Say the words “online presentation” and almost certainly an image comes to mind. A speaker and a stage, an enormous visual display, and an audience on hand for the message. The classic TEDtalk.

There’s only one problem with that image: it’s not at all close to what today’s video presentations actually look like.

Don’t get us wrong, TEDtalks are awesome. So are the videos of all those recorded conference keynotes that showcase distinguished speakers and their savvy presentation slides, all spliced together in post-production.

But for all those professionally-produced main hall events out there, another model is quietly becoming absolutely critical to actually getting work done:

The DIY online video presentation.

So what should we be picturing the next time an “online presentation” comes up? Allow us to elaborate.

Online Presentations Are Made By Everyone

Presenters at TEDtalks and keynotes tend to come from the c-suite set. That group is no stranger to professionally produced online presentations and even DIY video communications — witness the shift to video for executive communications and investor relations practices — but just as importantly, the newer and easier method of producing online presentations democratizes video for everyone else within your organization.

An enterprise video platform gives every member of your team the opportunity to quickly record any idea and share it with colleagues. It extends video from the domain of the AV specialists to your entire staff, allowing those in the field or on the front lines to share a real-world look into how a business operates or giving your technical experts a place to share knowledge with others across your organization.

Watch a recorded social learning presentation from a product engineering team:

 

Online Presentations Come From Every Part Of Your Organization

While TEDtalks and conference keynotes may call for a set of top-of-the-line HD camcorders, most recorded presentations today take advantage of all the other video recording technology that’s become pervasive in the modern workplace. Laptops, mobile phones, tablets and more — an enterprise video platform turns them all into cameras.

The ability to record video anywhere throws open the doors of opportunity for your team to get more value out of video. Sales teams can record post-call updates right from a mobile device. Frontline employees can capture a production or process issue to better illustrate a problem. And retail employees can view training videos on their own smartphones, without even leaving the sales floor.

View an update recorded after a sales call with a smartphone:

 

 

Online Presentations Cover Everything

A modern online presentation is, at its essence, like any other presentation — just recorded. Using just a laptop and a standard webcam, presenters captures talks and demonstrations and automatically upload them to an organization’s video library over the Internet.

Much like a TEDtalk, a modern online presentation could simply be composed of slides and a presenter, but it could just as easily be a screen share, or a whiteboard, or a microscope, or anything that you can plug into a laptop or film with another camera. Employees use these video presentations to share anything from best practices to pre-meeting information, in a format that’s easier for viewers to digest and understand than line-after-line of text in an email.

The value of this model is that it shows you everything you need to see simultaneously, without the forced trade-off between seeing the speaker or the slides (or other content the speaker may be showing). In a live presentation, you’d see all those elements at the same time — a modern online presentation should be no different.

Watch an online recording detailing a budget presentation:

 

 

Online Presentations Require Little To No Post-Production

Perhaps nowhere does this new model of online presentation diverge more sharply from the quintessential TEDtalk than after the presentation is made. Conference keynotes still often rely on the old standard production process to be finalized — requiring the AV expert to come in and clip things together.

A modern online presentation, however, doesn’t require any post-production. Today’s video platforms auto-upload every recording, formatting it, indexing it, and making it available to share minutes after you hit stop. Today’s presenters need only click record and go.

 

What Do Keynotes Have in Common with Modern Online Presentations?

From the most formal keynote to the most informal screencast, every business presentation has a few things in common. Most importantly, of course, it’s the goal — to share an idea, an insight, or expertise. But conference room recordings share another feature with the new, smaller online presentation — they both require technology to be useful.

First, a presentation needs a place to be stored and shared
No matter the content, every recorded presentation needs to be hosted somewhere if others will be able to find it. Public content like TEDtalks may thrive on YouTube, but business knowledge and internal insights are often inappropriate to share outside the walls of your organization. A secure “business YouTube” is often a better choice to host this video — see why in our whitepaper, Your YouTube Channel vs. The Corporate YouTube.

Second, a presentation needs to be discoverable
Your video is only valuable if your people can actually find it. Too many organizations today store video in systems that lack the ability to properly search video — at best relying on titles and manually entered tags to return results. When business videos may last 30-60 minutes or more, that simply isn’t enough to help viewers find what they need. A video platform is a better option. Panopto, for example, indexes every word spoken and every word that appears in every one of your videos to help ensure your team can find exactly what they are looking for. Forrester Research has praised Panopto for having the “best support for video search” Find out why in our animated introduction to Panopto’s Smart Search video search technology.

Third, a presentation needs to be viewable — anytime, anywhere, on any device
In a world where business is global, available 24/7, and powered by a Bring Your Own Device strategy, your team needs to have access to all your video knowledge instantly, everywhere. That’s a big challenge for organizations still storing video in shared files or on individual hard drives. A video platform makes that easy, automatically transcoding every video you upload and ensuring the best viewing experience on any device. With Panopto, you can import videos in almost any format, and in minutes, you’ll be able to share them with people inside or outside your organization knowing that they can view it on any laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

 

Try Recording Your Own Online Presentation With Panopto!

Want to see just how easy it is to record and share your own business presentation? To see how Panopto can help your organization use video for learning and communication, contact our team to request a free trial of our video software.