Best Practices

• Case Exercise.   Give context or share an example and follow with a Case Exercise that participants can share afterwards.
• Competition.   Break participants into groups for a friendly competition to develop an end product or idea related to your topic.
• Host a Debate.   Look at your topic from multiple angles and host a game show or debate to dig into opinions, insights, and best practices.
• Interactive Session.   Allow your participants to post live reactions, insights, or questions through social media, Padlet, Google Docs, or other online wiki space.
• Invite the Experts.   Consider hosting a panel of colleagues to deliver lightning round insights on a particular topic, and engage the audience with polling and questions.

• Avoid Death by Powerpoint.   We all have been there. Don’t let this be you.
• Consider the Visual Impact.   Don’t be afraid to use a template, color, and visuals.
• Keep It Simple.   If you are using slides, stick to one idea per slide.
• Consider Your Camera Angle and Lighting.   Let your audience see you. Avoid backlighting.
• Keep Accessibility in Mind.   Visit the Accessibility Checklist below for tips.
• Do a Practice Run.   Check your internet bandwidth, microphone, Zoom settings, etc.

• Choose a Virtual Background.
• Ask questions and gather feedback through the Polling Feature.
• Utilize Breakout Rooms for small groups collaborations.
• Share a Whiteboard to engage the audience.
• Utilize the Chat Feature to ask questions.

• Flipgrid.   A great space to provide individual reflections on session content. 
• Google Docs.   Allows you to build content in real time with your audience. 
• Goosechase Scavenger Hunt.   Engages your participants to complete missions. 
• H5P.   Gives you over 40 tools to create interactive content and up your game.
• Haiku Deck.   A presentation platform that helps you create simple, powerful slides.
• Hubs by Mozilla.   Enables you to create a virtual space to foster engagement.
• Kahoot!.   Allows you to create an interactive game or quizzing challenge.  
• Padlet.   Provides a great electronic space to share content among participants.
• Piktochart.   A tool to create dynamic posters and infographics. 
• Poll Everywhere.   Gives you options to poll the group or create shared word clouds.
• Prezi.   Can enliven your session with dynamic templates to present content.
• Twitter.   Likely doesn’t need an explanation - utilize the social media platform to engage your participants by tweeting questions, takeaways, and insights.

• Add alt text to images or mark as decorative.
• Consider presentation structure – always use clearly-defined and different slide titles, headers, and content sections.
• Use proper color contrast for text.
• Don’t indicate information by color alone. 
• Avoid flashing or blinking content when possible (and make sure there are fewer than three blinks or flashes per second when using).
• Limit use of slide transitions and animation so as not to detract from your presentation.
• Use easy-to-read (not decorative/fancy) fonts.
• Use plain English in writing and speaking.
• Make sure content will not be obscured by closed captions at the bottom of the presentation.

TIP.   If using Microsoft Powerpoint/Word, use the Accessibility Checker tools to review work.

• Use live captioning when possible, or consider captioning your own content. 
• Let audience members know which accessibility features are available to them (e.g., closed captions, live captions, sign language interpreter). 
• Go slow! Give audience time to think and answer questions.
• Use chat feature sparingly – it can be distracting! 
• Repeat audience questions before providing the answers. 
• Describe information on the screen that’s conveyed visually (e.g., graphs, tables, or pictures) 
• Avoid using visual-only tools such as drawings on the screen.

• Distribute accessible slides after the presentation. 
• Distribute captions and/or a transcript of your presentation. 
• Gather feedback from your audience.

• Attend a COLTT Tech Check!   We’ll  be hosting tech checks on Wednesday, July 22 from 3-4pm (Register here) or Tuesday, July 28 from 11am-12pm (Register here).
  • Our hosts and co-hosts will have a number of security features enabled on their account to minimize distractions and prevent Zoom bombing. We will be reviewing this information during the Tech Checks. 
• Check the signal strength of your WiFi!   Zoom recommends these bandwidth guidelines. You can also test your internet bandwidth using Speedtest. 
  • Don’t crowd the router.   It’s best to limit the amount of devices connected to your WiFi connection for optimal Zoom experience.
  • Go old school with ethernet cable.   If you have access to one, this provides the best connection, so hardwire when you can. Note: Crowding the router still applies to wired. 
• Submit Zoom poll questions by COB Monday, August 3 (COLTT@cu.edu).   You are also welcome to utilize different polling software recommended above in the Other Tools to Elevate Your Session. 
• Turn off the notifications!   Close all apps that send notifications (e.g., Outlook, Teams, Slack, Chrome) and any screens you don't want to accidentally share.
• Have your presentation notes handy.   Print your presentation notes or have them on another monitor or device, especially if you plan to screen share your PowerPoint (notes do not display via PPT Presentation mode with one screen). 
• Find a quiet place.   Try to host your session in a quiet area. If you can’t access a quiet area, using a headset with a mic often reduces background noise. In fact, a headset is a general best practice for higher-quality audio than other built-in options.
• Testing, testing.   Testing your audio will ensure your speakers and mic are working properly before the live event begins. Here’s how to test your device audio.

• Select ‘Use my computer’ for audio.   You will get the best quality audio experience by selecting this option when first entering the Zoom meeting. 
• Chat function is the default for Q&A.   COLTT Session Moderators will request attendees to ask questions in the Chat instead of using the raise hand function. Fielding questions will be more manageable. Also be sure to read the question out loud before responding.
• Connectivity issues?   Follow these steps! 
  1. Turn off your video (Video takes up the most bandwidth.)
  2. Have the dial-in number handy to call in.
  • IMPORTANT.   Keep your computer on, so you can still interact and view participants, polls, chat, etc., but make sure to mute your Zoom computer audio when calling in. 
• Screen Sharing tips. 
  1. REMINDER! Open all applications (browser, Word, etc.) that you’ll use before for your presentation. Close/disable all software that may send you desktop or sound notifications. Utilize Mac’s “Do Not Disturb” feature or PC’s “Focus Assist” to turn off all notifications. 
  2. You can share specific applications or share your desktop. If sharing your desktop, make sure all private/personal files are not open (especially email!). We strongly recommend setting up desktop dimensions under Advanced settings if you plan to keep some necessary files open. 
  3. Click on the ‘Chat’ icon to open as a separate window, so you’re able to view chats in screen share mode. 
  4. The Zoom control panel defaults to the top of your screen and hides when not actively used. The panel will always appear when you move your mouse to the top of your screen. You can also select and move the panel anywhere on your screen.
  5. PowerPoint presentations can be a bit finicky right after you screen share. If you find you cannot go to the next slide, click directly on the presentation, and it will begin working.