The purpose of a project kickoff meeting is to establish a foundation of shared knowledge of the project. This provides direction to each team member (producer, promoter, and presenter) about roles, expectations, and timelines for deliverables.

What follows are the details you’ll want to cover to get everybody on the same page.

Producer’s project overview

The producer is the virtual meeting planner or project owner. Typically they own managing timelines, coordinating rehearsals, and setting up the conferencing platform.

1. Title? You can change it later, but your web conferencing solution will want you to name it something to get started
2. Date and time? Don’t forget to clarify the host time zone
3. Purpose? How will success be measured?
4. Primary internal stakeholder? Who’s driving this, or who stands to win/lose based on success?
5. Primary contact? If the producer needs a decision made, who signs off?
6. Recording? Will recording the event be required? What will it be used for?
7. Rehearsal date(s)? Don’t put it off. Coordinate calendars now.

Presenter’s overview

1. Presenters? Who’s presenting? Who’s moderating? What is their contact info and preferred contact method?
2. Experience? What is their experience with the platform? This will help determine training and rehearsal needs.
3. Content format? Will presenters use PowerPoint? Desktop demo? Flash or video?
4. Interaction? How do they envision interacting with the audience? Poll? Q&A during or after? Live audio questions?
5. Other? What else do the presenters need to succeed?

Promoter’s overview

1. First invitation or advertisement? Working backward from the event date, when is the preferred “drop date” for promotions? Remember, for many types of promotions this will be drop dates, plural.
2. Types of promotion? What channels and tactics will be used? Are their any special features in the web conferencing or webcasting solution that can be utilized? (See this for more ideas)
3. Presenter dependency? When does the presenter need to get info to the promoter so copy can be written and media planned?
4. Producer dependency? When does the producer need final copy or other elements (e.g., logo, images) from the promoter to get the registration site built.
5. Other dependencies? What else needs to happen to successfully integrate the webinar into the bigger organizational plan (e.g., tie it into the CRM)?
6. Contingency? What happens if registration rates miss expectations? What happens if they far exceed expectations?

Getting started:  Master the instant meeting

Most people still approach online meetings as an “event.” In other words, it’s something you schedule out in the future.  This is a missed opportunity for productivity.

As you grow comfortable with using instant meetings (like you use the telephone), you’ll quickly find it powerful to add “show” to your “tell.”

Preparation:  Ask all participants to join from their own computer

A communication medium changes how messages are transmitted and received. The challenge you face if some participants are virtual and others are in the same room together is that you rob yourself (and them) of the chance to have co-equal access to the tools for collaborating, chatting, etc.

To optimize your ability to connect with everyone in the meeting, and to enable them to participate most effectively, each person in the meeting needs equal access…an equal “chair at the table” if you will.

Preparation:  Choose meeting tools based on meeting objectives

The power of any tool isn’t just that it exists, but also that you use it in the right context.  During the webinar we looked at how, as your communication needs change, the way you use a feature in your web conferencing solution may change to enable that communication.

Remember there are no hard rules – let your meeting objectives with your audience will determine your needs, and you may plan to change (i.e., turn on/off a feature) on-the-fly.

Collaboration:  Turn your agenda into a working document

The challenge with an agenda is twofold: You only see it once, and it’s not a living, breathing document. Use Word (or equivalent) so can take notes, assign action items, etc.

The benefits? You save transcribing whiteboard or yellow-pad notes, make it easy to quickly share after the meeting, and you can use it as an ongoing, ‘living’ document.

Collaboration:  Capture meeting content digitally

Beyond the meeting agenda, what about all the other written forms of communication that occur either as part of the meeting or when it’s outside the scope of the meeting objectives?

Capturing chat to use in another document is easy, and this is most useful if your web conferencing solution captures chat content in a log or report that you can access after the meeting.

Presentation:  Engage visually by thinking visually

Web conferencing provides a significant benefit beyond just a conference call:  The ability to engage your meeting participants visually.

A visual doesn’t necessarily have to be a photograph. It can be any way of engaging the sense of sight and making your point that assists the talk track of your presentation.

Presentation:  Learn to dialogue naturally using tools

Airplane pilots learn to fly by sight and instinct, but they also must learn to fly by their instruments.  Video conferencing is great, but it’s not the only answer.

Most of the better web conferencing solutions have tools that facilitate help you take offline behaviors and move them online (see the chart on page six of this paper for examples).

I didn’t think so. Read on.

