Ready to host your own webinar? A webinar can be a great business tool to connect with your market, share ideas, showcase your expertise, build your brand, increase your leads, and generate more sales.

Deciding to host a webinar is a smart move. The easy part is deciding to do the webinar, then comes the challenge of figuring out what to do next and how to set it up.

Before we get into how to set up a webinar, let’s see what a webinar is:

A webinar is a live, interactive seminar or conference that takes place online. A webinar can be organized in a number of ways, and there are several programs available, both paid and free.

Now, let’s discuss some of the tools you might need to host your own webinar:

– Telephone
– Three way call
– Conference call line
– Audio recording software
– Audio editing software (if necessary)
-Camtasia
– Webinar software

How do you choose which configuration is best for you?

When planning your webinar, you will want to consider the following points:

– What tools do you feel comfortable using right now? Microphone? telephone? audio recording software?
– What webinar programs do you know and like?
– What budget can you work with to host webinars?
– How often would you like to host your webinars?

Once you find the answers to these questions, you’ll want to use them to find webinar schedules for your online event.

This is how I do it when hosting a webinar:

1. I have what I want to say written in the form of notes in front of me on the desk.
2. I use my laptop to log into the webinar software so I can see what my students are seeing in case there are any technical issues.
3. I have my conference call-in number ready, as well as my Acrobat audio call-in number.
4. My Camtasia is set to record the screen.
5. My PowerPoint presentation (or open office) is open and ready to go.

During the webinar:

1. Dial on the conference line.
2. Check Audio Acrobat and start recording.
3. When I’m ready to start the Camtastia recording, I leave a silence and then say “OK, let’s get started” so I can see where to match the audio to the video when editing.
4. Download the audio file and combine it with the video in Camtasia editing software.
5. Notify the list that the download is ready to begin.

The above process will need to be modified depending on the software you are using to host your webinar. Some programs host your event entirely online, which would eliminate the need for a phone line, acrobat audio, and camtasia recordings.