Great idea, bad webinar.

I’m a student of lifelong learning. I read books, enewsletters, magazines, and anything to further my marketing knowledge, so I can, in turn, impart greater wisdom on my clients.

Lately, I’ve been taking part in more webinars. If I can get one good tip from investing an hour of my time, it’s a solid return on investment. But I’m finding that, like a book, you can’t judge a webinar by its cover. Some of the sessions that sound tantalizing actually fall flat.

If you’re planning on delivering a webinar in the future, please consider these tips so that both you and your attendees realize reasonable—or better—ROI.

1. Speak clearly and with enthusiasm. I listened to one presenter drone on with the passion of roll call (“Bueller. Bueller.”). Her voice lacked conviction and energy. If you can’t be excited about your topic, your listener won’t either.

2. Your visuals are for support only. Use your PowerPoint presentation to share key points. Don’t spend this valuable online experience simply reading from each one. Let’s assume your participants can do this on their own.

3. Be technically prepared. You’re probably going to rely on a service like GoToMeeting, so do a dry run in advance to ensure that the service is functioning and that you can navigate it. Make sure you understand how to mute/unmute listeners, and that your own equipment will deliver the sound quality and clarity. I’ve had far too many experiences where the link wouldn’t work, the dial-in was dead, and the presenter became so flustered with technical difficulties that the webinar was a total waste of time.

4. Proofread your materials. Most presenters will share their information online during the webinar and afterwards, in a digital file. Do you really want your audience to see typos and grammatical errors? Ask a proofreader to double-check your work.

5. Inform; don’t sell. A webinar is an educational experience. Share your knowledge and you elevate yourself as a thought leader in your area of expertise. That doesn’t mean you have an open invitation to sell yourself. If you effectively communicate your value as a knowledge resource, you will convert listeners into prospects, and prospects into clients. It’s okay to extend a special offer to your attendees but don’t push the sale.

Here are two webinar presenters who have got it together: Bea Fields (“Become A Blogging Maniac” is an incredible value!) and Jeff Simpkins.

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