Test your webinar

Learning goal: you know different ways to test your webinar and know what you need to host a webinar. 

To avoid unexpected surprises during your live webinar, we recommend that you always test beforehand. By testing, you'll know if you want to make any adjustments and start your live webinar with peace of mind! Read on for some helpful points while testing and during the webinar. 

Supplies

You probably expect it, but you can't host a webinar out of thin air! Start with the basics. You'll need a computer or laptop, webcam, microphone and internet connection. A newer computer or laptop is usually suitable and has a built-in webcam and microphone. In addition, we recommend the following points: 

• Restart your computer. 

• Turn off automatic updates. You don't want your computer to automatically install or restart anything during your webinar. 

• If you can, use an external webcam. Often these are of better quality and you can more easily control the height of the camera. 

• Test your microphone

In addition to these necessities, a good and stable internet connection is essential. You are going to stream a live video. This not only requires a lot from your computer, but also from your internet connection. Especially the upload speed is important. Use a wired connection. Wifi can be unstable sometimes and that will not benefit the quality of your broadcast. Curious about the quality of your connection? Test it here. 

 Choose a suitable spot

After you have collected all the supplies, you must of course find a suitable place. Choose a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. You don't want any distractions during your webinar, or for your participants to hear background noise. Let the people around you know that you are going to webinar! Stick a note on the door, or like us, hang a door hanger with a little reminder not to disturb you. 

Lights, camera, action!

You're ready to go, the camera is on you, but you're not in the right picture! Light is also an important factor. In the right light, you not only look better (who wouldn't want that?), it also adds to the professional look of your webinar. Good lighting doesn't have to be difficult. Ordinary daylight is fine. Just make sure that when using the light that Mother Nature gives us, you face the light. Then you'll look the most radiant and won't have weird shadows that might distract from what you're saying. In a room where there is little daylight, a lamp is not an unnecessary luxury. But keep in mind: light should come from the front. 

If you really want to make an impact, studio lamps are a good option. We recommend the use of daylight lamps. Place two lamps diagonally in front of you, just behind the camera, for the best light.

A good camera angle

To get a flattering picture, we always recommend that you place the camera just above eye level and tilt it forward. You will then almost always get the best angle! The angle of your built-in laptop is therefore far from ideal. Still want to use the webcam of your laptop? Then place your laptop on an elevation, perhaps a few thick books underneath are all you need.

Test 1, 2, 3

Good preparation is half the battle. Testing your webinar beforehand is very important. During the test you check whether everything works. Is the technology in order? Are all the functions working? If everything works well, you start with a more confident feeling. You can test as many times as you want, so make sure you test as much as possible! 

Please note! A test webinar is not recorded. Do you want to see what it looks like? Then create a live webinar as a test.

What have you learned? 

• You know what you need 

• How to get the best picture 

• Testing!