Concluding your presentation is like showing learners how to exit off of the highway – they’ve been taken down a path and now have the opportunity to visit any number of topics that branch off of the main content.Above all other demands, one of the greatest ones from participants is that the webinar end on time. If you need to skip a slide or an activity to end in enough time for questions, you’ll be a hero amongst your learners. [1]
When it’s time to wrap it up, conclude with the following:
a summary of what was covered
an overview of where students can get more information (to include URLs)
a final call to action
Give participants an idea of what you’d like for them to do next and tell them where to go. Because webinars don’t include homework, you’ll need to capitalize on learner motivation and enthusiasm established from your presentation. Some potential offerings as takeaway activities:
Download additional materials from the webinar companion site
Leave additional questions and comments in a discussion forum on the webinar companion site
Share applications of new knowledge in a gallery on the webinar site
Complete a post-survey
Watch and/or share the archived recording of the live webinar
Post links and comments on social media (you can provide handles and hash tags in the webinar)
Whatever you ask the group to do, make sure to follow up and be present. There is nothing worse than looking for resources after a session and finding nothing more than a list of empty promises. In the article “An Overview of Technologies for e-Meeting and e-Lecture,” Berna Erol cites that most participants following up on a webinar are looking for the slides, documents, and notes more than the video of the speaker. [2] Make all of this available with a recording of the session and a location where participants can download all of the resources and supporting documents made available in the webinar.
Building Community
Create a location for the rich dialogue that will spill over after your session ends. This forum can help you drive attendance to future sessions and help build a sense of community amongst learners.Go a step further and rather than just offering resources, offer a space for participants to continue the dialogue. Allison Rossett shares the value of continuing the education beyond the training room – “Communities of practice are naturally occurring informal groups in the workplace that come together, develop, evolve, and disperse according to the rhythms and the energy of their participants.” [3] Strive towards creating a space where learners can share ideas and implications of knowledge on larger goals, careers, research and opportunities. Pair learners with content matter experts and colleagues who can shed new light on issues discussed in the session. Begin building a collection of resources with comments and annotations that put the information into context. Beyond all else, create a space that has the potential to give rise to new ideas and challenges that can then be the focus of future synchronous sessions. [4]
UP NEXT: EVALUATION PROCESS
While practice makes perfect, assessment allows you to illuminate potential pitfalls and spend less time in a trial and error loop. This final module will guide you through the process of generating evaluation questions and conducting post-surveys.
Rossett, A., & Sheldon, K. (2001). Beyond the podium: Delivering training and performance to a digital world. (1st ed.). San Francisco: Josey-Bass/Pfeiffer.↑
