Virtual presentations are becoming more common in the workplace, especially in the context of internal communications. Whether you are delivering a report, a proposal, a training session, or a feedback session, you need to adjust your delivery style to suit the online format and engage your audience. Here are some tips on how to do that.
Before you design and deliver your virtual presentation, you need to understand who your audience is, what they need, and what they expect from you. This will help you tailor your content, tone, and format to suit their preferences and goals. For example, if you are presenting to senior managers, you may want to focus on the key outcomes and recommendations, while if you are presenting to your peers, you may want to include more details and examples. You can also use surveys, polls, or interviews to gather feedback and insights from your audience before and after your presentation.
Virtual presentations in particular require the insertion of many more opportunities to enable to audience to engage with the content than "in person" presentations. Beyond just including the very familiar poll questions and surveys to make sure your virtual audience is truly engaged and not just listening to the presentation while multi-tasking, stopping periodically to ask the audience questions and discuss commentary in the chat, can offer an experience that will have more impact. Generating a word cloud to recap key points of the presentation and the audience's comments and impressions of the content and displaying it via internal channels was well received by employees.
Ensure that you tailor your content to your audience. Understanding your audience will assist you in identifying the key areas to address in your presentation. This preparation will help you feel confident and avoid being caught off guard.
Adapting for virtual presentations in internal communications is crucial. Prioritize clarity, conciseness, and engage with visual aids. Maintain an energetic tone to compensate for the lack of physical presence. Encourage interaction through polls and Q&A, moderating pacing for better absorption. Be technically prepared, familiarize with the platform, and ensure a well-lit environment. Record for broader accessibility. Post-presentation, offer a summary, key takeaways, and discussion avenues. Solicit feedback for continuous improvement, refining your virtual delivery style for effective internal communication.
To enhance your virtual presentation, vary your tone, maintain a conversational pace, and use engaging visuals. Incorporate interactive elements, like polls or Q&A sessions, to involve your audience. Practice good camera presence, ensure clear audio, and adapt to your audience's preferences for an effective and dynamic delivery.
My tip: Prepare content well, keep it concise and to the point, be mindful of non-verbal expression as well as your presence in front of the camera. Body posture and facial expressions are perceived even more strongly due to the short distance to the camera. Record a personal trial run in a remote setting and review it. Ask yourself: Would you like to listen to what you see, especially after enduring several hours of virtual meetings? Are you emphasizing your key messages at the right moments?
A clear and logical structure is essential for any presentation, but especially for a virtual one. You need to capture your audience's attention from the start, maintain their interest throughout, and end with a strong call to action or summary. You can use a simple framework like the PEP method (Point, Evidence, Point) or the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to organize your main points and support them with relevant data, stories, or examples. You can also use signposts, transitions, and summaries to guide your audience through your presentation and highlight the key messages.
The most important part of the whole process is Planning. Once the topic and duration are sorted, and you have an overview of what key points you would like to present, you then need to deep dive and plan in detail how best you can bring home each point. In a virtual presentation you can play around with different mediums like video, infographic, a walkthrough of tool/website/service to keep your audience engaged and make sure they get the best out of the presentation. Keep the right content (crisp, relevant, engaging, easy to understand) ready in the right medium to have the most impact. Also, do not forget to keep time at strategic points to engage with the audience via polls, QnA,or just an interactive chat.
Start strong: - Skip the boring welcome slide! Jump straight into something cool: a surprising fact, a funny story, or a question that makes everyone think. Like a movie trailer for your talk! - Smile big for the camera! Show your energy, even if you're stuck at home. Your mood spreads, even online. Talk, but with pauses: - Don't shout, change your voice up! It keeps folks listening. Remember, they can't see your hands, so use your voice to show what's important. - Stop sometimes! Let the big ideas stick before you move on. A good pause is stronger than a word avalanche.
A menudo, mis clientes me preguntan por algunas herramientas que potencien la narrativa o storytelling de sus presentaciones presenciales y virtuales. En cualquiera de las dos debe existir una trama principal que requiere de un gran detonador para iniciar y golpes o giros dramáticos que incrementarán el avance y ese suspenso que hará que la audiencia permanezca atenta. Una de las muchas razones por las cuales las personas dejan de poner atención radica, precisamente, en la falta de golpes dramáticos que aseguran el avance y el suspenso narrativos. Esto no sustituye a las metodologías usuales, sino que las complementa.
There are many tools and platforms available for virtual presentations, such as Zoom, Teams, PowerPoint, Prezi, or Google Slides. You need to choose the ones that suit your purpose, your audience, and your technical capabilities. You also need to familiarize yourself with the features and functions of your chosen tools, such as screen sharing, chat, polls, Q&A, or breakout rooms. You should test your tools before your presentation and have a backup plan in case of technical issues. You should also use visual aids, such as slides, charts, images, or videos, to enhance your presentation and make it more engaging and memorable.
Quite often for virtual presentations, you can't choose your platform. It is whatever your company allows or the conference organiser use. BUT you can choose to use additional lighting, special mics or headsets to give the best experience for your audience. You can also use background images or blur your background to minimise visual disruption. Always test in the room and position that you plan on presenting with. TIP> I enjoy using a standing desk whenever I can for virtual presentations as it makes it easier to breathe and relax (for me). AND no one will know if you take your shoes off.
?Pensemos en televisión! Casi nunca viene a nuestra mente que una presentación virtual debe ser tan atractiva, cautivadora y "caliente" como lo es un excelente programa de televisión en vivo. Al indispensable componente de la información, hay que agregar entretenimiento. Por lo tanto, el contenido y el material de apoyo ameritan complementarse de forma importante con el carisma del presentador y como utiliza su movimiento corporal, gestualidad, uso de la voz (volumen, tono y color) e incluso las manos. Comencemos por reflexionar en estos elementos y repensemos cómo podemos incorporar más y mejores valores de producción audiovisual a nuestros encuentros "live" con la audiencia.
