Periodic Fable

I have been running webinars for both business and e-learning purposes for some years.  Of course the word “webinar” is a fairly new one.  Here’s how I define a webinar:

A webinar is a seminar that is held online live at a set time with a speaker/leader (or speakers) and a group of attendees, with a pre-defined topic, that also involves some interaction from the participants

Usually there’s audio from the speaker and maybe others, text chat of some kind , presentation, web tour or shared screen, optionally video.

Once it is recorded it is a webcast (I wouldn’t use webinar in that context as it’s confusing)

This isn’t the same thing as a team or committee meeting or a telemeeting, or a one-to-one training / coaching session, though some of the good practice points may also apply to these. Although the technology is usually much better these days, it has much in common with the IRC chats (text-only) which we used to run more than 10 years ago, and has also similarities with seminars in virtual worlds such as Second Life.

Good webinar technology includes the audio as part of the online service and attendees shouldn’t have to phone in separately: see, e.g., Elluminate or DimDim. It can be recorded for those who are unable to attend but is chiefly intended for live attendance.

Attached as a PDF file is my Webinar Best Practice white paper.  It covers

• Planning
• Pre-webinar tasks
• Roles – speaker, chair, moderator
• Format
• A couple of ice-breaker activities
• Ideas for audience participation
• Managing the discussion
• Plenary and following up
• Bibliography of other online best practice resources regarding webinars

Let me know if you find it useful. Or do you have some additional tips or favourite applications for webinars?

Webinar Best Practice by Helen Whitehead (PDF)