The document provides a comprehensive guide for effectively transitioning from in-person presentations to webinars due to disruptions caused by events like COVID-19. It covers essential areas such as platform selection, presentation design, preparation, and delivery techniques specifically tailored for online settings. Tips include engaging the audience, optimizing technical setups, and adjusting presentation styles to maintain viewer interest in a virtual format.

1. When You Have No Choice
But To Go With Plan B
Webinar
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P R E S E N T S

2. As we’ve seen in the last few weeks,
global concern around COVID-19 is
having an impact beyond those who
are sick - in the US, Austin’s premier
arts festival SXSW was cancelled and
Coachella has just been delayed until
October. At home, Dark Mofo’s been
canned for the year and everyone’s
panic-buying toilet paper. Finally,
over in Italy, the whole country has
come to a standstill!
You might not have been expecting to be
impacted. You’ve been planning that
presentation you’ve got coming up for
months. Now, you’ve just received that email
asking if your presentation could be turned
into a webinar and you’re staring at your
computer praying for a plan B!
The idea of pivoting to an online
presentation might be confronting, and
that’s understandable. Delivering an effective
presentation is a challenge in itself, and
doing it online is yet another challenge on
top of that. The dynamics of a face-to-face
presentation are very different to those of a
webinar, and the biggest advice I can give
right now is to learn and understand those
differences. The medium affects the
message and adjustments will need to be
made.
But the work you put into doing that now
will help avoid that sinking feeling halfway
through the presentation that it’s not
working out as you hoped it would.
Before I had to do one, I thought webinars
were a pretty straightforward affair - open
the laptop, click Go and start talking. Then I
had to start actually doing them. Staring at
the screen, without the ability to analyse the
audience, no visual cues, and no live
feedback, proved to be remarkably difficult.
Even the act of sitting rather than standing
threw me off. I finished it with an
appreciation for just how hard webinars are
to nail.
All these TV presenters make it seem easy,
but only once you have tried it will you
appreciate the skill involved. In an online
presentation, there’s only one take, there’s
no returning to edit, and you need to keep
an audience engaged for longer.
Drawing from my experiences of trying to
master the art of online presenting, and
working with a range of business clients
trying to do the same, I’ve created this
hopefully helpful guide for presenters who
need webinar upskilling in a hurry.
And You Need To Zag
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Platform
01
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Design
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Preparation
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Delivery
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4. Platform
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At the conference you were planning on using your deck, but now you
need webinar software! There are a heap of options available (whether
that’s a good or a bad thing is another question), and I’ve broken down
some of the leading options to help you decide which one’s right for you.
Firstly I need to explain the difference between synchronous and
asynchronous video software. Synchronous software refers to two-way
conferencing or video communication that allows participants to interact
with each in real time. Asynchronous software allows for the broadcast of
higher quality video in near-real time, but places limits on interactions.
Think about your setting, your message and the availability of your
audience, then choose the right platform.
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Synchronous software
refers to two-way conferencing or video
communication that allows participants to
interact with each in real time.
allows for the broadcast of higher quality
video in near-real time, but places limits
on interactions.
Asynchronous software

5. 5
Zoom or GotoMeeting
The most likely candidates if you are going to
run an online webinar. Widely used across
industries and usually the default option. You’ve
likely used one of these platforms if you’ve ever
been part of an online video call.
Prezi
Allows you to create a live link to your
presentation. You will need to find an audio
option but Prezi gives you the option to share a
live link so that your audience’s screen will
follow as you present.
Zeetings
Similar to Prezi, Zeetings allows for the sharing
of a presentation via a live link, as well as the
ability to incorporate polls and other forms of
engagement, although you will still need to find
an audio option.
Synchronous
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6. Asynchronous
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Loom
Use Loom’s online or desktop app to make
it super easy to record your presentation,
and then once it’s done generate a link to
share with anyone. Loom has the added
bonus of tracking view counts and
engagement.
Prezi video
Prezi’s new AR-based product is designed
for just these kinds of occasions. Have
your presentation material combined with
you on the screen, record and then
generate a link to send out.
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7. Design
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What was going to work on that lovely big hotel screen isn’t going
to translate to a small computer or smartphone screen.
With an online presentation, not only do you lose the impact of
your physical presence, you’re also battling distractions at the
other end - someone watching at their work desk, waiting in an
airport lounge or even on their phone in the back of an Uber.
7
Here are some tips and tricks to get your design on point
for an online presentation.

