How to Host a Webinar at Home: Everything You Need to Know

With growing uncertainty and government-enforced lockdowns to contain coronavirus (COVID-19) forcing an increased number of people to work from home, this means that more and more people are having to transition their physical events to online events, like webinars.

So, how do you host a webinar at home? We have compiled a comprehensive list of everything you need to successfully run a webinar while working from home - no high-tech equipment necessary, just some good old fashioned insider tips and tricks.

But, before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s go over some webinar basics...

Webinar Basics

• Webinars are defined as online seminars that allow you, or a presenter, to connect with your audience and share information online. 
• Webinars are hosted live, on-demand or as Simulive (simulated live) events and use a combination of assets, such as PowerPoint slides, webcams, a screenshare, pre-recorded MP4s and accompanying audio.
• The purpose of a webinar is to generate leads, build your brand, establish yourself as a thought leader and to educate new and existing customers.
• The benefits of webinars are: increase your engagement, boost your lead generation and create awesome brand experiences
• The optimum length of a webinar is between 30-60 minutes. However, over 55% of all webinars hosted on WorkCast clock in at 60 minutes.
• The best days to host a webinar are the ‘Big Three’ aka Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Where to host a webinar

People often ask: “Where should I host my webinar?” The answer is pretty simple: wherever you have good access to the internet and a quiet place to record your webinar. As long as you don’t have any distractions or interruptions, you can effectively host your webinar, so this means that you could just as easily host it from home as you would from your office or a professional recording studio.

Just like if you were to record music, you should consider the “room sound” when recording your webinar at home. When you record something with a microphone, your voice is not the only thing that’s being picked up, as the sound takes a trip around the room, bouncing off the walls and anything else in the space. This is how the “sound” of your room makes it into your recordings.

So, which room in the house is the best for hosting and recording my webinar? Well, in this case, we would always recommend either the bedroom or the living room. The bedroom is always the first choice for sound recording, as they are often smaller rooms and the mattress, pillows and carpet often help to absorb some of the sound, so it won’t echo as much as it would, say, in the bathroom.

Likewise, living rooms may share some sonic similarities to bedrooms, but they typically offer more space to record, so presenters will feel more comfortable - especially with multiple speakers present.

What equipment do I need for a webinar?

When it comes to running a professional-quality webinar, there are three main pieces of webinar equipment that you’ll need in your artillery: 

1. Quality headset with an adjustable mic 
2. HD Webcam
3. Martech webinar platform, like WorkCast

For more in-depth information about what equipment to buy for your webinar, you can head to our blog post where we recommend different options to suit every budget.

How to dress for a webinar

This may seem obvious, but it’s a commonly asked question here at WorkCast. And, while most of you are working from home at the moment, we do strongly advise that you swap your lounge-wear and fluffy robe for something more business casual, like a button down shirt or sweater. 

Unless you’re working for a government organisation, you probably won’t need to don your usual suit for your webinar, so we always recommend to dress professionally if you’re going to be using your webcam at any point. After all, webinars are a tool for thought leadership, so you want to dress the part and no one is going to take a presenter seriously if they’re wearing their Disney pajamas. 

I’m sure you’ve all heard the recent story about the boss who turned herself into a potato during her video conference call. Case closed.

How to host a webinar?

Now you’re up to speed on all of the webinar basics and essentials, we can explain how to conduct your webinar. 

Despite common misconceptions, webinars are quite straightforward to run. In fact, you can plan, promote and implement your own webinar in these 10 steps:

1. Choose your organizer, presenter, moderator and guest speakers
2. Select your webinar format i.e. presentation, discussion, Q&A, etc
3. Design your presentation slides, assets and video for your webinar
4. Select your webinar platform, like WorkCast Stratus
5. Set up your webinar presentation in the right environment with suitable equipment
6. Choose the best day and time to run your webinar for maximum attendance
7. Select your topic and create engaging content to captivate your audience
8. Promote your webinar 6 weeks out using email marketing, social media, landing pages and website banners
9. Practice, practice, practice - do several dry runs
10. Follow up with your audience post-webinar and send them a follow-up email with a link to the recorded webinar to extend its shelf life