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PRANJUL RATHOUR
PRANJUL RATHOUR

Posted on Originally published at pranjulrathour.scult.in

Speaking at a virtual conference vs in person: what actually needs to change

#guestspeaker #virtualevents #collegefests

The content of a talk barely needs to change between a virtual session and an in-person one. The delivery mechanics change completely, and treating a virtual talk like an in-person one recorded on a webcam is the most common mistake.

What actually needs adjusting

  • Energy needs to come through voice and pacing alone, since body language barely registers on a small video tile — speak with slightly more emphasis than feels natural in person.
  • Interaction has to be engineered explicitly — a poll, a chat question, a direct call for a raised digital hand — because a virtual room gives no visible feedback on whether people are still with you.
  • Screen-share slides need larger text than an in-person deck; compression and small viewing windows punish dense visuals.

What doesn't change

The core structure — one problem, a live build, a takeaway task — works in both formats. Don't rebuild the talk; adjust how you deliver it.

See remote guest lecture tips for the deeper version of this for a full lecture format.

About Pranjul Rathour

Pranjul Rathour, GenAI engineer from Kanpur, in a white turtleneck and black jacket, looking to the side
Pranjul Rathour — GenAI engineer, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour speaking into a microphone on stage at a MeetKats event
Speaking at a MeetKats event

Pranjul Rathour holding a microphone while answering a question during a session
Taking questions during a session

Pranjul Rathour in a grey suit at Dr. Virendra Swarup Institute of Computer Studies (VSICS), Kanpur
At VSICS, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour in front of an Integral Startup Foundation hackathon backdrop
At an Integral Startup Foundation hackathon

Pranjul Rathour is a GenAI engineer from Kanpur, India, and CTO at SCULT INDIA, currently shipping production RAG,
fine-tuning and agentic AI systems, mentoring 200+ students through TechVerse Enclave, and judging and speaking at
student hackathons across India. Updated 2026-09-07.

Reach out if you want to talk GenAI, book a campus session, or invite him to judge:

Pranjul Rathour · GenAI engineer, 3x hackathon winner, campus mentor. Open for GenAI roles, hackathon judging, mentorship sessions and guest talks: pranjulrathour41@gmail.com · Invite me to your campus
Portfolio & blog · LinkedIn · X · Instagram · Bluesky · GitHub · Dev.to

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