Melinda Fouts, Ph.D., of Success Starts With You, is author of Cognitive Enlightenment and an international executive coach.
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Virtual presentations have become the norm, largely due to the pandemic and everyone working from home these days. While my coaching is conducted on Zoom or Skype with my clients, as the months wore on in 2020, we all became more casual with one another in the way we dressed and having a glimpse into each other's home and background setting. While the new normal is here, when it comes to virtual presentations or team meetings, we need to return to a standard of professionalism to attract the attention of our viewers. This does not require a huge monetary investment but an investment in paying attention to crucial criteria.
One of my clients asked for my feedback prior to her international presentation for the entire C-suite of her organization. As I watched her, I started making a checklist of what looked great and what needed tweaking to ensure a high level of professionalism in her presentation. When you spend the amount of time it requires to put together a presentation, the delivery with all its trappings needs to be a high caliber of professionalism. Here is the list I put together: lighting, background, camera position, height of camera, sound clarity, overall appearance, overall delivery, content, overall tone and animation.
Let's look at these in more depth.
• Lighting. Lighting is important. Your face should not be too bright, no shadows and not too dark.
• Background. This needs to be clean and not cluttered, not distracting.
• Camera Position. It is best if you can set up a separate camera that is positioned directly in front of where your eyes are focusing. Be aware of whether you are often looking to the right or the left of the camera. You need to think of the camera as a person you are talking to.
• Height Of Camera. I have noticed when coaching, my clients' cameras often are not in a good position, and I am looking up or down at their faces.
• Sound Clarity. Let's face it. If there is background noise, it will be distracting. And, since many of us have moved into working at home, when the dog starts barking, so does the dog on the other end, and we all have a good laugh. However, for a presentation, find a sitter to take care of the dog while you are presenting.
• Overall Appearance. Try on different outfits to see how you appear on camera. Color matters. And, if you are sitting down, make sure the shirt doesn't look rumpled. With the new stand-up workstations, it might look better if you are standing. It will also keep you energized.
• Overall Delivery. A common distraction during presentations is the use of "umms," which can undermine your authority. Practice your presentation so it flows easily.
• Content. Content needs to be very clean and professional. Many of my clients present to me for feedback on the content and flow. During this run-through, I have my checklist and prepare them to be ready to be graded on all areas discussed here in addition to content.
• Overall Tone. Because of the nature of a virtual presentation, you can often come off not very energized. Fifty-five percent of communication is body language, which is being missed through this venue. Thirty-seven percent is tone. Your voice needs to be energized and excited. I often tell my clients to state at the beginning of their presentation, "I am really excited...." and be sincere. Standing in the Wonder Woman position for two minutes before presenting will lower your stress levels and increase your energy.
• Animation. You need to sound authentic and come off as the authority through your content, tone and use of hand gestures to make it feel more like a real conversation. Don't be too stiff. Let information sink in; pause and smile.
Speaking of smiles, when you begin your presentation, don't just dive in. Smile, then state something about being excited and it being good to see everyone. We are isolated, and a warm welcome is appreciated. And at the end of the presentation, smile and express your gratitude to your listeners.
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