E-Coaching Secrets Transcript
E-Coaching Secrets
“Run Seminars From Home & Generate Truckload of Cash
Teaching What You Love!”
Module 02: Planning Your Virtual Presentation
Important Learning Advisory:
To experience better learning, it is recommended that you print and follow this
transcript while listening to the MP3 audio. There is ample space at the
bottom of every page for you to write your own notes and jolt down ideas.
Happy learning!
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E-Coaching Secrets Transcript
In the first module, we discussed about E-coaching, various ways to conduct one and
how you and your clients can benefit from it. Let’s now see how to plan your webinar.
Planning is one of the crucial steps of the whole process. It will help you conduct your
presentation efficiently and effectively without missing out on any important points.
Planning will help you pre-empt the challenges that you might face midway through
the webinar.
For a start, it is necessary to decide as to what is that single most important point that
you want to convey to the clients through your presentation. You may reiterate the
purpose of the presentation to yourself during the planning stage. You need to sit and
deliberately chalk out the plan, which will include certain critical issues namely,
content of the presentation, schedule of the presentation and resources that you will
share with the clients. Once your planning is done, play it in your mind till you cover
the webinar till the end.
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E-Coaching Secrets Transcript
So, how do you begin planning your presentation? The first point to consider is the
subject matter that you want to convey. That is, the subject of your choice. But, is the
topic for the webinar interesting? This can be known by doing a little research. You
can check out the market trends and then decide what type of content you would like
for your webinar. You may be good in culinary skills or brand management, tourism
or interior designing; a webinar can be prepared on anything you have knowledge in.
The question is how passionate you are you about sharing it with people who are
willing to learn and explore? This needs to be identified and then the next steps will
follow much more smoothly, setting the right pace. Your enthusiasm will invariably
reflect in your presentation in front of the clients, making your webinar more
compelling.
The content of the presentation needs to be with a purpose in mind. Your purpose
will determine the way the presentation flows. Make sure your presentation starts
with a brief introduction on the subject. It should be as short as possible. For
instance, if you are making a presentation on “Organizational development”, then the
logical way to start would be to first define the concept of Organizational
development. You may then move on to explaining the types of Organizational
development interventions that are required to be taken in an organization.
You must try and include some basic terminologies. That depends entirely on the
capacity of your clients. What this means is, you must gauge the level of knowledge
that your clients have on the subject. If you don’t know this aspect of your clients,
forward a questionnaire before your webinar is scheduled to begin. The answers to
this questionnaire will clearly tell you what your clients would like to know more
about. You can then plan the content accordingly.
Now you know what your clients are interested to know about. How do you start
designing your presentation in view of this? This is an important question that you
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E-Coaching Secrets Transcript
need to answer. Also how are you going to start in a way that catches everyone’s
attention from the very beginning? You need to sit and think about this aspect deeply.
The beginning should be something that is able to stir your clients from inside. Think
of beginning with a quote or an audio visual slide which tells a humorous story and
then move on to apprise them of the benefits of the webinar. Think of this as a great
experience for the participants.
You can start off with the basics only if your clients are completely unaware of the
subject. Ask yourself “Do I understand what is important to them?” This would require
an understanding of the background of your clients. The answers to the
questionnaire should help you out here. This will give you a fair idea of the level of
awareness of your clients. There may be instances where your clients are
experienced professionals and aware of the basic concepts. In that case, do not
dwell too much on the basics; simply include them in your introduction of the subject.
If you start discussing something, which they already know, then you will not only
waste their time on all the unimportant and irrelevant points but also end up losing
your credibility.
It is very important to relate the concepts mentioned in the introduction. Imagine
yourself sitting and listening to the webinar when you review the content. How does it
sound to you? Think like your client. Is it comprehensive enough? If not, what is it
that you can improve or modify to make it better? Adding instances which your client
can relate to can be one point to consider, simply filling your presentation with
information is not enough. You must elaborate on each point by giving relevant
examples to make them easy to understand. Examples prove to be really impactful
when they are relatable.
Think of a scenario where the points are not in a sequence. How will this impact the
audience, won’t they get confused? Well…yes, sure they will. So, make sure that the
important points are positioned in a logical manner, so that the next point builds up
on the previous one. This would help you convey your core message effectively. At
the same time, it will help your clients grasp the main points. The points should be
organized in a manner that it allows you to elaborate and give emphasis on the most
important thought or idea. Each small point should invariably lead to the focus of the
presentation. Just as you began, continue with the same tempo. The conclusion of
the presentation should also be made interesting that it provides the punch to make
that final impact on the audience. If in a feedback the clients remember the points
you made, then you can rest assured that your webinar has been impactful.
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E-Coaching Secrets Transcript
Wouldn’t it be good if we can rewind ourselves, modify our words and play ourselves
again? Well since this is not going to happen, you might as well consider doing things
right the first time. If your preparation has been thorough, then this should not be
problem. Time is something which is in not in our control. So let’s now see how we
can plan the webinar according to the available time. It is not the time that will adjust
to your presentation but it is the presentation that needs to be planned. Make sure
you schedule it in such a manner that you are able to cover all the relevant points in
the given time.
Now that you have decided what points you are going to cover, the next step is to
assign time in minutes to each point. Just try to think which point should come first
and which ones should follow. You can rate the points from the most important to the
least important and assign them time accordingly. Some points may warrant
examples while others may not. You can keep examples ready for a lot of sub-topics
which are covered in your presentation. This will come in very handy when you are
falling short of time. For instance if someone does not understand a concept when
you explained it and you know that the time is running out, then a simple example will
help you in making your client understand quickly.