Whether you love or hate web and video conferencing, you’re leaving money on the table if it’s not in the go-to-market arsenal of your business.

To make the most of your time, money, and relationships, avoid these mistakes:

Mistake #1: Abandoning face-to-face meetings

“Present to anyone anywhere, save travel costs” has been the mantra of the conferencing industry for a long time.

It is not that this is not true. It’s just that it be irresponsible to the sales profession to abandon face-to-face meetings.

Mistake #2: Not using web/video conferencing at all

In a recent session working with a team, one rep piped up with, “But I like to meet people, shake hands, get to know them.” I didn’t even have to reply, because one of his teammates chimed in, “Yeah, but my customers are sometimes saying, ‘Can’t we avoid getting everybody together and just knock this out in a web meeting.”

It is equally irresponsible to avoid web and video conferencing. You actually increase the service you provide when you save your prospects and customers time and money.

Mistake #3: Using web/video conferencing every time you make a phone call

Just because your specialty is field sales doesn’t mean you don’t use the telephone, right?

Here’s the big “but”: Using web or video conferencing is a visual extension and/or improvement of that phone call…but do not waste time putting together PowerPoint or scheduling a video conference if it’s not needed.

Mistake #4: Not saving your client time

Once during a training session for a Fortune 500 team, one of the reps was giving me a hard time (“It’s not like being there,” like I’ve never heard that before).

I didn’t have to answer him. One of his peers spoke up, and she said, “Joe, I’ve got clients asking for it. Sometimes we can just get something done in 30 minutes, They don’t have to go book a conference room or feel like they’ve have to ‘do lunch.’”

Mistake #5: Not being ready with a backup plan

Imagine this: Flight number one is late, and you missed the connecting flight.

Rescheduling the presentation doesn’t have to be your only option. (Read these tips for being ready to present virtually while traveling).

Mistake #6: Not accelerating the sales cycle

Having all the decision makers and influencers in the room isn’t always possible. Doing more appointments and/or making more calls take more time.

Answer: Get everybody in the same virtual room.

Mistake #7: Not including other team members

If the deal’s large, the sales engineer or senior exec will travel with you, but many times the appointment doesn’t warrant that. Unless all they needed to do was join virtually.

What’s the value of your CTO dropping in for 10 minutes to provide a personal comment?

Mistake #8: Not adapting to the medium

A change in the medium of communication changes the experience for both you and your clients. Any change of medium loses something (everybody gets that), but it also gains something.

Learn your virtual presentation tools. You’ll likely discover something you can do better virtually than in-person.

Mistake #9: Not growing your presentation design skills

Of the brain’s computing power allocated for our five senses, half is dedicated to vision. It’s a cliche’, but sometimes a picture is literally worth a thousand words, and research proves that complex or intangible ideas are often better communicated visually.

Why does this grow in importance online?

You don’t “work the room” in the same way. There is more focus on your slides to communicate key ideas.

The bottom line

Web and video conferencing isn’t the answer to world hunger, but it when you look at it through the eyes of business owner and value creator, they are uniquely irreplaceable assets in your bag of tricks.

As some total slouch named Sun Tzu put it,

“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.”

What follows is a long way from an exhaustive list, but it does touch on some of the common challenges I observe as I’m working with organizations on training-oriented use cases.

Think iteratively

Unless you have radically mastered the platform you’re using, you are likely to discover new things that you can do (that you didn’t design for). Instead of “Plan, test, launch,” try “Plan, launch, test.”

Use registration pages as mini-research opportunities

Most training happens with groups that are internal to the organization, and most of the time the invite is a date and link. Don’t kill people with too many questions, but used thoughtfully, you can learn more about your learners and serve them more effectively.

Create learner personas that include social

Personas help you target your learning objectives. When you plan for the virtual classroom, however, one dimension worth including is the relative level of comfort/discomfort with interacting in a virtual environment.

Probe the SME for the “aha!” moments

If you’re developing the class for others (subject matter experts), it’s likely they know too much. Ask them to describe what’s happening when they see others have “aha!” moments regarding the content. Those are great for the live interactions of the virtual classroom, and if that means you don’t have time for all the content, you then…

Move some content to other media

Live human interactions are a huge part of learning, and virtual classrooms a great medium for concurrent collaboration. Shorten the amount of time you talk by making some content available elsewhere.

Plan to demonstrate interaction almost immediately

It’s likely your learners have experienced webinars that were “listen and watch” experiences, and they’ll likely bring the presupposition to your class that “this is one of those.” Get to “do and share” quickly.

