The Virtual Presentation Checklist

This is the run-through-it version of virtual presenting: a phase-by-phase checklist you can print, bookmark, or keep open on a second screen before a Zoom, Teams, or Webex presentation. It is written for anyone who presents from a desk, whether that is a weekly client review or a one-time board update, and it assumes you would rather tick boxes than reread a long guide with ten minutes to go. If you want the reasoning behind each item, the companion deep-dive is our guide to virtual presentation best practices. This page is the list.

Virtual Presentation Checklist

Everything below in one place. Tick it on screen, or save the printable version to keep beside you.

Days before the presentation

Most virtual presentation problems are decided here, not in the final five minutes. Work through these once the date is set.

• Lock the deck as early as you can. Leave enough time between the final major edit and the presentation to rehearse the version you will actually deliver. A slide you are still substantially editing on the morning of the call is a slide you have not fully rehearsed.
• Write the script in the speaker notes. Draft what you will actually say, slide by slide, in the PowerPoint notes pane rather than in a separate document. Keep it spoken-style: short sentences, contractions, one idea per line. Our PowerPoint speaker notes guide covers how to split content between the slide and the notes.
• Script the opening word for word. Even if the rest is looser, know exactly how the first thirty seconds go.
• Mark the pauses and the questions. Put a [pause] after key numbers and write the audience questions you plan to ask directly into the notes, so they survive a tight clock.
• Time the script against your slot. Paste it into the free Script Time Calculator to see how long it runs at a deliberate pace, then subtract time for Q&A, demos, and transitions. Cut until it fits with margin.
• Rehearse out loud. Silent read-throughs don’t count. Stand or sit as you will on the call and say every word, including the transitions between slides. For an important presentation, rehearse until both the content and timing are predictable.
• Measure your real pace. ScriptAssist’s Presentation Timing records how long each slide actually takes when you rehearse and calibrates the estimates to you, not to a textbook average. Adjust the script if a rehearsal still runs long.
• Confirm the invite and the platform. Check the date, time zone, meeting link, and whether you are host, co-host, or a presenter who needs sharing permission granted. If it is Zoom, our guide to presenting on Zoom walks through the settings that matter.
• Test camera, microphone, and lighting on the real setup. Same room, same time of day, same laptop position. Record a one-minute test and watch it back.
• Check your internet. Run a speed test at the time of day you will present. If the result is marginal, plan to use a wired connection or sit closer to the router.
• Decide the backup plan now. Who takes over if you drop, where the PDF of the deck lives, and what you will say when you come back. Details are in the recovery section below.
• Send pre-reads if they help. If the audience needs numbers in front of them, send a PDF the day before so nobody is squinting at a shared screen.

The final check before you go live

Do this pass fifteen to twenty minutes before the start time, before anyone else joins. It takes about five minutes and it catches nearly everything.

• Raise the camera to eye level. Books, a stand, whatever gets the lens level with your eyes. Frame with a little headroom and your shoulders in the shot.
• Put the light on your face. Lamp or window in front of you, not behind you. Check that you are not a silhouette.
• Test audio with a recording. Record ten seconds and play it back. The level meter tells you the microphone is on; only playback tells you how you sound.
• Silence everything. Do Not Disturb on the computer. Do Not Disturb on the phone, face down, off the desk. Quit email and chat entirely rather than minimizing them.
• Open and position everything you will share. Deck in slide-show mode, demo windows sized, links preloaded, videos tested with sound. Close anything you will not use.
• Clean the desktop. If your desktop might appear during a demo or a share switch, hide the files and icons you do not need.
• Place the script near the webcam. Your notes should sit close enough to the lens that reading them keeps your eyes on the audience. ScriptAssist’s On-Camera Script puts your speaker notes in a wide strip directly under the webcam and is designed to keep the script out of the screen share. Always verify your sharing setup before an important presentation.
• Join from a second device and look at your own share. A phone or tablet is enough. What you see there is exactly what the audience sees. Confirm that your notes, chat, and notification tray are not visible.
• Have water within reach and the “we’re back” line in view. Small things, but they matter once the call starts.

For the visual version of this pass, the full best-practices guide linked at the top of this page includes a one-page preflight graphic you can save.

