How can you ensure a successful group presentation in a remote setting?

Obviously, the first step is to plan your content. And that leads to the second obvious step. Why are these people speaking? Why do we need all of them? If there's no significant added benefit from adding an extra face, that face shouldn't be there. If it's a group presentation, it should be one because it has to be.

One crucial point is to consider the audience. Much information is relevant, accessible, or even engaging to some people while not to others. Could you make sure people want to hear what you are bringing? If yes, perfect! But, if they are not, create that rapport by bringing your presentation as a solution to their routine situation - if they see this in their reality, they will pay attention.

There are no guarantees, but preparation is critical, consider the following key steps: 1. Being well-versed in the platform you'll be using is crucial. Is it Teams or Zoom, for example? Take the time to explore and understand its features thoroughly. 2. Get in the habit of doing a tech check before the presentation. Check that the audio and camera are in working order. Halo-type light will enhance your appearance and create a professional atmosphere. 3. Film a practice presentation, imagine your audience in your mind's eye. Pretend you're addressing them directly, and anticipate potential questions during your run-through. This sharpens your delivery and helps clarify any points that may arise during the presentation. Good luck!

Have an agenda with someone clearly stating and seeking affirmation regarding the agenda. This includes time, topics, and ownership of items.

You need to think about different interests of the group you are speaking too. You can have different people types in group. They can be more Expiriencing or Conceptualising or Reflecting or Acting or some combination of those, types. Some will be interested in WHY. Others in WHAT or even WHAT IF. And there will be people interested in HOW. Having that in your mind will help you to better prepare and include all aspects in your presentation

You would definitely like to engage people and get insights from them. Giving equal time for everyone to contribute is a key if you want to have proper results because quiest person in the group sometimes have the best idea. Virtual breakout rooms in combination with Liberating structures is a great way to do it

While communicating, Test Your Technology! Before your presentation, make sure to test your technology. Ensuring you’ve got the right remote presentation tools to work with.

When running an online group session, communicating frequently with your audiences ensures that you have a successful and interactive session. To do that, you need to regularly check in with your group either through engagement in the chat or asking lots of questions. For example, get the group to respond by typing a number into the chat, if they agree. Use part of an introduction to type in where they are logging in from to get them engaged right from the start. The more you can do to interact with your learners, the more likely you are to have a successful learning experience.

Try not to learn your content by memory or any minor slip up will make your presentation crumble. Make a list of the essential point you have to go through and learn that one. Also, make sure to test your tech in a realistic environment; if you're gonna use a specific zoom account, test with this one, as they have different setting and it can be confusing and time consuming to fix live. Lastly, make sure the rest of your team knows when to enter the stage and when to leave it, not to have awkward silences waiting for something expected that is not going to happen. Best of luck!

During the practice sessions, the team must use Signposting. Signposting is a communication technique used to give an audience an indication of progress through a narrative. For example, If you are showcasing 3 opportunities to an audience in a slide deck, then let them know that there are 3 opportunities at the beginning, and iterate which point you are emphasizing as you go along. This helps to avoid the dreaded, “when will this be over?”.

Practicing a group presentation beforehand is integral to your success. By giving your presentation a run through, you can get to see the timing of the overall presentation and how the transitions work with respect to the slides. IT issues and technical glitches can potentially be ironed out at the practice session and hopefully will be eliminated by the time of the actual delivery. While there may be technical glitches on the day, a preliminary practice run will give you more confidence to deal with them on the day. Use peer and self feedback to make improvements so that you have a smooth and successful delivery.

Using tools like kahoot come in handy when creating presentations as it gives everyone a chance to contribute. Activities that require breakout rooms (via zoom) are an excellent way to get people to engage as well.

Another way to engage people is to get them to move. Like in a real workshop where we use energizers, I recommend taking frequent breaks or adding fun quizzes that gets them up and using props where they are.

One thing I find really useful is to start the session with some light hearted banter so that there is engagement. Often, participants come to the session and get right into the agenda. It helps dedicating a few minutes at the beginning for people to relax and share a light story etc. If your session starts on a light note where everyone has laughed or bonded together, you will be off to a great start.

I've found that designing a presentation interspersed with relevant and short music clips and/or visual clips ... helps keep attention spans raised and focused. Apparently our brains are wired to retain 3 things. Consciously design a presentation around 3 take-aways that also serve as a common denominator. Get the audience to collectively and/or individually repeat the 3 things/take-aways. We memorise/internalise, process and anchor information best when he hear, write and repeat!

One Plan B I use for my virtual presentations where I have over 50 people attend is this. I will start the meeting on my laptop, then join the session on my phone as well. That way, if I have network issues or Teams issues, I just pick up my phone, unmute and continue the conversation without the lag of logging back in. This has saved me a number of times. Another thing I do is to select a friendly participant - and advise them that if my connection drops out, for them to step in as facilitator while I log back in. This has saved me on countless occasions.

Don’t Put People on the Spot In remote meetings, it can be tempting to ask people direct questions or to deflect questions to others. If you are asked a question and you need to pass it to a teammate, don’t throw them a hot potato. Mention their name, and provide some context in case they weren’t paying attention. For example, instead of “Ryan, what do you think about that?”, try “Ryan, we are considering the benefits of X over Y in the context of Z, what are your thoughts?”.

Following up with your audience is a vital component of delivery a presentation. When we follow up, we are inviting our audience to stay in our world. Initially they may be able to provide you with valuable feedback so that you can improve your content and delivery. However, also consider this. Not everyone wants to sign up to a product or service immediately, but by providing additional support or content, they may become your future clients. Follow up can therefore lead to raving fans and we all want more of those.

A successful group presentation will depend on 1. Team work and collaboration 2. Having a clear idea about who will present what and when 3. Interaction with the audience 4. Interest, excitement and enthusiasm to present the ideas well 5. Each idea could be presented in a creative and different way..divergence and convergence can be followed 6.Taking questions at the end

To truly exceed everyone’s expectations, stay away from the “this will do” mentality. Invest in good design and tech equipment that will turn your boring remote presentations into professional ones. This is the first aspect that will capture people’s attention and get them eager to hear what you have to say.

Assigning roles for more than one: -Planner: setting meeting time, audience invitation. Can help with any technical issues. -Facilitator : guide the meeting, help with admitting audience -Builder: monitor the engagement, ask for a feed back. Make sure that every one voice is heared. -Messenger: communicate the meeting time and other tasks -Reporter: document the meeting highlights. This will help in making the process easier and successful. Allow time for check in where you ask members to try the online platform tools to make sure every one is ok with the platform.