Webinar Training Tip: Manage Virtual Questions
When you conduct webinars and web meetings, you want to engage your listeners by periodically reaching out to them and answering their questions. If you are conducting a small session (with five or fewer participants) you can handle questions by keeping the phone lines open and having a conversation with your attendees. But if you are hosting a session with more than five attendees, you need to establish some ground rules for submitting and answering questions to make sure things don’t get out of hand:
- Let participants know they are muted and should type any questions in the chat panel
- Have someone on the call with you whose designated role is to answer chat panel questions
- Check your chat panel every couple of slides to make sure no questions have gone un-answered
- Prepare a few questions in advance or have a “plant” in the audience to ask questions if the attendees are slow or reluctant to submit questions
Following these steps will help you handle questions promptly and professionally while engaging your virtual listeners.
Make Every Presentation Great,
Sheri Jeavons