8. 8
Use More Slides:
The More The Merrier!
If you're sticking to your deck, it’s going
to have to work harder for you. Keeping
the same slide up on screen isn’t going
to work if you aren’t physically there to
add to it.
A rough guide is to present an average
of one slide every 1-2 minutes to keep
things moving. Rather than having
four heavy points on one slide, break
the content down onto four slides
and build.

9. 9
Replace Bullet Points:
Make It Easy To Read!
If you thought it was tough to sit through
a list of bullet points in a face to face
presentation, just wait until you get to an
online one. When someone reads bullet
points, the voice in their head is shutting
out what you are saying.
That doesn’t happen when you replace
sentences with key words or supportive
statements. Look to make sure the text
you are using on screen supports what
you are talking to, rather than speaking
notes.

10. 10
Increase Font Size:
No Squinting!
Everything just shrunk - so make sure
you increase your font size to ensure
it’s readable and makes an impact on
the viewer. Also put careful thought
into what type of font you’ll use, and
how you’ll prioritise the information
on screen.
Around the 30 - 40pt mark works well.

11. 11
With the design having to work harder
for you in an online presentation, it
needs to be visually punchy to keep
the audience captivated. A simple way
of doing that is to increase the contrast
so the image appears sharper on
smaller screens.
Dial Up The Contrast:
Make It Stand Out!

12. 12
Building on the last point, make sure
your imagery and illustrations ‘pop’.
Get rid of flat or generic images and
go instead for ones that have a punch
to them. Look to overlay a filter onto
images so that you can consistently
place text on them and make best use
of the screen.
Go For Impactful Images:
Make It Highly Visual!

13. 13
You will need breaks to recap or to ask audience
questions. So rather than making a note or leaving the
screen on a content page, create these as separate
slides using bold typography.
These slides will help give breaks to your content and
help you with the flow of your delivery.
Use Stop-Start Typography:
Create A Punchy Pace!

14. 14
Think about how the presentation will look to the
viewer, including the webinar panels that will be on
screen. The general rule is to align to the left of the
screen. Try to keep things away from the edges or
too small.
Optimise Layout and Alignment:
Think About The Panel!

15. 15
Buffering creates havoc for your animations;
it’s better to not use animation at all. Use
transitions such as a simple fade to elegantly
move from slide to slide. Rather than have
content in a single slide, break them up over
several slides for a more engaging,
digestible pace.
Be Careful With Animations:
Keep It Simple!

16. The next step is to ensure that you set yourself up for success. This
means picking the right location for the presentation, thinking about
what the audience will see, practicing, and future-proofing your
tech so nothing goes wrong.
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Optimise For Clarity
Think about investing in a good quality HD
webcam. They’re easy to find and inexpensive.
It will make a world of difference and give you
flexibility in where you place it.
Compose your shot
Choose your location carefully and look at the
backdrop that your viewers will see. If it’s in your
office or meeting room, are there any little touches
you can make to enhance your location? If it's a
regular webinar you’ve also got the option of buying
a portable backdrop to give a consistent setting.
Indoor lighting can give you a real washed out look.
See if you can find a place near a window so that
you are receiving front-on natural light.
Test out your framing on camera so that you aren’t
too far forward or back. If you using a laptop, look
to place a few books underneath to bring it up to
eye level. This will help stop the look of towering
over your webcam.
Preparation
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17. 17
Fix Your Sound
The quality of online audio is going to be lower so it’s
important that your audio setup is high quality and
reliable. I originally started using AirPods as I liked
the convenience of a wireless solution. I found that
the audio quality wasn’t the best and having to
manage battery life and bluetooth was an
unnecessary distraction. I’ve now gone back to using
wired, mic-enabled headphones.
Tidy Up Your Desktop
If you are inviting your audience to share your
screen, take a moment to make it tidy and
professional. It can still be personal but think about
putting away your bookmarks and cleaning up your
desktop. Make sure your presentation and other
documents you need are easy to find. Close any
extra applications and turn off notifications during
your presentation.
Don’t Wing It!
Don’t rehearse your presentation to your audience!
It’s easy to recognize an unpolished presenter who
hasn’t/isn’t fully prepared. If needed, write a script
prior to presenting and keep it with you, or at least
prepare/have a structured outline with presentation
notes. Don’t just rely on talking to your slides. Write
down things you would like to say ‘off the cuff’, even
if you don’t use them.

