Designing and Hosting Great Webinars

Plan and host webinars people stay for

Why It Matters

Organizations rely on webinars for outreach, training, funder updates, and recruiting, yet many feel like a slide deck read aloud to a grid of muted squares. Attendees leave early, questions go unanswered, and recordings sit unwatched. A well-built webinar respects people's time and moves them to act: register, apply, adopt a practice, or contact the team. For presenters, the skill builds confidence in a format that is now part of everyday work.

Course Description

Participants bring a webinar they need to deliver and develop it throughout the course. They define the audience and the one action attendees should take, then build an agenda that changes pace regularly with polls, chat prompts, questions, and short activities. Slide design exercises focus on readability and visual flow for small screens. In production rehearsals, participants practice the host, presenter, and producer roles, handle common technical failures, and manage live questions. The course also covers promotion, registration messaging, accessibility practices such as captions and clear visuals, and follow-up emails that put the recording and resources to work. Each participant leaves with a run-of-show document for their next webinar.

Key Focus Areas

Participants explore and practice:

Defining a clear audience, purpose, and call to action
Designing agendas with frequent interaction and changes of pace
Building slides that read well on small screens
Splitting host, presenter, and producer roles during rehearsal
Accessibility, promotion, and follow-up that extend a session's value

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

Write a run-of-show document with timing, roles, and interaction points
Design slides and polls suited to an online audience
Facilitate live questions and chat without losing the agenda
Recover from common technical problems during a live session
Draft a follow-up plan that turns attendance into action

Who Should Attend

Trainers and program presenters
Marketing and outreach staff
Nonprofit and agency communications teams
Subject matter experts who present to external audiences

Delivery and Customization

Examples, scenarios, and activities are adapted to your audience and goals. Delivery is available in person, virtually, or in a hybrid format, as a standalone session or as part of a series. Format and length are agreed during scoping.

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Bring Designing and Hosting Great Webinars to your team

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