Teleseminars are a great way to build trust with an audience, make sales on the spot and facilitate a two-way communication. Teleseminars can involve live video of you, on-screen demonstrations as well as presentation software like Microsoft PowerPoint.
Before hopping on a teleseminar, you need to make sure you’re prepared from both a presentation perspective and a technical perspective. Here’s a checklist to help you do that.
==> Make Sure Your Line Can Handle the Volume
If you have over 100 guests, make sure you talk to your teleseminar provider to see if your line can handle the volume.
The kinds of providers you need for a teleseminar with 100 people, 1,000 people and 10,000 people are very different services with different technical requirements.
==> Prepare the First 60 Seconds
The first 60 seconds of the teleseminar are the most important parts. This is when people will decide either to leave the teleseminar or to stay on.
In the first 60 seconds, clearly spell out what’s going to be covered and what they’ll get by listening to the call.
Practice your first 60 seconds several times before the call.
==> Invitation & Follow-Up Schedule
At a bare minimum, every teleseminar should have one invitation and one follow-up email before the actual call.
For more important teleseminars, you may want to create a sales process around the call where you use several emails to “sell” them on coming onto the teleseminar.
Make sure to plan out the whole process before you start promoting the teleseminar.
==> Get Familiar with the Software
If you haven’t used the software for the teleseminar before, get familiar with it before the call. Try running a test seminar with just yourself and a test computer beforehand.
Learn how to switch between screencasts and presentation tools as well as how to turn your webcam on and off. Learn how to mute and unmute visitors and how to take questions.
You don’t want to be trying to figure these things out while on a live call.
==> Test Your Recording Devices
If you want your call recorded, make sure you test that as well.
Most teleseminar services will offer some kind of recording package you can purchase. However, you’ll often want to also have your own recording going for back-up.
==> Prep for Most Common Questions
Before the teleseminar begins, try to predict what kind of questions people will ask you. You can do this by going through past emails your customers have sent you or by browsing related forums on the internet.
By having an idea of what to expect before going into the seminar, you’ll be able to answer questions in a more informative, authoritative way. You’ll also be able to research any questions that you might have trouble with.
These are some of the most important things to cover before you launch a teleseminar. Make sure your line can handle the volume, check your recording equipment, test the software, prepare your first 60 seconds, have a solid invitation and follow-up system and prep your Q&A beforehand.