100 + Best Presentation Practices and Tips for Web-conferencing By Jim Rich © Rich & Associates

Webinar Expectations and Outcomes • Establish the reason/purpose for the Webinar, such as cost saving or convenience, etc. • Identify if the event is for: training, business meeting, presentation, or a collaboration session. • Recognize that each type of event has a specific outcome. Learn about the audience needs are before presentation development. • Who they are? • What are their likes and dislikes? • What gets them excited? • What keeps them awake at night? • Why the topics you are planning to present are important to them? • Identify what other factors might the interest the audience. • Identify the type of words and ideas you use to match the audience knowledge level. Establish a Roadmap of Topics and Activities • Use slides that state the learning or meeting objectives. • Include a slide that provides an overview or outline (of milestone topics). • Reference milestone topics during the presentation. This allows the audience to easily follow the presentation. Use the “Ask and Answer Key Questions” Framework • Webinar programs answer the questions of: why, what, how, so what, and now what. • Presentations often use a three-part framework with a beginning, middle and end. Use Three Act Presentations • The beginning of a presentation introduces the why, and what. • The middle of a presentation develops the how. • The end of a presentation resolves the former questions by addressing, so what and now what. Support the Content • Use “Any Questions?” slides in your presentation after each major section. • Summary slides need to align with course objectives or the presentation topics. • Close content items (such as Polls) when you are done with them. Fundamental Web Presentation Planning • Try to engage audience members so they believe you are speaking to each one of them on the topic. • Avoid broadcasting information (or lecturing). This presentation style promotes passive listening. • The presenter’s role often involves being a facilitator who guides the participants. • Balance content with engaging activities such as questions, exercises, or discussion points etc. Let Others Help You • Get feedback from an experienced instructor who has observed your class. • Use coaches for critiques and feedback of outlines, scripts and slides during the development process. • Work with a team to develop and deliver the Web conference.

Web Meetings need to be interactive and Collaborative. • Webinars allow presenters to shares information and participants ask and respond to questions. • Web collaboration can be text based or use an audio conference, or a combination with a live video feed. Promote Engagement • Promote text messaging between participants for better engagement and interaction. • Use interactive tools such as Polling features to keep participants engaged. • Poll before revealing content. This allows participants to think about and reflect on the subject. • After Polling results or Chat question and answers, the facilitator summarizes the results. Develop a Script • A script details what is going to be said and describes actions taken by the presenter during the session. • Use a script to as a way to outline the slide order to identify the frequency of interactions. • Pace interactions every 3 to 6 minutes. • Use a script to as a way to outline the slide order and to identify the length of delivery time. Practice using the Script • Create an almost word-for-word script of what will be said for each slide. Then practice! • When using a scripted word-for-word dialog, the delivery needs to sound natural for each slide. Establish Interactions in the Webinar Tool Beforehand • Prepare Polling questions for use in the Web-conference application before the session starts. • Pre-load Polling questions. Then test the Polling feature before the session begins. • Develop Notes or Chat questions beforehand for cutting and pasting text during the event. • All team members need to be familiar with the courses content and interactions. Develop a Support Plan! • As the first part of your support plan exchange contact information with all stakeholders (presenters etc.) • Prepare for a computer or internet failure. Find and test an internet café or hotel business center beforehand. • For voice use VOIP, as a voice back-up plan use a free conference calling service. • Presenters use a second or back-up computer that has been pre-tested using the Webinar application. Faci l itator back-up plan! • Develop problem solving plans for participants. • Ensure the facilitator and speaker have shared contact info; phone, sms, email etc. as part of the plan. • Plan a pre-conference meeting 30 minutes before the event to ensure everything is working. Participant back-up plan! • Technology can fail so don’t panic, use the pre-arranged back-up plan. • Have participants test the webinar technology before attending the event to resolve technical issues. • The back-up plan for technology failure might offer participants to use a previous recording later on. • Another back-up plan for technology failure might be to schedule another day for the webinar. • Let participants know that, if technology does not work, there is no penalty.

