Preparing Great Virtual Presentations

It is just a week before your virtual presentation, and you want to make sure that everything goes just right. Here are some items that you want to make sure you have on your checklist.

Send a Motivating E-mail Reminder to Participants before the Presentation


Keeping your future attendees aware of the event will help to build excitement for it. If applicable, remind participants why the presentation is valuable to them personally, not just to their organization. Ideally, you want the attendees to feel as though they get to participate in your virtual presentation, rather than that they have to do so. Playing up what they stand to benefit from it personally only increases your chance of this outcome. Be sure that your requests highlight what would be of value to them, not to you. This announcement should be more detailed than the confirmation. Include help-desk information for technical problems that may occur before or during the virtual presentation. Warn participants not to plan to call from a cell phone. Often the reception is poor, and everyone gets to hear the static. Finally, recommend that audience members participate in the presentation using a headset or a quiet room, so that they can concentrate and not disturb others.


Review and Refine your Presentation Materials

If you have conducted the virtual presentation before, take some time to refine the presentation based upon your prior experiences and to personalize the presentation to the attendees. Include their company logo in your presentation and handouts. Use terms that are part of their industry jargon.


Check the Room where you will be Conducting the Event
If possible, gain information on the rooms that the attendees will use. If several participants are located in the same remote site, check that the site meets your needs in terms of the size and layout, access to computers, number of chairs, and equipment in working order. 

As the presenter, you may use a conference room, a corporate office, or your home office. You just want to make sure that you have a quiet and private location to eliminate distractions. If you will be conducting your virtual presentation from a home office, place the dog outside and ask your family to go to the mall or a park.

Select your Wardrobe

Lean toward the conservative side. Wear neutral, solid clothing. Avoid stripes, plaids, and floral designs. Make sure that your clothes contrast with the background colors. Try everything on beforehand to ensure that you have not gained enough weight to make for a distractingly too-tight outfit. This is the time to learn that a shirt is missing a button or that you need to take a trip to the dry cleaner.

Build a List of Participants
Include participants basic job information, and distribute the list to all attendees. This will provide attendees with a sense of community and you with a vehicle for referring to participants by name and knowing something about them. Add more information about attendees as they introduce themselves, such as their company, department, position, and what they hope to glean from the presentation. 

Upload Supporting Materials
If your virtual presentation software supports uploading materials to a shared folder, upload everything that you intend to distribute during the session to the folder. Then you won’t have to worry about whether participants will be able to access the materials easily before, during, and after your presentation.



Rehearse!
There is no substitute for rehearsal time. Each speaker needs to practice delivering her presentation aloud as if there were an audience listening. Rehearsing is the only way to work out timing, find the right words, and become comfortable with transitions and segues between talking points. Audiences can easily distinguish between a presenter who is confident, unrushed, and unflustered and one who is struggling with phrasing and pacing. When you rehearse, practice slowing down your speech. Most presenters tend to move too quickly and risk breezing by a key point. When you rehearse, do so using the computer that you will use for the presentation. That way, you will be able to recognize and resolve issues way ahead of time.

This is an except from “Virtual Presentations that Work”, published by McGraw-Hill and available from Amazon.com and other fine book sellers.

Five Tasty Morsels for Conducting Virtual Demonstrations

1.  Never be the “sage on the stage.” 

Always attempt to be the “guide on the side.” Unless you are a thrilling speaker or a Nobel Prize winner, or unless your audience is composed of young children, no one fully appreciates a sage. Attendees want to have some participation in the experience and some involvement in its direction. You are the presenter, though, and you are there for a reason. You were chosen because of your credibility and expertise. You have a great deal of wisdom and knowledge to share. That is not enough. A major factor in the success of your presentation will be your ability to relate to the members of your audience and get them involved in your presentation.

2.  Everyone likes a good story

Use case studies or stories to engage participants. Ask participants to share their own experiences related to the content. A good story is like the peanut butter with the pill inside—it makes everything go down more smoothly. When people are relating to you, they will be more open to the information that you present and whatever actions you suggest that they take.

3.  Use strong presentation strategies. 

Present key ideas using different types of media. These include text, graphics, animations, illustrations, diagrams, schematics, and models. Keep in mind that excessive animation can be distracting and that lengthy text is difficult to read on the screen. Use additional presentation strategies that include simulations, analogies, case studies, examples of doing it “right,” non-examples that feature what not to do, mnemonics, jokes, war stories, and testimonials. The sky is the limit, and you are restricted only by your imagination. There are many different content delivery types (lectures, interviews with subject matter experts, participant demonstrations, and so on), and you should switch between them frequently. Tell stories to support your main points, and add interesting photographs and other media. Present information in a video format when you need to conduct a live demonstration or to include a message from senior management or other company leaders. 

4.  Present familiar information from another point of view. 

If you are covering the history of England, do so from the perspective of King Arthur. Try acting out the role of the customer and presenting information from her standpoint on the efficient usage of the application you’re presenting.

5.   Focus on the delivery, not just the content.

While the content of your presentation is crucial, the way you deliver it plays a huge role in how the audience accepts your message. Here are a few important guidelines to adhere to.