So you think only actors require rehearsals? Well…think again! Rehearsal or
practice, in other words should be done only because you don’t want to fall short of
your own potential and the audience’s expectations. It is a good idea to rehearse
once or twice after the content of your presentation is ready. This should be done
with a watch kept close by so that you can keep track of the time and change things
where you think you are taking more time than required.
At the same time, the presentation should not be completed before the scheduled
time. If this happens, then it will give your clients the idea that there is no value
addition being done by your presentation. The clients may actually end up losing
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E-Coaching Secrets Transcript
interest in it altogether.
How is your thought process? Are some preconceived ideas on your mind about the
previous set of clients? This is another check point for you. Just because it took
longer for the previous batch to understand a point from your presentation, doesn’t
mean this batch is also going to take the same amount of time. It is necessary to
think afresh because these clients are new and different. Rely on what the clients
have shared with you about their backgrounds rather than allowing your judgments
about them to prevail.
The last thing you need to keep in mind about time is that the duration of your
webinar should not be too long or too short. It is not necessary to cover everything
about the subject in one presentation. Imagine yourself being subjected to a
presentation which has been rushed and there is nothing that you have been able to
absorb. You are definitely not likely to come back to a presentation like that. Instead
you can divide it into two webinars if need be. This is because the attention span of a
person is limited and if the presentation goes on for too long, then your clients are
likely to lose interest. You should be able to strike a balance between the content
being shared and the time taken to share it.
At the very beginning of the webinar, it is important to make each person feel that
their presence is important to you. If you start the presentation with this thought in
mind, then making the session interactive will be an easy job. If you are simply going
to rattle on, on the topics one by one then it will not register in the minds of your
clients. By the end of it, they will not have learnt what they had in mind, instead they
will be frustrated. Whereas if you encourage their participation, they will feel valued
and would want to contribute more.
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E-Coaching Secrets Transcript
In the first 15 minutes, you will be able to recognize as to what has kept the interest
of your clients till now. Use an appropriate strategy in accordance to keep their
interest. You can include small easy exercises to emphasize on points included in
your presentation or have the clients answer a questionnaire. You can ask them
questions, so that they start thinking on the subject deeply. If you think that the group
is capable of answering difficult questions, then you can ask such questions. Do not
ignore anyone’s questions or inputs. Appreciate the person who gives a good input or
asks a good question. This will definitely help them know that their input matters.
Let’s consider a situation where your presentation is likely to overshoot the specified
time. You can end by saying that the next topic will be covered in the next session.
This is a more dignified way of ending the presentation rather than spoiling it by
trying to stuff everything in the presentation just because the clients asked too many
questions or because you lost track of time.
Won’t you feel good if you were asked about your views on the session you
attended? Sure you will! So don’t wait, use the software to take a feedback of the
clients and the extent to which they have benefitted from it. The last 5 minutes may
also be kept for a quick review of the topics discussed in the session. Their answers
will indicate whether you have done any value addition or just about repeated things
that the clients already knew.
The resources you choose for your webinar depends on whether you are starting off
or already established in this business. In case you don’t have a website of your own,
you can explore your options on a number of online conference websites. This will
automatically have you registered on the website and make the invitation to your
potential clients. However, in case you have a website, getting webinar software
would be a good idea. Let’s see how these options work.
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E-Coaching Secrets Transcript
In case you decided to register with a website offering scheduling and planning
services for the webinar, the clients will use the registration forms to apply for your
webinar. This will be followed by automated reminders to the clients as the date of
the webinar approaches. If you are completely new to it, then you can have a mock
set up practice before actually registering to the website. Once this is done, go ahead
and practice your presentation using the website before you deliver it for your clients.
If you do not feel confident with the virtual set up immediately, you can request
someone from your family or friends to act like a client and have the webinar
presented to him or her. You can then ask them to give you a genuine feedback on
whether you are going too slow or too fast, whether you are audible and so on. If you
have a trial like this, it will be easy to identify if there are any technical glitches that
need to be checked before your webinar starts.
There is a facility which can be utilized to know your audience in terms of who
applied first and who applied later. This will be an indicator towards their interest
level. As you proceed, you will learn the way the control panel is used to interact with
your clients. Similarly, each client will have the freedom to use their mic and
speakers to respond to what you are presenting. Your clients will also be able to ask
questions and raise their hands if they want to ask a question or share their thoughts
on the point being discussed. These websites allow you to have online feedback
sessions.
Software is also a great option to organize and manage your webinar. The advantage
here is that everything is in your control. Now let’s further explore the option which
the software has in order to keep your clients engaged in the topic. As mentioned
earlier, a feedback taken will reveal the success of your webinar as well as the points
of improvement. Once your webinar is over, you sure will be interested in knowing
how the clients’ responses look like. Based on the responses of the clients, reports
can be generated. These reports help you to have a clear picture on the way the
webinar went.
Further on, you can send follow up mails to them for them to know the schedule and
various other details related to the next session. You can also schedule the time and
date for the automatic follow up mails to be sent to the clients.
These websites will not only help you organize your webinar by lending you the
resources but also equip you to reach out to as many people as you wish to include
in your webinar. Online delivery also helps you cut down costs. A limited period may
be offered by the website for using these resources and further you can buy a plan
based on your requirement.
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