Preliminary Faci l itation Activities • Work with a team to deliver the session. Use a moderator to handle admin and tech issues etc. • Use a coach/colleague to critique slide development to get feedback at all development stages. • Study, learn and practice how to use the Web-conferencing tools in low-risk situations. Study to Gain Experience • Experience multiple Web-conferencing practice sessions if you are new to Web-conferencing. • Experience examples of how a quality on-line learning environment works before you facilitate. • Have prospective participants test the on-line delivery system beforehand. Practice to Gain Experience • Presenters and facilitators need to practice course delivery to get comfortable with Web-conference tools. • All team members need to be aware of course pacing and delivery time. • Use checklist to ensure fundamental activities happen such as starting the recording etc. • Do not attempt to use all of the Web-conferencing tools in your first session.

Establish Webinar Etiquette • Establish Webinar etiquette and ground rules and for participants to speak during an event. • Expect everyone to show up at least 10 minutes before the events starts. • Be respectful of noises that are distracting to other participants. Use the Mute option. Order of Events • Start with a slide to greet participants that tells them when the session will start shortly. • Presenter/facilitators login, at least,20 minutes early to greet and to orient participants. • At the programs start use key slides to direct the audience; such as for navigation and help. Technology and Webinar Tools • If possible, use two computers: one to monitor the class; the other to see how the class comes across. • Be aware, some attention-getting presentation features do NOT work in on-line delivery systems. • Web-conferencing systems can have presentation file size limits. Check well before the class. Everyone Needs to Avoid Distractions • Presenters need to work in a quite area. Avoid background noise, (sirens, barking dogs, loud announcements, etc.). • Participants need to avoid or mute ambient noise to avoid transferring background noise to the webinar. • Schedule breaks if the web session is longer than one hour. Before Slide Development • Get organized! Create an outline that arranges course content in order to tell a clear story. • Do not expect the first draft of a presentation to be the final slide presentation. • Survey the organizations culture to get a snapshot of past presentation practices. • Discus your ideas for slide content and graphic design with the client to verify that is what is expected.

Slides Development Experience & Strategy • Learn to use slide authoring applications efficiently and effectively. • Use an easy-to-read font typeface at a suitable size, such as Helvetica or Ariel fonts. • People remember a slides message that uses an image up to six times more than what they hear. • Avoid entire slides with black text on white backgrounds. It’s hard on the eyes and brain. • Some experts suggest to use dark backgrounds with light text. It is easier on the eyes and brain.

Prel iminary Delivery Activities • Prepare, load and test course content (slides etc.), voice, and sound options before the session begins. • Upload a current photo of your self to make the on-line session more personal. • Develop ground rules for who speaks, break times, texting, expected Polling replies, back-up plans, etc. • Schedule breaks if the session is longer than one hour. Pi lot Sessions • Run through the course content by having at least one live on-line pilot session. • Plan a second run through session if the first run through has too many issues to resolve. • After each run through session expect to change/modify slide content and talking points. • Work with an assistant in the pilot and final session who can provide instructor support and help participants. Sl ide Distribution • Have a plan to distribute slides efficiently to participants via email, a wiki, ftp site, etc. • Tell participants how they will receive slides or files before or after the event. Why Presentations Fai l • Statics show that 75 % to 80% of the presenters don’t practice. This promotes poor delivery performance. • Practice is what makes the difference between a mediocre session and great web-conference. • Practice, Practice, Practice create a high-quality web-conference. During the session • At the start of the session ensure the recording option has been started. • Ensure that everyone knows the ground Rules for the Web-conference before the session. • At the start of the class, allow participants to experiment with features such as chat and texting. • Keep tuned into the participants during the session. Don’t be passive. Think out loud. • Use body language to your advantage. Your audience will be able to “hear” your smile and movement as you talk. After Delivery • Debrief by reviewing positive and negative lessons learned, following the event. Fol low The Golden Rule • Never deliver a presentation that you wouldn’t sit through. Practice is essential for success. Source: http://www.parsecinfo.nl/support/whitepapers/best-practice.htm Graphic Arts Teaching Best Practices. By Jim Rich Webinars with Wow Factors by Beck Pike Pluth Interview with Catherine Zaranis

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