What are some best practices to consider for first time webinar speakers?

First and foremost is to get a handle on your audience. For first timers, there can be a big difference between who you're targeting in your email blasts, and who actually registers. If you're trying to attract service providers, but all you get are vendors, then you'll probably end up presenting to your competitors!

You also need to be realistic about how many people will show up. As a rule of thumb, expect 30-50% of registrations will actually be on the call.

The scheduling should reflect the audience you're trying to reach. If it's North America, you should time it for about 1pm, which allows for both coasts to participate. If the audience is global, you may need to schedule a second webinar for late at night so overseas markets can dial in live.

Also, you need to give lots of lead time to market the webinar and attract an audience. Six weeks is a good lead time, during which you need to send out multiple eblasts, and try to get as much media coverage as possible. On that note, your biggest decision may well be the choice of media partner. If you don't have a big enough in-house database to build this around, you need to carefully pick the right media partner who can reach your target audience - as well as host the webinar. This will likely be your biggest cost - and prices vary widely depending on who you work with.

There are lots more details around all these things, but that's enough for now. Oh - and don't forget, for credibility, you should bring an recognized industry expert who can add an objective point of view. This will add some cost, but it's worth it if you're trying to do more than a sales pitch. Finding the right person takes a bit of research, but I'm not hard to find! :-)

Jon has given you some great advice in terms of knowing your audience. That's definitely an important piece! Also, what is the ultimate goal you hope to reach - is the purpose of the webinar to provide an informal presentation for everybody to sell the product? Do you want to educate people or just create awareness and out of this awareness that the peopel get in touch with you?
The information you sent about your webinar should entice readers to want to take part - so remember the "what's in it for me" part of the email blasts. Have you taken part in webinars yourself and felt they were worth your time? What was it about those webinars that made you feel that way? Possibly you can emulate some of the presentations that left a good impression. And, again, as Jon mentioned; be realistic about how many will actually show and don't be disheartened if the numbers are not what you expect. Having said that...it's where the email blasts are good at reminding everyone because we live in such a fast paced busy world today.

I'd like to add three considerations to the excellent advice Jon and Kellie have offered, considerations focused specifically on speaking -- preparation, practice and passion. Preparation means more than memorizing a script. It also includes being ready to answer questions and to pursue tangents without losing the core messaging of the Webinar. Practice is just what it sounds like -- at least one rehearsal to make sure the flow and timing are right. And passion means being sufficiently prepared, practiced and engaged to be excited and to get audiences excited about what's being presented and how it's going to help them.

I've literally participated in more Webinars than I can remember. Every successful one that I've seen has had these three characteristics in common. Every unsuccessful Webinar has lacked at least one, if not all three. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'...

Have your notes written out with your slides, but don't let it sound like you're reading from them. Try to sound natural - no one wants to listen to someone just reading their notes.

1. It's helpful to start with an interactive survey. People are self-serving and like to know if they are "normal" with thier perceptions, understanding or experiences with a topic.
2. Open the webinar session 10 mins early if it's nationwide. Don't start presenting, just open the bridge. People are annoyed when you open the bridge a minute before the session. You come off as uncoordinated.
2.5 Have a compelling fact or specific fact on the screen as people bridge up during the 10 mins. Your rate of people listening improves as you are delivering value early.
3. If it's a teaching webinar - engage them early with exercises/quiz-like questions to test if they are listening. Make it competitive, people like to show off and be called out if they know something.
4. Your slide deck should be more "pictures" and less words. It is a well known fact that people tend to remember images over words because they are unique, so thier rate of uptake of a convey idea is better.
5. Kill the monotony. If you present in mono-tone or with a fatigued voice, people will drop off in 2 minutes or start to multi-task until they either hear a different pitch, an interesting word or more people talking.
6. Pulse check at the mid-mark. Depending on the audience size, open the lines for a few questions so as to keep people engaged or re-engage the zombies.
7. Put all lines on mute and tell them you will do this. No one wants to hear elevator music from a participant that put you on hold and you don't want to talk over the elevator music.
8. Jeff is right - end early and ask questions.

For me, preparation is everything: learn your subject material inside and out. This may seem like an obvious point, but the more facility you have with your topic, and the better organized you are, the more successful your webinar.

After learning the material, take time to prioritize key points. Don't throw every last detail at the audience, but make your points and then drill down as appropriate. Often, the details will emerge in questions from the audience.

Get training in public speaking.
Join Toastmasters or similar groups.

Know your subject inside and out.

Be animated. Be excited. Life is a stage, bring your best performance to it.

Set the stage with driving music before the presentation.

Offer something "special" to the audience that requires them to establish contact after the presentation.
Have the announcer present your credentials in the prologue.

Establish your authority.

Best of luck,
Reg