Timothy Koegel (2010) suggests that for virtual presentations, a slide may only be on the screen for 3 or 4 seconds. He argues that for a virtual presentation (e.g. webinar, live online class, etc.) that the most important element is to keep the presentation moving.

Using Koegel’s model, a 60-minute presentation breaks down into 3600 seconds. One slide every four seconds would mean a total of about 900 slides.

Personally, I find that excessive. Unless you have an entire visual production team, it is an almost insurmountable task.

I have done one-hour sessions with up to 200 slides, but I have never been able to produce as many as Koegel suggests.

Another suggestion I have heard (though where I heard it escapes my memory right now) is that one slide per minute is a desirable target. That would mean 60 slides for a one-hour presentation. To me, that seems not to be enough.

The suggestions vary wildly, and I have seen little scientific evidence from any camp to support these “expert” suggestions.

I agree with Koegel on one point though: It is important to keep your webinar moving and not to “sit” on a slide for too long. But I’m not convinced there is a magic number or a “one size fits all” correct answer.

Koegel, T. J. (2010). The Exceptional Presenter Goes Virtual: Take Command of Your Cessage, Create an ‘In Person’ Experience and Captivate any Remote Audience Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press.

I went through a number of steps to try and correct the issue including checking all my audio hardware, ensuring I had a hard-wired Internet connection, doing a reboot on the Mac, rebooting the modem and router and adjusting the sound issues from within the Adobe platform. None of it helped.

Today I had a webinar with 31 people from across Canada logged in and live… and my audio would not work at all.

Luckily, I had logged in about 40 minutes before hand and was able to get on the phone with Adobe Connect help. The issued was resolved by:

• Logging out of the Adobe Connect room completely.
• Clearing browser cache and cookies. I was using Firefox version 11.0, so I went to Firefox –> File –> Preferences –> Security. Then click on “Clear all current history”.
• Going to this website: http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html – Clearing all Adobe websites.

The help desk analyst said that for people who do a lot of Adobe Connect presentations, their computer get too many cookies (and in particular, Adobe cookies) and it messes up the sound – fading, cutting in and out or not working at all. Don’t know who the Adobe help desk guy was, but he sure knew his stuff. (Thanks, Adobe!)

Clearing the cache and cookies by itself was only the first step. (Our Firefox preferences were set to never remember history.) Visiting that Adobe website was the critical step.

If you are having sound issues with Adobe, give this a try.

We have now scheduled this procedure as part of our weekly system maintenance.

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You will be contacted by a person or organization offering to pay you a handsome sum for a webinar ($500 to $1000 USD — or more).

You will be invited to communicate with the organizers via phone, e-mail or Skype. If you agree to a phone or Skype session, they will keep you on the line, telling how great their organization is and the great results they get for their clients. This introduction could go from anywhere between five and twenty minutes. If you only agree to e-mail, they will likely push for a phone or Skype meeting. They want your undivided attention to engage you in their hype.

You will then be invited to give a webinar for them. If you agree, this is where the scam goes into full force…

You will then be told that you will be billed or sent an invoice for $10,000 (or some other outrageous amount) which you must first pay, in order to take part in their program.

So, first they will offer to pay you, then it will be flipped around so that you have to pay them, in order to “be registered”, “be affiliated” or some other such nonsense.

Do not be fooled. The entire purpose of this scam is to get you to give up your hard-earned dollars and give them to someone who does not care about you, your professional development or your content.

But wait… It gets worse…

You may then be told that they DID told about the costs from the beginning. If you challenge them on this, they will swear up and down that you are denying it. They will claim that they have been perfectly transparent and either you weren’t listening or you were negligent in not paying attention. They may go so far as to indignantly proclaim that you are insulting their professionalism and ethics.

They’ll try to make you feel guilty… when all along, this is part of the scam. The idea, of course, is that you’ll feel bad and then cough up the money that you already promised to pay. Do not worry, you are not crazy. You didn’t promise anything. This is part of their hook.

