The webinar audience had been waiting on the Zoom call for 11 minutes.
The presenter had still not arrived.
Then the host announced that the presenter was about to join the call.
Amazingly, most of the audience were still there.
The presenter joined at 12 minutes after the advertised time.
The audience held their breath.
What the presenter said in the first sixty seconds or so would determine the success or failure of the event!
“Thank you so much for your patience and perseverance – let’s get going.”
He said it with sincerity and energy, getting the tone just right.
The audience loosened a little.
He asked a fascinating question on a Zoom poll.
The audience responded.
Then he launched a great follow-up question on a Zoom poll.
Again, they responded.
A minute or so into the webinar and the audience were engaged – the delay at the start was pretty much ancient history.
However, I have seen many other webinars where the presenter started with the wrong move.
Here are some examples…
“Sorry to keep you waiting…” (on the back foot)
“The tech was playing up…” (boring)
“It was not my fault…” (blaming others)
“I will need to run over time to get through this…” (they leave)
Normally the speaker makes a few negative comments which takes the seminar downwards.
And the audience are thinking “…we stayed on the call for THIS!”
Sometimes there will be technical hitches and you are entirely blameless.
At that moment, you are faced with a choice of how to start.
Back foot or front foot.
If you start on the back foot?
You will be blamed regardless.
And failure is inevitable.
If you go on the front foot?
You might just get through it.
For more guidance on presenting, check out the following article on the importance of opening words…
