Preparing an Online Presentation
Although we were already heading in the direction anyway, the pandemic has quickened the transition to digital experiences. With people forced to work from home for much of 2020, businesses had to operate somehow, and this meant online interactions. As well as online Zoom meetings, we saw online conferences and other events that were typically held in physical locations move to digital experiences.
With this in mind, people who previously managed to avoid the digital wave were forced to adapt. It became normal to lead online presentations from home, but how do you master this art? There’s a big difference between average and excellent online presentations. Keep reading if you don’t want to send people to sleep with your next online presentation. We’ve compiled some of the most effective tips from industry experts!
Prepare All Technology
Is there anything more awkward than sitting in an online presentation while the host is mumbling to themselves trying to get technology to work? It’s the worst nightmare for many, and you can avoid it with some tech preparation. When it comes to technology, apply Murphy’s Law — anything that can go wrong, will.
Therefore, your job is to make technical issues as unlikely as possible. For starters, make sure you have a strong internet connection. Use a sub-optimal WIFI connection and it won’t be long before the problems begin. If you have others at home, ask them to avoid video games and TV streaming for an hour.
Next, export your presentation as a PDF just in case there’s a problem with your slides on Microsoft PowerPoint — likewise, have a tablet or phone nearby as a backup. Before the presentation begins, look through your open applications and close as many as possible. Unfortunately, leaving emails, browsers, and other applications open will only slow your computer.
Finally, make sure that you’re familiar with the tools you’re going to use in the presentation. Don’t go to all the effort of optimizing the technology without testing it yourself. How do comments work? How do you mute your microphone? Will attendees have their microphones muted? How do you stop attendees from having too much control over the presentation (in terms of muting and other settings)?
Simple is Best
Now that you’re familiar with all the technology, let’s look at the presentation itself. We recommend simplifying all slides for two reasons:
- It’s easier to read and follow for others
- There’s less to go wrong from a technical standpoint
You don’t need text to fly in from the right-hand side of the screen because this is just another element that can cause issues during the presentation. What’s more, use contrasting colors so that all slides are easy to read.
Regardless of the importance of your presentation, many attendees will still try to do other things at the same time. Therefore, your key messages need to have power and impact. Use clear headlines, slide titles, and make the key points obvious.
Choose the Right Location
Often, we see people who spend so much time on their presentation that they forget their surroundings. The last thing you need is for your attendees to get distracted by toys, plants, cars outside the window, books, food, pets, and other items in the background. For maximum attention, dress up professionally and use a plain background.
If you don’t have a plain wall to use as your background, use a clever virtual background tool to create your own. Of course, we aren’t suggesting placing yourself as a scuba diver surrounded by fish (we’re sure you’ve seen your fair share of these since the start of the pandemic!). Yet, you can create a clean virtual background that won’t detract from your presentation.
Carefully Select the Lighting
Not everybody has a professional lighting setup in their home, and by this, we mean that nobody has a professional lighting setup in their home. However, just a few small steps could help. For example, light up your face with a desk lamp directly above the camera. If possible, eliminate all other lights in the room and allow this desk lamp to light your face from the front.
Inexperienced virtual meeting organizers believe that they should sit in front of a window. Naturally, the problem here is that most people will just see a dark shadow. Instead, turn 180 degrees and put the window behind the laptop (this will light up your face instead!).
Use Orai
Do you worry about the delivery part of the presentation? Nailing the lighting and slides means nothing if you can’t deliver the content effectively. With this in mind, explore advanced public speaking apps like Orai.
Once on your phone, you can practice your speech on Orai while the artificial intelligence model offers feedback. As well as an overall score, you’ll receive information about:
- Clarity
- Filler words
- Facial expressions
- Pace
- Pauses
- Conciseness
- Energy
Rather than bumbling your way through the speech as quickly as possible, Orai will teach you to speak with clarity, fewer filler words, conciseness, and energy. Master these different aspects and you’ll engage the audience from start to finish. Thanks to the interactive lessons and progress tracking, you’ll see your improvement before your very eyes.
Dress Professionally
We’ve alluded to this before but working from home doesn’t mean that you can deliver an online presentation in your pajamas. Not only should you dress professionally, but you should also dress carefully. What does this mean? Avoid distracting patterns or colors. Additionally, don’t wear satin, silk, or any other shiny material. If possible, stick with one color so that people engage with your facial expressions rather than the movement of a shirt or top.
Look Into the Camera
During physical presentations, experts will advise you to look into the eyes of your audience. Now that you’re online, you don’t just abandon this piece of information. Remember, people are watching your face, so looking back at them into the camera makes for a more engaging presentation. Beginners often watch the participants while delivering a presentation online, but this means that, to them, you’re looking down.
This year, place some books under your laptop and lift the camera to eye level. Then, address people directly by looking into the camera. Although this will take some practice, it will take your online presentation to the next level this year. To prevent your face from looking blown up, sit back slightly from the camera. With professional attire, you can sit up comfortably against the back of the chair, and you’ll look great for all participants.
Remove All Other Sounds
Another top tip is to work in a quiet room (or even a quiet building). We know what you’re thinking, how am I supposed to work in a quiet building when everybody is home? Those with children know that asking them to remain quiet is like asking the sun not to shine. While you can’t always control the environment within your home, what you can do is invest in a good headset/microphone. These days, you’ll find devices that eliminate outside sounds. This way, people watching your online presentation will only hear your voice.
Remove All Distractions
Along similar lines, remove as many distractions from the room as possible. If you need your phone in the room as a backup device, turn it on silent. Simultaneously, turn all computer notifications off. The more distractions you have, the more likely you are to lose your place in the middle of a speech (and this creates an awkward moment!).
If you’re at home with family, let them know not to disturb you for a period. Furthermore, hang a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door just in case somebody forgets.
Engage and Re-Engage
There’s no doubt about it, engaging people in an online presentation is much harder than being in the same room. The longer the presentation, the harder people find it to remain concentrated. Consequently, we recommend re-engaging users frequently to make sure that they’re still paying attention.
Here are some top tips to re-engage your audience during an online presentation:
- Don’t pack lots of information onto each slide (spread it across more slides)
- Use images and videos as visual aspects (rather than huge blocks of text!)
- Ask questions and look for comments and feedback
- Vary your voice and use interesting anecdotes
- Don’t be afraid to show your personality and character
Also, take advantage of the attendee tracking features offered by many web conferencing platforms. For instance, some allow you to see whether individual attendees have another app or window open. Over time, check how many people have another window at the front of their screen and base your engagement methods on this information.
Have Fun
If you aren’t having fun, nobody else is going to enjoy the presentation either. Therefore, enjoy the presentation and see it as an opportunity to connect with the audience rather than just endlessly reading information from the slides. As a bonus tip, know your audience since this will make it easier to write content that resonates with them!