Do not be taken in by this, or any other con artists.

 Here are tips to avoid being taken in by a webinar scam

1. Check out every organization or individual who invites you to do a paid webinar for them. Legitimate organizations who are interested in 21st century technologies will almost certainly have a valid website.
2. Be wary of e-mails coming from a public, free service. Ask yourself, “Why is this person not writing to me from a professional e-mail address?” I say that with tongue in cheek though, because I also use a Gmail account for some of my work… But not all of it. And I am highly searchable on the web, with books published on Amazon with papers published in peer-reviewed journals and I have a list of clients dating back more than a decade. My point is: Investigate these new “friends”. Make sure they are legitimate and well known in their field.
3. If the client is unknown for you, treat your webinar as any other paid speaking engagement. Get a signed contract and a deposit for your services. I regularly charge new clients a 50% deposit for a presentation, regardless of whether it is live or virtual. Real clients will put their money where their mouth is.
4. Develop a “virtual speaking contract” or “webinar presenter agreement” that outlines your fee and what your clients can expect in return.
5.  Trust your instincts. If a deal feels “off”, then it probably is. At the very least, it is likely not a good fit for you. Decline invitations that do not align with your professional values, ethics or area of expertise. Don’t waste your time (or your money) on business deals that feel “off”. There are other clients waiting for you who would love to work with you.

You are a professional trainer, speaker, e-learning instructor or virtual presenters. You deserve to be treated as a professional… and get paid for your knowledge and expertise… not pay others to promote you!

Sarah Elaine Eaton, holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Calgary, Canada, where she currently holds the title of Adjunct Assistant Professor. She teaches courses in education and e-learning. She is the founder of Exceptional Webinars where she works with organizations and professionals to help them design and deliver top-notch e-learning programs and webinars.

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1. Prepare a script

Prepare a script for each slide of your webinar. This will help you organize your thoughts. Have specific, key points for each slide. Write in crisp, concise language.

2. Do not read from your script

Just because you prepare a script does not mean that you should read from it. Unless you are trained as a radio or TV newscaster, it is likely that you will sound robotic and fake. The preparation step is critical for driving the process behind organizing your thoughts and to help you from getting stuck.

3. Use a conversational tone

Do not try to sound like a teacher or an actor. Be yourself. Imagine you are having a conversation with a friend. It is OK to use contractions and informal language when you give a webinar. For example, you do not need to say, “Good day, ladies and gentlemen…” to start. Instead, just start with, “Hi, everyone…”

4. Avoid slang and profanity

Using informal language does not mean it is OK to use slang, unless of course, you know for a fact that you are presenting to a very select group of people who will understand you. There is also no reason to ever use profanity in your webinars. Ever.

You can be informal and conversational and still be professional.

5. Avoid laughing at your own jokes

A dead giveaway for a nervous or under-confident presenter is one who laughs at his or her own jokes. If you use humor, use it sparingly. Leave a pause after your punch line for the audience to absorb what you have just said. Then move on.

Learning how to present the audio portion of a webinar takes time. The more webinars you do, the better you will become.

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“Building a Successful Music Therapy Business” is a webinar designed to teach new and emerging music therapists the nuts and bolts of how to be a success in the business.

We are so thrilled for Jennifer and her team. I have seen the production of this program from beginning to end and I can say that it is high quality and energetic.

Is 2012 your year to build and deliver your own webinars? The next training program is offered via e-learning March 5 to April 2, 2012.

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The course combines synchronous (real time) and asynchronous elements including live online classes, professional mentoring and peer support.

Tonight’s agenda looks like this:

Session One - Planning for success

Introduction / Course materials / agenda review

• Types of webinars
• Why webinars should be part of your overall organizational or business strategy
• How often you should host webinars and why
• Why you should outline your webinar
• How to organize a successful webinar
• How to price a fee-based webinar
• Tips on what to outsource and what to do in-house

Can’t wait to meet the participants and start working with them on how to design, develop and deliver a webinar!

