A simple guide to webinars

A webinar is an engaging online event where you are able to learn and also share business-related knowledge. These types of events are usually interactive and professionals are able to participate from anywhere in the world. In this article, we will be providing an overview of what a CPD webinar is, how effective webinars are for training professionals and tips on how to host a webinar.

Quick introduction - what are webinars and how do they work?

Webinars are a really useful online learning activity which is held virtually and is attended by an online audience. It is especially useful for businesses who are trying to reach a large and specific group from a single or multiple locations. The main objective is to educate and inform professionals about new information and attendees should be able to interact and participate within the event.

Webinars work by allowing the hosts to share information about a particular product or service in the hopes of further educating the participants. Some of the interactive opportunities can include, but are not limited to, asking questions to the hosts, answer polls or surveys and also sharing documents with the attendees.

Are webinars effective in training?

Digital learning environments such as webinars, have become an increasingly popular method of training, but are they effective? Companies may prefer webinars as they allow delegates to access content from their homes if needed, rather than having to attend an in-person event. This can be particularly useful for companies with employees based internationally as they may not be able to attend otherwise.

Another great aspect of webinars is the session can be viewed at any time, meaning it can be revisited if needs be. This will allow individuals, especially ones who are in training, to go back and review the information later if they have any questions or if they would like a recap.

Benefits of a webinar:

• Convenient to attend
• Reach a larger audience
• Cost effective
• Can demonstrate new products/services
• Train both new and existing employees
• Generating leads for a business

How to participate in a webinar?

In order to participate in a webinar, all attendees must have either a working computer or mobile phone, and they should also have a good internet connection. A link usually will be generated with the relevant information on it as to where and when the webinar will be held. Once the webinar has been accessed, the host will likely be able to see/hear the various different participants, so if you do want to stand out, it is advisable to engage with the organisation, ask questions, build connections, as that will help towards personal development and development with the business.

How to host a webinar?

Here are some simple steps on how to host a webinar.

Step 1: What will the topic be?

The topic that is chosen should be informative and motivating for the participants

Step 2: Preferred date/time?

The webinar should be at an appropriate date/time for people to attend, also taking into consideration the different time zones if this is applicable.

Step 3: What content will be shown in the webinar?

Once the topic and date/time has been figured out, think of what information will be relevant and how to present it, this could be in the form of polls, engaging slides, questions, quizzes etc.

Step 4: Send out the webinar invitations

Depending on how many people you would like attending, an invite to the webinar should be either posted on social media to gain attention to the event, or sent to individuals if it is a private one.

Step 5: Do a practice run

In order to be prepared for the webinar day, it is a good idea to do a test run of the software that will be used to ensure it will run smoothly on the day.

Step 6: Host your webinar

Present your webinar to the attendees and also make sure to record the event so you can always go back to it, and also use it for future events that you may have.

How to make your webinars more interactive?

To ensure the best sharing of knowledge and information, as well as participant enjoyment and feedback, it is important to consider how to make your webinar more interactive.

Finding Balance

As webinars are online based events, finding the right balance is important. If individuals are handed a lot of content with little interactive activities, it can lead to disengagement, and likely the information will not be retained as effectively. A great way to retain the focus is by including discussions and surveys whilst also delivering educational information.

Exercises and Challenges

Information is more easily absorbed if people are actively engaged in receiving it. Introducing exercises into the webinar can be a great way not only to make them more interactive for users, but they can also help with retaining the information that is being presented to them.

Questions (Surveys, polls, etc.)

Questions and answers (Q&A) are a very effective way to help make a webinar more interactive. As the questions and answers can be asked by individuals attending the webinar, it allows you to really understand how the audience is engaged and how they interpret the information that is being spoken about.

More about Continuing Professional Development

We hope this article called a simple guide to webinars was helpful. The CPD Certification Service is the leading and largest CPD accreditation organisation working across all industry sectors. If you provide training courses, workshops, eLearning and virtual events that may be suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please contact our team to discuss in more detail.

Alternatively if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing Continuing Professional Development, as well as store your personal training record and CPD attendance certificates in one simple place, please visit the myCPD Portal page.