John Lowe is an Executive Faculty, Coach and Business Presentations Expert at Ty Boyd, Inc.
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The Covid-19 pandemic drastically altered the way business people give presentations. Everything went virtual, which meant presenters had to communicate with an audience they were not in front of, and often could not see. This venue became equally painful for presenters and attendees. As the pandemic eased and people went back out into the real world, many organizations realized they could save money on travel and other expenses by continuing to conduct virtual meetings, presentations and even conferences. Money was indeed saved, but often at the expense of good communications.
Let’s discuss some ways to make sure your virtual presentations are not just informative but effective and engaging and reflect well on you, the meeting host.
Know your software.
Take the time to become acquainted with your hosting software (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Skype, etc.). Become familiar with the tools available; practice sharing documents and screens, managing chat rooms or allowing audience participation. The more comfortable you are with the platform, the less stress you will have at meeting time.
Own the territory.
Create an environment that is conducive to a successful meeting. Check your sound and lighting so people can easily see and hear you. Eliminate possible interference, such as kids and pets, landscaping workers or delivery people. Make sure all applications that you are not using on your computer are turned off. Turn off any devices on your network such as TVs so you can maximize your network bandwidth. Finally, have a neat, clean, unobtrusive background behind you so people can focus on you without unnecessary distractions.
Rehearse.
Practice your presentation online. Have someone (a co-worker, spouse or friend) sit in on the rehearsal to give you feedback. Most importantly, practice your transfer between your camera and slides so it is seamless for the audience.
Have great energy.
Deliver your online presentations standing up. This increases your energy level and encourages an engaging delivery. Always have your camera on, regardless of whether the audience does or not. They need to see you and not simply hear a disembodied voice. Make sure your camera is at eye level to avoid looking down at your audience. Remember to demonstrate your enthusiasm for your topic. If you are not excited about it, why should they be?
Open strong.
Understand that 100% of your attendees are doing something else when they log in. You have to grab their attention and let them know this is not another boring virtual meeting. Rather than the standard log-in welcome screen, have a video playing or present a stunning visual image that relates to the topic. Once everyone is in the meeting, open with a story or an intriguing question instead of the same old introductions or welcome pleasantries.
Avoid slide overload.
Too many people just let the slides dominate the presentation. Go back and forth between live interaction and slide discussions. People tend to tune out if there are multiple slides in a row.
Build in interaction.
Use the interactive tools in your platform to encourage interaction. Send out polling questions every five minutes or so. Ask participants to send questions via chat. If the meeting is longer than one hour, perhaps send people to virtual breakout rooms for discussions.
Stay for extra discussion.
At the end of your presentation, tell everyone you will be staying online for a few minutes to answer any individual questions and to get feedback from the audience if anyone chooses to join you. Even if no one stays, they will appreciate your offer.
Send thank-you messages.
Within one day of your session, send each attendee (for whom you have contact info) a thank-you message sharing your appreciation for them taking the time to attend.
Virtual presentations and meetings do not have to be doom and gloom. If you are the presenter, consider it to be your responsibility to make sure your attendees are informed, engaged and entertained. Remember how you feel when you attend a boring virtual session. Don’t let that happen to your audience. Make people excited to receive an invitation to your online events.
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