Live webinars offer several benefits, making these a welcome addition to your marketing toolkit. But despite these advantages, they have a few downsides.
For starters, you might end up losing a few potential viewers because of the difference between your and your audience’s timezones. As much as they would like to join you, they might need to stay up late or wake up early just to view your live webinar.
Second, a live webinar entails a massive amount of preparation. As such, it’s not efficient to record a live webinar for each batch of viewers.
And speaking of preparation, a live webinar requires you to have a near-flawless performance. You have to make sure that your presentation skills are on-point, and you have to avoid things like glitches and unwelcome distractions in your background.
With these in mind, how does one overcome these disadvantages while reaping most of the benefits of a live webinar? The answer: an automated webinar.
If you haven’t tried recording a webinar before, here are a few tips on how to record an automated webinar.
Focus on a single topic for your automated webinar
Whether you are hosting a live webinar or recording an automated webinar, it is crucial to focus on a single topic for your presentation.
You might be excited to share different tips and ideas for your presentation. But your enthusiasm can backfire.
Remember, your viewers have limited time available. And as much as they’d like to learn several things, it is a prudent idea to narrow down the topic of your presentation to one main idea. This will keep your presentation concise but informative.
This will enable you to discuss the topic thoroughly, thus enhancing your authority on the subject.
Once you have chosen your automated webinar topic, you can then find three subtopics that will support your main thesis.
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Draft your webinar script
Ready to record a webinar? Not just yet. You have to write a script first.
But why do you need to draft a script for your automated webinar?
Writing a script helps you organize your thoughts in a logical manner, allowing you to minimize the probability of giving a rambling, long-winded presentation that can bore your webinar attendees.
Drafting a script also allows you to edit and distil your ideas before actually recording automated webinars.
A script serves as the backbone of your presentation, giving you a fair idea of when to use visual aids, when to pause, and when to solicit questions from your audience.
Plus, you can use your script when creating a slide deck for your webinar presentation.
Create a slide deck
You don’t always need to create a slide deck for your live and automated webinars. For example, a slide deck is practical of no use when doing a product demo during your automated webinar.
However, when you are presenting concepts or giving viewers tips, slide decks can come in handy. Slide deck and similar visual aids can make your presentation easy to digest by highlighting your main parts.
For this task, you have different tools to choose from, including Powerpoint and Keynote. Just remember to keep things simple, especially in your choice of fonts, colours, and transitions.
Choose your webinar recording software
Start recording your automated webinar
You’ve chosen your topic. You’ve written your script. You’re slide deck’s ready—time to make a pre-recorded webinar.
Here are a few important points to remember when you’re recording a webinar.
Face your audience
Although you’re making a pre-recorded video, it’s a great idea to look at your camera as if you were speaking in front of a live audience. That gives your presentation a much-needed human element.
Speak clearly
All your preparations for your pre-recorded webinar can be rendered meaningless if your viewers can’t understand what you’re saying.
Try to speak clearly at a deliberate pace. Better yet, set aside time to practice your presentation, taking note of words that you might have been having difficulty saying.
Set a conversational tone
To build trust, your webinar viewers should hear someone like them giving them advice.
The best way to achieve this is to use a conversational tone.
Invest in equipment
If you’re planning on using webinars as a marketing tool, it is worthwhile to invest in a few quality equipment.
These include microphones and headsets. You don’t need to spend a small fortune on pro AV gear. But do make sure that you’re using equipment that can the job done right.
Keep it short
Try practising your presentation while using a timer. Ideally, your pre-recorded webinar should run for about an hour or less.
If it’s running too long, try to look for areas to cut from your automated webinar. There’s always time to cover some topics at another time.
Avoid making a hard sell
Your goal for recording an automated webinar is to build a relationship with your prospective buyers.
As tempting as it may be to make a hard sell, don’t. Instead, focus on giving your audience something valuable.
If you give them something valuable, your products or services will stay on top of their minds.
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Polish your video
Before uploading your automated webinar, it is a good idea to review your recording.
This will allow you to polish it. For example, if there are parts where the audio is iffy, you can record those parts again.
Record a webinar now
The webinar recording is no easy task, with all the preparations that you need to make. But if you invest ample time and effort, it will show on your webinar video.
And when that happens, you’ll come closer to meeting your marketing goals.
