Best Practices for Conducting Web Conferences and Facilitated

Practitioner DiscussionJerry Buchko, M.A., AFC®Martie Gillen, Ph.D., MBA

Michael Gutter, Ph.D.Molly Herndon, M.S.

Barbara O'Neill, Ph.D., CFP, CRPC, AFC®, CHC, CFEd, CFCS

Purpose• Provide best practices to increase the capacity of

financial counseling and education professionals– Conducting web conferences (webinars)

• Launched in 2012

• Active online teaching community comprised of – Cooperative Extension faculty – Military family service professionals from the DoD, branch services– Non-governmental organizations

• Federal government grant-funded program is a collaborative effort of– eXtension– Cooperative Extension– DoD– NIFA, USDA

Who is our audience?● Personal Financial

Management Program Managers (PFMs) working with service members

● Extension Educators working with military service members

Financial counselor passionate for helping service members courtesy of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. CC BY2.0.

Military Families Learning Network Personal Finance

• Monthly web conferences offer credentialed participants the opportunity to earn continuing education unit (CEU) credit at no cost.

• Since 2012, the MFLNPF Concentration Area has provided certificates for more than 10,000 AFCPE CEUs to more than 6,000 personal finance web conference participants through the delivery of 64 online web conferences on a wide variety of personal finance topics.

• Link for webinars presented by all MFLN concentration areas: http://www.extension.org/pages/62581/military-families-learning-network-webinars

• During live webinars, viewers can use All Partners Access Network (APAN), YouTube Live, or the Adobe Connect app.

How to Access MFLN Webinars

2012-2016 MFLNPF Webinars

• All webinars are archived at learn.extension.org

• First webinar: 2/2/12- Housing and Foreclosure for Military Families

• Last 2016 webinar: 12/6/16- 2016 Personal Finance Year in Review

• Total of 64 webinars in five years (14 webinars per year)

Making Webinars Succeed• Received 2014 AFCPE Outstanding

Educational Program Award

• Expert presenters

• Continuing Education Units

MFLNPF Webinar Course

Online Course Repository: Register, then search for "MFLN Personal Finance"

Get up!1. Have you used online, digital video and audio

tools? Which ones?2. Have you presented a webinar and/or live

streaming broadcast?3. If you have presented a webinar, did you do so

within an organization? Or as a solo practitioner?

Video published on YouTube.com by v4ngos

Creating a Webinar

CCO Public Domain via Pixabay.com

Theory of ChangeCollaboration

Participants connect across disciplines, organizations, and geographic locations

AndragogyActive and Experiential Learners

AdaptabilityAdaptive, Multidisciplinary, Holistic approaches to learning and service delivery

Content Preparation• Begin with learning objectives: start with the end

result in mind

• Who will deliver the presentation?

– Financial practitioner? Military finance expert?

– What will the delivery style be?

– Will there be an honorarium or speaking fee?

Content Preparation• What type of presentation best compliments the

content?

– Engaged participant discussion?

– Technical, straightforward instruction?

• How will you gauge your success?

– Evaluative data? How will the data influence your programming?

Content Preparation• How will you gauge your success?

– Evaluative data? How will the data influence your programming?

Content PreparationUse 4:3 aspect ratio for slide/page size (as a rule of thumb)

Photo by Infographe_Elle. Morguefile license. Use clean, clear images

Content Preparation

● Consider a pre-webinar task: read-ahead materials

● Make slides and handouts available to participants

● Target your materials to your audience (professionals versus consumers)

● Consider the CEU approval requirements

Delivering A Webinar

CCO Public Domain via Pixabay.com

Webinar Rehearsals

• Presenters and anyone who will be facilitating. COLLABORATIVE process. Feedback.

• Slides reviewed for clarity, consistency, content accuracy.

• Takes place within the webinar environment itself.

• Two weeks before the webinar/event date itself, so that there’s plenty of time for needed changes to content and/or technical preparation.

• The more prep & rehearsal, the greater likelihood of positive outcome.

• Moderators and engaged participants working the chat pod to answer questions, stimulate conversation, provide resources.

• Calling participants by name when responding to chat pod comments

• Activities spark engagement: putting money in a jar, using the whiteboard

Facilitating Discussion

Photo by Firm Bee via Pixabay.com CC0 Public Domain

• Have a backup plan: exchange scripts or speaking points with other members of your team

• Have scripted Q&As to help start the discussion or keep it going

Facilitating Discussion

“Just in Case”• Exchange cell phone numbers “just in case”

• Have a glass of water handy

• Have IT back-up support to troubleshoot “issues”

• Use two monitors in the event of a “freeze up”

• PowerPoint slides on one

• Webinar platform on the other

Continuing Discussion

• Engagement • Wrap Arounds• Learner-Centered• Coordinating with other areas of practice• Resource lists• Social media: share resources, recordings

Facebook Live

Common Webinar Features & Tools

Photo by Jerry Buchko. Used with permission.

