Presenting a group assignment
in a webinar
During their studies, students often present their group assignments in a webinar. The group is likely to spend a lot of time planning the content of their webinar presentation and preparing the presentation material. However, a fluent webinar presentation is based on many invisible measures it is good to be aware of. Practising the presentation, sharing of roles, scheduling the presentation and chat moderation are some of the tasks that should be planned well in advance.
Good planning is half the work! A good presentation plan and practice will give you confidence in your presentation and can reduce stage fright. A carefully prepared presentation takes into account the participants of the webinar and gives a professional impression.
Before the webinar
- Find out which online meeting service is used in the webinar and download it if necessary.
- As a group, prepare a presentation that can be shared in a webinar for the participants to see. For example, the following programs can be used in the preparation of the presentation: PowerPoint, Sway, Prezi, various infographics.
- Prepare a presentation plan: How to start, present and finish – check out the tips for planning in the next column!
- Practise the presentation in advance and time it.
- Agree how and where the group will communicate during the webinar if there are any problems.
Tips for creating a presentation plan
- Turns: who will start, who will present slides 2–4 and 5–7, and who will speak at the end of the webinar?
- Duration: how long will each speaker have?
- Content sharing: who will share the presentation with the webinar participants and in what format?
- Moderation of the chat: who will answer any questions in the chat and raise the webinar audience’s questions for discussion?
- Interaction: will webinar participants be activated by small group discussions, will questions be asked, will other digital tools such as the Padlet wall be used for activation?
- Collecting feedback: will feedback be collected from the presentation, and how will a survey link be distributed to the webinar participants?
At the start of the webinar
- Make sure your network connection is good and reliable.
- Close unnecessary apps on your device and turn off app notifications.
- Make sure the space is calm, and you can focus on giving the presentation.
- Make sure that the lighting is sufficient, and that no interfering light sources are transmitted from the camera view (for example, flashing lights, a bright window in the background).
- Pay attention to dressing appropriately for the target group.
- Keep your camera on even before the presentation starts.
Also remember the following!
- Test all links and applications in advance that are to be shared and used during the webinar presentation.
- When you share a video from the screen, make sure you share the audio from the video as well.
- It is impossible to present YouTube videos produced by others during the webinar, but you can share a link to the video with the participants in a chat, for example.
- Surprising twists and turns can happen despite good planning and practice! In the group, consider which issues may pose challenges during the webinar presentation and create a back-up plan.