What is a Webinar?
A webinar is a seminar that takes place on the Web instead of in a physical location. A person can attend a webinar using their computer to listen and see documents displayed by the webinar presenter on their computer. Webinars are usually run by people or organizations and users are invited to attend by the webinar presenter.
Seminars versus Webinars
Seminars have been a common way of communication for some time. They are an effective way of communicating information to a group of people, instead of one person at at time. A seminar is generally a way to communicate information, not a work of fiction like a play or concert, although seminars often include performances to liven them up between presenters. One thing all seminars have in common is at least one person presenting information to a group of people.
As long as you can get information from one person to a group, The Web seems like a pretty good place to hold a seminar and webinar software has been developed just for that purpose. By using webinar software, a presenter is able to make a presentation from their computer to a group of people, who attend the webinar using their computers.
Webinar Services
To hold a webinar, the person or organization holding the webinar uses webinar software, usually from a webinar service company. The webinar service takes care of the technical side of sending one person's voice and computer screen, so all the attendees hear and see the presenter's material. The presenter can control what's displayed on all the attendees screens, so everyone sees the same information.
There are several companies who offer webinar services, and all the services have a few features in common. These features are an account with a webinar service for inviting and registering attendees, an audio conference capability, and a screen sharing capability. Some common webinar services include Go To Meeting, WebEx, JoinMe, and Ready Talk.
Holding and Joining a Webinar
Webinar services provide the presenter with an account on their service for managing the webinar. Usually these accounts involve a fee, either one-time, monthly, or annual, and the pricing is based on how many people will attend the webinar. Using their account, the presenter is able to setup a date and time for the webinar. The presenter then invites attendees from the service, which sends out an email to the invitees. Invitees receive an email with a link to the webinar Web site, along with any username or passwords required.
When the time and date for the webinar comes around, the attendees join the webinar with a click on the Web link. Some webinars can be joined by invitation, others may require registration, it's very similar to a physical seminar registration only you'll attend over the Web and not at a physical location.
Audio Conference
Webinar services provide a way for attendees and the presenter to talk and listen to each other using an audio conference. You might have attended an audio conference, but if you haven't an audio conference is where multiple people can listen and speak to each other. Audio conferences can be the "classic" conference call set up with a phone and three-way calling, but when more people are attending, audio conferencing services are used.
Using an audio conferencing service an attendee dials in to a phone number (often toll-free) and uses a code, usually a few digits, to join the conference call. After entering their code, the attendee is connected to the conference call. Audio conferencing can be done independently of a webinar if there's no need to present any visual material.
Using an audio conference service gives the presenter the ability to control who on the conference can talk and who can listen. This is very useful to avoid noise when the presenter is speaking.
Almost all webinar services provide a way for attendees to dial-in using a standard phone. Many provide a way for an attendee to use their computer's microphone and speaker instead of using their phone.
Screen Sharing
Without screen sharing, webinars probably wouldn't exist. Screen sharing allows the presenter to share whatever is displayed on their computer screen with everyone attending the webinar. The webinar service uses it's software to take the display of the presenter's computer and broadcast it to everyone.
Using screen sharing, a presenter can bring up a document, presentation, and even draw on their computer screen, and all the attendees see the same documents, presentation, or drawings displayed on their computer screen.
By using screen sharing with audio conferencing, a presenter knows that everyone is seeing the same display and hearing the same words.
Some webinar services allow screen sharing to be passed around to different attendees. By using this feature, the presenter can invite attendees to draw on the presenter's computer screen just as though they were sitting next to the presenter. Passing around screen sharing also allows a webinar to have more than one presenter, with each presenter taking turns, just like a live seminar.
Why Use Webinars?
- Webinars can save on travel expenses. Rather than having people travel to one location, people can attend over the Internet from their own location. This saves on travel costs. As a result of those cost savings, businesses have been heavy users of webinars for internal meetings and training. By using a webinar instead or paying for people to travel to a location, a business can save significantly on travel costs. But there are some other benefits of webinars.
Webinars make it easier for a presenter to share information to larger groups, without the need to worry about the size of a meeting room. Some webinar services are capable of holding webinars for thousands of attendees.
If you've ever missed a seminar, you know that they are seldom recorded. So if you don't attend, you don't get the information. You have to reschedule if it's even possible, or miss out. A webinar, however, can be recorded for playback at a later time by anyone who missed it or who wants to review the material. Most webinar services offer an option for the presenter to record the webinar so any invitee can click on the webinar link in the email and watch the recording. This often involves an additional fee, so not all webinars are recorded, it depends on the presenter and how they set up the webinar.
Some Additional Webinar Features
In addition to the audio conferencing, screen sharing, registration, and recording features, there are some other interesting webinar features that are available now.
Many webinar services offer video conferencing. The presenter and attendees can not only hear each other but see each other from a webcam (provided their computer is equipped with one). Usually there's an option to turn off the webcam feature if you don't want people to see you on their screens.
If you're wondering if it's possible to raise your hand in a webinar, it is. Some webinar services offer a chat tool where attendees can ask the presenter, or everyone, a question. The presenter sees that a question has come in from an attendee and can handle it just as though it was a live seminar. A common practice is for presenters to pause and invite questions at the end of a webinar, so your question may not get answered right away, and it depends on the volume of questions.
Mobile Webinars
With so many mobile users, many webinar services offer an app for tablets and smartphones. The apps are almost always free for attendees to use so they can attend a webinar from their mobile device, using the microphone and speakers or a headset for the audio. Some webinar services will work with the Web browser on a mobile device, but usually an app is required. Each webinar service uses their own mobile app. You'll need to install the app made by the specific webinar service company used by the presenter in order to attend on a mobile device. Some apps also allow the presenter to make presentations from their mobile device.
Drawbacks to Webinars
While webinars save money, allow for flexible attendance with recording, and can handle large groups without a meeting room, there are times when a live seminar is a better solution for communication.
A webinar doesn't give the presenter the ability to see the attendees and their reactions. Good presenters watch to see if attendees are paying attention and understand the information being presented. Webinar services have some tools that are used for this but they are not always effective and are not used often by presenters.
Attendees don't get the social experience of attending a live event. If location based events were dead, we still wouldn't have music concerts and art exhibitions, so this is not a generational issue. And people have different learning styles when absorbing new information and attending a webinar may not be the most productive for their style of learning.
Regardless of your own preferences, don't avoid a webinar if you see something worthwhile available by attending one. You might not get the first one, but the more you attend the more it will feel comfortable and familiar.