Webinars and WebEx. 3 easy ways to engage virtual audiences.

Oh WebEx. We love you, but must acknowledge the moments we can't stand you. Virtual meetings are part of our daily lives (especially here at Interamark) - and they are often full of aptly mocked hiccups. But webinars have their own special set of issues. Speaking to a crowd you can't even see? Yikes. But there are some simple things you can do to help tame the webinar beast.

1) VOICE: Bring the energy, speak with a “smile”– but, most importantly, sound honest. The best way to do that? Know your material, and practice your material. Then practice it some more. Practice in front of people who are most likely to give you constructive criticism. And definitely, positively, DO NOT READ. This is even more true for Webinars than in person presentations. At least, in person, you can read and make eye contact. Online – you don’t have that opportunity for personal connection, so you need to be sure it comes through in your voice.

2) VISUALS: Less is more. No, seriously, less is more. In Seth Godin’s famous diatribe about PowerPoint, he makes a compelling argument for no more than 6 words on a slide. “EVER.” This is a fine goal, but, a difficult one to achieve. After all, we all have a lot to say about products/services, etc. That said, it is always best to pare down to as few words as possible, distilling to you key message.

3) VICTORY: If people are attending your webinar, make it worth their while – a victory for you and a victory for them. You tell them something worthwhile about your product or service (yay for you), so give them something worthwhile (yay for them): a whitepaper, an implementation guide, something that communicates to them you value their time, and appreciate them spending some of it with you.

That's right, webinar success can hinge upon the 3 V's. And yes, I purposefully didn't use that in the headline. I figured that would be a little too Jezebel for this crowd.