Importance of Timing

You must watch your time carefully when you are hosting a webinar. If your time is short, people will feel like it is not worth the effort and/or money. If you run long, you risk both boring and annoying your audience. Rehearsing your presentation will help you identify what you need to adjust in your timing. It is not enough for you to set a time and length for the webinar; you must schedule every component in your presentation. This includes the intro, demonstrations, presentation, questions, polls, closing comments, etc.

Create a timing sheet with the schedule for each component, and give it to everyone involved. The timing sheet will be different to each webinar. It will vary based on the level of audience participation, number of demonstrations, etc. Most webinars are an hour long. If you are scheduling a longer than normal webinar (90 minutes or more), schedule a break for your audience. You should also plan to begin the webinar a minute or two after the start time in case people are running late.