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Comparing webinar services-Google Hangouts on Air, GoToWebinar, and Zoom-and why I chose Zoom

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online-business-zoom-google-hoa-gotowebinar-1More and more, presenters are presenting online, using webinar services. So I thought I’d share my experience and maybe comparing webinar services will help you make a choice.

I’ve switched to Zoom! I’ve used GoToWebinar for many years but a friend (thanks, Sheila Finkelstein!) introduced me to Zoom. I tested it for several months and a few months ago I took the plunge — I cancelled my GoToWebinar/Meeting account.

Why?

  • I was looking for ways to engage more with my audience. That meant more webcam/video
  • I wanted to reduce my cost (I was paying $99/month for GoToWebinar)
  • I wanted to be able to record the webcam portion of a webinar (GoToWebinar doesn’t)

I also considered Google+ Hangouts on Air along with Webinarjam, which is software that enhances Hangouts on Air to broadcasts give them more webinar-like features. Here’s my story of my experience with comparing webinar services–Google+ Hangouts on Air, GoToWebinar (including GoToMeeting), and Zoom.

I've switched to Zoom! Share on X

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Extend your reach as a speaker or trainer with webinars

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Are you a public speaker or trainer? Right now, you might speak or train in front of a live audience. While that scenario isn’t going away, other options have been available for a while and are changing rapidly. You should know about the latest trends.

powerpoint-tips-webinarsIn this post, I’ll explain

  • What a webinar is
  • How webinars work
  • How webinars are different from live speaking & training
  • Why you might want to use them
  • How they’re changing now

What is a webinar?

A webinar is a way to speak to people via your Internet connection. Your audience watches on their computer. They can be anywhere in the world. Sometimes, teams gather together to watch a webinar in a conference room, but most people are sitting at their own computer.

Usually, people listen on their computer, too (this is sometimes called VOIP), but some webinar services let them make a phone call to listen. Usually, the phone call is not free, although you may be able to pay to provide a toll-free number.

In the past, webinars consisted of the speaker’s voice and slides from PowerPoint or another slideware product. That’s changing, though.

How do webinar services work?

Traditionally, webinar services work in 2 ways: [Read more…]