Webinars are a GREAT way to engage your organization’s membership. That being said, there are a few things you should and should not do in order to stay professional and have a successful meeting. Take a look:

DO send plenty of emails

In order to generate awareness about your organization’s webinar, it’s important to send plenty of emails prior to the actual event. Start sending out invitations two to three weeks prior to the webinar date. Then, as the event gets closer, be sure to send out a few reminder emails – to both registrants and non-registrants. If you’re utilizing a system like GoToWebinar or even an AMS, you can easily set these up to go out automatically. Easy peasy!

DO practice, practice, practice

Murphy’s Law says that anything that can go wrong will, and boy is that true of anything that involves technology. Set yourself up for success by doing a dry run of your presentation prior to taking it live. Print out your presentation notes and login early to make sure the webinar software is working right. The last thing you want is to get stuck in the middle of a software update right as it’s about to be go-time.

DON’T go over time

It’s important to understand that your audience might be on a tight schedule, so if you said your webinar was going to be 45 minutes, be sure to keep it at 45 minutes or less – that’s just common courtesy. And don’t forget to factor in time for questions.

DON’T be afraid to experiment

You never know if something’s going to work until you try it. Experiment with webinar times, dates, and even content. For example, if your last webinar was serious in nature, try making the next one a little more humorous. Add gifs or maybe even a short video clip. See how people respond and make adjustments accordingly.

DO listen to the recording

One of the best ways to improve your presentation skills is by listening to your recorded webinar. Sure, it may make you cringe at first, but it’s also a good way to pick up on things you may have missed otherwise. For example, maybe you said “um” too much or your energy level dropped at the end. Either way, just listen and learn.

Now association webinars are just one of the many ways to engage your organization’s membership. Want more ideas for boosting member engagement? Check out our free member engagement guide below!