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To host a webinar, pick a topic with one clear outcome, choose a format and speakers, and set the session up on a platform with registration and reminder emails. Then promote it for three to four weeks, rehearse on the live platform at least a day ahead, run it to a timed plan and follow up within 24 hours. Free plans exist, but as of October 2026 the ones covered here all cap length, audience or features: Zoom’s free Basic plan, for example, ends meetings at 40 minutes and has no registration or email reminders.
For every guide grouped by stage, see the full list of Webinar University playbooks.
In this guide
- The 11 steps at a glance
- 1. Pick the topic and goal
- 2. Choose the format and speakers
- 3. Choose a platform
- 4. Set the date, time zone and length
- 5. Build the registration page
- 6. Promote it
- 7. Send confirmation and reminders
- 8. Prepare slides, run of show and roles
- 9. Rehearse and tech check
- 10. Go live
- 11. Follow up and measure
- Bottom line
- FAQ
How to host a webinar: the 11 steps at a glance
Use the table as a webinar hosting checklist; the sections after it explain how to run each step.
| Step | When | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Topic and goal | 4 to 6 weeks out | One-sentence outcome, one business goal |
| 2. Format and speakers | 4 to 6 weeks out | Format chosen, speakers booked |
| 3. Platform | Before you schedule | A plan that fits your audience and length |
| 4. Date, time zone, length | 4 to 6 weeks out | Date, start time with time zone, run time |
| 5. Registration page | Before the first invite | Live page with a short form |
| 6. Promotion | 3 to 4 weeks out | Sends and posts with dates and owners |
| 7. Confirmation and reminders | Before the first invite | Full sequence queued |
| 8. Slides, run of show, roles | About a week out | Near-final deck, run of show, named roles |
| 9. Rehearsal and tech check | At least 24 hours out | Everything tested on the live platform |
| 10. Go live | Event day | On-time start and finish, the ask made |
| 11. Follow-up and measurement | Within 24 hours, then quarterly | Segmented follow-up, pipeline report |
Step 1: Pick the topic and the goal
Start with the outcome an attendee walks away with. A B2B topic earns registrations when buyers are already trying to solve the problem and the payoff fits in one sentence; sales-call objections and support tickets show where that demand is. If only people already evaluating you would care, it is a demo, so title it as one.
Set one business goal, such as demo requests or pipeline from target accounts, and decide how you will measure it. Lock the topic and title four to six weeks before the live date. The guide to picking a B2B webinar topic covers title patterns and how to test a topic before you build it.
Step 2: Choose the format and speakers
The format decides who you book. A solo presenter is the easiest to schedule and rehearse, and the simplest default for a first webinar. An interview adds one guest. A panel adds several voices and their audiences, but it needs a moderator and far more coordination. Book speakers as soon as the topic is locked, favoring people your buyers already trust. The comparison of panel vs solo webinars has a decision framework by goal.
Step 3: Choose a platform
Write down what the session needs before you compare prices:
- Audience size, and how it is counted. Depending on the vendor, plans count live attendees, registrants or credits.
- Session length limits, which bite hardest on free plans.
- Built-in registration and reminder emails.
- A view-only audience. Zoom’s license comparison says everyone in a Zoom meeting can talk, share their screen and chat; in Zoom Webinars only hosts and panelists present.
- Polls, Q&A and chat for the engagement you plan.
- Replays, a native CRM connector and live captions.
The Webinar Platform Index lines up entry plans, attendee limits, replays and CRM connectors, each checked on the vendor’s own pages. Shortlist two or three, then see current plans at Zoom, Livestorm, Demio, GoTo Webinar or WebinarJam.
Free plans and what they limit
| Platform | Free option (October 2026) | What it limits |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom | Free Basic plan, for meetings only | Up to 100 participants and 40-minute meetings; registration, email reminders and polling disabled |
| Livestorm | Free plan with no day limit | 30 attendee credits a year, 30-minute sessions, 10 events; emails can’t be edited |
| StreamYard | Free streaming studio, marked for individuals only | StreamYard logo in your streams, streaming limits, 6 on-screen participants; On-Air webinars start on the paid Advanced plan |
| Riverside | No free webinar plan; 14-day free trial of the Webinar plan | The Webinar plan hosts up to 100 registrants |
Livestorm uses one credit each time a person actually attends a session, and no-shows use none. Zoom Webinars is paid: Zoom’s getting-started guide requires a licensed user with the Webinar add-on. Free tiers suit an internal session or a test run.
Step 4: Set the date, time zone and length
Pick a date that leaves three to four weeks for promotion and avoids holidays and your industry’s big events. Choose a start time inside working hours for the regions you most want live, and always show the time zone. For audiences on several continents, run it twice: Zoom Webinars supports “the same session offered at multiple times to accommodate different audiences,” and Livestorm allows up to 20 sessions per event even on its free plan.
A 45-minute slot leaves about 30 minutes for content plus Q&A and a close, and the free tiers above stop at 30 or 40 minutes. Work backward from the date with the webinar promotion timeline.
Step 5: Build the registration page
Keep registration on, whether you use the platform’s page or your own. Zoom lets hosts switch registration off, but then its reports are limited to the name and email people type when they join. A page of your own must still pass each registrant their join details.
Lead with the outcome, show who is speaking and why they are credible, give the date with its time zone, and ask only for the fields sales needs now. Remove site navigation, and finish the page before promotion starts. The registration page conversion playbook breaks down each element.
Step 6: Promote it
Write the plan before the first send, with dates and an owner for every email and post, and build effort toward the final week instead of peaking at launch. Email your own list first, ask each speaker to post from their own profile with copy you supply, and tag every link with UTM parameters. Google’s Analytics help says you “should always use utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign.”
