Professional webinar and briefing series
Coordinating time zones for a Malaysia-led professional webinar
Your webinar is run from Malaysia, but a speaker or part of the audience is in another country, and the start time has to work for them too.
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The short answer
Choose the audience that matters most, find a window that is reasonable for them and for the speaker, and publish the time in Malaysia time plus the local time for each overseas group. Check every conversion with a time converter on the actual date, and ask each overseas speaker to confirm the local time in writing.
Time zones fail mostly through unchecked assumptions: a clock change in another country, a date line that moves the day, or an invitation that shows only one time.
Decide whose convenience comes first
List the groups: Malaysian members, overseas members, speakers and any regulator or partner who must attend. Decide which group the series is mainly for.
If members are mostly in Malaysia, set the time for them and treat overseas speakers as the group that needs an agreed window. If the audience is spread across countries, set a rule such as rotating the time between sessions.
A time-zone check table for each session
| Group or person | City | Local time for the proposed start | Reasonable for them? | Confirmed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysian members | Kuala Lumpur | |||
| Overseas speaker | ||||
| Overseas members | ||||
| Moderator or host |
Things to check on the actual date
- Whether a city in the table changes its clocks near the session date. Ask the speaker, or check an official time source.
- Whether the session falls on a public holiday or a religious observance in any attending country.
- Whether the converted time crosses midnight so that the date differs for some attendees.
- Whether the recording will be viewed later, in which case the time shown on the archive page should state its reference time.
How to communicate the time clearly
- Write the start time in Malaysia time first, labelled as such.
- Add the local time for each overseas group you expect, with the city name.
- Include the date for each group if it differs.
- Repeat the same wording in reminders, the calendar invitation and the joining page.
- Ask overseas speakers to reply with the local time they expect, as a written confirmation.
Worked example · Fictional example
A Malaysia-led session with a speaker abroad
Fictional organisation and figures, for illustration only.
Persatuan Fiktif Penilai Harta planned a Saturday-morning session in Malaysia time, with a fictional speaker from another country. The speaker confirmed the local time by email after the secretariat sent a converted time.
The secretariat noticed that one reminder tool displayed the time in each recipient's own setting, while the printed invitation showed Malaysia time only. It changed the printed version to include the overseas city time, so the two matched. The speaker's slot was placed at the start of the programme.
Use this yourself
Time-zone confirmation message
Copy this into an email to each overseas speaker, then fill in the blanks.
- Session title and date in Malaysia time:
- Proposed start time in Malaysia time:
- Proposed start time in your city, as we have calculated it:
- Please reply to confirm that this local time and date are correct for you.
- Please tell us if your country changes its clocks around this date.
- Run-through call: date and time in both locations:
- Latest time you can stay on the line after the start:
- Contact on the day if you cannot connect:
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- All attendees are in Malaysia, and only one speaker is overseas.
- The secretariat can send a single written confirmation to the speaker.
- The session is a one-off and not part of a long series.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Speakers and members are spread across several countries.
- Recurring sessions need rotating times and consistent communication.
- A regulator or partner abroad must attend at a fixed time.
Need a time plan across countries for a recurring series?
A recurring programme manager can map the groups, build a time-zone check table for each session, handle written confirmations with overseas speakers and keep the invitation wording consistent. Calendar clashes can be checked with the recurring calendar capacity planner linked on this page.
Questions organisers ask
Should we show Malaysia time or the viewer's local time?
Show Malaysia time first, labelled, and add local times for the groups you expect. This avoids confusion if a calendar tool converts differently from the printed invitation.
How do we handle daylight saving time?
Ask each overseas speaker whether their country changes clocks near the date, and check the converted time with a time converter on the actual date.
Can we rotate times between sessions?
Yes, if your audience is spread across countries. Publish the rotation in advance so members can plan, and use the recurring calendar capacity planner to avoid clashes with other events.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.