One way to fix Adobe Connect sound issues

April 18, 2012 by 2 Comments

Lately I have been having some major sound issues using our Adobe Connect account. The sound has either been fading in and out or cutting out.

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:

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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Are you looking for a speaker for your next event? Book me (Sarah Eaton) for your next event (either live or via webinar)! Contact us for details. Please visit Dr. Sarah’s speaking page.

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Beware of Webinar Scams and Con Artists

March 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Do not be fooled by a new webinar scam that has surfaced. The scam goes something like this:

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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Build Your Own Webinar – Winter 2012 E-learning Program starts tonight

January 9, 2012 by 1 Comment

Tonight we are launching a month-long e-learning training program. The course will help the participants take their webinars from concept to delivery.

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!

Are you looking for a speaker for your next event? Book me (Sarah Eaton) for your next event (either live or via webinar)! Contact us for details. Please visit Dr. Sarah’s speaking page.

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Community Event: Webinars for Literacy

October 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

We at Exceptional Webinars love giving back to the the community. Literacy is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. That’s why I’ve decided to marry my two passions in this online discussion for literacy practitioners on how to use e-learning and webinar technology for literacy.

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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Are you looking for a speaker for your next event? Book me (Sarah Eaton) for your next event (either live or via webinar)! Contact us for details. Please visit Dr. Sarah’s speaking page.

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The ONE question every webinar, web cast or e-learning class must answer

August 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

No one cares about your great information.

Sorry, was that a little harsh? Let me soften it: We work with professional service providers, small and medium size businesses and non-profit organizations across a variety of industries and areas. We often see the same mistake being made by new webinar producers and designers. They focus too much on information.

There is one thing that you must never, ever forget if you produce webinars, webcasts or design e-learning programs: Your audience does not care about your information.

Think of yourself the last time you took a webinar where someone did what we, in this business, call “the information dump”. Did you feel “talked at”, lectured or that your needs weren’t being met?

Sadly, this occurs too often in presentations of all types. But in the cyber environment, people have very little tolerance for the information dump. They may tolerate it one time, just to see if their ONE necessary question is answered, but if you don’t answer it, they’ll never come back. Ever.

So what is this one magical question?

I bet you already know it: “What’s in it for me?”

Every single participant of every single webinar will ask this question either consciously or unconsciously.

As a webinar designer or developer, your job is to keep your audience’s needs in mind. What are they there for? What do they want?

Time is a commodity. If you’re not giving them what they want, they’ll check out. They’ll go look for another webinar, offered by someone else, that answers their question: “What’s in it for me?”

You may think they’re taking your webinar to get some information. Wrong! They’re taking your webinar to find a solution to a problem. It’s your job to provide that solution.

If you provide a solution to a problem in every single webinar, people will keep coming back.

How do you do that? Here are some tips:

Identify the problem you want to solve. For example, in my program “Webinars for Professional Speakers” the problem I identify is this: professional speakers and workshop facilitators have a problem taking their content from the live environment to the cyber environment. My webinar helps them make that transition.
Give a list, or at least some tips, on what supplies your audience will need to solve their problem. Think of the scientific method. In order to conduct an experiment, the first thing you do is figure out what you need in order to conduct your experiment. For example, in my Webinars for Professional Speakers program, I tell my participants that they will need a professional quality mic. I then give them specific recommendations on what ones I like (and I also say that I’m not paid by any company to promote their wares).
Offer sound “how to” information. It’s one thing to identify a problem. The next question your audience is going to ask is: “OK, so now what?” This is where the main content of your program comes in. When people talk about a “content rich” program, this is what they mean… They mean that you’re giving “how to” information that solves their problem.
Be specific. Don’t offer vague ideas or “the big picture”. Get down and dirty with your information. Phrases like “Now I’m going to show you exactly how to do this…”
Be methodical. Another phrase audiences love to hear is “OK, now we are going to go through this step-by-step”. I tell my clients to think of a cooking show. The chef tells people what they’re going to learn today. He or she then pulls out the supplies and goes through the process. A cooking show is 30 to 60 minutes and there are dozens of them on TV. If they can do it, so can you.

Show what it looks like at the end. This is where you are proving to your audience that you can solve their problem… because you just did. You don’t actually have to say the words “If you use this method, you’ll get these great results”, although you can if you want.

If you always answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” your webinar participants will be engaged, they’ll learn stuff, they’ll figure out what they can do for themselves and they’ll be entertained. Wouldn’t you want to keep coming back to a program like that?

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