How to Create a Webinar From Start to Finish (Using Just One Tool)

I've attended countless webinars that looked more like poorly executed Zoom calls than professional presentations. The video quality was pixelated, participants kept dropping in and out, and the audio made it hard to focus on the content. I realized that most webinar tools are designed for meetings rather than content creation, which explains why so many online presentations fall short of expectations.

I decided to explore how to create a professional webinar using Riverside, a platform that allows you to host, record, and edit your entire webinar in one place. The goal was to build something that looks highly produced without needing a big production team. I'll walk you through the complete process from setup to post-production, showing you how to customize your branding, manage participants, optimize your presentation, and edit your content after the fact.

Key Takeaways

• Riverside allows you to host, record, and edit webinars in a single platform with high-quality local recording
• You can customize registration forms, branding, and email reminders to create a professional experience for attendees
• The platform's text-based editing feature enables you to edit your recorded webinar after the live session without technical expertise

Common Webinar Production Challenges

Poor Audio and Video Quality

Every webinar I've attended online looks like a bad Zoom call. The picture is pixelated. People keep dropping in and out, and the audio is pretty bad.

This results in low production quality that you're stuck with at the end. There's no way to edit it after the fact.

What's needed instead:

• Quality visuals and sound
• Custom branding
• High-quality recording
• Editing capabilities after the live event

Meeting-Focused Platforms vs. Content Creation Needs

Most tools are designed for meetings, but not content, and it shows.

The problem is that meeting platforms don't give you the production value required for professional webinars. You end up with whatever happened live, with no ability to refine or improve the final output.

What I actually need is something that:

• Looks quality
• Has my own brand on it
• Records well
• Can give me endless possibilities within the edit

Preparing Your Webinar Environment

Scheduling and Planning Essentials

I'm going to jump into my Riverside dashboard to get started. If you're paying for the webinar package, you need to hit schedule and then click new webinar.

I schedule something out and give it a clear title. For example, I might use "AI Search: The New Way to Rank Top of Google Without Ads." The next thing I do is add a description that clearly describes exactly what I'm going to be covering off in the webinar.

Once I've done that, I move to the important bit: inviting guests and speakers by their email. If I have the emails I want to invite as a panelist with me, this is where I put that.

I can also choose to play pre-recorded content by uploading a file to play a pre-recorded webinar. For live stream destinations, I can select if I want this to go just directly into Riverside and share that Riverside link or if I want it to go across to any of my socials as well as hosting this in Riverside.

After I create the webinar, I can add it to my Google calendar or copy that registration link.

Choosing Optimal Date and Time

I think of a date that I'm going to be able to deliver this comfortably on. I give myself a few weeks to prepare and choose a date that suits my audience.

Time considerations:

• I think about the time zone of my audience
• I try and set it out to a time like 6:00 p.m.
• If my webinar runs about an hour, I probably give myself an hour and a half for buffer time

Tailoring Registration Forms

I go into the audience section and then the registration to access the registration form. I can see the title, the description, and that it's hosted by me.

Custom registration form fields available:

Field Type	Purpose
First name	Basic attendee information
Last name	Basic attendee information
Email address	Contact and confirmation
Additional fields	Any extra details I want to collect

If I want to collect any more details about anyone registering for this webinar, I can add it here. I can either grab an embed code to host it on my own website or use an API request.

I put some of my custom branding on here. The first thing I do is grab a logo for myself. This is my avatar. If I want any specific background, I can put that up there. Then I add the color using my hex color for any of my branding codes.

Email confirmation settings I configure:

• Remind people one day before
• Remind people 1 hour before
• Follow up after the event
• Follow up to anyone that didn't register to show them a replay

I show the Riverside logo based entirely on my preference. I update all of these settings and click save.

At this stage, I can preview the registration page. This pulls through any branding that I had, the webinar title, the date, who it's hosted by, a quick description, and then it collects the fields I specified. This is what I share to those people registering for this webinar. It's up to me what fields I capture.

