If you're in charge of business outreach, you know webinars aren’t just “nice to have”—they’re one of the few ways to get real attention these days. But running them can be a pain, especially if you’re stuck wrangling half-baked tools or complicated processes. The good news: Microsoft Teams has built-in webinar features that actually work, if you know how to use them. This guide gets straight to the point—no fluff, just what you need to run a smooth, professional webinar.
1. Check Your Access and Settings First
Before you do anything, make sure you (and your organization) actually have the right tools in Teams. Not every plan includes webinars, and IT can lock things down tighter than a drum.
- You need: A Microsoft Teams license with webinar capabilities (usually part of Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Premium, or Enterprise).
- Check with IT: Ask if webinars are enabled for your account. If not, no amount of clicking will help.
- Why this matters: Nothing kills momentum like planning a webinar only to find you can’t invite anyone outside your company.
Pro Tip: If you’re not the admin, save yourself a headache—send IT this link to Microsoft’s official Webinar requirements.
2. Scheduling a Webinar in Microsoft Teams
Once you’re cleared, actually setting up a webinar in Teams is straightforward, but there are a few quirks.
Step-by-step:
- Open your Teams calendar.
- Click the dropdown arrow next to “+ New meeting,” and select Webinar.
- Fill in the details:
- Title: Make it specific (e.g., “How Our Widget Cuts Costs 30%” beats “June Webinar”).
- Date & Time: Consider time zones—Teams doesn’t magically pick the best slot for everyone.
- Description: Keep it short and clear. Tell people what they’ll learn, not just what you’ll cover.
- Set registration options:
- Teams generates a registration form for you.
- Customize it: Add your logo, choose required fields (name, email), and add custom questions if you want to pre-qualify leads.
- Decide: Should people auto-register, or do you want to approve them first? (Default is auto-approve.)
- Add presenters:
- Only add those who’ll be speaking or helping run the event as “presenters.” Everyone else joins as an attendee.
- Presenters get more control (can share screen, unmute, etc.).
- Review meeting options:
- Click “Meeting options” after saving—this is where you control things like who can bypass the lobby, who can present, and if chat is enabled.
- For big outreach webinars, lock down who can present and mute everyone else by default.
What works: Teams’ registration page looks professional out of the box, and you don’t have to mess with third-party tools.
What doesn’t: Customizing the registration form is limited. Don’t expect fancy landing pages or deep marketing automation—Teams is functional, not flashy.
3. Promoting Your Webinar
Teams gives you a registration link, but it won’t magically fill your attendee list. You need to get the word out.
- Share the registration URL: Email it to your list, put it on your website, and post on social.
- Reminders: Teams sends confirmation and calendar invites, but it won’t send marketing-style reminders unless you do it manually or use a marketing tool.
- Calendar integration: Attendees can add the webinar to their calendar with a click. This is smoother than most webinar tools.
Don’t bother: With Teams' built-in email sends—there aren’t any. Use your usual email tool for outreach.
4. Managing Registration and Attendees
Once people start registering, Teams gives you a simple dashboard to track sign-ups.
- Download attendee lists: Handy for sales follow-up, but the CSV is basic (name, email, join time, leave time).
- Approve/deny registrations: Not needed unless you set it up that way.
- See who joined: After the event, you’ll get a report of who attended and for how long.
Limitation: You can’t send batch emails to attendees from within Teams. If you want to send reminders or follow-ups, export the list and use your main email tool.
5. Running the Webinar: What to Know
Here’s where Teams is both solid and a little clunky, depending on your expectations.
Before You Go Live
- Join early: Presenters should join at least 15 minutes before. Test mics, screenshares, and chat.
- Lobby: By default, attendees wait in a “lobby” until you let them in or the event starts.
- Roles: Make sure presenters know their role—only they can share slides or answer Q&A live.
During the Webinar
- Mute all: Attendees join muted and can’t unmute themselves unless you allow it (recommended for outreach).
- Q&A: Use the Q&A feature instead of chat for structured questions. You can moderate what gets shown publicly.
- Record: Hit “Record” at the start. Teams will save the video to OneDrive or SharePoint for later use.
- Share content: Presenters can share slides, screens, or apps. Teams handles this smoothly, but transitions can lag if your connection is bad.
After the Webinar
- Get the recording: Teams auto-saves it and sends a link to presenters. Share it with attendees or post it as follow-up.
- Download attendee report: Useful for follow-up and sales tracking.
What works: Teams is reliable—audio/video is usually solid, and attendees rarely have trouble joining.
What doesn’t: There’s a learning curve for presenters, especially if they’re used to Zoom or GoToWebinar. Practice switching presenters and sharing screens.
6. Following Up: Don’t Drop the Ball
Webinars aren’t much use if you don’t follow up. Teams doesn’t handle this for you, so build your own process.
- Export attendee data: Download the CSV from Teams.
- Send follow-up emails: Use your CRM, email marketing tool, or even Outlook. Include a link to the recording and any promised resources.
- Hand off leads: If you’re doing sales outreach, flag high-interest attendees and pass them to your sales team fast.
Pro Tip: Don’t overcomplicate this. A quick, honest thank-you email with a link to the slides beats a fancy drip campaign that never gets sent.
7. Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Assuming everyone can join: Some company firewalls block Teams. Always offer a “can’t join?” help link in your invites.
- Ignoring presenter training: Don’t wing it. Run a dry run if your presenters aren’t Teams pros.
- Not testing recordings: Record a test meeting first—sometimes permissions mess things up and you end up with no recording.
- Over-customizing: Teams webinars are functional, not beautiful. If you need full branding, look elsewhere.
- Forgetting mobile users: Teams works on phones, but slides can be hard to read. Keep text big and visuals simple.
Keep It Simple—and Iterate
Webinars in Microsoft Teams aren’t rocket science, but they do take practice. Don’t stress about getting everything perfect the first time. Focus on clear communication, keep the process straightforward, and tweak things as you go. If you get stuck, skip the hype and stick to the basics—your future self (and your attendees) will thank you.