Best Practices for Speaking to a Virtual Audience

Notifications of inclusion in the virtual program were emailed in December 2022. If you are unable to participate in the virtual conference, please contact Colleen Manning, Program Director, eLearning at 703-846-0750.

Virtual Education Session Action Items and Due Dates for Presenters

• 6 months before your session: Review the Education Session Presenter Resources and/or the PDC Presenter Resources for all applicable deadlines and action items.
• 2-4 weeks before your session: Review these Virtual Presenter Resources again and contact AIHA staff with any questions. If you know in advance that you want audience participation and feedback, we can extend that to the virtual audience by programming in polls or asking questions during chat.
• 24 hours before your scheduled session: Upload your final slides to the Presentation Management System. Follow the presentation guidelines outlined on the Education Session Presenter Resources page. Do not make any changes to your in-room presentation after this submission.
• Day of your session: Bring a backup copy of your presentation with you on a USB thumb drive to the room where you will present.

Tips for Speaking to a Virtual Audience

• At the beginning, welcome both the face-to-face and virtual audiences.
• Explain to those in the face-to-face audience that the session is being broadcast live to virtual attendees.
• Use the mouse (or words), not the laser pointer, for emphasis in your session. The virtual audience cannot see the laser pointer.
• Speak clearly and be sure to use the microphone.
• Be aware of any feedback or requests from the recording technician.
  
• Be sure to repeat questions or comments so streaming audiences and recordings can capture it.
• There is a delay for the virtual audience of between 30 seconds to 1 minute. Please be aware during Q&A time and allow for the delay before wrapping up.
• Include commentary from the remote audience when debriefing discussion questions. Your virtual moderator can assist with this.
• Share your email address in case there are questions from the virtual audience that weren’t covered during the session or they’d like to ask a direct question. They don’t have the opportunity to catch you in the hallways to follow up like people on-site do.
• Thank both the face-to-face and virtual audiences for participating.

If you have any questions, contact us via email or phone: Colleen Manning, Program Director, eLearning, at 703-846-0750.