How to organise interactive webinars Short guidelines

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC Knowledge-Learning-Culture Division KLC

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Table of Contents

Some tips on how to get started for your first webinar ........................................................ 2

1. What is a webinar? ......................................................................................................... 3

2. When should I organise a webinar? ............................................................................... 3

3. How do I get ready for a webinar? ................................................................................. 4 3.1. Clarify the purpose ................................................................................................................... 4 3.2. Clarify whom you want to invite .............................................................................................. 5 3.3. Develop the agenda ................................................................................................................. 6 3.4. Draw a storyboard for the presentation .................................................................................. 7 3.5. Prepare a presentation that is visual ....................................................................................... 8 3.6. Ideas for an engaging and interactive webinar ....................................................................... 8 3.7. Communication and invitation .............................................................................................. 10 3.8. Reporting and follow-up ........................................................................................................ 10

4. Roles and responsibilities ............................................................................................. 11

5. The platform and functionalities .................................................................................. 12

6. Reporting and follow-up .............................................................................................. 13

7. Links .............................................................................................................................. 14

Published by: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, Knowledge-Learning-Culture Division

KLC, smart space

Authors: Nadia von Holzen, Learning Moments in collaboration with Natalie Frei, SDC; Cesar Robles Helvetas

Swiss Intercooperation and Bertha Camacho SKAT

Photos: Natalie Frei, Leonie Pock

Some tips on how to get started for your first webinar

Start small (with 10-15 participants), gain experience and build your skills.

Focus on one topic; less is more, especially when you work online.

Always think about how to engage your audience and include interactive

moments.

Be prepared: a) technically b) process-wise c) content-wise.

Work in a team and share roles.

Run a test on the platform and do a rehearsal with the whole team to feel

confident.

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1. What is a webinar?

A webinar is a web-based seminar or online learning event. It uses a virtual meeting room

(e.g. Skype for Business, WebEx, Adobe Connect, Zoom, ClickMeeting, On24 etc.) for the

participants to connect and interact with each other and with the presenters. A webinar is

hosted by an organising team preparing and facilitating the event, encouraging participants to

engage and providing technological support to participants and presenters (see more about

the different roles and responsibilities under point 4 below.)

Key characteristics of a webinar:

Live and real-time; participants interact with each other at the same time. A webinar is

often recorded for future use;

Mix between input and exchange;

Uses different functionalities like voice and audio, slides, screen sharing and text chat;

Short, normally 1-2 hours;

Different scenarios are possible: All participants are online and join the webinar

through their PCs, or part of the group meets face-to-face and the webinar is live-

streamed for participants joining remotely.

2. When should I organise a webinar?

Webinars are a great option:

To reach out to a broader audience within and beyond your organisation or your

network;

To have real-time exchanges between field offices and head office;

To listen to different voices and strengthen collaboration;

To get ready for face-to-face learning events or to have follow-up conversations;

To open space for dialogue for collaborative learning.

All this without travelling time or costs. Nonetheless, a webinar will not and cannot replace

face-to-face collaboration and conversation. Face-to-face and online collaboration are

complementary, go hand in hand, stimulate and enrich the ongoing conversation and learning

process.

Results must be knowledge + inspiration + connections.

KM4dev online open space discussion, June 2018

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3. How do I get ready for a webinar?

A webinar needs good preparation, like any face-to-face event. Many things need to be

prepared beforehand. It is advisable to make a timeline or a checklist1 that outlines what

needs to be done, when and by who. Please note that each webinar is different; each webinar

requires new preparation and set-up.

3.1. Clarify the purpose

A clear understanding of the webinar’s purpose is the first step for of the organising team in

the preparation process.

Why are you organising this webinar? What are you trying to achieve?

What is the bigger process this webinar is part of? How will this webinar contribute to

the whole process? What will happen after the webinar?

What do participants take with them to do/ develop further or to share?

Is holding a webinar the right approach for what you want to achieve?

1 The Guideline by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation provides a checklist Guideline to prepare and implement webinars. Cesar Robles. Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation.

Web meetings are SUPPORTED by technology, but they are not ABOUT the

technology. So start with the purpose, then add the tech!

