Okay. My first blog on creating webinars showed you how to pick your topic. We developed your objectives. You chose your technology a�?vehiclea��. Now, the fun begins. You have several more choices to make. They include:

  1. The name of your webinar. The name of your webinar is extremely important, for it will draw people toward the webinara��or away from it. For example: Your topic is business planning. Are you going to name your webinar a�?The Basics of Business Planninga�?? Only if you want to repel people and/or put them to sleepa��. I do many webinars for the National Association of Realtors Learning Library. Click here to see one. I was asked to do one on business planning. Knowing that can be a deadly subject, I named the webinar a�?Not Your Grammya��s Business Plana�?. This is the topic slide.

It got their attention, and was fun to do. It set the stage that we were going to have a good time at business planning.

Dona��t just jump into a name for your webinar. Think of several names. Run them past several people and get their feedback. Sometimes your friends can come up with much better names than you!

2. The time frame of your webinar. Webinars work best if theya��re about 45 minutes, with about 15 minutes for questions at the end. (You can also do questions during the webinar. More about interaction and timing later). Ita��s very challenging to hold someonea��s attention more than 45 minutes. So, be sure you can deliver your webinar easily in that time frame. How to find out? Practice!

3. Sketch your webinar content and a�?progressa��. When youa��re doing a webinar, you cana��t just think in terms of content. You must also think, a�?What visual would best represent the content?a�? So, as you are creating your webinar, get those a�?picturesa�� in your head that represent your content.

Put the ABA Structure to Work

To create your webinar content, use the ABA persuasive presentation formula (those who have taken my instructor development courses, or have gotten The Ultimate Real Estate Trainera��s Guide knows exactly what Ia��m talking about).

Aa��the openinga��should be provocative; should lay out the problem and the solution; should have a strong a�?themea��

Ba��the development of your theme; should support your opening. Herea��s where your stories, analogies, etc. come in.

Aa��the closinga��back to the beginning; should support the theme; should paint a rosy picture and be motivating to attendees

Your ‘homework’ assignment: Now you have some ‘rules’ from which to evaluate webinars. So, join 2-3 webinars in the next week and see if they:

1. Named their webinar to capture people’s attention and interest

2. Timed their webinar correctly

3. Used the ABA structure to create their webinar

In the next blog, we’ll discuss how to keep the audience’s attention during that 45 minutes!