The Brand ED Podcast

Robby: You're listening to the brand
ed podcast with Robby Fowler, episode

93, the foolproof trick to start every
webinar and guarantee engagement.

Hi, I'm Robby Fowler, a business
strategist, helping consulting and

coaching personal brands grow a more
profitable business at a life-giving pace.

I shared this trick with my email
list this morning in my four wins

email, but I wanted to talk a little
more about it here on the podcast.

So the story that I shared was an
SOS call that someone booked with me.

This was a creative consultant and they
had a webinar that they wanted to do and

then lead in from the webinar to an offer.

So a pretty standard marketing
move for many of us in this space.

A webinar with the hopes
of launching an offer.

So we hopped on the SOS call.

And I just asked her to
walk me through the webinar.

And she started walking me through the
webinar and initially everything is great.

The slide deck looked great.

Her information was very valuable as it
related to the topic of the webinar and

her energy and her enthusiasm was great.

But one thing was missing.

And it was really how we
started the whole webinar.

So, What I want to share today is a
trick and here's what it's going to

replace at the beginning of your webinar.

Or at the beginning of almost any meeting.

This trick I'm going to share with you is
going to replace some of these familiar

ways that you've maybe started these
meetings yourself, or if you've been on

a webinar or an online training, you've.

You've received this, this is
how I'm meeting has started.

That you've been on.

Tell me, if any of these sound familiar.

How's everybody doing?

So the call begins, the webinar begins.

How's everybody doing?

Or perhaps it's a training.

It's not a webinar.

It's a zoom meeting where you can respond.

And the leader will ask any
questions before we dive

It's often followed by silence,
or maybe you've heard this one.

Who's excited about X, Y, Z, whatever
the topic is of today's webinar.

Or perhaps the reverse of that is
the host says I can't wait to show

you 1, 2, 3, ABC about today's topic.

Those aren't terrible, but today's
trick is going to replace that.

Instead of starting your meeting that way.

Here's how I want you to think about the
way you start your next webinar workshop,

course training, or even a sales call.

Start to think about it.

Like the opening line of a Ted talk.

If you listen to any
specialist that helps.

People give Ted talks or
helps people put together.

Big presentations, slide
presentations, any sort of speech.

One common tactic.

That you'll hear is to script
your opening You don't want your

opening line to be a throw away?

So.

Great presenters will
script their first line.

That's how I want you to think
about the way that you start your

next webinar workshop, course
training or even sales call.

So let's get to the trick.

How do you start your next webinar
workshop or course, and guarantee

things, start off with a bang.

And you're just going to start
it by asking this question.

What's the real challenge for you.

And then insert the topic of
your webinar training workshop

course, or even the sales call.

That's the question you're going to ask.

That's how you're going
to start your meeting.

What's the real challenge for you when it
comes to insert the topic that everyone

there is on the meeting to talk about.

So in the example I
shared at the beginning.

Of this episode.

I'm on an SOS call with a client
she's running through her webinar.

All the normal things are, they're
a great slide deck, great value,

great energy and enthusiasm.

So I stopped her.

A few minutes into her
webinar presentation.

And I said, Can I ask you one
question and she said, sure.

I said.

Do you know what the real challenge
for me is when it comes to the

topic her webinar was about.

And she was very interested, she leaned
forward and she said, no, what is it?

And I said exactly, you don't yet
know what my real challenge is.

Now I credit this question.

What's the real challenge for you.

If you want to find out more it's
from Michael Bungay stainer in his

The coaching habit, highly recommended
that I've just co-opted that.

And that's how I start almost
every training or webinar

or workshop or meeting.

Is what's the real challenge for you
when it comes to insert the topic?

So why is this better?

Let's talk about that for a second.

It's a very subtle, very simple change.

And it's a very.

Impactful way to start
any sort of meeting.

Why is this better?

Why is this approach better?

Number one, you get immediate
buy in from your audience.

You start with them instead
of starting with you.

On this SOS call, what my client was
doing was starting with her presentation.

Which he was very excited about over
a topic, which he was very excited

about, but it blew right past me.

The recipient or the audience.

So when you start with that question,
you're going to get immediate

buy-in from your audience, because
now they're sharing their pain.

They're challenged their struggle
from their perspective as it

relates to why they are there at
your webinar training workshop.

Or whatever.

And the reason why this is better is not
only immediate buy-in from your audience.

Number two critical information for you.

So when you hear some of these responses,
you can have them type it into the chat.

If it's a webinar or a zoom meeting.

You can go around the
room and ask if it's a.

Face-to-face meeting.

If this is a prerecorded course or
workshop, you can ask that question

before via an email or some sort of
onboarding process as they get into

the course, you can ask that inside
of a community, a slack channel.

But you can always ask that
question at the top, at the start.

It gives you the information you
need so that there can be empathy.

That comes from

So before you dive in, now, you can
really empathetically engage the

same content with your audience.

The second piece of critical information.

This gives you is it's an
agenda busting reminder for you.

So it gets empathy from you because
now you've heard their challenge,

their present real life challenge right

So empathy from you.

It's an agenda busting reminder for you.

And then lastly, It allows you to
give tailor-made help for them.

Empathy from you.

Agenda busting reminder for you.

And tailor made help for them.

Your audience.

And the story I shared at the top of this
episode, once I shared my real challenge.

On that SOS call.

My client went right back
to the top of the webinar.

She started with the same slide deck
with the same set of information, all

the same value, the same enthusiasm,
but the spotlight shifted from her

wanting to get through her presentation.

To me.

And she was able to quickly at
different points in the webinar

address, my specific challenge.

To say something like, and here's
how this would help you do 1, 2, 3.

Here's how this would stop you from.

Wasting time or whatever my
challenge was, she was able to

quickly take her slide deck and
direct a few things directly at me.

That's been my experience
also when I've done this.

Is that gives you the
information right upfront.

Typically you don't have
to change your slide deck.

On the rare occasion, you might find
out that you had an agenda headed one

way, but your client, your customer,
your audience, your course purchasers.

They have a challenge and you need to
call an audible to really serve them and

help them and go a different direction.

Start with that question.

It is a foolproof trick to guarantee.

You're going to get
engagement from your audience.

You're going to get buy-in and you're
going to be able to deliver value because

they're going to give you the most
valuable information you could have,

which is what is their real problem,
so that I can provide a real solution.

Try that out at the beginning of your next
webinar workshop training meeting, or even

sales call and let me know how it goes.

Until next time go and
build a life giving brand