Presentation Mode allows you to run a synced review without disruption from other participants.
Presentation Mode in a synced review allows one or more presenters (the "hosts") to control playback, navigation in the timeline, playback modes (speed, tracing paper, ghosting etc.) and enter all sketches and text comments. Other reviewers ("attendees") can adjust volume and mute/unmute themselves, and they can use the Laser Pointer, which allows them to draw a temporary sketch that fades away. Participants can also view and reply to comments.
There are two ways of starting Presentation mode:
- Clicking Start Presenting in the Review.
- Sharing a Presentation Review Link to the review that directly enters reviewers into Presentation Mode as participants.
The Start Presenting button is suitable for more casual use in a synced Review.
Presentation Review Links (available to our Enterprise-, Teams- or Education Plus-level customers) are more suitable for a more structured or more formal presentation, and are well-suited to sessions with large groups of attendees.
Starting a Presentation in the Review
Any reviewer present in a synced review can start a presentation by clicking the Start Presenting button.
The same button will then allow you to stop presenting, restoring normal control for all synced attendees:
Attendees will see the button change to read Request to Present. This, of course, requests that the host relinquish control.
Creating a Presentation Review Link
Starting presentations using Presentation Review Links is considerably more powerful and well-suited to larger groups of reviewers.
Presentation Review Links directly invite viewers to join the Review in Presentation Mode as attendees or hosts. When a host is not yet present, attendees will remain in a waiting room.
Note: Creating Presentation Review Links is currently only available in our Team, Enterprise, Education+ level accounts.
To create a Presentation Review link:
- Open the Project Overview and hover over the Review for which you'd like to create a link.
- Select the Share Review icon to the left of the item count that appears while hovering over the desired Review. (This may be labeled "external" if you have previously made it accessible to external collaborators.)
- The Share Review Link dialog will appear. You can opt to notify Project users at the top.
- Once you set the review Type to Presentation, the permissions options will change if External Collaborators is selected:
- If you wish the presentation review participants to be notified immediately, add them into the Notify field at the top of the dialog.
- As with any shared Review, you have the option to set when or if the Link Expires, and give the Review a Password. You can choose to disable the Laser Pointer for all attendees.
- Click Save & Copy Link. This will notify any Project users that you added via email. It copies the link so that you can invite participants using an external email or chat system.
Adding Hosts
Anybody with access to the Project where your review lives can be added as a host in Presentation Mode when using a Presentation Review Link. All hosts will have full control with all tools during the review.
Waiting Room
When joining a Review using Presentation Mode, attendees who are not a host will sit in the waiting room until the host has joined the live review.
Pro Tip: Hosts can prep for a review from within the player interface by starting the review early, then clicking the "Leave Meeting" button in the upper right corner of the interface.
This will take the host out of the live review, which will effectively keep the attendees in the waiting room until you're ready. Another bonus is that by doing this, you can also see who has joined the waiting room by looking at the list of users in the upper right.
Once everybody is there, you can start the review by clicking the "Join Meeting" button.
Attendee Review Interface
You'll notice that Attendees have a very simplified interface when joining a Presentation Review.
They will be able to see a representation of the timeline with the current frame number and total frame count, but will not be able to scrub or control playback of the timeline.
The only tool available to attendees is the Laser Pointer, so they may point out things throughout the review. They also have a number of size and color options for their Laser Pointer. (The Laser Pointer can be disabled with Presentation Review Links.)
Attendees also have the ability to adjust and mute their own volume, and enter/exit full screen mode.
Attendees can also view text comments and reply to them, but cannot add their own.
Host Review Interface
As you can see below, anybody who has been added as a host to a Review in Presentation Mode will have full access to the full suite of tools in the SyncSketch interface that they're used to.
Controlling Audio Muting
SyncSketch audio playback on attendees' systems can spoil a presentation. While we can't mute microphones of remote attendees – that's handled by your conferencing solution – we do offer some controls that can help.
To control SyncSketch playback muting, hover or click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner and choose an option.
For further details, read How do I get review audio under control?