In the US, invitations fall under CAN-SPAM. The FTC’s compliance guide says a commercial message must include your valid physical postal address and tell recipients how to opt out, and the law makes no exception for business-to-business email. Start from the webinar invitation email templates and the LinkedIn promotion playbook.
Step 7: Send confirmation and reminders
Queue the whole sequence before the first invite, so early registrants get every message. The confirmation goes out immediately with the date, time zone, personal join link and calendar options. The four-email sequence then adds a value email three days out, a day-before reminder and a nudge an hour before start.
Check what your plan sends. Zoom’s comparison lists email reminders for Webinars when registration is enabled and marks them disabled on its Basic and Pro meeting plans, and Livestorm’s free plan doesn’t allow editing emails. Use the webinar confirmation email guide and the four-email reminder sequence.
Step 8: Prepare slides, run of show and roles
About a week out, get the slides close to final and draft the run of show, which gives every segment, poll and handoff a time and an owner. Assign the roles, even if one person covers two:
- Host: opens, keeps time, makes the call to action and closes.
- Presenter: delivers the content and takes the expert questions.
- Moderator: sorts incoming questions, steers a panel and voices the best questions live.
- Producer: runs polls, recording, screen shares and captions, and fixes problems over a backchannel.
In Zoom Webinars, presenters join as panelists, who can send video and share their screen; co-hosts share most host controls; attendees are view-only. Co-hosts can’t be assigned ahead of time, so invite the producer as a panelist and promote them, or make them an alternative host.
Turn on live captions, which Zoom’s comparison lists for Basic, Pro and Webinars, and caption the replay. The W3C’s WCAG 2.2 makes captions for live audio a Level AA success criterion and captions for prerecorded audio Level A. Copy the webinar run of show template, and send guests the speaker briefing email.
Step 9: Rehearse and run a tech check
Rehearse on the live platform at least 24 hours ahead, so there is time to replace a bad microphone or fix a failed screen share. Test audio first, then connection and camera, then every poll, video and screen share in run-of-show order. Agree who takes over if a speaker drops. Register with a personal address too, to see what attendees receive.
The Zoom Webinars practice session is built for this. Only the host, alternative host and panelists can join, and Zoom says you can use it days before the webinar without affecting the scheduled start. It needs a Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise account with the Webinars add-on. The tech check and dry run checklist covers each test.
Step 10: Go live
On the day, the host works to the clock. These times follow the site’s 45-minute run of show and CTA timeline; resize the content block for other lengths.
| Time | Segment | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min before | Pre-show check | Crew on the live platform; audio, slides, polls and backchannel tested |
| 0:00 | Open | Scripted opening: the session’s promise and the speaker’s credential |
| 0:02 | Housekeeping | How Q&A and chat work, captions on, replay or not; first poll |
| 0:05 | Content | Presenter takes over; an interactive moment at least every 10 minutes |
| About 0:27 | Soft ask | The next step for anyone who has this problem |
| About 0:35 | Call to action, then Q&A | Booking link or offer, then the most useful questions first |
| 0:44 | Close | Call to action restated, what arrives next, end on time |
Start on time; the people who arrived promptly deserve the strongest minutes. With Zoom’s practice session enabled, attendees can join only after the host or a co-host starts the broadcast. For interaction ideas, see the webinar engagement playbook, and for the ask, the webinar CTA examples.
Step 11: Follow up and measure
Send the replay within 24 hours, with one call to action. Engaged attendees, early leavers and no-shows each get a different email, and sales gets the questions each prospect asked along with the recording. The webinar follow-up playbook lays out each sequence, and a short webinar feedback survey shows what to change next time.
Then report pipeline in two lines: created, where the webinar was the first meaningful touch, and influenced, where someone on an open deal registered or attended. Both depend on attendance data reaching your CRM. The guide to proving webinar ROI has the math and a one-slide quarterly report.
Bottom line: how to run your first webinar
Follow the steps in order, but keep the first session small. The parts hardest to fix afterward are the topic, the reminder emails and the rehearsal, so spend your time there. A solo or interview format, a 45-minute slot and a platform with registration and reminders built in will cover it. Once it has run, audit the program against the webinar best practices checklist, which adds lead scoring, the sales handoff and repurposing.
Frequently asked questions
How do I host a webinar for free?
Use a vendor’s free plan and design around its limits. As of October 2026, Zoom’s free Basic plan is a meetings plan for up to 100 participants and 40 minutes, with registration and email reminders disabled. Livestorm’s free plan runs its webinar product with 30 attendee credits a year and a 30-minute cap. StreamYard’s free plan streams with its logo, and its On-Air webinars start on the paid Advanced plan.
How far in advance should you plan a webinar?
Lock the topic and title four to six weeks out, have the registration page live before the first invite, and promote for three to four weeks. Rehearse on the live platform at least 24 hours before the session, and send the replay within 24 hours after it.
What do you need to host a webinar?
A topic with one clear outcome, a platform with registration and reminder emails, and a presenter with a wired headset or USB microphone on a stable connection. Add a run of show and a second person who watches chat and Q&A, so the presenter can focus on the content.
Can you host a webinar on Zoom without a webinar license?
Yes, as a meeting, with limits. Zoom’s license comparison gives its Basic and Pro meeting plans up to 100 participants, Basic meetings end at 40 minutes, and in a meeting everyone can talk and share their screen. Zoom Webinars adds a view-only audience, built-in registration with custom fields and branding, and email reminders when registration is on.
Last checked: October 2026. Prices and plans change; check the vendor’s page before you buy.