4 Lessons Learned From Presenting at an Online Conference
How to prepare for difficulties that might occur during an online presentation and how to overcome them with elegance
A few weeks ago, I gave a presentation at the Women Tech Global Conference 2020 and attended some of the other sessions as well (you can find out more about the conference and my and my colleague’s talks in this article).
Here are the most important lessons I’ve learned during the conference, followed by real-life examples and how to overcome any obstacles that might occur.
1. Audio quality is #1
In online presentations, audio quality is one of the most vital factors of a successful session. Most of us have multiple options of a microphone at hand — you can use the built-in one in your laptop, AirPods, headset, wired headphones, … Invest your time in recording yourself using each of the options you have available and choosing the one that acquires the best and purest sound. During the test, keep in mind how far from the laptop you’ll be during the presentation and if the headphones wouldn’t interfere in your movements.
In my case, I have tried the MacBook built-in microphone, wired headphones, and AirPods. The wired headphones had some constant background noise, so I was deciding between AirPods and the built-in microphone, and in the end, went with the latter as AirPods sounded slightly artificial, or metallic.
2. Join the presentation also as an attendee
One of the biggest challenges of presenting online is that on most platforms, you’re not able to see what the audience sees. Moreover, when you display your presentation in the full-screen mode, you might not even be able to see the comments in the chat. Therefore, you can’t be sure whether you’re actually sharing your screen and if so, whether it is the prepared presentation you’re sharing.
One of the presenters was giving a superb speech, but in the middle, she paused the presentation to check in with the audience if everything was clear. Unfortunately, after returning to the talk, she forgot to share the slides again and therefore, during the second half of the session, the audience could only see the speaker. As she had the presentation in full-screen mode and all notifications turned-off (which is in fact a good practice), she didn’t know about it until the very end of the session.
An elegant way to overcome the possible issue of not sharing the content you’re willing to share is to bring a second device (a personal laptop, or you can ask your friend or colleague to lend you one) and use this device to join the presentation as an attendee. On this device, you can then check what exactly the audience sees, just don’t forget to mute the sound.
One of the speakers was presenting from her office with her colleague right next to her, who was logged in as an attendee and managed the chat. That is another possible and neat way of preventing issues from happening or dealing with them in an instant.
3. Create plans B
You might be thinking: “What could go wrong?” But trust me, if you’re giving a live presentation or showing a live demo, there’s a pretty high chance that something will. What if you forget to charge your AirPods sufficiently? What if your internet connection drops out? What if you’re not able to share the presentation?
At the beginning of my session, I logged into the meeting room, started sharing audio and camera and was happy that it went so smoothly. But then I clicked on the screen sharing button, and nothing happened, it was unclickable. Luckily, I had a second laptop with the audience view right next to me, so I was able to switch between them quickly.
It’s best to be prepared for all the unlikely events, just in case some of them actually happen. Have another pair of headphones within reach, consider using mobile hotspot instead of Wi-Fi connection, prepare a link to your presentation, which you could send the audience if you have difficulties sharing your screen.
Moreover, as it is with many things in life, it applies to this case as well: the power lies in diversity. Regardless of your personal preferences, a variety of operating systems might save you from a technical issue, just as it saved me.
4. Enjoy it
Last but not least, enjoy giving the presentation. The more you enjoy it, the more joy you will pass on to the audience. Try to remember the subjects you liked at school, was there one that you liked most likely not for the content but thanks to the teacher? I bet there was! Having an exciting content to present is one way to succeed but being enthusiastic about the topic and speaking about it with joy is not less important.
If you get overwhelmed by nervousness, open the session with your favorite song playing in the background. That will make the audience feel relaxed and prepared for your talk, plus it is a pleasant ice-breaker.
Thank you for reading up to this point. If you have any further questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a response. Also, if you have a topic in mind that you would like us to cover in future posts, let us know in the comments below.