Nancy White, Pete Cranston, Susan Stewart and Bonnie Koenig

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The guideline So You Want to Host a Web Meeting? provides 4 essential questions to help

you decide whether a webinar is a good option:

From: So You Want to Host a Web Meeting? A Resource by Nancy White, with Pete Cranston, Susan Stewart and Bonnie Koenig

3.2. Clarify whom you want to invite

Know your audience. In order to get a clear picture of the participants you want to involve and

their needs, useful questions to think about are:

Who should be participating and what is their motivation to join?

Invite people to attend because you need to hear their perspective on a

critical issue under discussion - not just to listen. We too often under

estimate the knowledge that attendees have, assuming the “expert” is the

only one who “knows”. Ask attendees to type their ideas into the Chat or

save them for a robust breakout discussion. Make a short summary of the

best participant ideas and send the summary back to the participants. Nancy Dixon

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What is their perspective regarding the webinar’s topic? What experiences, know-how

and knowledge could they contribute?

What are their main questions and needs?

How can you involve the participants in the invitation and preparation process?

3.3. Develop the agenda

Once the crucial questions about purpose, participants and the topic are clear, it is time to

think about the design of the webinar. What will the agenda look like and what type of

interaction will you use to make the webinar engaging and dynamic?

Develop the agenda as you would do for a face-to-face workshop with an introduction, a

middle and a compelling end. Give your webinar some pace and character by structuring it

smartly and making it interactive. A webinar lasts about 60-90 minutes.

The flow could look something like this:

Events are about content and people.

Nancy White

15 mins before the webinar starts…

Pre-chat and technology check

Invite participants to join 15 minutes before the webinar starts to get familiar

with the platform.

Welcome participants and invite them to present themselves in the chat; this

gives a sense of who is joining and where participants are located.

Invite participants for informal interactions.

Guide them through functionalities you will use (like the chat box, for more

information see under point 5).

Test audio, microphone and webcam (depending on what participants are

using).

Explain what to do if someone drops out or the technology fails (the most

common solution is to tell them to re-join the webinar from scratch).

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3.4. Draw a storyboard for the presentation

If there is a presentation (with or without slides) in your webinar it is worthwhile developing

jointly with the presenter a storyboard that indicates clearly when the presenter is interacting

with the audience and in which way the audience is engaged (this could be through the chat

box or other functionalities (see below under point 3.6). These moments of exchange will not

only make your webinar more vibrant but also contribute to greater learning.

The official webinar, about 60-90 mins

Introduction

Open the webinar officially and welcome everyone; make sure you start with

self-assurance, with a punchy phrase and an active voice (this will help you

set the tone).

You may want to present the participants and do a warm-up; this depends on

the number of participants.

Present the organising team. If you are not using video, show a slide with

pictures and names of everyone behind the webinar (presenters, host,

technical support person and chat moderator).

Main part

Develop the topic, create meaning, go deeper.

Include interactive moments to get participants engaged right from the

beginning: e.g. invite participants to type a question in the chat (for more ideas

see point 3.6 below).

Have a conversation, make use of the breakout rooms for small group

discussions and limit each breakout room to max. 8-10 participants.

Keep inputs short (8-10 mins) or break a larger presentation into slots of 8-10

mins.

Facilitate interaction and pay attention to timing.

Wrap-up

Collect the insights and summarise key points.

Call to action and inform about next steps.

You may want to do a check-out round with participants (depends on the size

of the group).

Thank everyone and close the webinar.

Informal wrap-up, ca. 15 mins after the webinar

Stay online for another 15 mins for individual questions.

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3.5. Prepare a presentation that is visual

Use the insights from face-to-face presentations and support presenters in the following:

Inspiring presentations are engaging, visual and include stories.

The participants’ views matter. Put them in the centre and design the presentation

from the participants’ perspectives.

Give the presentation rhythm e.g. fast sequences followed by quiet moments, the

known followed by a surprise, the unexpected.

Involve the participants; make the presentation lively, an experience. Let them play an

active role.

Don’t tell them everything you know.

Rehearse the presentation and be ready to talk (not just read out loud).

