One of the best ways to learn is to get inspired by the true masters of any field.
When you see what’s possible you immediately start aiming higher and your own performance improves. Wait, I take that back: aiming higher would be a mistake in this example 😂. Well, you get the idea…
Trying to take this approach with webinars turned out to be harder than I thought. Webinars are mostly one-time events and not readily available on-demand. Too often they’re also a pretty dull affair you wouldn’t be able to put into a “best of”.
I spent a few weeks asking around for recommendations and scouring the web for great webinar examples.
The result is a list of nine webinars that each stand out for different reasons.
Are you ready to get inspired? Read on…
PS: If you’re more interested in landing pages, you’ll find a bunch of great examples here. I also have a post on what good webinar email marketing looks like.
A great webinar gets hands-on
The average attendee spends 52 minutes on a webinar. What that tells you is that webinar audiences are ready to go deep. They’re looking for highly actionable insights and a great webinar gives them exactly that.
The team at eLearningBrothers demonstrates they understand this in their excellent “Wait… You made that in PowerPoint??” webinar.
It’s an in-depth tutorial for pulling of crazy cool eLearning stunts with just PowerPoint.
The highlights that make it a fantastic case study:
- The webinar hosts are on video the entire time, making it easy for the audience to relate to them.
- The presenters take live questions from the audience all throughout the webcast. From analyzing attendee behavior I know that interacting with the hosts leads to higher engagement and longer total time spent on the webinar. Doing Q&A all throughout is an excellent way to drive that interactivity.
- The entire webinar is extremely hands-on. The presenters demo all their tips in PowerPoint so the audience can follow along. Go to minute 12:20 in the recording for a great example. Leading up to it the team explain how to animate the ISS in PowerPoint. Then they show the result right in the tool.
The best webinars give up the goods
You don’t have to do a demo to go deep. This webinar Andy Crestodina hosted for AWeber is delivered in traditional presentation style but the content it delivers is exceptional.
When I put together my own webinars I try to aim for what I call “high actionable insights per minute“. Examine every slide as to the value it delivers to your viewers.
Andy’s talk is filled to the brim with useful insights won from his experience as a content marketer and he delivers them in a laid-back, personable video style. 
Good webinars let the audience interact
52 minutes, the average time people stay on a webinar, is a long time to just listen to someone talk.
To keep the audience engaged, good webinars include opportunities for the audience to interact and experience different content styles.
Digital services provider Kainos uses polls as a simple tool to drive audience participation in their aptly titled webinar “Little less conversation, little more ActIon, please.” (minute 20:30).
Kainos also makes good use of short, interesting video clips to vary the content and keep the audience engaged (minute 14:43).
Webinar examples that play with the format
Another good way to produce a webinar that stands out is to play with the format itself.
Some ideas to experiment with:
- Host a virtual summit. Pack multiple talks into a half- or full-day format to attract a broader audience and for an opportunity to co-market with several partners.
The team as SEMRush went all out on this one and decided to host a full-on multi-track virtual event called Global Marketing Day.
With more than 50 speakers, ~40,000 attendees, and talks live-streamed from four cities over a 24h period this is probably an extreme example. But you can replicate this on a smaller scale and still see success.
- Host a more conversational format with an interview-style webinar. Better yet, have the interview next to a fireplace and turn it into a fireside chat. that’s what the team at ClutchGrowth has done. the format has worked so well for them they’ve written an eBook about it.
- Mix things up with a lively panel discussion. Compare the different styles of these two panels hosted by Fast Lane and Wordbee respectively.
On the left, Wordbee brings the experts together from their home or office. If you opt for this version, ensure all presenters have access to good microphones and educate them on audio quality.
On the right, Fast Lane goes for a more polished look with all presenters in a studio environment. While that makes it easier to control for production quality it can feel a little less personal.
Onsite Panel
Video Panel
Need more ideas? I have a more in-depth post covering 14 fun & different webinar formats to try.
The best webinars have a consistent style
Giving your webinar program a consistent style is a great way to stand out from the crowd. Intercom does a really good job of this in the webinar library that is part of their resource center.
While each webinar differs in format the overall cover design follows a whimsical style that is related but distinct from Intercom’s brand identity.
Each webinar has its own distinct flavor but they’re all produced in a studio setting that makes the end result look both polished and personable. I have put together a post with my best webinar presentation tips so you can improve your own.
Be adventurous on your webinars
My last bit of advice on how to create a great webinar: be adventurous.
I did just that in a marathon webinar workshop I ran with co-host Erica Maki.
Almost two hours into the webinar at time stamp 1:49:18 we invited the audience to join us live on audio. The result: two neat tips straight from the audience.
So be brave, own your mistakes, and have some fun on your webinars! And if you need some handholding to take heart, that’s more than ok. I’d be very happy to be your webinar coach and consultant 🙂
Have another example to share?
This short post can never be a true reflection of the best webinars out there, but I believe each example above shows a unique aspect of what makes a great webinar.
I’d love to see some samples of what you consider to be the most amazing webinar you’ve ever participated in. Please share any examples you have in the comments below!