Help the facilitator find their inner Elvis

By analogy, music that is written down never captures every nuance of the live experience. The conductor or musician brings something to the table. So do trainers and facilitators. Give ‘em direction, but give ‘em a little space to bring themselves, too.

I trust you’ll be inspired, too.

Cathey’s book, The Unbreakable Rules of Marketing: 9 1/2 Ways to Get People to Love You is that kind of common sense that should be more common.

The webinar angle? Too often webinars and webcasts are used as publishing platforms which, while not wrong, often miss out on the opportunity to use them to “get people to love us.”

Consistency beats ability

Nobody’s webinars are great to begin with, and how to get more butts in seats is a game we’ll never stop playing.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Some may flop, and some will rock. In time you move the needle in the right direction.

Perception is reality

As Cathey puts it, “Your job is to control customer’s perceptions,” and it’s likely that some part of your audience thinks a webinar is something you listen to while getting email done.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

If you want an engaged audience, learn to be engaging. In a different medium.

Be creative or die

The world is noisier than it’s ever been. So just why do I want to make it a point to attend your event? Because I remember that  in the last webinar you gave away books to people who answered the game show quiz correctly?

There are zillions of ways you could drive both attendance and attention if you gave your online event the same attention you gave a tradeshow booth.

The medium is not the message

…but it does affect how we engage with people. Unfortunately, webinar presenters often leave out the best parts of themselves when they move online… they way they ask for a show of hands or take a question on the fly or otherwise work the room.

A webinar is not a “format.” There is no rule that says, “Must be one hour long, must present for 45 minutes and take Q&A at the end.”

Work hard to keep it simple

Live presentations (of any sort!) are rarely the best place to present a boatload of details. They’re awesome for conveying emotion and getting people to understand the structure of a point of view. They’re awesome for getting people to want to dive more deeply with other content you’ve produced.

Webinar attendees are a click away from email. Data dumps aren’t exactly edge-of-your-seat engaging.

Give love to get love

Two studies of mine have confirmed that the number one thing audiences hate is content that’s not delivered as advertised.

It should go without saying in content marketing strategy, but it needs to be said again. Give value first. Skip trying to slip ‘em a Mickey.

Emotions rule the world

Facts tell, stories make meaning. And storytellers can make or break the story.

So why are most webinars devoid of the emotional impact that is common to other media forms involving speakers, teachers, coaches, consultants, experts, actors, storytellers, grade school teachers, and songwriters?

Intent. Training.

Go big or go home

Cathey’s point is, “Do it like you mean it. Or don’t do it.”

So do you roll over when your webinar presenters don’t want to rehearse? Or learn to adapt their presentation? Or use new tools to engage with the audience?

Big doesn’t have to mean 1000′s of registrants. It means you should commit to excellence and figuring out how to do something that stands out from the rest of the noise.

Everything is marketing

Everything you do influences how people see you, and that perception is the basis of your brand (sorry, a logo on a slide is not branding).

The cool thing about live webinars is, as mentioned before, the opportunity to make them events. Have a little fun. Connect people to people in authentic ways.

THAT is what you can do in a realtime event that you can’t do in a whitepaper or tweet.

Know the rules, and know when to break them

Is there a perfect way to write a book, make a movie, or get to know someone over coffee? (I don’t need to answer that, right?)

The bottom line

The best thing you can bring to the table is your self, your point of view, your twist on things.

Anybody can copy your stuff. But they can’t copy you.

When you learn to better guide participants’ experiences, you’ll better get and keep attention. Another big benefit: You will distinguish yourself from those “45 minutes of talking at you” webinars.

Don’t give instructions, make it part of the flow

With rare exception, I’m not a fan of consuming valuable time doing a lot of up front “housekeeping.” Instead, guide attendees as the need arises.

Example:

Give me a virtual show of hands in this poll, “What is your experience with online meetings?” Notice that little round button next to each answer? That’s what you want to click to share your response.

Tell attendees where their focus should be

A key part of most online meetings, presentations, and classes is PowerPoint (or equivalent), and to be fair, it’s not always simple and self-explanatory. Too, if you show something other than PowerPoint (like a web browser), you may not be able to use a pointer or drawing tool to direct attention.

Example:

In the lower, right hand corner of this slide you will see…

Verbally “walk” people to the tool you want them to use

The whole “room” in your online presentation is more than the content viewer, it’s all of the other tools, too. Like a retail salesperson who walks you over to the thing you asked about (or should!), guide your online audience to where you want them to go.

