Webinars Suck – Is That Right? – Part 3 of 4

Posted on December 18, 2014 by MarleneMB

Take a Poll - Make Your Webinar Interactive — Take a Poll – Make Your Webinar Interactive

Interacting with Your Audience

Welcome back! In Part 1 you read about importance of good content, and in Part 2 you learned how to get organized in this four-part series. Now it is time to conduct your Webinar. Don’t fail by making your session! Your content may be technical, complex or perhaps it is a new concept that requires critical thinking. This doesn’t mean it has to be a Snoozer! You can make the Webinar interactive and fun.

Let’s get started…

1) Establish a rapport – Start your Webinar by establishing a great rapport with your audience. Tell them why they should pay attention to you. Lay the foundation of why you have authority or expertise about the subject. Share tidbits about yourself that may help to endear you to the audience. Or make them laugh; great humor disarms people. Remember, people buy from folks they like and trust.

2) That Monotone Voice – Did you ever get on a Webinar and the presenter voice makes you want to sleep? You find yourself constantly yawning. Using voice modulation will help to your audience pay attention. Raising and lowing your voice at certain point during the Webinar will make your points come across better. You can emphasize certain words and phrases such as “THIS product will…”

3) Get rid of the Ums, Ers, Likes – It is amazing to me how much folks don’t realize how often they use filler words as crutch words when speaking. It drives me crazy to hear a presenter saying: “and then, you can, like, use it to, um, tweak your, er, SEO ranking.” WHAT! With all those filler words the message gets lost. I’ve been a Toastmasters member from 2009. This organization helped me to learn to get rid of my penchant for using the word “like” every time I opened my mouth. Check it out at toastmasters.org. Visit a club. It may change your life. It did mine.

4) Ask questions – Asking questions of your audience and allowing them to reply either in the chat session or verbally helps to keep the audience tuned in. Utilizing questions keeps it interactive. Asking a question at the beginning, during and after the session is helpful in keeping the audience engage. It is a great way to gauge if the audience is learning from your presentation.

5) Affirmation Polls (Check in with Your Audience) – One of the tools I admire about my pastor is his use of “Amen” to validate that his parishioners are paying attention. He would make a statement then ask: “Can a get an Amen?” or he may say: “Clap, if you agree.” Checking in with your audience by polling them with a question or statement that prompts an immediate response is a great way to ensure they are following along.

6) Offer Give-aways to Make it Fun – Tell the participants that “N” amount of respondents will receive a special discount or a give-away item for doing “xyz.” People like gifts and discounts. It could be a free e-book, consultation session, or discount on the next Webinar.

One of my best experiences on a Webinar was a few years ago. The presenter, Lewis Howe, demonstrated how establishing the right LinkedIn Profile can help to increase the participant’s visibility on LinkedIn. This would in turn make the participant more attractive to future employers and recruiters. Lewis had the participant modify his/her profile with keywords during the Webinar. This action caused the participants ranking in his/her area of expertise to increase.

When Lewis was finished he gave a Call to Action to purchase a more detailed session for successfully navigating LinkedIn. The response rate was very high to his Call to Action. You too could increase the success of your Call to Action by keeping your clients and future clients engaged through interactive, informative and fun Webinars.

You have created great content, got yourself organized for your Webinar and you have everything set to make it an interactive session for you participants. But what about the platform? Which Webinar provider should you select? Part four, the final part of this series will give you some information how to select a provider.

We are almost at the finish line for you to conduct successful Webinars. The Webinar Platform you choose as your Webinar “stage” is important. Do not choose free, cheap or even expensive as your only reason for selecting a Webinar provider.

Find out how I learned these tips and more from my Diamond Cutters, My Mentors and Coaches, pick up a copy of Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading my post. Please hit the “follow” button at the top of the page. This will allow me continue to write and share with you on a variety of topics.

Webinars Suck – Is That Right? – Part 2

Posted on December 17, 2014 by MarleneMB

Get Organized

Yay! You are back today for part deux. Let’s go back to the nightmarish call at the beginning of this series (See part one). All the chimes binging, banging and clanging as folks got on the call. This is often perceived as lack of organization on the part of the presenter. Perhaps the presenter did not take the time to learn how to use the mute function available on the platform. If you want to conduct a successful Webinar, get organized prior to the session. Address as many potential issues you may encounter as the moderator/presenter prior to the call.

Learn how to use the different features and functionality of the Webinar platform. Here are some popular features/functionality you should master:

Instructions for the participants to connect and utilize participant features
Mute all callers
Make the call private or public
Share your desktop or Screen
Start and Stop Recording
Chat Sessions
Take a poll during Webinar
Hand control to another presenter

Set Up in the Right Environment:

Perhaps you work from home or in a nosy office space. It is best to ensure that you minimize any background noise when moderating/presenting a Webinar.

Nosy kids, adults and pets – It is strongly suggested that you make the arrangement to have the kids, adults and pets away from the area that you will be conducting the Webinar. Let all know that you need to have a quite environment in order to make the best impression on your audience.
Turn of the phone – ringing telephone in the background is also a distraction to you and your participants. Make it a habit to silence all your devices near your presentation area, especially if you are recording the call.
The guy/gal with the lawnmower – if you know the day and time of the lawn service provider, schedule your Webinars when he/she will not be working in the yard. The mowers and leaf blowers often generate a lot of noise, especially when lawn person decides to go right by the window that you are next to while presenting.

