Thanks for the timely question! One thing happened to me yesterday regarding a webinar that I really DON’T like. I signed up for what looked like a really informative “webinar” and after registration came to learn it’s actually a teleconference with a long distance phone number. Webinar is the cool term flying around now, but don’t call it a webinar if it’s not really a webinar. I haven’t decided yet if I’m actually going to sit in.

IMHO, a good webinar is a well-balanced webinar that capitalizes on the unique characteristics of the medium – the web. It should allow for interaction between the presenters and participants to build discussion (when live). It should have both a formal presentation sandwiched by informal. It should provide some real content that people can actually utilize and not just how the product/service is going to make my life better. It should definitely not be nothing but a teaser. If it’s not completely for education purposes, it should have a non-pressure sales component that tells me who the target client is, specifically how they help and if someone were to engage the company what they can expect from that initial interaction.

As far as the visual component, I would like to see who is actually talking at some point – not just a PowerPoint presentation. If PowerPoint is used, it should add some value to what is being said and not just be something for the presenter to hide behind because they don’t actually want to be on camera. Lastly, if the PowerPoint is made available for download, it should make sense away from the presentation.

So, those are my initial thoughts! I hope it helps.