Example:

Look over on the right hand side of your webinar viewer, and you see that the third tab down says Questions? That’s where I want the answer to this question (pause!), “Where did you go on your last vacation?”

Remind participants of how to navigate technological idiosyncrasies

Many “technological idiosyncrasies” may seem like no-brainers to you, but it’s best not to assume your audience gets it. Is there a toggle that opens or closes a panel? Do you need to scroll to see all the chat? Is there an arrow to go “full screen” and back again?

Example:

I just used the public chat to give you the link to the report that I’m referencing here. If you don’t see the link, remember that you can grab the scroll bar on the right side of the chat box to scroll back up.

Don’t assume everyone heard you the first time

It may be because they came in late and missed your instructions, or it may be because the person in the next cube over walked into their space right when you asked. It’ll sound repetitive if you say it the exact same way every time, but with a little practice you can make it “make sense” conversationally to repeat yourself.

Example:

John and several others asked about the survey I mentioned earlier, so just in case you missed it, you’ll get the link to the extras when you fill out the exit survey that pops up when you exit out of today’s session.

The bottom line

What’s a professional speaker or trainer do when they get to an unfamiliar location?

They “walk the room.”

Most of the suggestions above require that you have some familiarity with what the audience is experiencing. You don’t have to be a technology expert, but it does help to be part behavioral analyst.

Invest a moment to learn what the experience is like for your audience.

But you also instantly get what I mean.

Speaker bios are notoriously over-engineered. Worse, some online audiences are less tolerant than offline audiences (notably those waiting for a thought leader to take the stage…see my recent study here).

To say that a speaker bio should be short, however, would be grossly simplistic. Read on for better speaker bios in your webinars.

Get clear on the bio’s purpose

The word “bio” (biography) is a misnomer. Audiences really don’t care that you won an award in sixth grade for rescuing a unicorn. Bios serve one function: To motivate attention and involvement.

Take action

• Answer the audience’s Big Implicit Question: Do you have credibility? In their unspoken words, “Should I listen, trust that you can deliver on what’s been promised?”

Approach the bio as supporting evidence

I’m on the Professional Sales Advisory Board at Ohio University’s The Schey Sales Centre, and I’m delivering a keynote for an upcoming learning conference. When I share at the former, do you think they care that I can spell pedagogy? When I speak at the latter, do you think they care that I’ve helped solve multi-million dollar sales problems?

The speaker bio is the supporting evidence for answering the Big Implicit Question.

Take action

• Take a hatchet to every detail that is even close to marginally irrelevant to the audience.
• Don’t think, “Super-duper short”. Think, “Super-duper relevant.”
• Include as much as needed to answer the Big Implicit Question. No less. No more.

Don’t be afraid of humor…especially with humorless audiences

Supporting evidence doesn’t have to be limited to your alma mater.  And in some industries that have been especially scrubbed within an inch of their lives, there’s a huge opportunity to be a welcome face in a sea of boring.

People relate to people. My bet is that you’re pretty interesting during Happy Hour. Tap in to the (suitable for work) elements of your interestingness.

Take action

• Find, and use, a simple tactic like the Rule of Three

Plan the bio as performance art

Even a great bio is dead in the water if it fails to get attention and incite anticipation. Which means that how it’s delivered could actually hurt the cause.

Remember, the brain avoids boring. Great performance itself is a compelling thing to listen to.

Take action

• Write bios to be read aloud
• Avoid complex sentences
• Write in an active voice

Help others help you

Webinar moderators come in all shapes and sizes. A few are former radio pros who kick real butt. More commonly they’re an extra person in the company, an editor from the publication where you rented the list, or (gasp) a senior executive who nobody can say no to.

Take action

• Don’t be shy about asking the moderator to practice
• Make sure they know how to pronounce difficult names, particularly yours
• Consider a third-party (outside) moderator who will push to improve performance, including how the bio is constructed and delivered

The bottom line

Audiences are different, and the needs for speaker bios change with the audience. There’s never occasion, however, where you’d argue that a weak beginning is advantageous. Now go forth and rock it.

“We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”

On the lighter side, here’s a quick minute-and-a-half reminder that in laughing at prognosticators of the past, we should not forget that we’ll likely be laughing at ourselves in the decades to come.

(Hat tip to Daniel Holzinger for sending this in)