Presenting a webinar can be scary.
Even though you can’t physically see your attendees, a webinar production is a performance. The thought of performing for an audience is enough to give even the hardiest of webinar presenters at least a few butterflies.
If they are good, most webinar hosts eventually learn to manage their anxieties. Or, at the very least, suppress them with a little Liquid Courage (Just Kidding!!! I’m not seriously suggesting that you get drunk before your webinar. Although, that would most certainly produce an unforgettable performance).
Kidding aside, how can we beat the phobia?
What about those of us who suffer from such severe stage fright, our webinar performances end up unfocused and wandering? Or, worse, what about those who allow their fear of being on camera to prevent them from ever putting on a webinar at all?
THIS Will Help..
If any of that sounds like you, the most helpful solution is to partner up with someone else in your business, or with a friendly face from your industry.
There’s a huge world of difference between going out on stage alone and going out there to stand next to someone you know and trust. Simply having that second person alongside you can instantly cut your anxieties in half.
MORE benefits of having a webinar co-host:
- Having someone alongside you can increase your confidence, improving your delivery.
- It’s easier to inject a little humor into your webinar when you have someone to bounce off.
- Your presentation will look more impressive with two people involved, invoking favorable comparisons with news and sports commentary.
- An expert, or influencer, beside you co-hosting adds an extra benefit to your webinar, enhancing your marketing pitch.
There’s just something about the dynamic of two people, in a groove, doing their thang, that creates a tone and tempo that can’t be replicated with a solo event.
Unfortunately, though, creating an event with a co-host isn’t something that most people can accomplish at the last minute. Forethought and preparation are required.
Here Are 7 Tips to Organizing a Co-Hosted Webinar
These strategies will help you get started. Put them into practice and you’ll soon be ready to become part of a webinar dream team!
1) Move the Camera Back (or Go Split-Screen)
I wouldn’t recommend the two of you huddling around a single laptop. The result will look messy and unprofessional. You need to move the camera back far enough so you can both sit (or stand) side by side with your own space within which to operate.
This means you’re going to have to invest in some clip-on mics so your audio is clear.
Alternatively, present the webinar in different locations and use your webinar software’s split-screen feature. You see this technique all the time on television news channels and WebinarJam makes this super easy to pull off. You lose a little bit of the confidence that comes from being in the same room, but it’s a good compromise if you can’t easily arrange to be in the same location as your co-host.
2) Split and Organize the Content
This is where advance planning is critical.
It’s way too easy to put on a co-hosted webinar and wind up with a presentation where either one person does 90% of the talking, or both hosts constantly talk over each other. The trick is to split up the content that you’re delivering into chunks and alternate who covers each point.
You can each still chip in with side comments while your co-host is taking the spotlight, but pre-planning how the content is split at least ensures the webinar doesn’t dissolve into chaos.
3) Don’t Force Banter
When co-hosts have a great rapport, and have worked on screen together for years, a natural rhythm develops that allows the two to bounce conversation off each other naturally, as if they’re of one mind.
You can’t fake this. Even if you write a clever script that tries to mimic this effect, it will come off as forced.
If your co-host is someone you’ve known for years and you can both be relaxed on camera, the dialogue will hopefully start to come naturally. But otherwise, don’t try and pretend to have a level of experience and connection that isn’t there yet. It’ll show and it’ll look really awkward.
4) Practice Your Webinar
One of the few downsides of co-hosting an event is that there are more opportunities for missteps in the delivery of your content. This can only be minimized by ensuring that both of you are extremely well-drilled.
You and your co-host need to rehearse together, in real time, over and over. It’s not an exciting prospect, but that’s true of most essential strategies. Nothing worthwhile is ever convenient!
That said, if you do lose your place on the live event, it’s easier to laugh it off when you have someone to laugh alongside you. And audiences always enjoy the occasional authentic gaffe. It’s like watching a live out-take and it shows the genuine connection you have with your partner. Your audience will be rooting for you to succeed.
5) Look Ahead While Your Co-Host is Talking…
Keep an outline handy and, while your co-host is presenting a section, look ahead to the next part so you always know when you’re due to jump in and to refresh your memory about what you’re going to talk about.
This is yet another benefit of having a co-host. It provides you with pauses to catch your breath and briefly review your notes.
6) …but, Don’t Stop Paying Attention
Don’t get so caught up in your outline that it looks like you’re not interested in what your co-host is saying.
Even while your partner is taking point, you should be looking at them, nodding in agreement, and ready to jump in with the occasional supportive comment.
7) Find the Right Partner
Webinar co-hosts are like watermelons; you can’t be sure if you’ve got a good one until you’ve cracked them open and feasted on their innards (Worst. Metaphor. Ever.). In other words, the first time around you won’t be 100% sure that a co-host is going to be a good fit for your audience, your business, or your delivery style.
You just have to give it a go.
That said, choosing a partner shouldn’t be arbitrary. There are certain qualities to look for when hunting for a suitable co-host that will give you the best chance of finding the right one. For example, is there someone in your business who is confident on camera and is enthusiastic about your product? Do you have a colleague with whom you have a really good rapport that might carry over well onto a webinar?
If you’re looking for a co-host outside of your organization, start with people that have complementary rather than competing businesses. Then, think back to people you’ve met at exhibitions, seminars, or networking functions. Was there someone with whom you developed a connection over lunch or drinks?
Experience
Enthusiasm
Rapport
These are the main things to look for. Try and find someone who ticks at least two of the three boxes.
And last, but not least, try not to choose someone who’s too similar to your personality or you risk canceling each other out. If you’re loud and impulsive, you maybe need someone who’s a bit more measured and thoughtful. If you’re a bit quiet and bookish, try and find someone who is bombastic and direct.
In other words, think Butch/Sundance, Booth/Bones, Penn/Teller, Thelma/Louise, Peas/Carrots, Lorelai/Sookie.
Perfect Partners… Share the Love
A little fear is good. It sharpens our senses, encourages us to be prepared, and it shows that we care.
But while it’s natural to be nervous when hosting a webinar, you mustn’t let that put you off from using what is easily the most effective sales tool on the planet. Webinars are, arguably, the most successful online marketing and sales tool in existence and your business NEEDS you to step up and master this discipline.
If getting over that hump of anxiety means using a co-host, then so be it! We love our co-hosts!
Listen, if you dig the idea of a “perfect pairing”, then I’ve got something to show you that will knock your socks off.
WebinarJam, our popular LIVE webinar platform, and EverWebinar, our also uber-popular AUTOMATED webinar platform are partnering up for the first time.
We’re calling it Share the Love.
And you are going to love this perfect pairing!
We’ve put together a “Share the Love” bundle that gives you full access to both products, as well as virtually every training and development tool we’ve ever produced.
And the entire package costs LESS THAN A THIRD of what you would normally expect to pay.
This offer is only available for a couple of days and then it’s going away, so click below while you still can…