Considerations for a Remote-Presenter Workshop

(link to original article: https://tinyurl.com/SILRemoteWorkshop)

Ray Uehara

SIL International, May 2021

What can be done when a workshop or training class is needed but you, the presenter, is not traveling to the locale? What are the technical and logistical aspects that need to be considered for a presenter to teach remotely via Zoom, a workshop that has small group discussions and activities? There is no one single solution, as the local facilities and available gear vary. Here are some things to research and prepare to help you have a successful remote-presenter workshop.

Local Internet Capability:

Is the local internet capability stable with enough bandwidth? Zoom is happy with 1.5 - 2Mbps of available bandwidth for it. Zoom auto-adjusts to the available bandwidth, so the more bandwidth that is available, the better it performs. If the total available local bandwidth is 5Mbps or better, and there are no other heavy users of the local network, you should be okay. This may mean requesting other users on the WiFi/network (computers and mobile devices) to limit their online activity or completely disconnect from WiFi during the workshop. This will help ensure that there’s enough ‘headroom’ above what Zoom wants so that the entire local network doesn’t get bogged down. A general guideline would be to keep maximum total network traffic below 75% of total network bandwidth capability. If you can keep network traffic to a maximum of 50%, great!

If a wired network connection is available, that will be more reliable and probably faster than a WiFi connection to the laptop.

Room Environment:

Be aware of the room environment, what can help or hinder. You want adequate light so that the webcam can clearly pick up people in the room, and people can read/write their materials. However, too much light will impact the image quality/readability of the video projector screen and wash out what the webcam is viewing. Sunlight through windows will have a dramatic impact depending on the angle and time of day. External lighting may affect how you layout the room, or use window blinds/coverings.

The acoustics of a room will be impacted by hard floors (e.g. concrete, tile) and bare walls - echoing can be a problem for intelligibility. When the option is available, consider carpeted floors and walls that have ‘stuff’ to absorb or breakup acoustic reflections. The larger the room, the more likely you will need audio reinforcement - whether powered loudspeakers directly connected to the laptop or a room sound system to which the laptop can be connected. Having the loudspeakers too loud (or trying to force more volume than they can handle), they may distort the audio, or generate unwelcome echoes in the room.

A/V Availability, Equipment to Bring In-Room:

If there is a sound reinforcement system in the room, great! Find out if there is a way to connect the laptop to the sound system. TEST the connection ahead of time so that you will know how to set an adequate volume level. It can be easy to overdrive the audio into distortion from the laptop into the sound system depending on how it is wired to the sound system. Odds are, a “Line Level” input connection to the sound system is what you want, if that is available.

If there is no available sound system, powered loudspeakers will need to be connected to the laptop. The loudspeakers will need to be of adequate power and quality to sound good for the size of the room. Cheap desktop computer speakers probably will not be adequate for a larger group. TEST this set up ahead of time, remembering that the acoustics of the room can greatly vary. An empty echoing room sounds different compared to a room full of people absorbing the sound (will the people in the back still be able to adequately hear?).

As mentioned in the Room Environment section, the video projector used will need to be bright enough to overcome the ambient light in the room. Otherwise, people will fatigue, straining their eyes trying to read/see what is displayed. Conversely (though rare) a projector that is too bright in a dimly lit room will feel like a spotlight reflecting off the screen into people’s eyes. Also remember that the larger the room, the bigger and higher up (and brighter) the projection needs to be for the furthest people to be able to read what is on the screen. Depending on ceiling height, and the limits of the projector, people will need to be seated closer, or limit the number of people in the workshop if tables can’t be arranged in a way that everyone can see the screen.

If the equipment is available, 2 video projectors and screens could be used, with the local Zoom program configured for dual screens (open Settings, in the General section) so that the screen share is positioned on one projector screen and the remote-presenter video on the second screen.

A good quality external webcam is helpful for you to better see the people in the room. Typically, a good quality external webcam will be better than the built-in webcam on a laptop, having better optics, higher resolution, and wider angle lens. For those that afford the gear, a PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) camera can be controlled to point the camera to a table/group/individual during discussion or Q&A. A number of PTZ cameras support controls that allow you to remotely control the camera via Zoom so that an in-room operator is not needed once remote control is granted to you.

As a substitute for an in-room roving microphone, a smartphone running WhatsApp (or Skype, Zoom or another video call app) can be used to send video/audio back to you independently of the Zoom workshop feed. This setup can also be used to allow the in-room facilitator to bring you to individual tables/groups during small group discussion/break-out sessions. The phone’s camera can be used to view any working flipchart paper writing/drawing as well as the individuals/table-group. The phone’s speakerphone mode (if available via the app/phone) can be used for the entire table to adequately hear you. TEST this beforehand. Small group activity/discussion time can get noisy in the room due to all the independent discussions, so the phone’s volume might not be loud enough for the entire table. A small portable loudspeaker for the phone may be needed. Depending on the local network capability, the phone can be connected to the WiFi, or, may need a data plan large enough for the duration of the workshop.