18. Delivery
So you’ve got the platform, you’ve updated your design, you’re set up and
now it’s time to think about how you’re going to deliver the presentation.
When it comes to online presentation, delivery can often fall flat. There’s
very little energy in a room on your own compared with a face-to-face
presentation, so you need to increase yours to keep people engaged.
During live delivery, we can adapt our presentation based on social cues
or feedback from the audience, but a comments section on a webinar just
isn’t the same. So be prepared to be dynamic.
18
For some more tips, I called upon the expert
advice of certified professional speaker,
author and commentator Peter Merrett. He’s
spoken in front of group sizes ranging from a
few people to standing ovations of 10,000
people in Las Vegas. I’ve picked up some tips
from Peter with regards to online presenting.
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petermerrett.com

19. 19
It’s About The Audience
Remember your audience! It’s all about them, not you,
so keep them at the forefront of your mind. Even
when delivering online, this doesn’t change.
What Feeling Are You To Creating?
Concentrate on sharing your information with real
emotion and feeling. Be vulnerable, be yourself.
Carefully plan how you will set your audience up for
what’s about to happen - be clear on what’s in it for
them and consider how you would like/want them to
feel.
Be Present With Them
Focus your eyes to look down the lens of your
webcam. Eye contact is key to helping each viewer
feel like you are talking to them personally. If you’re
presenting in a seated position, think about your
posture and the hand gestures you will use and make
sure you’re comfortable so you don’t keep moving
around.
Engage Them
Your chat window is now the window into your
audience. The art will be to ask questions, monitor
and decide what you would like to answer, and what
questions you might note and leave to the end.

20. Plan Your Opening
Online presentations often feel awkward at the
start, with presenters fumbling in an unfamiliar
environment. Instead, plan these opening seconds.
What you do and say right at the start to engage
your audience is key to the success of your
presentation. Start with a story, a quote or
whatever is most appropriate for the occasion.
Alter Your Pace
Take time to breathe and practice blending some
subtle pausing through your words. Specific pauses
will significantly amplify the point you are making
and gives your audience time to take in what you
just said. Use your judgement on the right length for
the moment.
Bring Your Voice To Life
Play with your tonality, pace and volume - high to
low, slow to fast, up and down - depending on the
words or point in your message. The fastest way to
destroy the attention of your audience is to speak in
a dull, monotone voice.
Finally, before the real thing, practice giving your
presentation sitting. You’ll be surprised what
a difference it makes to present on your bum rather
than on your feet. Also keep a glass of water handy.

21. 21
The world seems cacophonous at the
moment, with things changing from minute to
minute, so it’s important to stay focused on
what you can control.
If you, your organisation, or someone you
know has had to move their presentation
from a conference room to online, the tips
above will hold you in good stead.
At PDCo, we’re experts in presentation design
and we’re available to help during your time
of need. If you would like further advice on
webinars, presenting online, need your deck
reviewed or redesigned to make it suitable,
I Hope This Guide
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presentationdesign.co/discovery
Kris FleggRakhi Ahamed Julia Lioe
Creative Strategy
Lead
Director Creative Team
Lead
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22. hello@presentationdesign.co
www.presentationdesign.co
(02) 8004 5002
Level 3, 100 Harris Street
Pyrmont, Sydney, NSW 2009
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