3 Tips For Hosting A Successful Webcast
Webcasts aren’t my favorite things to do. I’m one of those people who rank “public speaking” just ahead of “dying in a fire” on a list of scary things. One thing that I’ve learned, though, is that recording a podcast or webcast gets a LOT easier once you’ve done it a few times.
In no particular order, here are some other things I have learned about being comfortable and confident hosting live webcasts.
1. Learn to work without a (big) net. Don’t get hung up trying to script and plan every moment of your webcast – you risk coming across as stiff and boring. Instead, work with a short list of key points to cover and a few starter questions for your guests. Winging it can be scary at first, but it will pay off with a more spontaneous and engaging webcast.
2. Practice – but don’t rehearse. I learned a lot by listening to my archived webcasts. I discovered, for example, that I really have to work at not saying “umm” every few seconds when I talk. It’s an incredibly annoying habit, and while I still fall into it from time to time, practice definitely makes perfect.
3. Breathe! I worry a lot about leaving too much “dead air” when I launch into a live webcast. After listening to myself a few times, though, I discovered that I had exactly the opposite problem – I was speaking so fast that I practically stumbled over my own words. Now I force myself to breathe and to speak slowly.
So there they are: Three hard-earned lessons for webcasting success. Over the last few years, these tips have actually helped me get fairly comfortable with online broadcasting. And believe me – if I can do this, you can definitely do it.
