Are people really burning out from too many webinars or are they burning out from boring webinars? This question was the focus of a webinar I recently attended called “Seven Secrets to Avoiding a Boring Webinar” hosted by the American Marketing Association.

One of the first topics the presenter discussed was human interaction. Our old style of face-to-face professional learning worked well because we could interact with our audience. If we noticed they were not engaged, we could adjust our presentation accordingly. Unfortunately, right now, many of us are missing the many benefits of human interaction.

Eventually, we will return to face-to-face, but sometimes the only way to deliver our content is virtually. Even when we return to face-to-face meetings, there will still be many benefits to meeting online and having a virtual component to professional learning.

How do we create human interaction virtually?

Create a space for your webinar that creates an experience for your audience. Many online webinar platforms allow you to add logos and backgrounds, but that is simply not enough. Furthermore, be aware of how you set the tone. Do you want to be professional, conversational, or approachable? Be creative. Think about why your audience would want to attend your webinar and make sure your space reflects that feeling that they would expect from you if you were meeting in person. For example, if your audience loves that you are conversational, you could be drinking from a coffee mug as you are presenting. You could open up conversations throughout your webinar and get questions from the audience. Don’t rely on slide shows…rely on the audience to move the conversation along. 

Check out REMC’s Facilitators Guide for more information on how to structure your webinars.

What is the importance of engagement?

Engagement has always been one of the best measures of success for any professional learning. Your goal is to get your audience involved in taking action. So what action do you want them to take? It could be using a new practice in their classroom, sharing what they have learned with others, or exploring a topic more deeply. Whatever your action is you need to find a way for your audience to take that next step.

Strategies for engaging your audience:

• Q&A: All throughout your webinar you can use the chat box for Q&A. Ask your audience questions. If you have a large group, have a moderator help you sort through some of the answers.
•  Downloads: If you have reports, tools, or any sort of document that your audience might find beneficial include downloads. These could be shared in your chat box, a download box (if available in your platform), or emailed out to your audience before, or after the webinar. Want to supercharge your game? Check out MeetingPulse.
• Survey: Ask your audience questions. We all know how important feedback is to teaching. Surveys are a great way to understand your audience and their practice. It’s a wonderful way to see if you are meeting their needs in the presentation. And immediate feedback can help you adjust your presentation just like you do face to face.
• Polling: You can use polls for gamification! If you have a bunch of statistics to share, you can set up polling questions to share the information in a more interesting way. For example, one question might be “What percentage of all webinars in April 2020 featured some type of video?” A. 10%, B. 25% C. 45% D. 55%. Give everyone a few minutes to answer, and then chat about their answer. Maybe most people thought it was A. 10%. So, you could talk about why they thought that, and then tell everyone that it was actually 55%. And explain why that is the correct answer. Mentimeter and PollEverywhere are great tools to use. 
• Tweet: Yes, give participants a chance to share their learning with others. You could even have tweets created for them to share. Be creative. Give them hashtags or make it a game and have them create a hashtag for something they learned. 
• Group Discussions: Utilize breakout groups to practice some of the strategies that you might have learned in Adaptive Schools. One great example would be to give the group a document to read and discuss together. Have each person take turns reading a paragraph and discuss what spoke to them in that paragraph. This will limit the amount of time of dead air and make the time more interactive and engaging. The CyberSandwich and Gallery Walk protocols also work very well for group discussions.

These are just a few key points that I highlighted from the webinar “Seven Secrets to Avoid a Boring Webinar.” When planning your next webinar, remember to be approachable, be human, and bring your audience into your conversation. Remember that there are no rules to how this looks. Get creative, and have fun, and your audience will too!

Need Additional Support?

If you need any help creating an online experience for your audience, please reach out to Kent ISD’s EdTech team. They would be happy to help you create a webinar space that reflects how you want your audience to feel when they arrive.

#RemoteLearning #Webinar #WeLeadLearning #KentISDpd

This blog post was written by Amanda Walma, Professional Learning Coordinator with contributions by Keith Tramper, Ed Tech Consultant for Kent ISD. It was edited by Sara Sefcik, PD Hub Intern at Kent ISD.