If the local internet bandwidth is capable, a second laptop could be used instead of a smartphone as the ‘roving mic’.

The in-room equipment list:

Laptop for Zoom

External good quality webcam

Powered loudspeakers for laptop (if no workable room sound system)

Smartphone (or laptop) as roving microphone/camera back to presenter (maybe a small loudspeaker for the phone.)

Video projector and cables

projector screen

Power strip and electrical extension cord

Remote Presenter Environment:

Being the teacher of the workshop, the on-screen environment you display is important. Make sure that the background behind you is better than just ‘okay’. An actual real background is better than a virtual background, as there won’t be the unnatural outlining around you. But if a good location is not available, a simple attractive virtual background will do nicely (not too busy or ‘loud’, or a video background with little movement to minimize distraction).

Your computer/laptop screen should be placed so that you have an ergonomic work position, your head being naturally aligned. This is also important for video conferencing. The top of your screen should be at about the height of your eyes when looking straight ahead. Your line of sight will more closely match the laptop webcam so that it will look like you are looking at your audience and not up, down, or to the side. (Even better, if you can, look directly at the webcam when presenting so that it looks like you are talking directly to your audience.) This may mean using an external monitor or elevating your laptop to eye height and using an external keyboard and mouse. You don’t want to give a camera angle that appears to be looking up your nose with your ceiling fan as the background.

Make sure that there’s no light source in the background that would contribute to silhouetting, but not so dark a background that it looks like you are in a cave. Adequate, even lighting on your face is important; not too bright that it washes out facial features or off to the side so that it casts strong shadows on your face. Experiment with different lighting sources and positioning to find the optimal coverage.

Of course, the environment also needs to be adequately quiet from background noise distractions - traffic noise, dogs barking, active children, office chatter… even stray notification sounds from the computer and mobile devices (turn off notifications, mute the phone). Even if the location is quiet, a bare space will echo, making you sound hollow and difficult to understand. You may need to add objects into the room and various materials/objects on the walls to reduce the echo-chamber effect.

Equipment for the Remote Presenter:

You will want to have 2 computers/laptops with adequate local internet bandwidth. One computer will run the Zoom workshop session. The second computer will run the video call session connected to the in-room smartphone - this allows for a large enough screen to adequately see/read the small group working papers/drawings. Headphones or earbuds can be connected to the second computer so that small group conversations will not bleed into the main Zoom session. You will need to mute the mic for the main Zoom session as necessary, as well as the video call session; the earbuds may reduce the need to juggle muting.

(If something is brought up in the small group that you will want to bring to the attention of the entire room, you will need to switch back to the Zoom session to make the announcement. You will probably need to repeat questions/comments from individual to entire room.)

The laptop built-in webcam, or a cheap external webcam may not give a good enough quality image when enlarged on a projector screen for people to look at for hours. Consider upgrading the webcam to get a high quality image and adequate video frame rate.

If you have an external screen for the laptop, or 2 screens connected to a desktop computer, you can configure your Zoom program for dual screens so that you can put what you are screen sharing on one screen and have the second screen for your presentation notes and Zoom video window. You will want to practice this configuration to know where to place the windows in relation to your webcam.

A good headset (even better if it has a noise cancelling microphone) may be needed to help minimize environmental and room-echo noises. Providing good, clear audio is more important than a good video image.

TEST your audio quality - not just whether the other person can hear you, but do you sound Good? You can do a self-test by starting a Zoom meeting and record yourself. You can even test several microphones in the same session by toggling between the various gear that you have: the laptop built-in microphone, headsets, or even a computer speakerphone. Play the recording to hear which mic sounds the best and whether you need to adjust your environment.

If you have a soft voice, or emote at loud volume, you may need to change the microphone level setting in your Zoom program to compensate. You may need to turn off the “Automatically adjust microphone volume” setting and manually raise or lower the mic volume level to find a good level.

Presenter equipment list:

2 computers/laptops of adequate power for video conferencing

External monitor and/or external keyboard and mouse, at least for the main Zoom computer

External high quality webcam if laptop webcam inadequate

Good quality headset if necessary

Conclusion:

Doing a remote-presenter workshop over Zoom can work, but takes an extra measure of planning, preparation, and testing. There is no one-size-fits-all solution as each local environment can vary significantly in room accommodations, internet bandwidth, available gear, and the skills of the local facilitator(s).