BEFORE THE DAY OF YOUR EVENT – WEBCAST PREPARATION
Decide on equipment, resources and who is responsible for supporting the speaker(s)
It is important to decide before the day of the event who will be moderating the questions (if the question box has been activated), who will be advancing the slides (if there are), and how the speaker(s) will be viewing these things.
Viewing the slides and questions
When connecting to the virtual meeting room, (example: Teams or Digicasts' own VMR), and director to view the slides and questions, it can become overwhelming if it is all done on one screen.
To fix this potential issue, we recommend the speaker(s) to have either 2 monitors, or one monitor and a tablet. That way, one screen can be dedicated to the virtual meeting room, and the other can be used to view the slides/questions.
Make sure the speaker(s) maintains eye contact with the camera for the best viewer engagement.
The above needs to be decided beforehand to ensure that when you sign on with the Digicast operator on the event day, it is a quality check and review and, not used to decide how you are going to set-up.
Organize your own Dry Run (optional)
A dry run, refers to a rehearsal done before the event, meant to mimic and to ensure that during the event the speaker(s) understand how everything will go and, it will account for anything needing improvements.
It can be organized in an internal meeting, via a virtual meeting room (example: Teams), where you can familiarize yourself with the icastPro director, and upload your presentation (as a PDF) if it hasn't already been done to begin your dry run.
THE DAY OF YOUR EVENT
Check your resources
- Review your slides in the Director with your speaker. Ensure they are accurate and final.
- Ensure that you have a few questions pre-loaded in your question Manager. You can add frequently asked questions yourself to ensure the question period starts smoothly.
Joining the meeting and operator briefing
- Sign into your Teams/VMR event 60 minutes before the Global Presentation. Your operator will check your connection, audio and video quality, in addition to confirming your technical set-up.
- Review your show flow, resources & cues with the operator (example: videos and how they are introduced, start/end cue's).
- Confirm with the operator who will advance the slides and how your questions will be managed.
- Ensure to have Teams and all cellular devices to be put on "Do Not Disturb".
Communication
- Decide with the operator on your preferred method of communication during the broadcast, we recommend using the chat tool in the director, but can accommodate.
- Urgent communication with the speaker also needs to be decided in advance in case of Equipment/Internet failure. (non-Internet (example: Mobile Teams chat, sms, etc.)
Audio Back-up for Speaker (test with operator)
Teams and our own VMR have a direct dial to connect to your meeting on a cell phone or landline. This is your back-up line for your presentation should your connection fail. If you have good cellular service, use your phone with the local Teams Conference number followed by the conference code to have access to the virtual meeting room.
Note: Upon entry make sure to manage your mute button, as when you enter you will automatically be unmuted and viewers may hear any noises coming through.