Tech: Presenting Workshops on Zoom

Subject: Tech: Presenting on Zoom
From: Felipa
Date: 02 Apr 21 - 11:41 AM

Some of the people I see singing on Mudcat and other singarounds, have started volunteering to present workshops at various online "festivals".
I'm thinking of doing likewise but I'm hesitant. If you have registered for any of the larger online gatherings, you have probably seen questions about whether you would like to offer a workshop.

I think it may be helpful for both myself and other folk if people with a bit of experience report on what it was like for them, and offer advice on aspects such as 1) providing materials such as songsheets in advance (direct email? dropbox? links to DT, youtube or other online resources?)2) screen sharing (I think presenter would have to send documents to the host beforehand, or is screen sharing enabled for the presenter?) 3) using sound recordings as well as singing or playing directly (technical methods, copyright aspects - okay to play short excerpts?)

Subject: RE: Tech: Presenting on Zoom
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 02 Apr 21 - 01:20 PM

All of this is very possible and acceptable. If like me you don't have the Powerpoint technology to share screen etc then you can send the information to your host if they are willing to show your pages/videos/recordings/photos. The problem with this is you are relying on others and they need to know precisely when you want them to share your media, which can cause problems. On the other hand if you aren't a technowhiz yourself and try to share yourself this can cause disruption.

I would recommend you try it with a smaller non-paying group first to get the hang of it. I've got my 4th presentation coming up soon and the soundbites I need playing are all already online so that helps. I just need to point the host to the right place so he can capture them. Photos I'm finding a bit more tricky. The most successful presenters I've seen know what they're doing and have it all set up on some sort of Powerpoint.

Subject: RE: Tech: Presenting Workshops on Zoom
From: Hamish
Date: 02 Apr 21 - 03:24 PM

We held a ukulele festival on 27th February and it went very well. We had over 100 delegates throughout the seven hours and used Zoom and its breakout rooms facility for the workshops. Workshop materials were available via Dropbox but we also used screen sharing.

The festival used a website to detail the programme and directions. It's all at Ukes for Unicef

Of particular interest might be the pages on workshops which have links to the Dropbox folders: workshops and the technical help page

Hope that helps. Any specific questions that I can help with, please ask and I'll pop by and try and answer.

Subject: RE: Tech: Presenting Workshops on Zoom
From: Hamish
Date: 02 Apr 21 - 03:28 PM

I should add that the one thing we did that really helped and I would say is essential is to have lots of tech rehearsals so that everybody knows their roles and how to get the best out of their PC and Zoom. We had open rehearsals so that we could test everything with "friendly users"

Subject: RE: Tech: Presenting Workshops on Zoom
From: Felipa
Date: 02 Apr 21 - 04:11 PM

Steve, doing a personal practice session from home for invited guests would be useful, and for me a 40 min time limit would be fine. But it would be in preparation for presenting via someone else's zoom channel - much as Hamish describes re "Ukes for Unicef". I think only the host can screen share. I don't know what facility the main host gives to the presenter. Steve, I think you have done an online paper for the ballad forum? I suppose that would be similar.

Subject: RE: Tech: Presenting Workshops on Zoom
From: Hamish
Date: 02 Apr 21 - 05:06 PM

Not true, Felipa: anyone can screen share, so long as the meeting has been set up to allow this (or the host later allows it).

Subject: RE: Tech: Presenting Workshops on Zoom
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 02 Apr 21 - 05:31 PM

Yes, that's true, the host can give you permission to screen share.

All of my presentations so far have been for TSF. If I had the time I would learn the technology, but by the time the next presentation came round I would have forgotten it all.

Plus I've seen the various problems that Zoom presentations can cause with people of my age. Being able to rely on a whole string of images and soundbites is very impressive but talking and using just a few pics and soundbites can also be good. Our presentations only last 20 minutes but double that and you need to break it up with something. I can sing most of the songs I'm using myself if anything goes wrong or the recording's not clear enough.

Subject: RE: Tech: Presenting Workshops on Zoom
From: Felipa
Date: 02 Apr 21 - 07:14 PM

I attend a class in which we learn Irish language songs (most of us know each other from before lockdown forced the class on line). I think when the tutor choses to play recordings, he is just letting him microphone pick up the sound from his speaker. That's probably why the sound quality for the recordings is not the best.

Subject: RE: Tech: Presenting Workshops on Zoom
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Apr 21 - 08:31 PM

You might also want to talk about creating good backgrounds to use when presenting. I've seen blurbs about that but never followed through to make one for myself, or figure out what I need to wear to make it work best.

I found a good training for Zoom on the InLearning site (used to be Lynda, then was purchased by Microsoft, added to LinkedIn that they also bought - and is called "InLearning.") It's simply called "Learning Zoom," and is under two hours, but it shares all of that information about what hosts and participants can do, how to share screens, use the various features to show PowerPoint and other programs. And of course there is YouTube where I'm sure there are tons of Zoom tutorials.

Subject: RE: Tech: Presenting Workshops on Zoom
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 03 Apr 21 - 08:00 PM

We use screen sharing of music scores a lot during Zoom sessions: mostly they are pdfs, but JPEG’s can also be shared, as can music files or videos. There is a wee arrow next to the share screen button, with a pop-up menu, where the host can find the permission to allow other participants to screenshare, so if this is enabled, anyone in the meeting can do it.
One of the sessions hosted by another friend makes use of an extensive Dropbox folder: in this instance it is useful/ easier to work with 2 screens: I usually use my laptop for the main meeting screen and iPad to access the Dropbox scores.
For any presenters, I’d make a plea to not wave your arms about to emphasise what you are saying: this happened in a lecture I watched last week, and was really distracting, especially as the movements were very “choppy” when combined with a less than perfect signal.