IT Summit Virtual Presentations

Zoom Webinar Features

The IT Summit will be a Zoom Webinar joined at any time of day from a single link.

The webinar includes Co-hosts who will be running things and Panelists—you—who will be able to present and share your screen. 

The Attendees will not be able to turn on their video or mic, and will not be able to Chat. They will be able to use the Q&A feature to ask questions, which can be answered live, verbally, or as a text answer in Q&A. In addition, an attendee can be changed to a Panelist if you want to allow them to verbally ask a question or participate in the discussion. 

We will use Zoom’s Spotlight feature to have the MC and Panelists as the featured videos. 

If your video and/or mic is on, you are "onstage" and visible to attendees. Please keep your video and mic off unless presenting, and use the Chat "To: Hosts and Panelists" in order to "talk backstage." 

Best Practices for Presentation Design

Visual

Since we are not all going to be together in the Student Union, we would like to “unify” the experience by using IT Summit branded materials. Please visit the Box folder to download for use: 

  • IT Summit PowerPoint template 
  • IT Summit Zoom virtual backgrounds 

If you would like an IT Summit logo to customize your own Zoom virtual background or other presentation elements, let us know at cio-comm-mar@email.arizona.edu(link sends e-mail). 

Content 

Everybody’s been sitting in front of Zoom for the past 19 months. We want these sessions to be inspiring and engaging, to keep people’s interest! 

Sessions are 25 minutes long—ideally 20 minutes of presentation and 5 minutes of Q&A. 

Build in as much variety and interaction as possible! 

  • Design a Zoom Poll to deploy during your session. (Submit your poll to cio-comm-mar@email.arizona.edu(link sends e-mail) ahead of time for adding to the session.) 
  • Include a question they can respond to with the Raised Hand or Thumbs Up icon. 
  • Add a comic panel or funny video to your presentation, if appropriate. 
  • Switch between Share Screen and your camera, rather than leaving the PowerPoint/screen up when not being referred to. See Zoom's tips on PowerPoint Sharing.  

Practice your presentation (with co-presenters, if you have them) to ensure your content can be covered in the session time allotted. 

Best Practices for PowerPoint 

  • Remember that you are the presenter, not PowerPoint. Use your slides to emphasize a point, keep yourself on track, and illustrate a point with a graphic or photo. Don’t read the slides. 
  • Limit text to short fragments/headlines, not sentences (6-8 lines per slide, no more than 30 words per slide). 
  • Keep your font size 24 or bigger.  
  • Use easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. Use a funky font only sparingly for a graphic effect.
  • Leave out the sound effects and background music, unless it’s related to the content being presented. 
  • Proofread, proofread, proofread. 
  • Prepare and practice to ensure any demos run smoothly. 

Best Practices for Zoom

Internet Connection Options 

  • Consider coming to campus to use the high-speed internet.
  • If possible, plug your computer directly into your modem with an Ethernet cable instead of using Wi-Fi. 
  • Minimize other uses of Wi-Fi in the area during your session. Uploading, downloading, and streaming especially eat up bandwidth. 

You on Camera 

  • Dress professionally. Avoid busy patterns, scarves, or accessories that can interfere with your camera and audio. 
  • Light your face. If you can’t face a window, add a lamp in front of you, behind your computer. 
  • Ensure your background is uncluttered, in case you turn off your virtual background.  
  • Raise your laptop, such as on a small box, and place your Zoom window at the top of your screen so your eyes will focus near the camera. 
  • Find a quiet place to present and pause your desktop and cell phone notifications to cut down on background noise. 
  • Use a headset with a mic, if available. This is the best way to cut down on ambient noise. 

Computer & Zoom Prep 

  • Launch your Zoom app and go to your profile picture in the upper right corner. Go down to “Check for Updates” and install any updates if you are not running the latest version. 
  • Make sure you are logged in to the Zoom app with your University account. If you are not, sign out and sign in again using the “Sign in with SSO” option. 
  • Quit any programs and close any windows you are not using for the presentation. 
  • Depending on your broadband capacity, you may need to turn off HD camera, virtual background, and even all camera for session quality. Find more advice at Zoom Connection Quality Tips.