Guidelines

If you are a virtual speaker, whether you are pre-recording your presentation or presenting live in front of a virtual audience, here are some essential things to remember.

Some general advice for attire

Wear smart casual clothing (not sweatshirts, ‘hoodies’ or at-home lounge-wear unless appropriate to the session). Solid colors look best on camera.

A neat and tidy appearance is always appreciated.

Attendees will be watching you on camera as well as any content you share. The audience will see what’s behind you, so make sure it’s a good-looking background.

Don’t forget that the audience will hear anything that’s happening around you.

Some helpful hints when speaking to a virtual audience

Speak clearly and loudly.

Keep a good pace.

Make sure your energy and delivery are at the same level or higher as when presenting in person.

Look into the camera, when possible, rather than at the screen – The camera is your audience.

Avoid waving your hands or moving too much.

Avoid touching your face. Avoid leaning forward into the camera.

Sharing content

If you want to share content with the audience, make sure you have a ‘clean’ computer workspace. Remember that whatever you share is seen by the audience, and we do mean everything! If something is shared, it’s been shared, and there is no way to ‘undo’ something that has been broadcast to an audience.

Some things to remember/check

Only share what you absolutely need to. For PowerPoint/Keynote, share your entire desktop to ensure the audience can see your content.

Make sure to ‘Share computer audio’ if you have video clips or other multimedia content with audio the audience needs to hear.

If you are sharing your entire desktop, hide desktop icons and remove desktop clutter.

If sharing a web browser, share a ‘new’ window, without any other tabs.

Double-check that you don’t have any private or confidential information that could accidentally be shared, such as images, content, applications, or other sensitive files. This is absolutely critical!

Don’t share anything unless you absolutely want it to become public knowledge. Once the information is broadcast, everyone watching the presentation will have seen it!

Presentation content

If you are presenting a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation, you will be required to share your screen as a full-screen PowerPoint and click through the slide as you give your presentation.

Some hints for your presentation:

Download all presentation materials to your local hard drive. Do not share any PowerPoint pictures or videos through a web browser. These should all be stored locally on your device.

People will be watching on a range of devices – i.e., a desktop monitor, laptop, or mobile device. So, less information is often more!

Use text sparingly, highlighting key points of information.

Use graphics where possible – a picture paints a thousand words…and is much easier to engage with.

If you need to present a text-dense slide, split it over multiple slides, or simplify the language where possible.

Use high-contrast colors; make it easy for attendees to read.

Don’t use any copyrighted materials you don’t have permission to use.