3.6. Ideas for an engaging and interactive webinar

The organising team’s aspiration must be that participants leave inspired and with concrete

ideas for next steps. To design interactive and engaging webinars you have three options: Use

the potential of a webinar platform, play with activities or flip the whole webinar to a

conversational event.

Activating functionalities of the webinar platform:

Invite participants to use the chat function (for all the functionalities, see under point

5 below) to make a statement, ask a question, share an idea; give 3-5 minutes for

this and stop talking.

Start a poll (this can also be done on a whiteboard); define questions that are

inspiring and invite participants to think.2

Do a quiz (using the same poll function to ask a question and give potential

answers) and ask participants to find the right answer or find the wrong statement,

etc.

Use breakout rooms for small group discussions (can be 5-10 mins; in one or

several rounds).

Engaging activities:

Watch a short story (3 mins) on YouTube to give participants a break from an oral

presentation; this also helps regain their full attention.

2 The art of powerful questions by the The World Café http://umanitoba.ca/admin/human_resources/change/media/the-art-of-powerful-questions.pdf

“So we have new tools. That means we either need new or adapted practices, especially if we are seeking to move away from top down, presentation oriented meetings.”

Nancy White

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Give 3-4 mins quiet reflection time for journaling (with some compelling questions)

or to write a story/brainstorm ideas.

Brainstorming with the whole group on the whiteboard.

Include a visual exercise and invite participants to ‘draw the challenge’.

Integrate stories that trigger reflection.

Experiment with flipping:

A more radical approach to make the webinar conversational is to swap the presentation to a

pre-activity happening before the actual webinar takes place and to dedicate the webinar time

to conversation (fully or at least the main part).

Convince the presenters to record the presentation and invite participants for an

asynchronous video session for the presentation (this webinar facilitation technique

is known as ‘simulive’ (a mix between simulation - recorded video that people watch

in advance or during webinar - followed by live interaction).

Organise an online Knowledge Café (with one short 5-10-minute input) and use

breakout rooms for small group discussions (see David Gurteen: Zoom Meetings:

For Virtual Cafés).

Hold a circle and have an unhurried conversation with a talking piece; for bigger

groups make use of the breakout rooms.

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3.7. Communication and invitation

Before the webinar

Brand your webinar: if possible, find a graphic or image (or create a banner) that

represents your webinar and use it consistently in all your communications with

participants (invitation email, form where they sign up, slides, follow-up email,

webpage where recording of webinar will be placed, etc.).

Invite participants two weeks before the webinar at the latest explaining what to

expect, how to prepare and how to connect (and reconnect if they drop out) as well

as an invitation to test the platform before the webinar.

You may want to provide the participants with slides (if you are using any) before

the webinar. This might be useful if connectivity is an issue for certain regions. If the

video functions badly, participants can switch to audio and still see the slides on

their PC.

If necessary, introduce the platform; have a look at this example: Willkommen zur

VIS 2016

One day before the webinar remind participants that the webinar will take place,

provide the link.

Two hours before the webinar is due to start, mail a last reminder indicating that the

webinar starts in two hours; this is helpful for participants working in different time

zones.

Follow-up after the webinar

Send an immediate thank you email to all participants to:

- Thank them for participating

- Giving them the link where they will find the recording and further resources

- Attach the presentation

3.8. Reporting and follow-up

Before you invite participants to the webinar think about the kind of reporting and follow-up you

want to have and make the necessary preparation (e.g. appointing a harvesting team).

If your software allows, gather data that gives an insight into user engagement:

How long did each participant stay in the webinar?

How many downloaded the presentation from the link you provided?

How many answered the polls?

How many questions were posted?

Did someone post on social media about the webinar using the given hashtags (if

there were any)?

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4. Roles and responsibilities

An engaging webinar needs a whole team; the division of tasks within the organising team is

crucial. The team prepares the webinar, runs a test and is online 15 minutes before the

participants join. The team members can be located in different places; by preparing the

webinar remotely the team gathers valuable experience for the webinar itself.

Facilitator and coordinator, also called the host

The facilitator coordinates the development of the concept and is responsible for

the promotion and communication before the webinar.

Develops the agenda and gives guidance to the presenter to make the presentation

interactive.

