So, you’re planning to host a webinar, congrats! You’ve prepared your material well, practiced your talking points, and set up the space around you to present yourself well on camera. But despite all that preparation, have you considered how to make interactive webinars and how to keep your audience engaged throughout your webinar?
12 tips to make a webinar interactive - full guide
Create better titles
Remember that titles are key here – your title should short, informative and snappy. The title is also one of the first things that you should think of in regard to your interactive webinars – it’s the first thing that catches people’s attention and attracts your potential audience. Make sure that it’s a memorable title, and when people see the name of the webinar pop up in their inbox, they’ll remember what it is, even if they signed up for it weeks ago. Read more about creating titles here.
Use content you have
Many webinar software’s have built-in features that help the host engage with their attendees and make interactive webinars. Use the tools offered by the software you’re using to your advantage, software can offer whiteboards, polls, and tests, breakout rooms, etc. For example, capture attention with the help of a whiteboard. A whiteboard feature can be used to help drive a point home as a visual aid, or it can simply assist note taking during your webinar. Breakout rooms can be useful for dividing your participants and letting them interact with each other or work together to resolve a task you may give them. The best webinar solutions, e.g. LiveWebinar, have suvh options and much much more.
If you’re using webinar software for the first time, it could be worth sitting down and getting to know what you’re working with before going live. That way you won’t be fumbling around during your webinar and risk losing the interest of your participants, or worse, coming off as unprofessional.
Remember to be open and responsive to your participants. Running through your presentation without stopping to let people have a moment to catch up to you or ask questions can quickly make them lose interest.
Design appealing content
Remember how in school some teachers seemed to magically put students to sleep, and others were able to hold attention and interest so well that no one wanted to leave the class even when it was already over? We’re sure that when leading your webinar, you would want to remind people of the latter teacher. The key ingredient to keeping all these students engaged and make interactive webinars is well prepared content and an infectious passion for their subject.
Keep people engaged in your webinar by providing them with information that you have prepared in a way that presents it as clearly as possible, and in a way that is captivating and leaves your attendees wanting more.
To help further your content use the tools that you have and add a relevant video. Videos are easy to work into your webinar and engage people’s attention very well (remember the excitement in elementary school when the teacher would wheel a TV into the classroom?). A study performed by HubSpot in 2023 found that 64% of consumers want to see more video content, specifically from a brand or company they support. Another point from this study is that 62% of consumers watch video content thoroughly, and don’t just skim through it. You can easily embed the video into your presentation or into your slides, so no excuses here!
Choose an advanced, yet easy to use webinar platform
LiveWebinar is the perfect all-in-one platform when it comes to hosting webinars, running virtual events, and creating your perfect real-time communication solution. Whether you're in charge of a team, are a teacher, or someone who regularly runs online events, LiveWebinar can work for you!
The platform is easy to use and requires no downloads or plug-ins, it’s all browser based, runs on all major browsers and works on most smart devices. Planning an event takes a few clicks, and attendees can join with just one. You can also record your events to keep for later reference, or to create evergreen and on-demand content.
Pick the right timing
Make sure that you give your presentation the right amount of time to play out – don’t go over or under the time limit you set for yourself. If you plan to play a video or have a Q&A session, make sure to work it into your webinar timeline.
Leverage storytelling
Humans are natural born storytellers. Remember sitting with rapt attention as a child, listening to your parents or grandparents as they spun stories? While your audience may not expect you to tell stories of knights in shining armor, or of dungeons and dragons, throwing in a short story or personal anecdote here and there (that relates to your subject) can re-engage your attendees if you’ve lost them. So this tip can also make interactive webinars even... more interactive! Just remember to keep anecdotes work appropriate and professional!
Run tests and polls
Conduct tests and interactive live polling to better engage your participants, test their knowledge and gather opinions about your interactive webinars. You can announce at the beginning of your webinar that there will be a short quiz at the end of your presentation. As people generally want to do well on tests, this can be an easy way to make sure that your attendees will be paying attention to you. Be sure to also ask your attendees questions and check in with them throughout your webinar to make sure they’re still on the same page as you. At the end of your webinar, be sure to gather some feedback to see what was done well and what can be improved in the future.
With LiveWebinar, you have the power to create a more interactive and measurable event experience. The platform enables you to seamlessly conduct tests and polls, engaging your participants and gauging their understanding and opinions in real-time. Whether you're evaluating knowledge in an educational setting or seeking audience feedback during a corporate presentation, LiveWebinar helps you tap into the pulse of your audience with ease and precision.