Customizing Registration and Branding

Embedding Registration Pages

Once you create the webinar, you need to set up the registration form. Navigate to the audience section and then click on registration to access the registration form settings.

The form displays your title, description, and host information. You can customize the registration form fields to collect specific data from attendees. By default, it captures first name, last name, and email address. If you need additional details from registrants, you can add custom fields here.

You have two options for deploying the registration page. You can grab an embed code to host the form directly on your own website. Alternatively, you can use an API request to integrate it with your existing systems.

Adding Custom Brand Elements

The branding section allows you to apply your visual identity to the registration page and webinar studio. I uploaded my logo as an avatar to represent my brand on the registration form.

If you want a specific background image, you can upload that in the background section. For the color scheme, you need to enter your brand's hex color code. I added my light blue logo color using the hex code.

Brand Element	Purpose
Logo	Displays on registration page and webinar interface
Background	Custom image for visual consistency
Hex Color	Matches your brand color scheme
Riverside Logo	Optional toggle to show or hide platform branding

You can choose whether to show the Riverside logo on your registration page. This is entirely your preference based on your branding requirements.

Inside the webinar studio, the right sidebar contains additional branding options. The brand tab lets you control your brand logo, background, and brand lobby appearance. You can also add overlay text to display links or calls to action during the webinar, such as links to download a free guide.

Automating Participant Reminders

Email confirmations can be automated to reduce manual follow-up work. I recommend reminding people one day before the webinar and possibly one hour before to maximize attendance.

After the event, you can toggle on follow-up emails. These include a follow-up message to attendees after the event concludes. You can also send a replay to people who registered but didn't attend.

Once you've configured your reminder settings, click save to activate the automation. All of these email settings are managed in the registration section under email confirmations.

Managing Participants and Co-Hosts

Inviting Speakers and Panelists

When creating your webinar, you'll find the option to invite guests and speakers by their email. If you have the emails you want to invite as a panelist with you, this is where you put that information.

Once you're in the studio, you'll see a cancel button that appears when you join. This button relates to inviting people to co-create or co-present with you during the webinar.

The right-hand sidebar contains a people tab where you can manage participants. Here are the actions you can take:

• Mute people
• Add participants
• Hide participants

If you had multiple presenters in your webinar, you can invite them through this section. The people tab will show you how many people are on board in your webinar, and they can ask questions or raise their hand from this area.

Configuring Participant Permissions

The manage people section in the right-hand sidebar gives you control over participant interactions. You can mute people and control their visibility during the webinar.

Participant interaction options include:

Feature	Function
Chat tab	Allows participants to ask questions
Raise hand	Participants can signal they have a question
Reaction buttons	Your audience has a chance to react during the presentation

I can hide participants if needed through the people management section. This gives me control over who appears on screen during the webinar, which is particularly useful when managing multiple presenters or when you want to focus on specific speakers at certain times.

Optimizing Your Webinar Setup

Selecting Cameras and Microphones

Before entering the studio, you need to check all the feeds that will pull through. This is where you select your camera and audio sources.

I recommend using a 4K camera rather than your computer's built-in camera. In my case, I select my 4K camera from the dropdown menu instead of the default laptop camera.

For the microphone, I use my Road Podcaster version two. You'll want to choose a dedicated microphone over your computer's built-in mic for better audio quality.

For speakers, I just use my default MacBook. You can select your preferred speaker output from the available options.

Studio Settings and Layouts

Once you're in the studio, you'll see several control buttons at the bottom left. These include:

• Record button
• Mic toggle
• Camera toggle
• Speaker controls
• Reaction buttons for audience interaction
• Raise hand feature for questions
• Layout options

The layouts are important if you're sharing slides. When you click the share button, you can either share a presentation or share your screen.

I start my slideshow and then go back into Riverside to select my preferred layout. There are several layout options depending on how you want to appear on camera and how many slides you need to show.