Hosting role of facilitator:

Opens and closes the webinar.

Facilitates the discussion; gives clear instruction to participants how to interact, ask

questions etc.; engages participants.

Animates the discussion with the presenter.

When selecting a host, make sure it is someone whose voice draws attention, who

is able to elicit participation from participants, and who is able to dynamise the

conversation with comments and remarks connecting different sections of the

webinar.

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Technical expert

Responsible for preparing the platform.

Helps the participants get used to the platform.

Trains the presenters on how to use the platform and the functionalities like the

slide presentation, white board etc.

Assists participants before the webinar in how to use the platform and get used to

and skilled in collaborating online.

Acts as backup and trouble shooter during the webinar.

Ensures that the audio/ video is recorded and the chat is downloaded.

Chat box moderator

Follows the chat discussion and feeds questions and comments to the facilitator

and presenter.

Assists participants with technical problems and makes the link to the technical

expert.

Presenter – thematic resource person

An internal or external resource person prepares an interactive presentation and

runs a test to feel comfortable with the platform.

The presenter brings the message to the point and uses some visual slides to

underline a point, but does not disappear behind the slides during the presentation;

the participants like to see the person who is presenting.

The presenter supported by the facilitator and chat box moderator constantly

interacts with the participants attending the webinar.

Choose speakers based on (or advise organiser to choose speakers based on):

knowledge, reputation, presentation skills, availability.

5. The platform and functionalities

The virtual meeting room (e.g. Skype for Business, WebEx, Adobe Connect, Zoom,

ClickMeeting, On24, etc.) offer different functionalities – or engagement tools – to interact with

participants.3

Chat box: Participants can directly chat (short text messages) with one another,

either privately (between two participants) or with the whole group. During the

webinar, the chat box facilitator animates the discussion and feeds contributions to

the presenter.

Slides: Displays the slides that are presented during your webinar.

3 See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_conferencing. Most of the webinar platform provide tutorials, for

example Adobe Connect https://www.connectusers.com/tutorials/ or Zoom: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials

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Webcam: Depending on the size of the group, everyone has the webcam on or

only the participants who are talking. In case of a presentation, the presenter should

always be visible (also when screening slides).

Whiteboard: Allows you to write and draw live on screen.

Q&A: Participants submit questions to the presenters at any time during the

webinar.

Polls and surveys: Participants answer questions. This can be multiple choice,

true/false or open-ended questions.

Breakout rooms: Breakout rooms are sub-rooms for group sessions that can be

created within a webinar. They are useful for splitting a large group into smaller

groups to have conversations.

Social media plugin

Content (file) downloads

6. Reporting and follow-up

Most webinar platforms allow you to record them. This might make sense for both the

participants who took part in the webinar as well as those who could not. If you do so, consider

editing the recording and shortening it to key moments, as well as adding titles and short

explanations. Take the decision to record consciously and communicate it clearly at the

beginning of the webinar. For sensitive issues you might decide against recording.

If useful, create a webpage on your website (or intranet) where you post the video,

presentations, and any other resources related to the webinar. This will help you have a single

reference location to share with anyone who is interested in the results of the webinar and

frames it as a knowledge product.

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7. Links

Guidelines So You Want to Host a Web Meeting? A Resource by Nancy White, with Pete Cranston, Susan Stewart and Bonnie Koenig Guideline to prepare and implement webinars. Cesar Robles. Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation. Manual to organise and join online events. Cesar Robles, Carmen Schneider and Andy Brunner. Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation UNICEF guide: WEBINAR. Efficient and effective live learning events Guidebook for online facilitators. Sharing experiences from climate change and agriculture communities of practice. FAO. Zoom Meetings: For Virtual Cafés? David Gurteen

Blog posts 21 ways to make your online presentation more interactive [On-Demand Webinar] Nine Practices To Make Webinars Interactive and Effective by Nancy Dixon Designing and Facilitating Asynchronous Online Events by Nancy White Building Online Meeting Muscles – chunking and practice by Nancy White Serendipitous online conversation on Zoom – an experience 6 Tips for Increasing Webinar Engagement 7 interactions to increate webinar engagement