How long should your business video conferencing session run?

Webinars have indeed revolutionized communication in the business world. The effectiveness and cost-efficiency of online video conferences have made them a popular means for a company to connect with its clients and customers. However, designing a webinar is not an easy task. The host of a webinar needs to consider myriad factors before designing and delivering a webinar with success. One of the most significant aspects one needs to consider while designing a webinar is its duration.

The length of a webinar basically depends on the extent and depth of the content the host wants to deliver to the audience. At the same time, the host needs to remember that most of the participants have a very short attention span. Most people tend to lose interest in any subject if an event or session is long winded. It is quite undesirable that a section of the audience logs off from a video conferencing session before it concludes. This is why the host needs to be responsible make sure that the webinar is neither too long nor too short.

Ideal Duration of a webinar

It is generally believed that the optimal duration of a professional video conferencing session should be 45 minutes to 1 hour. The host must convey all the important messages he/she wants to disseminate within this time period. A webinar which runs more than an hour loses a significant number of participants from the audience. Moreover, a session running more than an hour might cause an overload of information which will eventually compromise on the efficacy of the session. Apart from the core duration within which the content is disseminated to the audience, the host must consider a few more things which play important roles in shaping the duration.

Extended Log-in Time

A webinar session usually allows a log-in time of 15 minutes prior to the start of the dialogue. This time is provided so that the audience sorts out all technical and connectivity issues before logging in to the webinar. However, a part of the audience might get late in logging in due to various reasons. The host must accommodate these participants and start the webinar with a delay of 3-5 minutes from the scheduled time in order to minimize instances of anyone missing out the content. Again, the delay should not exceed 5 minutes as it is not a good idea to keep punctual participants waiting for long.

I am Joseph Smith, A US based Blogger, With a huge passion towards new developing technologies. The above mentioned article is solely based on my experiences with video conferencing free software. Cheers!!!