Webinar How-To

Network

Use a wired Ethernet connection to your PC whenever possible. You will almost always have a much more reliable connection with fewer problems. WiFi is subject to interference from your neighbors and from other devices, which can cause brief drop-outs, freezes, and garbled audio.

Audio

For the best results, use your computer’s audio for online meetings/webinars. The higher quality audio will help to lengthen attention spans and increase comprehension (yup, it’s a fact!). Please avoid calling in by phone (which may be disabled for some types of online meetings). When you call in by phone, your phone connection appears as a separate connection from your computer connection. So, when you raise your hand from the computer connection, the meeting facilitator may not know which line to unmute. If you must use a phone, avoid cell phones. A landline will typically have much better audio quality than a cell phone, and it won’t fade in and out, as cell phones often do. This is important for the others in the meeting/webinar as much as it is for the person on the phone.

Presenters and meeting hosts should use a quality headset (combination headphones and mic) to help eliminate background noise around them, due to the proximity of the microphone to the mouth. And the headphones part will make it easier to hear others. When using a headset, do not place the microphone directly in front of your mouth. If you do, the listeners will hear lots of booms and pops as you speak. As an alternative, a quality USB desktop or boom-mounted microphone and a quality set of headphones or earbuds works well. This is the setup that many podcasters use. An in-line mute switch is helpful for presenters since it is usually easier and faster to use than the on-screen controls. In short, do your best to provide high quality audio to your listeners. They may not realize it, but you’ll get through to them much better with higher quality audio.

A participant that can’t hear well and keeps asking for repeats, or one whose audio sounds far away or scratchy, can be very annoying to everyone else on the call. So, all o still applies for participants, even though it is somewhat less critical. Since everyone needs to listen, headphones or a good speaker setup are recommended. They will usually make it much easier to listen for longer periods of time. Worst case, the microphone and speakers built into modern laptops usually work OK.

Be sure to try a test meeting and verify the quality of your audio before attending the actual meeting.

Video

Consider whether video is really necessary or adds any value to your webinar. If multiple people will have video turned on, the small face sizes and limited number of video feeds on one screen make it less useful for reading facial expressions. Often, the use of video just burns up bandwidth to all participants without adding much value.

Presenters may wish to invest in a quality web cam. Attention spans will drop if people are subjected to poor video quality.

Place the camera at eye level. Most people are not flattered by a camera looking up at them. A camera looking down from above is not as bad as one looking up, but eye level is best.

Be mindful of your background; avoid busy backgrounds. They can be distracting and reduce attention span.

Avoid moving around. Too much movement can be distracting and uses more bandwidth.

Be mindful of what you’re wearing. People are watching!