You’ve worked hard to plan amazing webinar content, market your event to your target audience, and practice your presentation skills—in front of the mirror, for an hour a day.
You’ve done everything you can to make sure your webinar is a huge success, right? Not quite. Before you go live, you need to create a webinar script.
Not familiar with the term? Don’t worry! A webinar script is just an outline of the event you plan to host, explaining to you and your other presenters when things will happen and how. It may also specify a few topics to avoid talking about in front of your attendees.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before we tell you how to create a webinar script in six easy steps, we’re going to explain why you should. Let’s get started!
Do You Really Need a Webinar Script?
No, you don’t need a webinar script.
The local authorities won’t haul you off to jail if you host an event without one. But you should definitely want to create a webinar script before you go live.
A webinar script will help you and your presenters stay on track. It’s really easy to bunny trail and/or lose track of time during a public speaking engagement—especially if you’re nervous.
Your webinar script will keep you focused and make sure you deliver all of the quality information you’ve prepared in a timely manner. When this happens, your event will be way more valuable to the audience you’re attempting to reach. That’s the goal!
6 Steps to the Best Webinar Script
Can we agree that webinar scripts are important? Great, now the question is, how do you create one? It’s pretty simple. Just follow the six step process below:
1. Introduce Your Event
Start your webinar with a quick introduction.
Remind attendees of who you are and why you’re qualified to speak to them. Then mention the webinar topic and share a few items on the event agenda—just to whet their appetites.
You should also thank your attendees for showing up. They didn’t have to. They could have kept working. Or gone bowling. Or done almost anything else. But they decided to not do those things and hang out with you instead. Let them know you appreciate that decision.
Lastly, teach attendees how to participate and engage in your webinar. If you plan to send in-app polls, for example, show your audience how to respond to them.
Your webinar script should include information related to all of these important topics.
Once you’ve introduced your event, take a moment to share your agenda.
This is the part of the webinar where you explain to your audience what you plan to teach them over the next 60 to 90 minutes. It’s a good opportunity to introduce guest speakers, too.
You don’t need to go into extreme detail about every item on your agenda. You just need to introduce the various topics your event will cover, how long you’ll spend on each one, etc.
It may seem unnecessary, but sharing your agenda will help set audience expectations, which is important to the success of your event. So add this step to your webinar script.
3. State Your Why
Why should your audience watch your webinar?
You need to explain the benefits of your event. If you don’t, attendees could bail on you before you get to the end of your presentation. Nothing good can come from this scenario.
We know what you’re thinking: “My audience already understands the benefits of my webinar. That’s why they showed up in the first place. I think I can skip this part of the script.”
Don’t do it! While your attendees may have a vague idea of the value you’re about to provide them, they probably don’t have the full picture. By taking time to explain the benefits of your event, you’ll ensure your audience internalizes the information and sticks around for longer.
4. Present Your Content
Now it’s time to hit attendees with all that juicy goodness you’ve prepared for them.
We’re talking about guest speakers, video clips, crazy stats, never-before-heard information. Whatever content you plan to share, this is the part of the webinar script to share it in.
Make sure you share said content in an orderly and logical manner. Doing so will help your audience understand and remember the tips, tricks, and best practices you describe to them.
Also, make sure your webinar script explains when and how you’ll present content. For example, if you plan to play a video clip to illustrate a specific concept, make sure to include this information in your script. That way you don’t forget to do it during your presentation.
5. Make Time for a Q&A
Just about all of the best webinars include Q&A sessions.
Q&As give attendees a chance to ask questions about the content they just received, and presenters an opportunity to clarify the information they just shared.
Q&As are also a great way to engage audience members. If you can convince attendees to actually participate in your webinar, rather than simply observing it, you’ll increase their satisfaction levels. When this happens, they’ll be much more likely to attend future events.
So, if you plan to host a Q&A session during your webinar, include it in your script—along with information about how attendees can ask questions and how many of them you’ll answer.
6. Give Attendees Next Steps
What do you want your audience to do after they watch your webinar?
Maybe you want them to buy a product. Or download a specific piece of content. Or join your company’s email list. Whatever the case may be, you need to make this next step clear.
When crafting your webinar script, include a few notes about how you want to end your event. For example, you might say something like, “Recap the information shared, thank attendees for joining me, and remind my audience to [Insert Call-to-Action].”
The way you conclude your webinar is important. And every webinar conclusion should include a next step. If it doesn’t, then one has to wonder why you hosted the webinar at all?
Better Scripts, Better Webinars
There you have it, six tips to help you create a stellar webinar script.
If you use them to outline your next online event, it will be more focused and valuable to your target audience, which will lead to more success for your brand—we guarantee it.
Just remember, as important as your webinar script is, it won’t matter if you don’t have a reliable platform to host your event on. That’s why you should start using ClickMeeting ASAP.
ClickMeeting is a webinar, video conferencing, and virtual events solution that’s used by tens of thousands of people in 125+ countries around the world. Why is it so popular? Because it’s user-friendly, has powerful features, and won’t cost you an arm and a leg to use.
Sign up for a free 30-day trial of ClickMeeting today and get access to all our app has to offer, like custom branding, screen sharing, polls and surveys, private chat, webinar metrics, the ability to charge for your content, and much more. We won’t even ask for your credit card!