During the presentation

The setup is done. These items are about habits, and they are worth reading once more right before you unmute.

• Open with the stakes. Say why this matters or what needs to be decided before you show the agenda, if you show the agenda at all.
• Hold a deliberate pace. Nerves speed people up and video adds delay. Slow down slightly, especially through dense material, and let key points land.
• Pause on purpose. Stop before an important point and again after it. Pause a beat before every slide change. Count to five after asking a question.
• Look at the lens for the moments that count. The opening, every key point, every question you ask. Glance at the gallery to read the room, then come back to the camera.
• Use your script as your anchor. Stay close to reviewed wording where precision matters, but don’t let the script keep you from sounding natural and responding to the audience.
• Build in interaction. Use the questions and polls you scripted, invite specific people in when the setting allows, and keep it frequent enough to reset attention without breaking the flow.
• Watch the clock and the chat. Keep a timer visible, and either monitor the chat yourself or assign a co-host to triage questions so you do not have to.
• Announce slide changes verbally. A short bridge line before each advance keeps the audience with you, especially anyone who is only listening.
• Land the ending cleanly. Close with the decision, the next step, or the ask. Do not trail off into “so, any questions.”

If something goes wrong

Something will, eventually. Decide the response before the call so the response is calm.

• Phone hotspot set up and tested. If home Wi-Fi drops, switch and rejoin without a scramble.
• A teammate who can take over. They have the deck, the script, and a text from you the moment you vanish.
• A PDF of the deck ready to send. If sharing will not come back, drop the file in the chat and talk through it.
• A written “we’re back” line. One sentence that names the interruption and restates where you were, then carry on. No apology spiral.
• A plan for a frozen share. Stop sharing, restart the share, and if that fails move to the PDF. Say what you are doing while you do it.
• The dial-in number in your notes. If audio fails on the computer, call in from the phone and keep the slides on screen.

After the presentation

The presentation is not finished when the call ends. Ten minutes of follow-up protects the work you put in.

• Send what you promised. Recording, deck, or PDF, the same day if possible. Include a one-line summary of the decision or the next step.
• Answer the open questions. Anything you could not answer live gets a written reply within a day, to the group if it was asked in the group.
• Save the final script back into the speaker notes. If the wording changed during rehearsal or review, update the notes in the PowerPoint file so the next version starts from the version you delivered.
• Log the timing. Note how long each section actually took versus the plan. That number makes the next rehearsal more accurate.
• Write down one thing to change. Not ten. The single item that would have made the most difference goes at the top of next time’s prep list.

Frequently asked questions

What should be on a virtual presentation checklist? Five phases: preparation in the days before, a final technical check right before you share, delivery habits during the call, a recovery plan for when something breaks, and follow-up afterward. The preparation phase covers the deck, the script, rehearsal, and the platform. The final check covers camera, lighting, audio, notifications, shared content, script placement, and a second-device view of what the audience sees.

How do I prepare for a virtual presentation? Finish the deck early, write a spoken-style script in the PowerPoint speaker notes, and rehearse it aloud against the time you have been given. Confirm the platform and the invite, test your camera, microphone, and lighting on the same setup you will use live, and decide your backup plan in advance. Preparation done days ahead is what makes the final check quick.

What should I check right before presenting on Zoom or Teams? Camera at eye level and framed, light on your face, audio confirmed with a short recording, and Do Not Disturb on both your computer and your phone. Have every file, window, and link you plan to share already open and positioned, and put your script close to the webcam. Then join from a second device and look at your own share before you start.

How early should I set up for a virtual presentation? Join the meeting fifteen to twenty minutes early for anything that matters, and thirty minutes for a large webinar or a platform you have not used before. That leaves time to run the final check, fix a surprise audio or sharing problem, and settle in before people arrive. Rushing the setup is how notes end up on the shared screen.

Keep the list, drop the worry

A checklist works because it moves decisions out of the moment. The more of these choices you make in advance, the more attention you can give to the audience when it matters.

One challenge is harder to solve with preparation alone: keeping a script close enough to the camera to read naturally without putting it into the screen share. That’s one of the problems ScriptAssist was built to address.

ScriptAssist turns the speaker notes in your PowerPoint deck into an on-camera script positioned near your webcam and designed to stay out of your screen share.