotional copy and coming up with a title for the event needs to talk seriously with the presenter(s) about what content will be presented. Presenters need to go back and re-read the marketing materials both before and after they work on their content. Remember that your audience is self-selecting themselves based on their interest in what was promoted, not what you think you want to talk about.

Their second most popular turn off was presenters who read from their slides. I've said it before and I'll say it again... If you are able to read bullet points or text off your slide, you have a poorly designed slide (For a live presentation at least... It might make a nifty handout or leave-behind).

The third piece is an interesting one. Don't start off with a boilerplate company overview or marketing information. Give your audience serious content and value up front. If you hook them at the beginning, they'll stay around to hear the rest of your information, including reasons why they should trust you.

Most of us have heard these exhortations already. But it's easier to ignore them than to take the time and effort needed to adhere to them. Buck the trend. Do it right.