3 reasons why webinars are more powerful than speaking to a live audience

I’ve done my share of speaking to a live audience, but having kids at home (that was a while back) and living in a small, rural town made it hard. Instead, I focused on webinars. And webinars have been a great way for me to reach many people.

Speaking, however you do it, is a powerful way to connect with your audience, your potential customers or clients, your target market. People are more enlivened when they listen to your voice than they are when they read what you write (which is what you’re doing now). You can elicit a strong, emotional response more easily by speaking than you can by writing. Of course, many people have been inspired by writing, but unless you’re a very skilled writer, you’ll find engaging your audience is easier when you speak.

Speaking to a live audience is very powerful and the connection is strongest when you’re in the same room with your audience, but speaking live has some disadvantages.

So here are my 3 reasons why webinars are more powerful than speaking to a live audience.

1) You can reach more people–from all around the world

It’s rare to be able to speak live to more than a couple hundred people at one time. But speaking to a thousand people is totally possible on a webinar.

What does it mean to “reach” people? When you speak live, whoever is in the room is who you reach unless someone is doing a video recording. On a webinar, recording is a given.

This means that people from all around the world can hear you, either at the time you speak or within the next few days. One event I set up had 3,000 people registered from 97 countries! I’m sure not everyone actually listened, but many did.

Recently, I did a webinar for a trade organization. There were over 2,800 registrations and over 500 attended the webinar.

That’s a very rare occurrence when you’re speaking to a live audience.

Don’t you want to reach more people?

2) You can grow your list

Assuming you have an online business, you need to consistently grow your list of subscribers. Webinars do a better job of this than speaking live. When you speak live, you can ask people to subscribe, whether on a piece of paper or using a phone app, but you won’t get everyone.

When you do a webinar, everyone who registers is automatically subscribed. (And your registration form should say that registrants will get a subscription to your newsletter.) Even if they don’t attend, you can follow up with them.

Furthermore, people are much more likely to register for a webinar than to attend a live event. Attending a live event involves travel time and expense. They can watch your webinar in their pajamas. The flip side is that only 20%-30% of people who register actually attend, but remember, you have their email address.

3) You can make more money

Whether you’re charging for your webinar or offering it for free and then selling something, you can make more money with webinars than by speaking live.

Part of the reason is that you simply have a bigger audience.

But you can replicate the webinar much more easily. Working with joint venture partners, using ads, and promoting on your own, you can get attendees regularly. Some entrepreneurs have 1 webinar that they give every week.

You can even automate the process, using a recording so that you don’t have to give the webinar live — at least not every time.

Because everyone who registered is on your list, you can easily follow up and continue to promote your product–this is much harder to do when you speak to a live audience.

Tips for making webinars more successful

Here are 2 tips for getting the most out of webinars:

1. Use the webcam: Although most presenters don’t use the webcam, go ahead and be different. When your audience can see you, you get some of the power of being in the same room. Come into their living room! Use your hands and voice to speak enthusiastically.
2. Encourage interactivity: Not only should you answer questions, but you should ask them. The more you get your audience to use that chat box, the more engaged they will be.

Bonus for people who are shy of speaking

Guess what? If speaking scares you (and you aren’t alone), doing webinars is much easier and less scary than speaking in front of an audience. You can have a script in front of you. You can’t see the audience. It’s easy to practice–do a practice webinar and record it, then watch it.

Learn more about webinars

I have a prerecorded webinar called “High Profit Webinar Secrets–Reach More People, Grow Your List, and Profit More” that goes into more detail. I invite you to listen to it.

Listen to the webinar here.