Right Sidebar Options:

Feature	Function
Manage People	Mute participants, add or hide participants
Chat Tab	Shows attendee count and allows Q&A
Brand Settings	Upload logo, background, brand colors
Text Overlay	Add links or download buttons
Media Upload	Add your own media files

You can upload a brand lobby, add your logo and background, and include overlay text if you want to send links or offer a free guide download.

Headphone Recommendations

Before you join the studio, you need to indicate whether you're using headphones. There's a simple toggle where you click "I am using" or "I am not using" headphones.

I recommend using headphones when you're delivering your webinar. This helps prevent audio feedback and ensures cleaner sound quality during your presentation.

Delivering Engaging Presentations

Utilizing Slides and Screen Sharing

When you're ready to share your content during the webinar, you can click on the share button at the bottom of the studio interface. You'll see options to share a presentation or share your screen.

I recommend selecting your slideshow and clicking start slideshow. Once you go back into Riverside, you can see how your slides appear alongside your video feed. You'll notice several layout options available to choose from depending on how prominently you want to show up on camera and how much space you want to dedicate to your slides.

The layout selection is flexible. I typically prefer layouts that balance both the presenter and the slide content effectively. You can adjust these layouts in real-time as you present, allowing you to emphasize either your presentation materials or your personal presence based on what you're discussing at any given moment.

Leveraging Teleprompters

If you have a script prepared for your webinar, Riverside includes a teleprompter feature. You can access this by clicking on the layouts button at the bottom of the studio interface.

The teleprompter allows you to upload your script directly into the system. This means you can read through your content while maintaining eye contact with your camera, which helps you appear more natural and engaged with your audience.

Facilitating Audience Interaction

Managing audience participation happens through the right-hand sidebar of the studio interface. The people tab shows you everyone currently in your webinar, and you can mute participants or add new ones as needed.

The chat tab displays real-time questions and comments from attendees. Your audience members can ask questions or raise their hand using the reaction buttons available to them.

I always include a questions and answers segment at the end of my webinars. This gives attendees the opportunity to engage directly and get clarification on any points covered during the presentation. The chat interface makes it easy to monitor these interactions while you're presenting.

You can also add overlay text during your webinar if you want to share links or direct people to download resources like free guides. This feature is accessible through the brand section in the right sidebar.

Recording and Uploading Best Practices

Initiating and Managing Recordings

Before you hit record, I'm going to walk you through the right-hand sidebar options. You can manage people in the top bar where you'll find options to mute people, add participants, and hide participants. If you have multiple presenters in your webinar, you can invite them here.

The chat tab shows you how many people are on board in your webinar. They can ask a question or raise their hand. The brand section lets you control your brand logo, background, and how you want this to present. You have a brand lobby option as well.

Any overlay text you want to send, like links or download links for a free guide, goes in the text overlay section. The media tab is where you upload your own media if you want to add it into your webinar.

Once you're ready to go ahead and hit record as people are rolling in, you then present your webinar for however long. Always have questions and answers at the end.

I'm going to click record now. This is going to count down and count me in as I make sure I've got people inside the webinar. Then I would start presenting.

I would welcome everyone into the webinar, go over what we were going to be covering in the webinar, and maybe ask questions at the end.

Ensuring Complete Uploads

Probably the best bit about Riverside is it records locally, then records up to the cloud once you have finished recording. It's got some of the highest quality audio and video that you can get all up to the cloud. You can edit everything after the fact.

As you can see in the top right-hand corner, it is saying 66-70% uploaded. It's not fully uploaded yet. Once you stop recording and thank everyone for joining the webinar, you can hit stop.

Once that has stopped, you can see it's uploading. It's asking me how the webinar was, how the session was.

Don't exit this studio until that is 100% uploaded. As soon as you see 100% completed and uploaded, that is when you can exit this studio. Then you can go over to your project.

Guidelines for Ending Sessions

Once I have gone through the presentation process, I thank everyone for joining the webinar. I mention that we'll follow up for those who didn't attend. You can hit stop at this point.

The system will show you the upload progress. Wait for the confirmation that everything is 100% completed and uploaded before you leave.

