What Hardware and Accessories Do You Need for Hosting a Webinar?
What is a webinar? Lifewire describes it as “a live, web-based video conference that uses the internet to connect the individual (or multiple individuals) hosting the webinar to an audience of viewers and listeners from all over the world.”
It’s easy to see, then, what makes a webinar attractive as a business tool. However, delivering a webinar effectively can be much easier said than done if you don’t have the right gear at your disposal – like the following hardware and accessories.
Camera
If you want to make a positive impression on the audience, appearing visually – rather than just aurally – at the webinar can potentially be a must. Webinar expert Daniel Waas claims to have polled webinar attendees, with 86% of them said to deem presenters on webcam engaging.
Not that you strictly have to use a webcam to capture yourself on camera, as you could instead opt for a high-end studio camera. It would, however, be crucial for you to keep it still as it is running – hence why you might also need a…
Camera Tripod
This three-legged portable device comes in various sizes, types, and materials. Nonetheless, choosing a specific model of tripod might not prove too tricky for you, as the ‘right’ choice would depend heavily on how exactly you intend to use the tripod.
For example, while some tripods lock by turning and others rely on clips or control knobs, you could easily test different tripods to see which of them, for you, seem the most intuitive to control.
Microphone
The quality of your webinar’s audio is vital to the attendees’ experience. After all, if they can’t clearly hear what you are saying, they might as well not even be there.
While a built-in microphone comes as standard with new recording devices these days, you shouldn’t necessarily just settle for that microphone – at least not without testing it first.
Besides, a built-in microphone will not deliver the same sound quality as a separate one, says the Dummies website. Still, the site concedes that, when using a webcam, you might have no choice but to use its own microphone – as support for an auxiliary cable could be unavailable.
The easiest and most affordable way to ensure professional-standard sound would be to use a standard USB headset. A wired connection would be better than a Bluetooth one for preventing interruptions in the audio quality.
Audio Mixer
How much you really ‘need’ this would depend on how many different audio sources you intend to use for the webinar. If you are set to combine sound from multiple sources into just one channel or signal, you would indeed need an audio mixer.
This little console would let you quickly and easily alter sound levels as well as the signals’ level, frequency content, and dynamics. Therefore, it can prove instrumental in defining the sound quality.
In any case, though, you should also be careful to choose the right online webinar platform to safeguard how well you would be able to interact with your webinar’s attendees.
This article has been scheduled in accordance with Socialnomics’ disclosure policy.
