Prep Your Next Guest Speaker With These Webinar Tips! - Goto Meeting

As a Customer Success Manager, I often receive inquiries from GoToWebinar users who have upcoming guest speakers or presenters. The concerns typically sound something like, “My guest speaker has never used GoToWebinar and is pretty nervous – so what steps can I take to make sure they have an amazing experience?”

Guest speakers can help deliver great content and drive engagement, so it’s vital they remain comfortable during the presentation. For those who already have anxiety around public speaking, unfamiliar technology only makes things worse. In this post, I’ll outline some steps you can take to make sure both you and your guest speaker have a successful webinar.

Preparation

1. Confirm your guest speaker has the necessary system requirements to join the webinar successfully. Anyone can complete a system compatibility check and join GoToWebinar test session using this link.
2. Advise your guest to be prepared to join the live webinar at least 30 minutes prior to the start. This will ensure you have time for testing and troubleshooting, if necessary.
3. Schedule a dry run at least one day before the live webinar, and encourage your guest to join. Confirm they have the proper calendar invitations, and remind them that the links are unique and should not be shared.
4. To ensure a reliable connection, advise your guest to hardwire connect to the Internet, and dial in from a landline.

The Dry Run

1. Make a point to use all of the same features you plan to use during the live presentation (Polls? Live Q&A?) – and don’t forget to test your audio!
2. Transfer presenter rights to your guest speaker (if they’re comfortable), so they can display the materials on their desktop.
3. Provide your guest with keyboard and mouse control. This enables the guest to control the flow of the webinar. A few things to keep in mind:
   1. If using PowerPoint, make sure the presentation is not in the ‘protected’ view.
   2. If you’re the organizer handing off keyboard and mouse control, refrain from touching your keyboard and mouse – your movements will always supersede others’.
4. Ensure you have a team member kicking off the presentation with proper introductions, including credentials of the guest speaker.

The Day Of

1. Start the webinar, and during the pre-session, confirm your speaker has a reliable audio connection and can be heard loud and clear.
2. Remind your speaker to silence their phone and exit all computer applications besides GoToWebinar and the presentation.
3. Give your speaker presentation rights OR keyboard and mouse control, depending on how you decide to manage the webinar.
4. Lastly, don’t start the broadcast until your guest speaker is ready.

Learn more on our Support Site, or check out the GoToWebinar Resource Center!