Not knowing how to utilize the platform features and background noise may contribute to the appearance that your Webinar is disorganized and unprofessional.

Now you have done yourself and your audience a favor by honing your Webinar skills and creating the right atmosphere. Next it is time for the Webinar. In the third post of this four-part series, I will share a few ways to make your Webinars Interactive.

Find out how I learned these tips and more from my Diamond Cutters, My Mentors and Coaches, pick up a copy of Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading my post. Please hit the “follow” button at the top of the page. This will allow me continue to write and share with you on a variety of topics.

Wisdom Wednesday – Leadership by Fear

Posted on November 12, 2014 by MarleneMB

“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” ~ Kenneth Blanchard

Have you ever had a leader that led by fear? Throughout my career, I encountered a few managers/leaders that led their teams by bullying, screaming and intimidation. What I observed is that the results were not positive ones.

Some of the team members would lie to them. They would say what the leader wanted to hear. Instead of telling the truth, they fabricated stories in order to avoid the backlash from this person. Or the team member would not go above and beyond what was required of him or her. He would simple do just enough to keep his job. This often resulted in poor performance of the team, marginal productivity and sometimes low sales results.

Fortunately for me, these types of supposed leaders were few and far between. A majority of the leaders I had the pleasure of working with allowed their employees/followers to grow. These leaders:

1) Shared the visions and goals of the teams

2) Outlined roles and responsibilities of each team member

3) Encouraged them to think outside the box

4) Showed them respect

5) Empowered them to get the job done

One of my managers/mentors led us in this fashion. The results he got were: team members were willing to work longer if necessary; helped other team members to get the tasks done; were more loyal to the manager and the company.

The managers/leaders that by fear often fell from grace. They were either fired or demoted, because of the bad results they attained from using intimidation instead of positive influence.

Many of us are called to lead. Practice using your power of persuasion, sharing your vision and empowering your followers to reach new heights. This is part of Living a Diamond Life, a Life of Purpose on Wisdom Wednesday.

Get your copy of Live a Diamond Life, Live a Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters, today. Find out how my mentors and coaches helped me to be a better person, and how to apply these principles to your life.

Follow me on Facebook Let’s Link on LinkedIn Tweet with me on Twitter

Invincible Monday – Heart of a Champ

Posted on October 6, 2014 by MarleneMB

My fellow Toastmaster, Lyle, is someone with whom I enjoy speaking. At 86 years old, Lyle has experienced so much in life. He was his high school quarterback on the football team, he was a race car driver and travel all over the world. He is a true Champ. His stories are always fun and fascinating.

One day last week, Lyle told me he had some advice for me. He said: “Kiddo, I’m worried about you. I see you doing so much, maybe too much. You have the Heart of a Champ and people know this about you. When you do anything you go all the way with it. You hardly say no. This will draw others to you. But Champs are often taken advantage of. I don’t want that for you. Don’t become a floor mat. Stay a Champ. Slow down and rest.”

This wasn’t the first advice Lyle has shared with me. But it is one to which I’m paying attention. I’m working to implement this. Lyle advice is not only for me, it is for all of you also. As you push to live your Diamond Life, Your Life of Purpose, folks may want to add other tasks to your list. Don’t take them on if they don’t fulfill your purpose. They are just distractions. Remember that even Champs need rest. Take time to refuel and refresh as you work towards living your purposeful life.

Keep your Heart of a Champ strong on Invincible Monday!

Get your copy of Live a Diamond Life, Live a Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters, today.

Follow me on Facebook Let’s Link on LinkedIn Tweet with me on Twitter

3 Diamond Carats from the Miami Heat Trio

Posted on May 27, 2014 by MarleneMB

Here are three great Gems I got from the Heat Trio (Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and Lebron James):

Did you know you can pick up some great Diamond Nuggets from the NBA Champs? Here are some I gained from last night’s Heat-Pacers wrap-up session on ESPN:

❖ Don’t over think it

❖ Play your game

❖ Focus

Watching the wrap-up session of game four of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers, I heard these three things that can be effective in accomplishing any project or plan.

When he was asked why he got the game off to a smart start by scoring 3 baskets, Chris Bosh stated that he stopped overthinking it (his performance). He decided to just do what he knows: play the game. How many times have you been paralyzed by overthinking a task or getting started in one of your goals? Do like Bosh said: stop overthinking it. Get out there and do what you know. Believe in your ability to get it done!

In his response to a reporters question about playing mind games against his opponents, Dwayne Wade said he and his teammates don’t engage in this. Instead, they go out and play the game of basketball the best way they know how to do it. My take away is to play your game and not someone’s idea of what your game should be. You are in control of you. Do what works best for you in your life.

Finally, Lebron James reminded the audience about being focused on getting the job done. He doesn’t let what his opponents may say on and off the court to affect his performance on the court. He remains focus on winning another NBA Championship. He focuses on what he has to do between the lines that spans 94 feet (the length of the court) to win the game. If we focus on and do the things that help us achieve our goals, we become champions of our lives.

Part of not overthinking, playing your game and remaining focus is learning your purpose in life. Pick up a copy of the Diamond Cutters book to learn how to find your purpose.

Follow me on Facebook Let’s Link on LinkedIn Tweet with me on Twitter