How to find and prepare a cool external speaker for a webinar?

Nowadays people are so obsessed with something attractive and unusual. And using this as an opportunity to promote your product is a great idea. But how to grab the attention of customers and be useful at the same time? Webinars are the perfect remote solution.

What are webinars?

A webinar is an online meeting where one or more people talk about a topic and the audience listens. It is similar to the lecture format, but is more applicable to webinars.

Its features

This type of video conference has several features that distinguish it from other online meetings:

• they can be both educational and promotional - one does not cancel the other;
• they involve communication through text, video and sound in real time;
• they usually involve interacting with the audience through questions and polls;
• they provide hassle-free presentations;
• they can be shared and recorded to be reviewed later.

Since webinars are universal, almost anyone can organize them, but the most common use is for marketing purposes.

Its benefits

Due to its features, the webinar format provides a number of opportunities:

• cooperation with experts in your and related fields;
• development of an internal system responsible for content creation;
• building new and strengthening old partnerships;
• rapprochement with the audience;
• personal development of each participant of the event.

These are just some of the benefits for businesses and individuals. By scheduling a webinar, companies have a chance to reach the same level of productivity as regular presentation conferences. But thanks to the equipment used, much less effort and resources are required to attract them.

Pros and cons of an external speaker

The search for a speaker can take place inside the company, outside it, as well as attracting several webinar speakers, both external and internal. When inviting an external expert to speak, you should be aware of the following pros and cons.

Pros:

• a well-known speaker will attract an audience with his name and arouse interest in your brand;
• if the guest speaker has his own followers, it will be beneficial for you to attract more people as a potential clientele;
• Involving a third-party specialist saves time on content creation.

Minuses:

• depending on who you invite, the question of monetary reward may arise;
• Since the speaker does not belong to your company, he has little conceptual relation to your business.

Keep that in mind and the process from getting ready to seeing the results will be a pleasure.

Where to find an external speaker

Do not puzzle over the problem of where to find an invited speaker. First, try looking for someone among your partners. The companies you partner with can be a great source of talent and target audience. Make it a profitable and efficient deal for both parties and win the maximum.

If you do not have the opportunity to organize such cooperation, look for independent experts. Go to the sources where people post their reports and presentations. Ask your clients for help if this still doesn't work. Invite your most satisfied customers to share their use cases for your product. Finally, a Google search is quite a classic option to find someone suitable.

How to Prepare an Invited Speaker for a Webinar

The guest speaker presentation should be tailored to your needs and available resources, so when you have agreed to collaborate, consider the following webinar speaker tips:

• discuss the plan and write the script – time limits help you stay organized and stay on topic;
• check the technical features and equipment of both parties;
• Introduce the guest speaker to your webinar application - it is extremely important if the format of your guest material does not match the system you use, so find a suitable solution;
• prepare a practical part;
• set up a Q&A session after the body part – engaging participants makes communication more intimate and makes them feel like you are there to help them;
• help the guest speaker prepare a quiet space for the live webinar.

These points will help you better organize the event and spend it comfortably.

Popular webinar formats suitable for guest speakers

Choose the format depending on who you invite. It would be especially bright if you arranged an interview. With proper visual preparation, the speaker presents information interactively and visually. Expert debates and panel discussions are even more lively, but you, as the facilitator, must pay close attention to the timing and line of discussion. Case studies are useful if you are bringing in clients as speakers. Then you have to show your creativity and combine elements of different formats.

The more effort and ideas you put in, the more results the webinar brings. Dedicate most of your communication with an external specialist to yourself and your business. But with the iMind app, collaboration will give you even more than you expect.