How to host a webinar: the steps, by hand or with a platform
By Jean Luc Poitier, SEO and growth marketing strategist · Livestorm Reviews · Updated October 1, 2026 · Checked November 1, 2026
A webinar is a small production: people sign up, get reminded, show up, take part, and hear from you afterward. You can run all of it with tools you already have. This guide walks through the steps in order, notes what each one takes by hand, and says where a webinar platform such as Livestorm (the product this site reviews) saves the work.
1. Pick the webinar format
There are three common formats, and the choice shapes everything after it:
- Live: best for Q&A, demos, and launches, and the most work on the day.
- Pre-recorded, played at a set time: the session feels live, you can still answer chat, and the presentation can't go wrong.
- On demand: people watch whenever they register, which suits evergreen training and product tours.
2. Set the date, time, and length
Pick a slot that works across your audience's time zones, and give people a week or two to register. Plan the length around the content plus time for questions, and check your tool's limits first: some free tiers cap sessions well below an hour.
3. Build the registration page
Ask only for what you will use: name, email, and one or two qualifying questions such as company or role. Every extra field costs signups. The confirmation email should include a calendar invite and the join link. By hand, this is a form tool plus an email tool, with a spreadsheet in between to keep the list.
4. Schedule the reminders
A common cadence is a confirmation at signup, a reminder the day before, another an hour before, and a last one as you go live. Doing this by hand means exporting the registrant list before each send and catching late signups.
5. Rehearse with your speakers
Run a short rehearsal in the same room you will use live. Check microphones, cameras, screen sharing, and slide handoffs between speakers, and agree who moderates questions. A wired or strong connection matters more than the camera, as reviewers point out:
“You need a good stable internet connection or you may run into issues”Karel M., Capterra, June 2022
6. Plan how people will take part
Prepare two or three polls, decide when you will take questions, and have a moderator watch the chat. Upvotes on questions show you what most of the audience wants answered.
7. Run the session and record it
Open the room 10 to 15 minutes early, start recording, and give latecomers a short recap. End with one clear next step, such as a demo booking, a trial, or a resource.
8. Follow up within a day
Send the replay to everyone who registered, with different messages for attendees and no-shows. Move the registrant and attendance data into your CRM so sales or success teams can act on it. By hand, that is another export and import.
9. Measure what happened
Track registrations, the share of registrants who attended, replay views, poll and question activity, and what attendees did next. Compare each session with your earlier ones, since outside benchmarks mix very different audiences.
Hosting a webinar by hand vs with Livestorm
| Compared on | By hand | Livestorm |
|---|---|---|
| Registration page | A form tool, linked to a spreadsheet | Built-in, customizable registration pages and an embeddable form |
| Reminders and follow-ups | Manual sends from your email tool | Email cadences with unlimited reminders and follow-ups |
| The room | A video meeting tool; check whether attendees need its app | Browser-based for hosts and attendees, with phone dial-in |
| Polls and Q&A | Depends on the meeting tool | Polls, Q&A with upvotes, chat, reactions |
| Replays | Upload the recording and email the link | Recordings, replays, and on-demand events |
| Data for your CRM | Export and import by hand | HubSpot on every plan; Zapier and API; Salesforce, Marketo, and Pardot on Enterprise |
| Cost | Tools you already pay for | Free plan (30 credits a year); Pro from $1,200 a year |
Figures checked against each company's published pages and review-platform listings as of 2026-10-01. “Not published” means the company does not publish that figure.
When a webinar platform like Livestorm is worth it
For a one-off internal session, the manual route is fine. The case for a platform grows with every recurring webinar for an outside audience, where the exports, reminder sends, and CRM imports repeat each time. Reviewers often say that is the problem Livestorm solves for them:
“This platform helps us by solving the problem of managing webinars across multiple tools rather than using one tool for registration and another for email reminders, and another for reporting and analytics.”Verified User in Oil & Energy, G2, May 2026
“I got my first event organized in less than 15 minutes, complete with a registration page list, automatic reminder emails, and even my company logo.”Pratik P., G2, August 2025
Livestorm's paid plans are annual packs of attendee credits that expire after a year and renew unless you give 90 days' notice. Our free vs paid guide covers what the free plan includes, and our roundup of webinar software compares it with the main alternatives. Our Livestorm integrations guide covers what syncs to HubSpot on each plan.
Hosting a webinar FAQ
How do I host a webinar for free?+
Use a video meeting tool you already pay for or its free tier, a free form tool for registration, and your email tool for reminders and the replay. It works for one-off sessions; the cost is the manual work of moving registrants between tools. Livestorm's free plan covers 30 attendee credits a year and 30-minute events if you want to try a webinar platform first.
What do I need to host a webinar?+
A topic and a speaker, a registration page, reminder emails, a room your audience can join, a way to take questions, a recording, and a follow-up email. A decent microphone and a stable connection matter more than the camera.
How long should a webinar be?+
Long enough for the content plus questions; there is no single right length. Check your tool's limits before you plan: Livestorm's free plan stops at 30 minutes, Pro at 4 hours, and Enterprise at 12.
Can attendees join a webinar without downloading anything?+
Yes, if the platform runs in the browser. Livestorm does for hosts and attendees, and lets people dial in by phone. Check this for any tool you consider, since a required app download costs you attendees.