After the upload is complete, I click out of the studio and go to my projects. This takes me into the Riverside Studio where the magic happens in the edit.

Editing and Post-Production Workflow

Navigating the Editing Suite

Once you stop recording and the upload reaches 100%, you can exit the studio and go to your projects. This is where the magic happens because everything occurs in the edit.

When you click into your project, it takes you up into a full editing suite. In this space, you can position elements and work with your footage. If you had multiple speakers in your webinar, you can manage their positioning here.

The editing suite gives you access to all your recorded content. You can work with the full video and make adjustments as needed. This is where you transform your live recording into a polished final product.

Utilizing Text-Based Editing

The text-based editing feature allows you to edit your video just like you would edit a Word document. If you can edit a Word document, you can edit a video in Riverside.

This feature makes the editing process straightforward. You can make cuts and adjustments by working with the transcript of your webinar. The text-based approach simplifies what would otherwise be a complex video editing task.

You also have access to the scene and layout options if you had multiple speakers. The text-based editing capability streamlines the entire post-production process.

Finalizing Exports and Formats

Once you're happy with your edits in the suite, you can proceed to finalize your webinar. The platform handles the export process after you've completed all your adjustments.

All the editing work you do in the suite prepares your webinar for distribution. The recordings are uploaded to the cloud in high quality because Riverside records locally first, then uploads. This ensures you get some of the highest quality audio and video available.

You have control over how your final webinar looks before it goes out to your audience. The editing capabilities give you endless possibilities compared to being stuck with whatever happened live.

Content Repurposing Strategies

Creating Thumbnails and Social Clips

After I finish recording my webinar, I have access to all the media in my Riverside project. The platform records locally and uploads to the cloud in high quality, which gives me clean source material for creating additional content.

I can access my full recording in the Riverside Studio editing suite. The text-based editing feature allows me to edit video like a word document. I simply click through my transcript to find the sections I want to extract.

Key steps for creating clips:

• Navigate to the projects tab after the recording is 100% uploaded
• Open the full video in the editing suite
• Use text-based editing to locate specific moments
• Position and adjust layouts as needed for different formats
• Extract segments for social media use

The media tab on the right sidebar shows all uploaded content from my webinar. I can access any visual elements I used during the presentation, including slides and screen shares.

Maximizing Reach With AI Tools

Riverside provides AI-powered tools within the same platform where I host and record. I don't need to export my content to multiple tools to repurpose it.

The text-based editing feature uses transcription technology to make editing more accessible. If I can edit a word document, I can edit my webinar video. This removes technical barriers that typically require specialized video editing skills.

I can adjust scenes and layouts after recording. Even though my webinar happened live, I'm not stuck with whatever occurred during the session. The editing capabilities let me refine the final output.

AI-enhanced workflow features:

Feature	Function
Text-based editing	Edit video by editing transcript text
Automatic transcription	Converts speech to editable text
Scene adjustment	Modify layouts and positioning post-recording
Media management	Organize and access all webinar assets in one place

The platform records multiple tracks separately, which gives me flexibility in post-production. I can work with my camera feed, screen share, and audio independently when creating derivative content.

Evaluating Webinar Performance

Accessing Attendance Analytics

I can access all the key attendance data directly from my Riverside dashboard after the webinar concludes. The platform tracks who registered, who actually attended, and who didn't show up. This data lives in the audience section of my webinar project.

The registration form I set up earlier captures first name, last name, and email address by default. I can add custom fields if I need to collect additional information from registrants. All of this data flows into my analytics automatically.

I can see exactly how many people were in my webinar at any given time through the people tab on the right sidebar during the session. This gives me a real-time count of active participants.

Interpreting Engagement Data

The chat tab shows me all the interactions that happened during my webinar. I can review which questions people asked and when they raised their hands to participate. This tells me which topics generated the most interest.

My audience has access to reaction buttons during the webinar. I can review these reactions to understand which moments resonated most with attendees. The platform records all of these engagement signals.

