Testing your AI setup before a live session is a 10-minute process: confirm your tool is logged in, run each planned prompt once, verify your screen share shows the output clearly, and confirm you know your fallback for each moment. That’s your complete pre-flight.
Why Testing Matters More With AI Than Other Tools
With slides, what you see in editing mode is what your audience sees. With AI, the output is generated live — which means two different runs of the same prompt can produce different results. Testing before the session doesn’t eliminate that variability, but it narrows your range of surprises. You’re not trying to guarantee a specific output; you’re making sure the output will be in the right ballpark.
Testing also catches the mundane failure modes that derail sessions: you got logged out overnight, the browser cached an old session, the screen share shows your desktop instead of the AI window, or the font is too small for students to read. None of these are AI problems — they’re basic tech hygiene — but they’re easy to miss if you don’t do a deliberate check.
Your 10-Minute Pre-Session Checklist
Open the AI tool in a dedicated browser tab and confirm you’re logged in. Run each prompt you plan to use live, reading the output critically — is it accurate, is it the right length, would you be comfortable if a student read it? Check that your screen share is framed correctly: students should see the AI interface clearly, not a cluttered desktop. If you’re using Zoom, do a quick screen share test. Finally, open your session notes and confirm you have a one-line backup for every AI moment.
Total time: 10 minutes if your prompts are already prepared, 20 minutes if you need to refine any of them. Do this every time, not just the first few sessions. Even experienced AI users find things to adjust in pre-session testing.
What This Means for Educators
Think of this the way you’d think of a soundcheck before a live event. The soundcheck doesn’t guarantee a perfect performance — but skipping it guarantees avoidable problems. Your students are giving you their time and attention. A 10-minute check beforehand honours that commitment.
The Simple Rule
Never go live with an AI tool you haven’t opened and tested in the same browser session you’ll use on-screen. Logged-in-yesterday is not the same as logged-in-now.