One of the most frequent questions I get asked about webinars is “does the webinar platform allow me to show video of myself during the presentation?” My answer (depending on the platform) is usually “yes it does, and no you shouldn’t.”
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. Your animated face on the webinar screen just distracts your attendees from your slides which you’ve worked so hard to make “pop”. It also places a whole new layer of pressure on you, the presenter. You can no longer scratch that itch on your nose. You can’t look down at your notes as frequently as you might want to. And you have a whole new standard of professionalism to live up to.
My friend and colleague Ken Molay, President of Webinar Success, addressed these challenges of video professionalism in his webcast “Image Secrets of the Corporate Webcast“. The folks who hosted this webcast at MediaPlatform then went the next step and created a humorous but deadly serious video based on Ken’s ideas.
So, a hat tip to Ken for featuring this video on his blog and a word of warning to you the reader. Video, if you insist on doing it, is not easy and must be done right or it could sabotage your webinar.
In the comments section below, feel free to share your experiences with video during webinars and webcasts.
