Monash Research Toolkit

A GUIDE TO HOSTING A RESEARCH WEBINAR

Office of the Senior Vice-Provost and Vice-Provost Research

The host is the "face" of the webinar (sometimes this person is also the sponsor) and is usually an executive or a leader in a field of research being covered in the webinar.

As the host you are responsible for;

PREPARING THE SCRIPT, QUESTIONS AND BRIEF

Work with the producer on the webinar script, questions and panelist brief. This should be guided and approved by the webinar sponsor and predominantly researched by the webinar producer, however, it is important that you feel comfortable with all of it as you will be the "face" of the webinar.

If you have not been heavily involved in the script, question and brief writing you could ask the producer for a brief.

The brief should include:

  • A short description of the webinar topic;
  • A draft of the introduction script;
  • Panelist location details for the acknowledgement of country;
  • A list of strategic key messages that the sponsor would like to communicate to the audience;
  • Some information about each of the panelists and their areas of expertise;
  • The lists of the questions that have been sent to each panelist.

You may want to conduct further research about the topic and/or panelists to ensure that you can conduct the conversation seamlessly.

You could also edit the introduction script to ensure that it fits with your cadence, however, with any major changes it is best practice to run it past the producer and sponsor for approval.

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PREPARING THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY 

Ensure that you begin the webinar with an Acknowledgement of Country that you have prepared using the Monash Recognising Traditional Owners website.

The webinar producer could help you prepare the Acknowledgement of Country by liaising with the panelists about the location they will be joining from so that they can also be included in the Acknowledgement of Country. You could also acknowledge that the audience may be joining from other locations.

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SETTING UP YOUR SHOT

Prior to the webinar spend some time thinking about where you intend to Zoom from.

You should consider the following when choosing a location to zoom from.

  • Does it have good light?
  • Is it a quiet space?
  • Are you comfortable sharing the background of the shot with a large audience?
  • Will there be any distractions?

This guide produced by the Office of the Senior Vice-Provost and Vice-Provost (Research) explains how to set up a best practice shot for a Zoom webinar.

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CO-HOSTING THE PRE-WEBINAR MEETING

This meeting should take place directly before the webinar, the sponsor, host, panelists and producer should all attend and the host or sponsor should lead the meeting. There are two main purposes for this meeting.

One purpose of this meeting is to ensure that there are no technical issues, to check the sound and video of the host and each of the panelists. The producer will take the lead during this part of the meeting (more information provided here).

The other purpose is to use it as an icebreaker for the panel. The host (or sponsor) should take the lead in this section of the meeting. Below is a potential structure for this section of the meeting;

  • Explain the intent behind the webinar topic;
  • Introduce each of the panelists;
    • Summarise their area of expertise;
    • Summarise their expected contribution to the discussion;
    • Highlight some of the key questions you are planning to ask them;
  • Reiterate the key messages and audience takeaways of the webinar and
  • Establish with the producer when you and the panelist will appear on screen.

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HOSTING THE WEBINAR 

Begin the webinar with an Acknowledgement of Country (see above section). If possible include the locations that the panelists will be joining from in the Acknowledgement of Country, and also acknowledge that the audience may be joining from other locations.

Introducing the webinar topic and panelists following the script (see above section)

Shape the narrative of the discussion by asking questions, providing context and summarising/reiterating ideas. Ensure that you try to communicate the key messages of the webinar throughout the discussion.

Conclude the webinar by summarising some highlight insights, reiterating the key messages and thanking the panelists. If the webinar is part of a series include the date and topic of the next instalment.

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CO-HOSTING THE POST WEBINAR DEBRIEF

This meeting should take place directly after the webinar. It is a chance for the panel, host, sponsor and producer (host or sponsor should take the lead) to informally discuss the webinar, if there were any unexpected questions asked during the webinar these can also be discussed.

Conclude this meeting by thanking each of the panelists for their contribution.

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