Like many activities, presentations have moved online. Presentation skills are important for getting your message across and digital transcription agencies can help you document the activity for reading and reference. If you are used to giving in-person presentations, the good news is that many of the skills and best practices that apply to them are relevant for virtual presentations too. However, when presenting remotely, there are many things that you can do to tailor your approach to the medium, hold your audience’s attention, and deliver a great talk. We have compiled a list of expert tips that can help you ace virtual presentations.
- Ensure proper lighting: Turn your webcam on, make sure your audience can see you well, and look straight into the camera. If your home office doesn’t have enough natural light coming in, make sure you have additional front lighting so that people can see your face.
- Engage your audience: Do everything you can to captivate your audience. This is crucial as your remote audience has a greater chance of being distracted unlike a physical audience which will remain in the room:
- Simulate a physical connection by using a warm, conversational speaking style that will keep them listening.
- Tell a story, include intriguing content.
- Encourage audience engagement and ask them to raise their hand when they want to speak. Every ten minutes, wait for someone to speak before you proceed.
- Have the participant list in front of you and use that to interact with people by name.
- Be prepared: Being well prepared to deliver your virtual presentation means many things:
- Familiarize yourself with the features of the software. Make sure you can operate the software and practice using it so that things work as planned.
- Know how to leverage the technology to create the presentation, pitch decks, social media graphics, and anything else you want to use.
- Ensure sound clarity – check if your sound comes across clearly on the platform you’re using. See if an external microphone or computer audio works better. Practice giving your presentation with the same configurations that you will use for the live event.
- Keep copies of your slides next to you and also send your slide deck to your audience in advance of your presentation. This will ensure that even if there are technical glitches, you and your audience will have material to refer to.
- Use your voice effectively: Audio matters much more than video in an online presentation. Ensure that your sound is not garbled due to technical problems. Consider standing up when you talk as this will make your voice sound better. Speak naturally but energetically, and use gestures to make your point. Vary your voice and tone based on the topic being discussed. Mute yourself when you’re not speaking.
- Ensure eye contact with proper camera placement: Place the camera so that you can look your audience in the eye. Just as in an offline presentation, maintaining eye contact with the participants in a virtual presentation is crucial to connect them with your message. Keep the camera at eye level and look directly into it. However, look at screen to see their facial expressions and understand their body language, before looking back at the camera to respond to them. If you are working along with other remote presenters and your camera is on, make sure you are listening and not doing anything else.
- Use the Scribble tool: Draw on the PowerPoint slides when you want to emphasize a point or show connections. Using gestures or screen pointers may work in an offline presentation, but the scribbling technique works better to sustain audience interest in a remote presentation, according to global conferencing platform PHUSE. PowerPoint also has a tool that allows you to annotate your presentation.
- Design attractive, engaging slides: Whether you’re delivering a virtual presentation or running an online class, create an attractive presentation. Today’s software comes with a range of options such as a wide range of pre-designed templates, and allow users to fully customize the colors and page style and size. You can add or change text, images, charts, or icons easily and quickly. Free online presentation maker Venngage allows businesses to upload their company logos, colors, and fonts and see their brand applied to presentation designs instantly. If the software has interactive elements, see if you can use them effectively. Minimize the use of words on a slide, and ensure that content is legible and error-free, and avoid reading it out.
- Background matters: Background matters when it comes to maintaining a professional appearance and helping viewers keep their focus on you. Choose a quiet space in your home with a neat background and without distractions for your presentation. Platforms like Zoom allow you to use virtual backgrounds while Microsoft Teams lets you blur your background.
Whether the online event is a virtual business meeting, video conference, or presentation, it’s important to document these critical audio-visual conversations. Partnering with a business transcription agency can ensure timely and accurate documentation to support review and decision-making.
