Use cases for recorded presentations in webinars and online events

What if a senior executive of your organization has to make dozens of appearances across a few weeks? And what if the venues are spread across geographies?! An acceptable solution would be to use a previously recorded video, interview, speech, etc. in a session.

Ideally this should be followed up with live Q&A session and feedback gathering. This builds up engagement with the audience. Either the person can be available live over phone or a virtual conferencing solution or his/her proxy can attend Q&A on his/her behalf.

Of course, you want to prepare your best for the big event. But what if something gives in during the scheduled event? Natural calamity, urgent travels, sickness, family exigency, etc. can play a spoil sport. For such cases, have a previously recorded video/session as a backup.

I a tightly controlled environment you don't want to spoil your event by using words with slightly different connotations! Just like you don't want to do an impromptu for a video resume, you may not want to do a live speech for a high-profile event. Use a recording then.

If you want the online event to:
- Proceed strictly as scripted
- Match a previously delivered speech, dictation, interview, etc.
- Be hassle free from the 'hassle' of creating a compelling slideshow.

In such cases, you can prepare the talk beforehand and then proceed to create the slidedeck to showcase and match the actual narration/discussion.

If the presenter has a stage fright of delivering live, there is only so much one can do about it. While you can eventually learn how to control your stage fright, the short-term solution can be a recording!

Nobody wants to look silly in front of others. At the same time, nobody wants to give up on a public-facing opportunity. If you believe you may falter in front of the audience, start with a well-rehearsed and thought out recording.

If you want to produce a webinar/webcast recording that’s perfect and visionary, it’s not wrong, per se. But live communication isn’t like that, and there’s even research to suggest that imperfection is a definitive part of natural communication

The discerning observer should recognize that they are two are different beasts. Neither is right or wrong; neither is superior. The discerning observer should understand that there are tradeoffs, figure out what they are and, in the end, make an enlightened decision about what to get versus what to give up.

In the purest sense, “live” and “recorded” have opposite ideas of perfection. Unfortunately, the message you get from many web conferencing, webinar, or webcasting companies is that all you have to do is push the “record” button and you’re golden.