Today I was talking with a colleague of mine who is in charge of technology for a large, national professional development association. He said to me, “We need a free web conferencing service. We just don’t have the funds to pay for one. Which one do you think is best?”

I felt his pain. This past quarter, I have been working with three non-profit organizations who simply cannot afford the subscription fees of paid services. This is an issue that affects non-profitorganizations, entrepreneurs and small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) with limited budgets who want to do webinars.

Honestly, this is a tough question. There are over 100 different webinar provider services out there and many of them are free. Among them:

Webinars are the 21st century way to train more people, coach more clients and market your products and services.

This engaging Lunch & Learn is jam-packed with strategies, tips and content that will help you leverage the power of webinars for your business or non-profit organization.  Designed for those with a keen interest in developing, producing and delivering their own webinars, this presentation will leave you exhilarated and ready to take action!

You will leave with:

An energetic outlook on how to leverage the power of webinars.

• Practical strategies for successful virtual presentations.
• Trade secrets, tips and tricks.

All Calgary business owners, entrepreneurs and independent consultants, professional services providers, students and others are welcome.

Bring your lunch or buy it at the coffee shop on site.

Hosted by: Exceptional Webinars

Presenter bio: Dr. Sarah Eaton, PhD, has been giving webinars for over half a decade and has delivered virtual presentations to thousands of people around the globe. In this session, she’ll share practical tips and tricks, share key “how to” information, offer virtual presenter secrets and tell you what pitfalls to avoid.

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I’ve gathered together some professional pioneers who are leading the way when it comes to using e-learning technology in the literacy field. Each “pioneer” is at a different stage along the continuum:

• One pioneer has led a province-wide initiative to launch a literacy webinars for professional development (Allison Mullin, Ontario Literacy Coalition)
• Another expert has mobilized people in her organization to agree to the idea of launching webinars and has begun developing a program, but has not yet had her first webinar. (Courtney Hare, Momentum)
• A third pioneer is intensely curious and likes the idea of doing webinars for literacy and is grappling with some questions from within her organization — and within herself. (Laura Godfrey, Calgary Learning Centre).

I’ve convinced them all to join me for an open dialogue on how to incorporate e-learning and webinar technology into the literacy field. I’m hoping that the intended outcome will be that participants will realize that it may be easier than you think. By working together and learning from each other, we can advance the use of technology in the literacy field.

Join the conversation:

How to Use Webinars for Literacy: PD, Programming and Promotion

Friday, October 28, 2011
09:00 Mountain Time / 11:00 Eastern (Convert that to your local time zone.)

Allison Mullin (Ontario Literacy Coalition), Courtney Hare (Momentum) and others discuss their experience using webinars for professional development and marketing in the literacy field. This event is an interactive discussion for literacy professionals at schools, non-profit and community based organizations.

Join us, tell us about your experience and ask questions from professionals who are using webinars for PD, programming and promotion of literacy.

This is a free event, but registration is required, due to space limitations. Register here.

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Tonight we are thrilled to have Peter Temple as our guest speaker. Peter has over three decades of experience working in broadcasting and video production. He produces super high-quality video for corporate clients and we are thrilled to have him with us tonight to be talking about technology.

Session Two – Monday, October 24, 2011 – 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Themes: Tech tips and Presenting like a pro

Here’s what we’ll be covering in tonight’s class:

• Success strategies for virtual presentations
• When and how to use your web camera in virtual presentations
• How to maximize the technology without getting overwhelmed: Tips for using mics, web cams, streaming video, screen sharing and application sharing.
• How to choose a webinar platform provider.
• How to deliver your presentation in a compelling manner.
• How to design your materials for maximum effectiveness.
• Limitations and challenges of different technologies.

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