How to present on a video call

Presenting on a video call comes down to four things: a setup that makes you easy to see and hear, a way to share slides while you keep your notes private, a structure built for people who can wander off to their inbox, and one full run-through before the call. Here's each one, with the exact steps.

Setup checklist: camera, light, audio, notifications

Camera at eye level

Raise the laptop so the camera sits at or just above eye level. A stack of books works. A camera looking up from the desk shows your chin and ceiling and makes every glance at the screen look further down than it is.

Light facing you

Face a window or put a lamp behind your screen. A window behind you turns you into a silhouette, because the camera exposes for the bright background. Side light is fine if it's soft.

Audio first

People forgive grainy video much sooner than bad sound. Use a headset or a USB mic if you have one, close the door, and check which microphone the call app is actually using in its audio settings. Wired headphones also stop your speakers from feeding back into the mic.

Notifications off

Turn on a Focus mode such as Do Not Disturb from Control Center in the menu bar, and quit chat apps you don't need. A Slack banner on a shared screen is how private messages end up in front of a client.

How to share slides and still see your notes

When you share slides, the obvious question is where your speaker notes go. The answer depends on whether you have one screen or two.

With two displays

This is the easy case. Keynote and PowerPoint both have a presenter view that shows your notes, the next slide and a timer on one display while the slides play on the other. Apple documents this as presenting on a separate display with the presenter display on your Mac. In the call, share the display or window with the slides on it, and keep the presenter view to yourself.

One catch: if your notes are on a second monitor off to the side, every glance at them is a sideways glance, and viewers notice those more than downward ones. Put the camera or the notes where the other one is, or keep glances brief.

With a single laptop screen

Run the slideshow in a window and share just that window:

• Keynote: choose Play > In Window. Apple notes that the slideshow and presenter display then appear in separate windows, so you share the slideshow window and read from the other.
• PowerPoint: in Set Up Slide Show, choose “Browsed by an individual (window)”, start the show, and share that window. Your notes stay in the editing window, which you don't share.

Then drag your notes into the strip right under the camera, so reading them doesn't look like reading. Why that strip matters is explained in where to look on a video call.

Share a window, not your whole screen

All three big call apps let you share a single window rather than your entire screen. Zoom lets you pick specific application windows or a portion of the screen. Google Meet offers a tab, a window or your entire screen. Microsoft Teams lets you share a window or your screen.

Window sharing is the safer default. Your notes, email and messages stay off the shared view, and you don't need to know how each app behaves in a screen share. Share the whole screen only when you have to move between several apps during the talk, and tidy the desktop first.

On macOS, the first time a call app shares your screen it needs Screen Recording permission in System Settings, and it may need to restart. Do that before the call, not during it.

How to structure a presentation for remote attention

On a call, your audience is one click from their inbox. Structure for that:

1. Conclusion first. State the decision, result or ask in the first minute. Anyone who drifts off still leaves with it.
2. Signpost out loud. “Three parts: what happened, what it cost, what I recommend.” Then say which part you're on.
3. One idea per slide, fewer words on it. Slides are smaller on a laptop in a grid of faces. Big type, one chart, one point.
4. Change the pace every few minutes. A question to a named person, a quick poll, switching to a live demo, handing to a colleague.
5. Plan the Q&A. Say when questions happen, and have one question ready to ask the room if nobody starts.

Engagement moves that work over video

• Ask named questions. “Priya, does this match what you see in support?” gets an answer. “Any thoughts?” gets silence.
• Use chat. Ask for one-word answers in chat. It's low effort and gets quieter people involved.
• Stop sharing for discussion. Faces fill the screen again and it feels like a conversation.
• Look at the camera for key lines. Your opening, your ask and your closing are the moments to look near the lens, not at your slides.

Speaker notes vs a full script

For most presentations, short speaker notes are enough: a few keywords per slide, with numbers written in full. The glancing technique is covered in how to read notes during a video call. If you need exact wording, such as a product launch, a board update or a talk that will be recorded, write a script built for speaking. How to write a teleprompter script covers that.

On a Mac, Cuey keeps either one under the camera. Notes mode steps through your points by hand, and Follow mode listens as you speak and moves to the next line when you reach it, then waits if you stop to take a question. It shows the estimated time remaining, which helps you pace a slot. See Cuey for presentations for the details.

Pre-call run-through checklist

Do this the day before, or at least 30 minutes before the call:

• Charger plugged in, laptop raised to eye level.
• Light in front of you; check your picture in the call app's video preview.
• Correct mic and speakers selected in the call app; headphones in.
• Focus mode on; chat apps and unneeded browser tabs closed.
• Screen Recording permission granted to the call app.
• Slideshow runs in a window; you know which window to share.
• Notes placed under the camera, text large enough to read at a glance.
• Full run-through out loud, including sharing and stopping sharing, timed against your slot.
• Any demo tabs or files open and logged in.
• A backup: slides exported as PDF, and the meeting link on your phone in case the laptop fails.

Summary

• Set up the camera at eye level, light in front, a good mic and a Focus mode.
• Share one window. Keep notes on the other display, or in a separate window under the camera on a single screen.
• Lead with the conclusion and change the pace every few minutes.
• Rehearse once with the real call app, sharing included.