Webinar Presentation Details:

The following information will inform TRB webinar panelists and moderators on what to expect when participating in a TRB webinar. It covers:

• TRB Webinar overview
• Recommended webinar software practices
• Presentation length
• Emailing slides in advance
• Preparing for your webinar
• Professional Development Hour information
• Complimentary registration for webinars

You can download this information in a PDF document. Please review the information below first, then contact Lisa Marflak, TRB's Program Officer, Electronic Dissemination, with any questions: LMarflak@nas.edu or (202) 334-3134.
 
TRB Webinar overview

Lisa Marflak will provide the ability for each panelist to share his or her computer screens with the audience.  Panelists will launch the PowerPoint slides and advance their own presentations, which are saved on their own computers, during the session.  

All of the audience members are muted during the webinar. They may pose questions to panelists by typing and submitting them to our question and answer moderator at any time during the session.  The moderator will receive these questions and read them out loud to the panelists and the audience following the presentations.

Recommended webinar software practices

TRB recommends that panelists participate from their own individual offices.  GoToWebinar software will enable presenters to share their computer screens with the audience. This differs from some webinar software that uploads presentations to a central, online location.

Panelists can use the telephone or Voice-Over Internet (computer microphone and headset) for their audio connection.  If you plan to use voice-over-internet, please consider GoToWebinar's recommended audio devices. You will need to use a telephone handset or a telephone headset with microphone.  

Please do not use speaker phone or computer speakers.  Speaker phone creates feedback that can be heard by audience members, and it is picked up on the recording.  

Presentation length

90-minute webinars:

• Lisa’s introduction: 3-5 minutes
• All panelists’ presentations: 60 minutes
• Questions and Answers: 25 minutes

2-hour webinars:

• Lisa’s introduction: 3-5 minutes
• All panelists’ presentations: 90 minutes
• Questions and Answers: 25 minutes

Typically, the number of panelists is divided by the number of minutes to determine speaking time.   

Emailing slides in advance

TRB would like to email your presentation slides to audience members prior to the webinar.  Please prepare to email your slides to Lisa Marflak, LMarflak@nas.edu, one week in advance of the webinar.
 
Preparing for your webinar

To prepare for the webinar, TRB has a two-step training process to help our panelists and moderators learn how to use the webinar software.   First, panelists/moderators should view an 18-minute online tutorial one to two weeks before the webinar.
 
Second, panelists and moderators must attend a live practice session one or two days prior to the webinar to demonstrate using the webinar technology.  The practice is generally not a dry run-through of the presentation; instead, panelists and moderators will learn how to use the software.  If a dry run accompanies the presentation, we will inform you about that in our initial email. The practice session lasts approximately 60 minutes.  Lisa will suggest a date for the practice session after receiving information on your availability.

Professional Development Hour information

If TRB is providing Professional Development Hours, all presenters must read; sign and fax; or, sign, scan, and email the Presenter Quality Commitment Form to Lisa Marflak, LMarflak@nas.edu, Fax: 202-334-2920 at the time of submitting the webinar suggestion form.
 
Complimentary registration for webinars

If TRB is charging a fee for the webinar, each webinar panelist or moderator may receive one complimentary registration for a site that is not otherwise eligible for free registration for the webinar in which they are participating.  Please email Lisa Marflak, LMarflak@nas.edu, with the name and email address of the person you would like to have register, and we will provide complimentary registration.

Please view the TRB Webinar Series Frequently Asked Questions page, which includes commonly asked questions from Panelist Presenters and Moderators.