Whether as a digital training or for customer acquisition: webinars are becoming increasingly popular among trainers. However, webinars are diverse; it all depends on the focus! In this article, we show you 4 types of webinars, from passive to interactive, and which one fits your goal.

Online seminars or webinars are as diverse as the webinar topics themselves. Many trainers are currently shifting their face-to-face courses into a digital space to maintain close contact with their participants regardless of location. Webinars are also a popular method for lead and customer acquisition.

When planning webinars, there are significant differences that you should consider depending on the goal of the course. After all, you don’t just want to hold one of many webinars, but a successful webinar that inspires your participants or future customers! Christoph Meier, an expert in digital transformation and informal learning from the scil Institute, distinguishes between four webinar scenarios, which we have prepared for you:

Reading tip: If you want to know in advance which video conferencing tool we recommend for webinars and other applications, feel free to check out our blog: The best tool for online training, coaching, and meetings?

4 Scenarios for Webinars and Online Trainings

As mentioned: webinars can be very different in their process and outcomes; this primarily depends on their goal. Do you want to pitch your service to your audience, share your expert knowledge, start a discussion, or develop new knowledge with your participants?

From these different scenarios arise the four types of webinars: Passive, active, constructive, and interactive. The key features and goals of the four scenarios can be found here at a glance:

A more detailed representation can be found directly on the scil website of the University of St. Gallen. Our summary is based on the short presentation provided there and has been supplemented by additional information from us.

But what does this mean for me as a trainer?

As you can see in the table, the scenarios differ mainly by the speaking shares of you as a trainer and your participants. Moving from left to right in the table, your participants increasingly take over the conversation within your webinar. You thus exchange roles with your participants and increasingly become the reserved moderator instead of the active speaker.

Before planning your next webinar, you should consider the framework and goals beforehand:

• Is it more of a lecture, and should your participants listen to you? Then it will probably lead to a passive webinar.

• Have your participants already independently developed content before the actual webinar and should present it in the webinar? Then an interactive format is more suitable, in which you take on only a moderating role.

As you can see, the scenarios also influence the dynamics within your webinar. Therefore, be aware in advance whether you want to convey knowledge and act more as a teacher or whether your participants are actively involved in the webinar. If you consider these things, you can better tailor your content, and your webinar will be a complete success.

Are you currently planning your own online trainings and want to conduct your courses increasingly digitally? Then feel free to check out our learning materials, where we have compiled a large collection of guidelines and checklists to support you in creating and conceptualizing your courses. These are of course free!