Choosing a joint webinar topic beyond a product pitch

Choose a joint webinar topic from a decision the audience already faces. Each partner should be able to teach a distinct part of that decision, and attendees should leave with a useful next step even if they never speak to sales.

Find the audience’s question

Ask both partners what customers want to understand before buying or changing a process. Find where their expertise meets: one may help people prepare information, the other helps them use it to choose an approach. Confirm both audiences encounter the question; a shared industry label is not enough.

Write the question in the attendee’s words. For an illustrative reporting session, that might be: What should a team check before connecting its reporting and approval processes? The topic does not claim that any particular products connect.

Test whether the topic needs both partners

Have each partner describe its intended attendee, the task bringing that person to the event and what they already know. Then test three points:

If the audiences are at different levels, narrow the invitation or separate introductory and advanced material. If one expert has little to add, consider a single-speaker session with a guest question segment. If the event is mainly a product presentation, describe it that way.

Define the lesson and its limits

Draft a short promise: who the session is for, what decision it covers and what attendees will take away. Name what falls outside the lesson. That helps speakers handle questions beyond their expertise and keeps the invitation aligned with the event.

A session might help people prepare questions before choosing a reporting workflow. It should not promise that every attendee will improve reporting speed without evidence. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission can require businesses to back up claims they make about their products or services.

Build an outline that moves from the problem through options or trade-offs to a usable next step. A product may illustrate an option if its requirements and limits are clear. The educational outcome should still make sense without that example.

Decide whether the topic is ready

Ask one person from each organisation to state independently what an attendee will be able to decide after the event. If the answers differ, revise the promise.

Have each speaker name a question they can answer and one they would refer elsewhere. The topic is ready when the audience, shared decision and limits are clear enough to guide the agenda and invitation.