A webinar slide checklist

Webinars are not stage talks on a smaller screen. Your audience is on a laptop, a phone or a tiny window next to their inbox. They can’t see you clearly. They can leave with one click. Your slides do more of the work than they would in a room.

Use this checklist. Run it for every webinar. Tick it off and go live with confidence.

Before you build

Get these sorted first. They shape every slide.

• Know the platform. Find out what tool you’ll present from and whether you’ll share a window, the whole screen or an uploaded deck.
• Know the aspect ratio. Most platforms suit widescreen 16:9. Confirm before you design anything.
• Know your slot. How long is your talk? Is there Q&A after? Plan the slide count around it.
• Know your audience’s device. Will many attendees watch on phones? If so, everything needs to be bigger and simpler.
• Know if it’s recorded. Recordings get watched later, out of context. Design for that viewer too.
• Get the host’s template. If the organiser has a branded intro, outro or template, grab it now.

While you design

Text

• Body text is large. Picture someone watching on a phone held at arm’s length.
• No slide has more than about three short lines of text.
• Every headline states the point. “Onboarding drop-off is in step two”, not “Onboarding data”.
• One sturdy sans-serif font. No thin weights.

Contrast and colour

• High contrast between text and background.
• No text over busy photos without a solid panel behind it.
• No meaning carried by colour alone. Add labels.
• Gradients and fine textures are minimal. Video compression turns them blotchy.

Layout

• Leave the corner where your camera tile will sit clear of content. Usually top right or bottom right. Ask the host.
• Keep key content away from the bottom edge, where captions or platform controls may appear.
• One idea per slide. More slides, less on each.

Charts and visuals

• Each chart shows one comparison.
• Labels sit directly on lines or bars, not in a separate legend.
• Screenshots are cropped tight to the part that matters. Zoom in on the button, not the whole page.
• Any small detail you need people to see gets its own zoomed-in slide.

Pace for a screen

Online attention is fragile. Keep the screen changing.

• Change the slide often. A static slide for several minutes invites people to check email. Break long explanations across several slides.
• Plan interaction points. Polls, chat prompts or a direct question every few minutes. Put each one on its own slide so you don’t forget.
• Add section markers. A simple “Part 2 of 3” slide helps people who joined late or drifted off.
• Put the agenda up early. Tell people what’s coming and roughly when Q&A starts.

Want more than polls and chat? This guide on how to make the session interactive has more ideas.

Slides you’ll be glad you made

These are easy to forget. Build them anyway.

• Holding slide. Title, your name and “Starting shortly”. It’s on screen while people join.
• Housekeeping slide. How to ask questions, whether it’s recorded, where slides will be shared.
• Q&A slide. A clean slide to sit on while you answer. Not a busy final content slide.
• Closing slide. One clear next step: a link name to remember, a follow-up session, a resource. Keep it on screen while you sign off.
• Backup slides. A few at the end for likely questions. Hidden until needed.

The tech run

Do a full rehearsal on the platform, not just in your slide tool.

• Share your screen and check what attendees actually see. Ask a colleague to join as a viewer.
• Check text is readable in the attendee’s view, ideally on a phone too.
• Test animations and transitions. Some lag or stutter over a share. Cut any that do.
• Test any embedded video. Audio sharing often needs a separate setting.
• Confirm where your camera tile lands and that it isn’t covering content.
• Check your speaker notes are visible to you and hidden from them.
• Time the run. Trim if you’re over.

Final ten minutes

• Close every app and tab you don’t need. Notifications off.
• Deck open at the holding slide.
• Backup copy of the deck ready, in case you need to switch machines or upload.
• Water nearby.
• Links you’ll mention written in your notes, so you say them correctly.
• Deep breath. Go.

After you go live

• Share the deck or a summary with attendees, if you said you would.
• Note which slides got questions or confusion. Fix them for next time.
• Save the final version with the date, so the next webinar starts from your best deck.
• Part of a bigger event? Fold the highlights into the event recap deck.

Sending a recap to attendees and no-shows? A webinar recap template gives the highlights, key slides and next steps a ready structure.

Webinar versus stage

Many stage rules carry over: big type, high contrast, one point per slide. The full stage guide, how to design conference slides people can read, goes deeper on those. Webinars add a few demands of their own: smaller screens, a camera tile, compression and an audience one click from leaving.

Run the checklist. Every box ticked is one less thing to worry about when the “Live” light comes on. EventDeck is made for decks like these, from the holding slide to the sign-off.