Producing a Virtual Session: Before, During, and After

Excerpt from "Producing Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars: Master the Technology to Engage Participants" by Kassy LaBorie, ATD (2021).

virtual training - training magazine

Taking the time to carefully prepare and get all technical, content, presenter, and attendee details in place will make any unexpected moments once the session is live much easier to manage. Having a plan of action, a checklist, some scripting, and a process for managing issues that may arise at the moment will create confidence and a sense of control. [Here is one of the checklists provided in this chapter.] 

Technology Checklist

There are quite a few technology feature details to take care of prior to the date of your live online session. It is easy to miss something or to be overwhelmed by all the options. I developed this list to help me and my team remember all the things that are necessary to consider when getting ready for a live online session. It has been extraordinarily helpful for those who are new to producing live online sessions and helps ensure they do not miss anything or find themselves surprised when something goes awry. Use this checklist as a guideline for your platform and all the technical details.

  • Login: What is your login to the platform? Having the proper login will ensure you have all the platform capabilities available to manage and run your live online meeting, webinar, or virtual classroom session. If you use an attendee login, you will not be able to start the session. If you have a panelist login, you will not be able to start the session for the attendees. Check your login and confirm it is the proper one for the tasks required.
  • Location: Will you be accessing the online meeting platform from a designated website, your email program, or through a learning management system? It is important to understand the different ways you can access the live online meeting technology that will host your session. A login to zoom.us to schedule and start a meeting is different than login to a learning management system such as Litmos or Cornerstone. Additionally, creating a session from your email program will also look and act differently and may have limited feature options.
  • Platform Type: Is your platform a Revealer (one in which most interactions and planned activities will be shared with a live audience once the session has started) started or a Builder (one in which the session and all its content can be preloaded or built-in advance? (Refer to chapter 3 for in-depth descriptions of the types.) It’s important to know whether materials will be uploaded in advance or shared at the moment the session is live. The plan forward for your content, presenters, and attendees is based on whether the platform is a Revealer or a Builder.
  • Set the Topic, Date, Time, and Duration: Establish the session title and check the spelling. Select the date, time, time zone, and session duration. Confirm all details are correct and check the time zone again. Confirm the attendees will receive the correct information for their location, language, and time zone.
  • Organize or Upload Materials: If your platform is a Revealer type, prepare a folder with all files that will be shared during the event. If the event has more than one session, create a separate folder for each session. Include all files that will be shared so there is no need to search or try to remember where each one is located once in front of an audience. Start the session and practice sharing everything. Join a second computer as an attendee to see how it all displays. If working in a Builder-type platform, open the room and upload the agenda or all the presentation and activity files that will be used for the event. Make sure they display as intended. Click through each slide, test the polls, create layouts, and arrange the pods and screens as permitted in your platform. Prepare breakout rooms and upload content into each one of them. Check that everything has loaded as expected. Click through all of it to confirm everything is in order. Start a session and join a second computer as an attendee to see how it all displays.
  • Set Up the Audio and Test It: When scheduling or creating the session, choose or connect the audio, such as the teleconference or computer audio. Confirm the teleconference numbers are active and connected to your account and in working order. Open the session or a test session with the exact same settings and confirm it is working. Join a second computer as an attendee and walk through connecting the audio from the second computer’s perspective. This is not the time for surprises! Know exactly how it will work and test it from both the leader and attendee angles.
  • Backup Platform: Is it possible to have a backup platform in place? Sometimes platforms freeze or sites go down. If the Adobe Connect server is not responding, could you launch a Zoom meeting to conduct the session instead? If the platform is no longer working and disconnects everyone, could you switch to a teleconference? Quickly refer to your roster and email everyone the new teleconference numbers to call into and let the presenter explain the situation once everyone reconnects. This may not be realistic in all cases, but it is something to consider as a worst-case scenario to avoid canceling or ending a session early.
  • Backup Audio: Should the teleconference go down, could you start a new one? Share a whiteboard with the new numbers and reconnect your audience. If computer audio stops working, could you start a teleconference and have the attendees call into that instead? These are options to be considered; though it is rare, sometimes plans do not work as outlined, and having an alternative is a way to avoid canceling your live online session.
  • Identify Technical Support: Determine how technical support will be provided to attendees once the live online session has begun. It is not realistic for a producer to provide one-on-one phone or email support at the same time they are also live online in the session. Decide who will accept calls and respond to emails if that is how attendees trying to enter the session will be supported. If not, where attendees who need help downloading or accessing the platform go for help?

Excerpt from “Producing Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars: Master the Technology to Engage Participants” by Kassy LaBorie, ATD (2021). For more information, visit:

td.org/books/producing-virtual-training-meetings-and-webinars

To order books from ATD Press, call 800.628.2783.

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Kassy LaBorie
Kassy LaBorie is the founder and principal consultant at Kassy LaBorie Consulting. She is a virtual classroom master trainer specializing in developing trainers to be engaging and effective when facilitating programs in platforms such as Zoom, Webex, and Adobe Connect. She has worked with many Fortune 500 firms in a wide range of industries and sectors, including hospitality, pharma, energy, government, NGOs, and nonprofits. She also trains and coaches producers, the virtual classroom trainer’s partner in effective facilitation, as well as instructional designers tasked with creating or converting content for virtual classroom delivery. In addition, she advises learning and development leaders in areas including virtual classroom strategy, technology selection, and logistics. She has more than 20 years of experience in passionately helping organizations, learning teams, and training professionals successfully move to the virtual environment.