● Stick to the schedule.
● Structure your presentation for maximum affect. 
● Present information in short and logical chunks.
● Maintain a casual and effective tone. 
● Keep a brisk pace. 
● Use repetition artfully.
● Gracefully handle distractions 


This is an except from “Virtual Presentations that Work”, published by McGraw-Hill Professional, and available from Amazon.com and other fine booksellers.

End with a Bang!

The ending of your presentation should be its pinnacle, not its abyss. Everything that you have done so far should lead up to a crescendo. I recommend that you never end a presentation with a dry restatement of the agenda. Never say, “Let’s summarize what we’ve covered.” Go back to why attendees are here in the first place.

If the presentation was meant to address a problem or a yearning, do not simply remind them of that fact. Get them to feel it. Creating a feeling rather than describing it is one of the most basic differences between writing and poetry. Standard communication tells you that it is snowing, but poetry compels you to feel the coldness and wetness of the snow. It evokes the emotion of what it was like when you were a child, saw the pure white blanket, and felt that thrilling sense of not having to go to school. Go back to your introduction, conjure up the hopes and dreams that participants had at the beginning of the presentation, and help them imagine what it will feel like when they realize those dreams.

Focus on enabling attendees to answer the following questions:

Why did they come there? What was their goal?
What will they do tomorrow, in a week, and in a month to attain that goal?
What was their experience like?
What type of support can they expect from you, or from others?
What will success be like for them personally? 
How will they continue what they have started today?

Two Great Unfounded Fears

Most presenters have two unfounded fears: (1) that they will finish their presentation early, and (2) that they will not have enough time to share all the information that they wanted to cover. Since most of us are well versed in the subject matter of our virtual presentation, we feel that we have a great deal of knowledge and would like to share as much of it as we can with our attendees. Often, we overestimate the amount of knowledge that suits our goals and attendees’ patience. Whenever possible, slim down your virtual presentation so that you can end on time. Most of us have complained when presentations ran over, but I do not think that anybody has ever complained when one ended early. We are typically overjoyed that we have a few moments in which to send an e-mail or make a call before our next meeting. Finally, it is far better to leave your audience hungry for more than overwhelmed than bored with having received too much. Let the attendees crave a bit more, so that they will explore on their own, attend your more advanced presentation, or look forward to a follow-up call.

Receiving Feedback
One of the best ways to improve your virtual presentation is to solicit feedback on how well it went. As I’ve mentioned before, there are several ways to do this, such as asking attendees to complete a comment form or a survey. You may also feel that if they do not complete the form while they are in the presentation, they never will. You are probably right! My recommendation is that you think very hard about what type of information you really need and keep your questions to a bare minimum. Reasonable requests are:

How likely are you to use the skills covered in this presentation within the next week?
Are you interested in knowing more about how our event management services can make planning your next event more convenient?
How comfortable do you feel with your knowledge of our new health plan? 
Are there any areas that you still find unclear?
Would you like to stay in touch? How (e-mail or phone) and when?

Be very specific, and do not ask for information that you are not sure you will use. Regardless of how much time you give them, participants will probably spend less than a minute providing you with information, so choose what you request wisely. You can always send a more detailed questionnaire in a day or two.

Never End a Presentation with a Question-and-Answer Session
You need to end your presentation with an inspirational finale and a call to action. Nothing is more deflating than then a question-and-answer session. Try doing these throughout your session or early in your ending. I know that this sounds counterintuitive, but trust me: it works.

Be Helpful
Display your e-mail or Web address for at least 30 seconds toward the end of your presentation. This will convince attendees that you really do want them to contact you if they have any questions. Be sure to respond to any questions in 24 hours or less.

Disconnect Please
Ask all attendees to disconnect from the session, and make sure that they do so. Be very sure of this before you make any comments that you may regret later. People have lost good careers for not being careful about making sure that all attendees gave disconnected before making “questionable” remarks.

This is an except from “Virtual Presentations that Work”, published by McGraw-Hill Professional, and available from Amazon.com and other fine booksellers.

When to Consider a Virtual Presentation (and When Not To)

As the author of a book about conducting virtual presentations, I have an obvious bias toward presenting virtually whenever possible. Having said that, though, I am a pragmatist: there are going to be times when giving a virtual presentation would not be the best way to go. In most cases, I would encourage you to consider conducting a virtual presentation, but there are definitely circumstances that call for the tried-and-true technique of presenting in person. Here is a breakdown of times when you should consider a virtual presentation, and times when you should not.
Virtual Presentations are a Must When You…

Need to present to more than 25 people at the same time

As stated previously, there is only so much space in a conference room. Whenever you need to send a message to the entire floor or the entire company, your best bet is to go virtual.

Need to reach people far away (cheaply)

If it’s in your company’s best interest to keep the travel budget low, then a virtual presentation can get your message across while saving a fortune in airfare. Virtual presentations will enable you to reach larger and more dispersed audiences that you may not have been able to reasonably accommodate in the past.

