I can\u2019t figure this one out.\u00a0 I attended a webinar featuring a panel of people who ought to have been interesting, talking about a topic that ought to have been interesting.\u00a0 I came away with nothing.<\/p>\n
Couldn\u2019t tell you what it was supposed to be about.\u00a0 Can\u2019t imagine what they thought they were communicating.\u00a0 Have to wonder whether I\u2019m just dense, or whether other attendees felt the same way.<\/p>\n
Here are some observations prompted by the experience, along with some points of relevance for Careers and the corporate website:<\/p>\n
1.<\/strong> The whole webinar concept was really popular for a while, but has somewhat petered out.\u00a0 That may be because most of them were not very good.<\/p>\n Which is a reminder that executing well<\/strong> is the key to success.\u00a0 Doing the \u201clatest thing\u201d has little value if you don\u2019t do it well.\u00a0 (Let\u2019s think Twitter . . . )<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> Speaking of execution, presenters should never<\/strong> read out loud what is on the slides.\u00a0 NEVER.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t everyone know that by now?\u00a0 (Actually this point isn\u2019t really relevant, but I just had to say it.)<\/p>\n 3.<\/strong> People with alluring resumes don\u2019t necessarily make good panelists.\u00a0 In fact they may be too charmed with themselves to bother about the audience.<\/p>\n Which is a reminder to focus on substance first<\/strong>, style second.\u00a0 Ideally the two go together, but the order of priority is important.<\/p>\n 4.<\/strong> If there\u2019s a purpose for getting panelists together, you shouldn\u2019t need to spend time on ice-breaker questions.\u00a0 (\u201cHow many of you have . . . ?\u201d)\u00a0 Take off fast with crisp, specific questions that draw out the panel\u2019s expertise!<\/p>\n Which is a reminder that the Careers home page should be sharp and engaging<\/strong>, not just a landscape of illustrated links.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong> Even if the audience is sitting at their desks, probably multi-tasking while you\u2019re talking, they\u2019ve bothered to show up, so they deserve the best show you can put on.\u00a0 (By golly!)<\/p>\n Which is a reminder that every visitor<\/strong> to the Careers site should go away feeling they got something worthwhile.\u00a0 Every single one.<\/p>\n 6.<\/strong> Although it\u2019s the right strategy to educate rather than sell in a webinar\u2014you still need to provide some<\/em> kind of value proposition.\u00a0 Don\u2019t expect the audience to search out their own meaning from an hour of random chat.<\/p>\n Which is a reminder to provide a clear message<\/strong> about the employer brand, not just an aura of implication.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of territory between \u201cheavy-handed\u201d and \u201cterminally vague,\u201d so find a good spot somewhere in the middle.<\/p>\n That’s a wrap!\u00a0 Thanks for listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I can\u2019t figure this one out.\u00a0 I attended a webinar featuring a panel of people who ought to have been interesting, talking about a topic that ought to have been interesting.\u00a0 I came away with nothing. Couldn\u2019t tell you what it was supposed to be about.\u00a0 Can\u2019t imagine what they thought they were communicating.\u00a0 Have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,25],"tags":[41,6005],"class_list":{"0":"post-30698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-best-practices","7":"category-careers","8":"tag-corporate-website","9":"tag-webinar","10":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n