Hosting a presentation online - "It's easy" and it saves

John Freund, CM
June 23, 2008

“It’s easy. I promise” writes Jayne Cravens a long time advocate of low cost technologies for non-profits. The following documents how she presented live on-line between Germany and Australia and why it may be of use to the Vincentian family.

Advantages: Of course, online/remote presentations aren’t going to replace onsite presentations. But if a desired presenter is too far away for your budget, if you want to have a followup workshop with someone who had presented onsite for your organization, if a presenter is unable to travel to your organization, or if you want to try out a presenter before you pay for the person to come onsite, an online remote presentation is a great option.

What is involved: In May, I presented live via iVisit (http://www.ivisit.com), a free online video tool, from here in my home in Germany for a local volunteer management association in Australia, coordinated by Andy Fryer. My presentation was regarding online volunteering.

It was oh-so-simple. All the group needed, at minimum was:

* a computer with fast Internet access, hooked up to speakers that can be turned up loudly and be heard clearly by everyone in attendance (the audio clarity is as important, if not more, than the video)

* an iVisit account, which is free (but any software package that can be easily downloaded and is easy-to-use
will do)

* for video: a projecter/beamer, to display the desktop of the group’s computer so that the whole group can see the presenter (but, again, audio clarity is as important, if not
more, than video clarity)

* a microphone hooked up to the group’s computer, so that each attendee can come to the mic with questions

* To rehearse with me at least one week in advance, to ensure your computer and connection is working, and set up several minutes before the presentation is to start, to ensure we start on-time and there are no tech or audio issues.

You can see the screen shots from the presentation to give you an idea of how you could set up a room to host a remote presenter.
http://www.coyotecommunications.com/me/speakonline.html

This web page also details exactly what you need to host an online presenter.

Ofcourse, online/remote presentations aren’t going to replace onsite presentations. But if a desired presenter is
too far away for your budget, if you want to have a followup workshop with someone who had presented onsite
for your organization, if a presenter is unable to travel to your organization, or if you want to try out a presenter before you pay for the person to come onsite, an online remote presentation is a great option.

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