Have serious stage fright

Some people are excellent communicators in certain settings, but deathly afraid of being in the spotlight. They are great on the phone, but not so good in person. Although programs like Toastmasters can be beneficial in the long term for helping such people improve at presenting in person, in the short term, a virtual presentation is ideal.

Need the more advanced capabilities of virtual presentations.

You should consider using virtual if it would be beneficial to archive your presentation for viewing by those who were not able to attend in person. A virtual presentation may also benefit your organization by establishing and maintaining a cohesive group of participants (e.g., a community of practice) who stay in touch after your presentation. Finally, using frequent virtual presentations may foster collaboration and build stronger teams.

In-Person Presentations Are a Must When You . . .

Have bad news to deliver. If the meeting is about something that is deeply emotional, such as an announcement that layoffs are forthcoming or that performance has been poor all-around this quarter (and hopefully that isn’t the case for anyone reading this book!), then the message needs to be delivered in person. Many people feel that finding out bad news on a computer screen feels like a slap in the face on top of the bad news itself. It’s better to conduct these kinds of meetings in person.

Need to establish trust

A crucial objective of many meetings is to establish trust. Presentations designed to engender investor confidence or unquenchable desire for a new product would be a couple of examples. Establishing trust requires engaging many of the attendees’ senses. Visual cues and social presence are critical to building trust. These two elements are usually missing from a virtual presentation. They can be achieved only by someone who is highly skilled in the art and science of virtual presenting. After reading this book, though, you may become a member of this elite group.

Need to change attitudes

Conducting a presentation that can change people’s attitudes is difficult to pull off in person and nearly impossible in a virtual environment. As with building trust, visual cues and social presence are critical here. To succeed, these presentations not only need to establish trust, but must create an environment that is intimate, open, and accepting. After all, you might have to call people out on the carpet regarding their current attitudes before you explain the need for change. You may attempt such a feat with an audience of people who are already familiar with one another and are committed to the tasks at hand, but even then, you need to tread carefully.

Delivering Great Virtual Presentations – This is your time to Shine

You made it! The hard part is over—since you have rehearsed so much, the presentation should be a breeze. Remember to breathe and breathe deeply.

Leave no Participant Behind

Avoid scrolling quickly—some people take longer to read and digest information than others. Be aware that it may take a while for attendees’ screens to refresh. Assume a couple of seconds of lag time so that you leave nobody behind. When it’s important that the audience notices a particular point, pause, verbally call attention to what you would like the attendees to notice, and ask them if they are seeing it. If you click on something, describe what you are clicking on. Be sure to speak slowly and clearly. Avoid statements such as “look over here” or “notice this.” Instead, use statements such as “look at the second bullet of the screen” or “notice the arrow at the top left-hand corner of your display.”

Be Very Careful before you Press the Send Button

Be sure that you are sending your message where you want it to go.
Otherwise, you can embarrass yourself and offend others. You typically have the option of sending comments to another presenter, to a specific attendee, or to all participants. Check for typos as best you can, using the spell-check feature of your word processing application to create and check your comment and then just paste in into your message window.

Maintain a High Level of Energy

Sustain a fast and lively pace that might seem just a bit faster than is comfortable for the average participant. Smile; even if the attendees do not see you, a smile always shines through. You’ll find that people seem to be able to hear your smile. Vary your intonations. This includes your pitch, volume, and inflections. When you change the way you sound at times, it keeps listeners interested. Stay positive and enthusiastic. Avoid statement such as, “I hope this works.” Use the singular “you” in your statements and questions. Instead of saying, “I wonder if anyone out there can answer this question,” say something like, “I wonder if you know the answer to this question?” Listeners should have the feeling that you are speaking directly to them. Use attendees’ names as much as you can to add further personalization.

Be Flexible, Agile, and Intellectually Nimble

This is probably the one element that separates great virtual presenters from simply good ones.

Avoid Distributing all of your Handouts at the Beginning of your Presentation

Attendees often look ahead. Wait to distribute handouts until they are needed. It is acceptable to include contact information in your handouts, so that attendees can reach out to you if they need to. Be sure to make this information understated and tasteful. Send private messages to attendees complementing their chats and other involvement in your virtual presentation. Also, send chat messages to participants whom you feel need a little extra help or encouragement.

A Few More Thoughts

Where appropriate, include support information such as Web resources and an e-mail box for questions to subject matter experts (SMEs). Include an “I didn’t know that “whiteboard where participants can write something new that they learned during the presentation and how they intend to use it. Expect that unexpected things will happen. Remember that you can broadcast the results of a poll as it is running or wait until it is winding down. I recommend waiting until it is winding down, so that attendees do not alter their answers to agree with the majority.

Virtual Presentations that Work

Executives of Fortune 100 companies are directing their organizations to conduct more meetings using electronic conferencing software (e.g., Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro, WebEx). Technical communicators are concerned that the limitations of the medium will severely diminish the effectiveness of their presentations. They want to prepare themselves to develop and conduct electronic meetings that are compelling, interactive, and motivational.

Read this article published by Ezine @articles for a wealth of ideas that are useful in organizing virtual meetings:

Virtual Presentations that Work