The Problem with Webinars: It made me write this article.
Webinars are becoming the staple of virtual events today. And it’s no surprise, with very few effort needed, a computer with a camera, an internet connection, a neat Powerpoint presentation, a video conference software, an enticing, exciting topic and a lineup of prominent figures, it sounds like a foolproof idea.
Or is it?
I wished it were, but I’ll be frank. I got bored around 20 minutes into the webinar I was attending, started sketching , opened up my Medium and started writing. I multitasked, which indicates that my brain lost focus on the topic. I didn’t find the webinar engaging enough for me to give it all my attention. This comic by Echo Rivera illustrates exactly how I felt about the webinar:
This comic also illustrates the many, many traits with the common webinar which we will go into detail:
Technical Difficulties — Humans are inevitably awkward with technology. Even someone who enjoys technology as a hobby and tinker with the many weird settings of my gadgets find it awkward from time to time, such as my microphone not working or my computer having network issues. And this is not very fun, as you can imagine someone muttering about what’s wrong with his application or with their mic for 15 minutes. This obviously gets very boring, very quick. This of course, happens with the traditional seminar we all know and dearly miss, but we usually have few distractions to play with to compare with the millions of toys we have at home.
Death by Powerpoint — This is not limited to the webinar as a format, but it is certainly amplified by it. When it’s all you stare at, you’ll quickly realize how tedious it is, especially when it’s static, unattractive and stays on the screen too long. One of the most important factors in public speaking is body language, and for a good reason: our brain is hardwired to motion, we are simply far more attracted to moving objects, good understanding of body language helps the viewer divert attention to the speaker and what they say. Powerpoint should be used as a tool to help the user understand what we are trying to get across, not as the main focus of the event.
No Interaction — the entire selling point of webinars are of course, the possibility of interaction. Interaction with an audience is what makes a seminar engaging, because you get to take part in the seminar itself, you feel a connection with the panelists, it promotes discussion. This is strangely uncommon in most webinars i have attended, and if it had one, it’d be in the very end of the webinar, with chances that it’d be cut due to time constraints, or the attendees having an awkward time with technical difficulties. With how boring it may already be, multitasking other things and not focusing on the webinar itself, you might already lost the urge to ask a question, and just waiting for the ship to sink.
Telling what we already know — having an exciting topic is a huge selling point for a webinar, but it is a double edged sword; while it is a good idea to advertise a fun topic, expectations are also very high. Not being able to deliver on what is promised will be a huge blow to how attendees view the webinar, nobody wants to listen to the same thing seven other webinars have already addressed. Just like with the good old-fashioned seminar, it’s important to bridge your ideas so that it is understandable, but its also much more important to cut to the chase and avoiding topics many people already know.
“But wait a second! I’m seeing a pattern here!” you say, and you’re not wrong. I’ve mentioned the traditional seminar multiple times in this article and that’s because many of the problems of the webinars are what plagues normal seminars as well. The webinar itself is not at fault for being a format for events, but a far bigger problem. Not adjusting with a new format will inevitably make for an unfavorable experience.
I like to believe that webinar’s are inherently flawed, that no sane person would ever want to stare at a screen for hours. But that would be plainly false, as many people enjoy video game streaming, which at face value, is nothing but watching another person play game for hour on end. Many people thought so as well, but today it is one of the largest piece of media consumed in the world, with millions tuning in to various streamers on many platforms. The thing is, we’ve been bickering about the idea of boring webinars since the decade we invented them!
In my opinion, the webinar is extremely boring, but it doesn’t have to be. Try watching your own webinar and see why Timmy left the room after 10 minutes. Use your home as a pseudo stage not only showing your face but your entire body, try different techniques like creative zoom backgrounds, the possibilities are simply endless!
It is indeed difficult to experiment with a new media format, but many have shown that digital events can be very exciting: Apple’s WWDC 2020 transformed on what it had been doing for years, and gave it a new breath of fresh air to the event. Oneplus tried the same thing with an AR based launch events (albeit not as well received as Apple’s efforts). To quote from Apple’s Tim Cook: “Great challenges have been met with great creativity and important breakthroughs.” .