Use icebreaker questions
You may start your webinar by asking an icebreaker question to get everyone engaged and to put them at ease. Think about asking a question that relates to the subject of your interactive webinars, or perhaps something completely unrelated, but that will get your attendees’ brains going and ready to engage with you.
A work specific ice breaker question be “What is a unique skill you bring to your job?” or “What is one work related goal you’d like to achieve in the next five years?”. Some good general ice breakers can be: “If you were a superhero, what superpower would you wish you had and why?” or “If money were not a consideration, how would you spend your time?”. Feel free to come up with your own questions or variations! Read a few of the responses you receive from your participants to show that you hear them and are ready to connect with them. However, remember that these should only serve as small breaks, and should not take up more than a minute or two.
Introduce gamification to your online classes
Gamification involves incorporating game-like elements into non-game contexts, such as events and educational sessions, to motivate participation and engagement. By integrating these features into your webinars and courses, you help to create a more interactive and enjoyable experience for participants. This might involve leaderboards, badges, or other rewards that acknowledge attendee engagement.
At the core of LiveWebinar's feature-rich platform lies Engagement functionality, a dynamic tool designed to elevate the virtual event experience. Unlike traditional webinars, this functionality isn't just about conveying information - it's about creating an immersive and participatory environment that captivates attendees.
This option allows you to collect and present information about the involvement of participants in the event. Event organizers can award attendees points for meeting certain criteria, e.g. time spent at the meeting, browser activity, passing a test/survey. Each participant can be given a specific grade or credit for attending an event. 🚀
This is a great way to add a competitive edge to your webinars, online sessions, courses and workshops. With this feature you can:
- Integrate gamification seamlessly into your sessions
- Offer your participants a dynamic points system that tracks and rewards their involvement
- Elevate your virtual meetings with interactive and motivating experiences, adding a competitive edge to your events!
Give your attendees certificates
With LiveWebinar you can now create and automatically distribute Certificates to your event attendees once the event is over. This is a great way to give your participants motivation and incentive to actively participate in your course! 🎓
With this option you can:
- Design your certificate: Pick from templates and give them your personal touch
- Set your criteria: Decide who gets the honor - this option is linked to the "Participant Engagement" feature
- Automate distribution: Click 'send' and we'll deliver your certificates straight into inboxes
Certificates serve as a tangible form of recognition that can significantly contribute to making online training more interactive and engaging for several reasons. Knowing there is a reward at the end can prompt attendees to be more involved, participate in discussions, and complete course requirements. Having a certificate as an end goal gives participants a clear sense of purpose and progress. It can transform a passive learning experience into an active pursuit of achievement. Moreover, when trainings offer certificates, they are perceived as more valuable and credible, which in turn can attract more serious and committed learners who are willing to interact and get the most out of the course.
Add surprise elements
To keep your users engaged during your webinar, sprinkling a few surprises throughout your webinar can go a long way to transform boring webinars into interactive webinars. A surprise or incentive can include bringing a guest speaker onboard, doing a small raffle for a prize that’s within your budget, or maybe a free ticket to your next webinar if you’re hosting a paid event. If you’re planning to do a raffle, make sure to announce it at the beginning of your webinar to ensure that participants will stick around till the end.
Engage your audience
Give your webinars an edge through reinforcing your ideas by talking to and collaborating with your audience during your webinar. This can easily be done with the help of individual chats or by letting your attendees speak up and interact with one another. The more opportunities that people have to interact, the more engaging and interesting your seminar will be. Breakout rooms work great for this purpose! Let your attendees have the chance to ask questions and make sure that if you don’t answer them immediately you have some time at the end of your webinar reserved specifically for a Q&A session. Make sure that your attendees feel like you’re listening to them and that they feel heard – it’ll keep them coming back for the next webinar!
Keep engagement levels high
Researchers have said that the human brain can concentrate on a given task for 20 minutes at a time, after that time attention begins to wander. Treat the content in this article as a toolbox and take certain tools out when you need them. If you sense that your attendees’ minds are drifting toward what they want for dinner, reel them back in by throwing in a story or a poll to keep them engaged. It's best to plan ahead by working on these tools throughout your webinar and considering how much time you want to devote to each one.
Always be prepared!
Prepare for your interactive webinars ahead of time, and we’re not just talking about making an outline of your talking points (but by all means do that too!). Prepare a technical backup just in case your microphone or webcam fails, make sure your laptop is plugged in and working well. Prepare for the worst but hope for the best!
Remember that you don’t need to use all of these tools at once, but we do hope that they give you a good foundation to create your interactive webinars. Good luck and happy webinaring!
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