I need to wait until the recording reaches 100% uploaded before I exit the studio. This ensures all the engagement data and recording quality are preserved properly. The system will show me the upload percentage in the top right corner.

Improving Future Sessions

The text-based editing feature lets me review my entire webinar like I'm editing a word document. I can go through the full transcript and identify areas where I stumbled or where the content could be tightened up. This helps me refine my delivery for the next session.

I can position speakers differently and adjust layouts in the editing suite after the fact. If I had multiple presenters, I can see which layout worked best for audience engagement. The scene and layout options give me flexibility to test different formats.

The media tab lets me add elements I might have forgotten during the live session. I can upload additional content and incorporate it into the final edited version. This means I'm not stuck with whatever happened live.

Improvement Area	Where to Find It	Action to Take
Delivery quality	Text-based editing	Review transcript for filler words and unclear sections
Visual presentation	Layout options	Test different speaker and slide configurations
Content gaps	Media uploads	Add missing visuals or explanations in post-production
Timing issues	Full video editing suite	Trim sections that ran too long

I should follow up with attendees using the email confirmation settings. I can toggle on the option to follow up after the event or send replays to people who registered but didn't attend. This keeps engagement going beyond the live session.

The local recording that uploads to the cloud gives me the highest quality audio and video possible. This means my edited version will look and sound professional, which reflects better on my brand for future webinars.

Next Steps and Further Learning

Once you schedule your webinar and configure all the settings, wait until your scheduled date arrives. Return to the overview page and click start webinar when you're ready to begin.

Before entering the studio, you'll see all the feeds you're going to pull through. Select your 4K camera instead of your computer's camera. Choose your microphone—I use my Road Podcaster version two. Select your speakers, which might be your default laptop speakers.

Indicate whether you are or aren't using headphones. Click "I am using" or "I am not using" and then join studio.

Studio Controls

Once you're in the studio, you'll see several buttons at the bottom left:

• Record - starts your recording
• Mic - controls your microphone
• Camera - controls your video feed
• Speaker - controls audio output
• Reaction buttons - allows your audience to react or raise their hand to ask questions
• Layouts - changes how content appears on screen
• Teleprompter - uploads scripts if you're reading from one
• Share button - shares presentations or your screen
• Leave - exits the webinar when finished

Sharing Your Screen

Click the share button to share a presentation or your screen. Select your slideshow and click start slideshow. Go back into Riverside to see how it looks. Choose a layout that shows how you want to appear on camera alongside your slides.

Right Sidebar Options

The right sidebar contains several management tools. The people tab lets you manage participants, mute people, add participants, or hide participants. If you have multiple presenters, invite them here.

The chat tab shows how many people are in your webinar. Attendees can ask questions or raise their hand here.

The brand tab controls your brand logo, background, and how you want everything to present. You can customize your brand lobby here as well.

Use overlay text to send links or provide downloads like free guides. The media section lets you upload your own media files to use during the webinar.

Recording Your Webinar

Click record when people are rolling in. The system counts down before you start presenting. Welcome everyone into the webinar, explain what you're going to cover, and mention that you'll take questions at the end.

Riverside records locally and then uploads to the cloud once you finish recording. This gives you some of the highest quality audio and video available. You can edit everything after the fact.

After Recording

Watch the top right corner during your recording. You'll see the upload percentage. Once you finish your webinar and thank everyone for joining, click stop.

Do not exit the studio until you see 100% uploaded. Wait for this confirmation before leaving. Once it reaches 100% completed and uploaded, you can exit the studio and go to your projects.

Editing Your Webinar

Navigate to your projects in the Riverside dashboard. This is where you'll edit your content. Click into your full video to access the editing suite.

You can position multiple speakers if you had them. Use text-based editing—if you can edit a Word document, you can edit a video here. Edit by removing words from the transcript and the video will update accordingly.

Click the scene and layout options to adjust how content appears, especially if you had multiple speakers. Access all editing features through the text-based editor interface.