Guide to Webcasts, Podcasts and Social Media

Everyone is doing it so it must be worth doing. So goes the argument for conducting webevents or creating podcasts for engaging any audience. Here is our top ten lists of things needed to make your next webevent or podcast successful: 1. Define your audience and carefully balance what they need to hear with what you need to say. 2. Develop content that is relevant to them. State it upfront and have a clear outline with no more than three objectives. 3. Use the tools of broadcasting without pretending to be a broadcaster. Speak a bit louder than normal, clearly enunciate your words, and restate your topic, guest and summary every 5 minutes. Keep it as short as possible - 5 to 15 minutes is best. Never go over an hour. 4. Present your content as a dialogue rather than a monologue. Interviews work better but keep them candid and natural. Minimalize your scripting. 5. Pick your host/leader carefully. Broadcast skills are secondary to the credibility of the host. 6. Guests or content owners should be true experts on the topic or subject. Credibility is built from the audience respecting their background, opinion and depth of knowledge. 7. Use an outline and bulleted content rather than a word for word script. Never read a script. 8. Interacting with the audience is key. Use surveys, polls, chat, emails, and live calls to involve the audience. Think of webevents as two shows: audio and chat. 9. Make sure visuals support the content rather than drive it unless the content demands that they do. Draw attention to them as often as possible. 10. And finally, have a clear summary and call to action. Tell the audience why they just spent time with you and what you want them to do. If you do this well, you will end your webevent or podcast having learned something new as well as informed your audience. That's how relationships are build. So good luck and enjoy making your next webevent or podcast a true success.


Action Steps
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