How To Generate More Interaction During Your Next Webinar

Posted by Sophia Duplin
How To Generate More Interaction During Your Next Webinar | BeaconLive
7:12

Boost Audience Engagement With Interactive Webinars

Webinars are a cornerstone for most companies because a live webinar is perfect for training sessions, employee onboarding, and even sales kickoff events.

 

Online events are a cost-effective way for companies to engage with employees around the world. Webinars are an excellent way for you and your audience to communicate more comfortably. 

 

With webinar software, people can ask questions remotely while still seeing who they're talking to on the screen in front of them - giving an even better experience!

 

However, you need to pay special attention to the webinar experience to ensure webinar attendees are attentive and engaged throughout the event. If you want to use webinars as a way of catapulting your business forward, attendees must be actively engaging with the presentation.

 

Let's take a look at a few ways to boost audience engagement and hold the attention of audience members to ensure your webinar provides as much value as possible!

 

A cartoon person uses a computer to attend a webinar

Top Tips To Produce An Interactive Webinar

To create a successful webinar, you need to ensure that your online event attendees interact with the presentation. This will propel their business forward and generate leads for them as well!

 

Here are a few ideas to help you engage with audience members and boost the value of each webinar you host. 

 

1. Encourage Conversation

No one likes to be "talked at," and the only way to encourage audience engagement is to provide opportunities for attendees to join the discussion throughout the live event. An engaged audience is typically more receptive to webinar content, resulting in a more successful webinar experience for everyone. 

 

The most successful webinar sessions end with a Q&A session where hosts answer questions submitted by audience members. Not only does this offer real-time feedback to presenters, but it also allows panelists to expand on key ideas. 

 

Another way to engage with your target audience is to provide chat features during a live event. This is a great way to get your attendees talking during a webinar presentation. Moderators should encourage audience engagement with relevant questions so attendees can respond in real-time.

 

When audience members are engaged presenters and talking with other attendees, everyone wins. Be sure to look for a webinar platform that allows live communication throughout the online meeting to enhance the experience for everyone during the entire webinar!

 

2. Use Polls & Surveys

The webinar will be more interactive and captivating with polls and surveys that your audience can participate in.

 

You could increase engagement by getting feedback from participants during a live-streamed event while also allowing all users an opportunity for participation - not just representatives of companies or organizations as has been done before now. 

 

There is no better way to gather valuable feedback on what webinar attendees thought of the presentation than a poll or survey after each session. These tools allow audience members to follow up with presenters and inform moderators about what worked and what should change in the next webinar.

 

3. Present Information In A Clear Manner

No matter what you are presenting, the webinar experience will be destroyed if webinar attendees can't easily grasp what you are sharing with them. This means you need to make complicated information easy to understand if you want to keep your audience's attention and boost comprehension. 

 

Here are a few ways to simplify your message, so even the most complicated topics are easy to digest and understand: 

  • Use graphs whenever you show trends or changes. These are easier to understand than paragraphs of text. 

  • Include engaging visuals throughout your presentation to keep your audience's attention. It's incredible what a funny, unexpected image will do to perk up curiosity and bring attendees back into the discussion. 

  • Limit the number of presentation slides you use, and only include a few bullet points on each slide. PowerPoint is a great way to share information, but a lengthy slideshow can quickly lead to your target audience drifting off. 

 

4. Share Actionable Information

Webinar attendees are looking for real-world solutions. Make sure panelists focus on pain points that your attendees share, and make sure each webinar presentation is built around the needs of your audience. 

 

The goal is to present webinar content that makes your audience want to do something once they listen to a session. 

 

An interactive webinar that shares relevant information and drives attendees to action will be a successful webinar for everyone!

 

5. Share Great Content

The primary difference between an in-person event and a webinar is that your audience is not in the physical room with the presenters. This means that you need to produce excellent webinar content and deliver it engagingly to peek at your audience's attention. 

 

​Be sure to host dynamic speakers and invite panelists who are respected in your industry. You also need to choose webinar topics that resonate with your target audience if you want to deliver the best experience for each webinar attendee. 

 

6. Always Include A Call-To-Action (CTA)

As we mentioned above, you need to create a sense of urgency and action among your audience at the end of each event. The best way to do this is to provide clear next steps that your webinar attendees should take at the end of each online meeting. 

 

​The best way to do this is to have a CTA at the end of every presentation slide to direct attendees to take a final step. 

 

This can include attendees following your company hashtag on social media, downloading additional content like an ebook, or attending an upcoming webinar session for more information. 

 

7. Send Follow-Up Material

Every successful webinar needs a way for you to follow up with webinar attendees after the webinar concludes. This is because the follow-up offers a valuable way for you to learn more about your target audience and to continue the discussion with your audience. 

 

Plus, webinar follow-up materials help planners and panelists learn what aspects of the webinar went well and what areas can be improved during future presentations. 

 

Build An Interactive Webinar Experience Today!

If you're looking for a cost-effective and engaging way to reach your employees around the world, webinars are an excellent option. You can use live events like training sessions or sales kickoff events with ease - even if they're halfway across the globe. 

 

Ensure your webinar platform has the functionality and features to help your team be more engaged during their online event. 

 

Be sure to contact our experts at BeaconLive to learn more about how we can help you deliver interactive webinar sessions that will increase audience engagement, enhance webinar presentations, and help you deliver an exceptional webinar experience today!

 


 

Topics: Speaker Best Practices, Webinars & Webcasts, Webinars: Best Practices

Go Virtual With Confidence Using Our Most Helpful Content

CTA-Webinar-Script-Templates
Checkmark
Comprehensive Guide

Webinar Script Templates & Webinar Hosting Tips

  • This 19-page guide will provide you with everything you and your team will need to consider on the day of your webinar. There are also three scripts you can use to guide guest speakers through the webinar experience.
RIH-Case-Study
Open Book
Case Study

Rhode Island Housing Virtual Training & Automated Certificates Case Study

  • A white-labeled training and certification platform for RIH and their end-users - Our platform allowed them to centralize all training materials for their products, train, certify and track certificates of their users in a timely manner.
Virtual-Hybrid-Events-Video
Video
Video

Virtual & Hybrid Events with BeaconLive

  • Going virtual is complicated, so let us handle everything. BeaconLive’s platform offers over 150 interactive features and is managed by our in-house events services team.
FAQs

Why do interactive webinars matter?

Interactive webinars are good because they make people pay attention to what is happening. If they do not, then they will be distracted and not listen to the speaker.

How long should a webinar last?

Webinars are a convenient way for professionals in many industries to learn about new products and services. In general, webinar sessions last 60 minutes with around 3 separate sections: 5 - 7 minutes welcome/introduction; 38-45 minute presentation (or more).

What is the goal of a webinar?

A webinar should focus on the needs of attendees and drive your business goals. You can always set up your own personal or business related goals for any upcoming webinars you have planned to reach in time!