Webinars & Online Presentations

Finding good lighting at home

Natural light

Natural light coming in through a window can be very effective. Avoid sitting directly in front of a window, as it may make you harder to see. Having a light coming in from in front of you or from an angle can be more flattering.

Ring Lights

LED ring lights are a cheap way to improve lighting and a worthwhile investment if you plan to take part in a lot of online presentations, meetings or webinars.

Household Lamps

If your room doesn't have windows or other sources of natural light, you can use lamps. You can try turning your desk lamp so it faces an opposing wall to bounce light onto your face.

Visuals

Reduce Text

Long sentences will be challenging to read if your webinar window contains your presentation, a chat screen, an attendee list, as well as the presenter's webcam thumbnails. Consider using keywords rather than sentences and spreading your content across multiple slides rather than cramming all the content onto one.

Go large

As your audience will typically be looking at your content on a laptop or computer screen (possibly with other tabs and windows open!), consider going large with your images. You don't want your audience straining their eyes or leaning in to the screen to figure out what they are looking at.

Zoom In

If you are showcasing a webpage in your presentation, use the zoom function of your browser to increase the font size for your audience. On a Windows computer, the shortcut is Ctrl and +, on a Mac it is Command and +.

Pointer Size

If you are doing a software demonstration or touring a webpage, consider increasing the size of your mouse or using an app that highlights your mouse pointer.

Consider the background

Clean background

Avoid having a cluttered background behind you. The ideal is to find a solid background to film in front of, but if that's not possible make sure the area behind you is neat. You may wish to close any doors behind you.

Digital backgrounds

Some video conferencing software will allow you to change your background to a digital image. If you do change your background, make sure it's appropriate for the tone of your presentation and not distracting.

Quiet space

Try to limit background noise during your presentation. This may mean turning off or moving away from fans or muting your devices.