What is a live streaming webinar? A Beginner’s Guide

While the idea might seem daunting to beginners at first, understanding how they live streaming webinars and the many advantages it offers, it becomes apparent why they have become a revolution in the world of knowledge sharing.

To help you understand the nuances of live streaming webinars and how you can effectively host your own sessions, we’ve put together this article where we have covered everything you need to know.

Understanding Live Streaming Webinars

A live streaming webinar is a seminar, workshop, presentation held online. In contrast to taped videos, webinars can provide live communication between the host and audience which makes it very similar to in-person events. Anyone with a stable internet connection, a device like a laptop or a smartphone and the event link can access the session.

These webinars are commonly hosted using a webinar software platform allowing the host to display slides, screen share, present tools or lecture as audience members watch and communicate concurrently. They also provide engagement options like question and answer sessions, polls and live chat, which make the session dynamic and inclusive. Webinars empower organizations to not only exchange information but also to generate trust, demonstrate authority and encourage dialogue among the attendees.

Key Features of a Live Streaming Webinar

To a novice, the first thing to know is that live streaming webinars are not merely video conferences or even online conferences. They are designed to include special features that increase interactivity and scalability. 

Here are the key features of a live streaming webinar:

• Real-Time Interaction: Among the most distinctive features of a webinar is its capacity to create interaction with the audiences in real time. During the session, the attendees have the opportunity to pose questions or make suggestions or voice their opinions. Such an exchange of information makes webinars interactive, in contrast to one-way broadcasts such as pre-recorded videos.

• Presentations, Screen Sharing: Facilitators can either use slides, videos or they can run real-time demonstrations to deliver their message. This would give more flexibility in using the webinar in education, training, or for a product showcase, since the audience may follow the content visually alongside the provided explanation.

• Chat, Polls and Q&A: To ensure consistent interest, most online webinar platforms come with interactive tools such as chat boxes, polls, and even Q&A panels. Not only do these features make sessions exciting, but also assist hosts to collect feedback and capture the interest of the audience in real-time.

• Recording and Playback Choices:  Even though these webinars are live events, most trusted platforms provide recording capabilities. This enables individuals who are unable to attend the event live, to view the session at a later stage. Organizers can also reuse the recording in marketing, training and content repositories, by converting them into various content assets.

• High Capacity: In contrast to classic video conferencing software, webinars can be attended by hundreds or even thousands of people. This scalability is ideal for organizations or corporations that desire to access large audiences in the most economical means possible.

Why Live Streaming Webinars are Important

It is hard to overemphasize the significance of live streaming webinars in the current business world. They lie somewhere between the physical, and completely virtual communication and are necessary to businesses, educators and communities. Here are some of the main reasons why live streaming webinars are important:

• Global Reach: Geography and the logistics of travel tend to constrain physical events. A live streaming webinar, however, allows individuals located in different countries and time zones to join the event from the comfort of their homes. Such worldwide connectivity means that your message, product, or training will be able to reach a diverse and vast audience.

• Cost-Effectiveness: Facilitating a physical event can get expensive quickly, with venues rentals, transport, accommodation costs and also using printed materials. Live streaming webinars eliminate most of these expenses and are hence much cheaper to organise. The cost incurred by attendees is also minimal, in that all they need is a stable internet connection.

• Prime engagement levels: As opposed to other forms of communication that are static, e.g., emails or PDFs, a webinar maintains the interest of the participants. Using polls, live chats and directly engaging them in question and answers, audiences no longer feel like passive recipients. This interactive aspect enhances knowledge-retention and helps build connection to the audience.

• Businesses Lead Generation: Webinars also serve as an effective marketing tool for businesses. They typically require prospective attendees to fill out a form to register, and this information is used to follow up with them and nurture them. Businesses can foster these leads through subsequent offers, resources or consultations post the webinar.

• Effective Share of Knowledge: Webinars are employed by educators, trainers and thought leaders to impart their knowledge to individuals worldwide. The structure enables profound learning, participatory problem solving and connection with learners who could not otherwise be reached.

Types of Live Streaming Webinars

Webinars are not always alike. Organizations or individuals can select the type of live stream webinar, depending on the intended purpose. The most common ones are explained in detail here:

• Educational Webinars: These webinars are applied in education and at workplaces to impart knowledge and training. A trainer shares presentations where they explain concepts, goes through case studies, or gives practical demonstrations. Webinars can be especially successful in the educational field as the learners can get answers to their questions in real time.

• Product Demo Webinars: Live webinars are also used as a means for businesses to promote their products or services to their prospective customers. Such sessions enable the host to show the features of a product, answer questions of customers live, and explain to them how the product is of value to them. Such webinars create trust unlike pre-recorded promotional video, since it is authentic and has an immediate feedback loop.

• Lead Generation Webinars: Businesses host webinars to position themselves as industry leaders and to gain public interest. A good example is that an IT firm can run a webinar on ‘the future of AI in business’ to capture the audience and in a way advertise their services. Such webinars make the brand sound credible and inspire long-term relationships with the customers.

• In-houseTraining Webinars: Corporates utilize the webinars in-house to train their staff, induce new employees, or communicate what is happening in the company. The employees can be located anywhere in the world, and a live webinar will provide them with the same message at the same time, eliminating communication gaps.

• B2B Community or Thought leadership Webinars: These are directed at creating a community or gaining authority in a certain field. The webinars may be conducted by thought leaders, influencers or experts in an industry in order to discuss insights, trends and strategies with a broad audience.

Tools and Platforms for Hosting Webinars

The right platform is important to deliver a successful live streaming webinar. Well-known webinar solutions include Airmeet, Microsoft Teams, GoToWebinar, etc. 

Although some of these tools might intimidate novices, many of them are highly user-friendly, and most of them have a step-by-step guide of set-up procedures. The platform typically is chosen based on the audience size, preferred features (e.g., breakout rooms, Q&A, or analytics), and the available budget.

Beginners need to take into consideration the following actors, when choosing a tool:

• Host/participants usability.
• Capacity of audience.
• Interactive elements, such as chat, polls and screen sharing.
• Options to record and replay.
• Success analytics and reporting.

How to Host Your First Live Streaming Webinar

If you’re a webinar first timer, here’s a beginner roadmap to help you host your first live streaming webinar successfully:

• Plan the Topic, Agenda & Content – Know what you are going to talk about, map your presentation and design interesting slides.

• Select a Platform – Select a webinar tool which matches your budget, audience size and objective.

• Market Your Webinar – Send out invitations through email and promote the event actively on social sites, and on your website.

• Interact During the Event – Employ polls, live chat, Q&A through the webinar to get participants interested.

• Follow up After the Webinar – Provide attendees with templates, thank-you emails, recordings and other types of reference materials to further the discussion.

Conclusion

Live streaming webinars are more than a trendy, new-age marketing gimmick – it is also a strong communication tool that changes how people learn, relate and collaborate. As a beginner, a good starting point is to learn the fundamentals like what a live streaming webinar is, its features, the advantages it offers and the different types of webinar you can consider. 

Whether you’re an educator looking to teach students in hard-to-reach locations, a company that wants to help display their product, or a community leader that wants to expand your audience – live streaming webinars enables all of this and more.