Photo by Jerry Buchko. Used with permission.

Photo by Molly Herndon. Used with permission.

Fundamental Challenges

Within a shared organizational space, you usually benefit from a relatively greater degree of standardization & control

• Participants are using roughly the same equipment & software

• Have received roughly the same level of training in using these tools

• Accessing webinar on a shared, managed network with in-house IT support

Outside of a shared organization space

•You may not have direct control over the webinar software tools & networks you’re using

•No standardized level of network access, equipment, available tools, and training of the presenters, facilitators, and other participants

Each of these becomes a potential point of friction and breakdown, so understand and prepare for them

Fundamental Challenges

Calibrate Your System Display(s)

Webcam ControlsBecome familiar with how they work to fine tune your video image

LightingLight positioned in front & slightly above the face to remove any harsh shadows on the face

Webcams generally require more light intensity (lumens) than you might expect, e.g. 3200-6400 lumens (equivalent to ~ 200-400 watts)

Diffused lighting (to reduce shine & harshness)

Find or craft a background that will be pleasant, professional, but not too busy or distracting

CompositionWear solid colors; avoid wrinkled clothes, busy patterns, and stripes to avoid distraction

Use a Headset with a Built-In MicrophonePreferably wired USB rather than wireless, with noise cancellation capability

Photo by Jerry Buchko. Used with permission.

Mute, block, or otherwise address any potential unwanted ambient noise

Learn where your mute buttons are - on the headset, on your system, within the software (because sneezes, coughs, sips of water, etc)

Audio ControlsBecome familiar with how they work to fine tune what you hear & what you’re broadcasting for your audience to hear

Livestreaming and RecordingThere are many options for live broadcasting and recording for webinars

You can use video capture software/apps to create a video file that can then be uploaded & shared

Some webinar & broadcast services will have recording capability built into their service

Your Tips

What tips can you share?

What did we miss?

Upcoming Event2016 Personal Finance Year in Review

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 201611 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET

Presenter: Dr. Barbara O’Neillhttps://learn.extension.org/events/2815

Andersen, Maria (2010). Tips for Effective Webinars. eLearn Magazine. Retrieved from http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=1710034

Ayres, Meryl (2016). 6 Quick Tips for Looking Good on Camera. Wistia Blog. Retrieved from https://wistia.com/blog/looking-good-on-camera

Britton, Shelby (2013). Six Tips for New Webinar Presenters. The Adobe Connect Blog. Retrieved from http://blogs.adobe.com/adobeconnect/2013/12/six-tips-for-new-webinar-presenters.html

Currier, Alyce (2016). You Can Look Snazzy on a Webcam. Wistia Blog. Retrieved from https://wistia.com/blog/snazzy-on-webcam

Digital Trends Staff (2016). How To Calibrate Your Monitor For The Best Viewing Experience Possible. Digitaltrends.com. Retrieved from http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-calibrate-your-monitor/

Energystar.gov. (2016). Color and Mood. Retrieved from https://www.energystar.gov/products/lighting_fans/light_bulbs/color_mood

Resources

Hendrix, L., Poling, M., Robinson, J. & Kiss, E. (2016). Zoom Meetings & Webinars: Best Practices and Arkansas Tales from the Trenches. eXtension Learn. Retrieved from https://learn.extension.org/events/2821

Hobby, David (2007). Strobist: How to Improve Your Cheapo Webcam's Picture Quality. Strobist Blog. Retrieved from http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/05/how-to-improve-your-cheapo-webcams.html

Hoffman, Chris (2015). How to Calibrate Your Monitor on Windows or Mac. (2016). Howtogeek.com. Retrieved from http://www.howtogeek.com/236490/how-to-calibrate-your-monitor-on-windows-or-mac/

Montana, South Dakota, and Idaho Cooperative Extension (2016). Webinar Training for Educators Worksheets. Retrieved from http://www.msuextension.org/solidfinances/documents/webinarbestpracticesworksheets.pdf

Resources

PresenterNet.com (2009). Seven Tips for Creating a Great Webinar. Retrieved from http://www.presenternet.com/information/7tips/GreatWebinarTips.pdf

Zoom Meetings & Webinars: Best Practices and Arkansas Tales from the Trenches (2016). eXtension Learn. Retrieved from https://learn.extension.org/events/2821

Resources

Connect With Us!Dr. Martie GillenPrincipal Investigatormgillen@ufl.edu

@MoneyMattersMG

Molly HerndonSocial Media Specialistmollyh2@extension.org

@MFLNPF

Dr. Barbara O’NeillOutreach Coordinatoroneill@aesop.rutgers.edu

@MoneyTalk1

Jerry Buchko, MA, AFC®

Practitioner Consultantjerry.buchko@gmail.com

@JerryBuchko

Michael Gutter, Ph.D. Principal Investigatormsgutter@ufl.edu

@mikegutter