Which is more effective for corporate presentations: Pre-Recording Videos or Using a Remote Presenter via a live Video Link?

Of course it is ideal to have the live interaction of a video call to allow a remote speaker to present at your conference, but the technical challenges cannot be underestimated.

A viable alternative could be to pre-record the presentation, and play it back at your convenience at anytime during your event. But is this a strategy that works?

Case Studies

At a small event to announce the opening of a new office, a town hall meeting was organised.

Pre-recorded presentation from hospital

Just before the big day, the company's CEO was struck down with chronic appendicitis and ended up in a hospital bed. Unable to attend the event as a result, but post op, and in good spirits, we filmed his address to the troops at the hospital and played it back at the show. As the alternative was to cancel the event, or have no address from the CEO, it was the perfect solution.

A minister was invited to speak to his government body at a national event in Birmingham. Because of Government business in the division lobbies of Westminster he was unable to attend the event, but still keen to maximise any opportunity to spread his message, he recorded his address, sent it over to us, and we played it out at the event.

An academic on a field mission in Africa was asked to present a detailed paper to his fellows at university. He had concerns about the reliability of his internet connection - so he created a video for the body of his presentation, and then joined live for the questions and answers.

Pros and cons

A pre-recorded address has many advantages in terms of lowered risk for delivery of a live event. The timing is fixed, there is never going to be any over run so you will get to lunch on time if the speaker is a pre-record.

You wont get any connection problems with a pre-record, which is always a risk with a remote caller, particularly with unreliable internet.

Provided the pre-record was done to a reasonable standard, you will always have clear audio and video. No pesky squeals from the microphones with video playback.

But if it were so wonderful, one could be forgiven for thinking that all presenters should pre-record and no one should ever stand on stage and deliver a live speech, Indeed what would be the point of hosting live in person events at all if everyone could just pre-record their presentations and post them online. During the lockdowns, that was all that was available to us, and there is no doubt that virtual events were a necessary but effective alternative.

Of course the reality is that the natural interaction between a confident speaker and their audience provides a message delivery that far exceeds merely watching a video and post pandemic the rush back to live in person events was quite the tidal wave.

Live Questions & Answer sessions really do work to expand on the core topics in the presentations, and can provide an opportunity to challenge opinions, and stimulate lively debate. In my opinion, as someone whose job it is to manage presentations for a living, I do welcome a pre-recorded presenter as its less stress than a remote connection, and in the circumstances outlined in the case studies, it was the only real option available. But for anyone in the audience, there is no comparison between a real live person, either on a call or on the stage and a video they could have stayed at home and watched on line.

For more information on how we can support your virtual, hybrid or in person live event, get in touch hello@confidence-digital.com