25 Planning Tips to Planning a Live Online Meeting

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What does it take to host a web conference/webinar? I’ve been asked this several times over the past year, and its not likely this question will fade away as travel budgets continue to be cut. That said, it time to get things down in black and white.

25 Tips to Planning A Successful Live Online Meeting

Designate an event producer. The event producer is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the event. The event producer may also be the person presenting, but not always… sometimes its necessary to utilize a subject matter expert. The event producer will have varying levels of involvement with the items listed below, but at a minimum, the event producer should be coordinating the development of the webinar. The event producer should:

be comfortable with technology
be able to provide a basic level of tech support with regard to the user of the tool
be able to provide feedback to peers/supervisors
hold excellent organizational skills (hold people to deadlines, ensure tasks were accomplished)

Determine if the live format is right for you. If you are planning a presentation that does not include participation from your attendees you should seriously reconsider your decision to proceed with your plans. Instead create a PowerPoint with audio and post it to your website so that your audience can access the information when its convenient for them. Use email or a discussion forum for Q & A.

Block out 6-8 weeks (first time). Why? You need time for: marketing, registration, contracting of presenters, service/tool selection, presenter collaboration (meetings), storyboard preparation, script writing, development of your “PowerPoint, testing/training of the service/tool, practice sessions, unforeseen time delays etc.

Now that you’ve blocked out 6-8 weeks, create a master timeline (to do list) to ensure all tasks/deadlines are being hit, and make sure everyone involved the planning process has a copy.

Assign duties/roles. Its time to figure out who will be doing what. The list below includes key areas of work and who MAY be involved from your organization. Mix, match and combine roles as needed.

Content preparation and delivery (presenter)
PowerPoint Creation (presenter, producer, admin support, tech)
Customization and thorough understanding of the how the service/software works (tech)
Event host—the person who starts the meeting (producer/tech)
Presenter support (producer/tech)
Moderator—start the meeting, read/organize chat questions, closing (moderator, event host, producer)
Marketing (producer, admin support, tech)
Registration (producer, admin support, tech)
Proofreaders (producer, admin support)
Tech support (tech, company providing support)

Hold regular meetings. I suggest a weekly 1 hour meeting/checkin. It may be that you don’t use the entire time, but I suggest you at least checkin on everyone’s progress with their work. If you don’t use the time adjourn early.

Select the service you will be using. A great free tool is Dim Dim. It’s free for up to 20 people. Other reputable companies include WebEx, Elluminate, GoToMeeting, Adobe Connect.

Once you’ve selected your service, you need to begin training yourself and presenters in its use. The best way I’ve found to do this by having your planning meetings online (even if you are in the same office). It’s not enough to just show the presenters how it works. They need to be familiar and comfortable with it in advance of the event.

When preparing the content, choose visuals that enhance your presentation. A nice resource is http://www.istockphoto.com

Keep the presentation to 60 minutes (if you exceed 60 minutes you will begin to lose attendees).

Have some type of user interaction every 5 minutes (chat, poll, whiteboard, voice). The type is dependent upon your content and the tool you select.

Designate a time keeper. This person’s role is to keep the presenter informed of the time during the event. I suggest blocking out the content into 4 pieces and that the time keeper display a flash card (or use the chat tool) to the presenter so the presenter can adjust their pacing as needed at any of those 4 points. The timekeeper should be included in the practice sessions.

During the event, and all practice sessions, make sure the event host has a view of a Mac and a Windows computer, in addition to the computer the meeting was started on. This ensures understanding of what is, or isn’t happening on your attendee’s screens.

Plan to have 3 practice sessions using the computer/phones that will be used during the event.*I can tell you right now people will complain as soon as they find out this is a requirement (and yes this should be a requirement), but in the end I guarantee they will thank you.

Use the first session to go over the storyboard and rehearse who will do what. You don’t need to have a detailed script, but you should actually move through an outline of the presentation. Practice transitions of introductions, transitions to speaker(s), and transition to the conclusion.
Ideally your second session would be in final form, or nearly final. Practice as if this were real, but stop as needed and make adjustments to your script, PowerPoint, or timing notes.
Your 3^rd practice is really about fine tuning your script/timing, and most importantly helping everyone to feel confident about the upcoming event. This is your dress rehearsal. Behave as if this were the real deal.
During your 2^nd /3^rd practices secure volunteer participants and ask them to behave as if they are an actual participant of the meeting, which means they should respond to presenter questions etc.
Failure to practice will ensure a less than stellar performance.

Do not use VoIP. It will eat-up bandwidth and potentially slow the rendering of images for your attendees. Use your own teleconference service or the built-in teleconference service. Use the built-in service if you plan to record the event.

The host and presenters should be using land lines. NO CELL PHONES.

Do not use the video feature (web cams). They too eat-up bandwidth and for the most part do not add any value to the presentation. Additionally, do not show videos from your computer. The video/audio are almost never in synch with your users view.

The event host and presenters need to have a wired broadband connection….NOT WIRELESS.

Have a plan B. At the most basic level, make sure your attendees receive the materials that will be displayed in the presentation in advance so they can print them and then refer to them in the event they become disconnected from the internet. As part of your plan B I also suggest recording the event so that you can refer those that had technical difficulties during the presentation to the recording.

If you will be showing a PowerPoint presentation, number the slides. This will prove invaluable if go to Plan B. In the event of a tech glitch you can refer to slide numbers.

On each slide, include a photo of the person who is speaking at that time. This is especially helpful to participants if you have multiple presenters, moderators etc.

Provide your event attendees with the technical information they will need at least two weeks prior to the event so they have time to configure their computer. Some attendees may need time to schedule an appointment with the IT department to install the plugin because they don’t have administrative access to their computer.

Make sure your attendees and presenters understand how to mute/un-mute their phones. If possible, use the teleconference service mute controls.

If possible, have more than one presenter. In short the variety keeps people more alert and more tuned in.

Spend time at the beginning of the presentation explaining what attendees can expect. Provide them with a brief orientation to the meeting environment and include contact information for tech support.

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