One tool I have found helpful when speaking at or facilitating virtual meetings is a virtual meeting teleprompter app. From the participant perspective, I maintained eye contact and spoke comfortably (assuming I need to be on-camera). From my perspective, I felt calmer and more confident having my talking points right in front of me. And because I had practiced my delivery, using the teleprompter app helped me keep better timing and I was able to focus more on delivering my points persuasively. For others considering using virtual meeting teleprompter apps, there are both free and paid options out there. Some apps have automatic scrolling, allowing one to be hands-free when presenting; this can be a helpful feature when presenting.
Your delivery style is crucial for creating rapport and credibility with your audience in a virtual presentation. You need to adapt your voice, body language, and eye contact to suit the online environment and convey your enthusiasm and confidence. You can use techniques such as varying your pitch, tone, and volume, using pauses and emphasis, and speaking clearly and concisely. You can also use gestures, facial expressions, and head movements to show your emotions and reactions, and look at the camera or the screen to make eye contact with your audience.
A key thing is to show you. If your face is all someone can see, utilise the opportunity to show personality whether in your content or your facial expressions. We take so much from body language and in an in-person event, whether you own the entire stage or stay in one spot, people will build a trust and respect from whatever they see. If your face is all they see, use it. Smile down the camera, give good eye contact and if you can see their faces, ensure you interact with them. If you’re taking to the void add personal anecdotes so your audience get to know you a little - make a joke, link your content to a personal moment. Anything to engage but you have have to adapt yourself in the right scenario.
Being more animated can keep the energy level high when all you have is a screen. Drawing from my experience as a former television anchor, I've learned that using deliberate gestures (something as small as an occasional head tilt) makes a difference. Asking rhetorical questions also gives the illusion of a conversation.
Deliver your presentation by projecting a confident version of you and try bring energy into your presentation. Your audience will feel your engagement and this will be noticeable when you are presenting in a virtual setting. You can make your presentation interactive to further engagement.
I always say to presenters, above all be yourself, and amplify your traits by about 10% In other words, be you, just slightly more animated that normal. It may feel unnatural to you, but to an audience it is imperceptible and simultaneously serves as a way of keeping them engaged. This is especially true in a virtual setting, where your full body language is cut off, as the audience is only seeing you from the shoulders up. Smiling and more expressive movement with your hands can go a long way to counteracting the limitations of the format
When presenting virtually, you need to introduce some creativity! If the presentation can be a bit more casual and personal, for example, a town hall, use polls to break up the presentation and get the audience interacting. If you can, call out the contributions of other people who are on the call. Pause regularly and ask if everyone understands the material or has questions. I'd avoid opening up the discussion to alternative views as you can quickly be derailed. And definitely, add in the opportunity for Q&A--that is key in a virtual presentation!
One of the biggest challenges of virtual presentations is keeping your audience engaged and attentive. You need to use strategies to interact with your audience and make them feel involved and valued. You can use questions, polls, quizzes, or games to stimulate their curiosity and participation. You can also use stories, anecdotes, or humor to connect with them on a personal level. You can also encourage feedback and comments from your audience, either verbally or through chat or other channels. You should acknowledge and respond to their input and thank them for their contribution.
Chances are, you’ve been given the virtual microphone because of your expertise. But in order for your audience to walk away feeling supported, seen and impacted, you need to authentically connect with them. Learn about your audience before the session - what are their needs, goals, barriers and pain points? What relatable experiences and memorable stories can you share that shine a light on how to navigate similar situations? What insight would you love (not just like) to pass on — that passion will come through in your presence and energy.
While audience participation can be slightly more challenging in a virtual setting, it is still possible to leverage things like emojis to facilitate interaction. This also helps with more introverted members of the audience who may feel more comfortable using virtual signals like this to express interest and engagement. Some platforms even allow for interactive polls or quizzes (like Mentimeter and Kahoot) which can be a fun way to engage, as well as provide interesting insights to discuss.
The last step of your virtual presentation is to follow up with your audience and reinforce your main points and actions. You can send a summary, a recording, or a transcript of your presentation to your audience, along with any additional resources or links that they may find useful. You can also ask for feedback, suggestions, or questions from your audience and address them promptly and professionally. You can also use this opportunity to build relationships and networks with your audience and explore further opportunities for collaboration or communication.
For any virtual presentation, I think it is important to have some follow-up resources or materials. You can tease it in the promotion of the event; mention it at the start of the event, and then follow up with an email sharing the content/resources. This serves the double function of staying connected with the audience, as well as giving them something of value as a takeaway
Our approach is the ‘backward mullet’ style of online delivery. Party at the front and business at the back. Everything needs to be military organised in the back end (survey links, music cues, slides, agenda timings, microphones etc), but it has to look like a party to the viewer! We are used to screens being a source of entertainment, so channel your inner ‘kids TV presenter’ energy and have fun. I guarantee, you need to deliberately overdo it on the energy, pace, vocal tone and facial expressions just to get the same result as a ‘normal’ IRL presentation. Oh, and make eye contact with the camera, not your slides or your screen.
However long you usually take to deliver a presentation in person, try to make it significantly shorter for a virtual presentation. You don’t have the luxury of having people’s undivided attention online, so get in, get the message across as efficiently as possible, and get out. If your virtual presentation isn’t engaging enough to get people to watch it on demand after the fact, it’s not going to be engaging enough to get people to watch it live.