We were all thrown into this virtual world kicking and screaming—virtual meetings, virtual presentations, and virtual happy hours suddenly becoming the norm. There are a few things to keep in mind when facilitating a virtual meeting or presentation, as well as things to consider when part of the audience.
As a presenter, nobody wants to look up at your nose, see you walking around the house, see your cat or dog on the camera, or see your silhouette because you’re sitting in front of a sunny window. Eye contact is critical when making a presentation, and virtually, this means looking at your camera, not the pictures on your screen.
As an audience member, keep your camera on if possible. Turning your camera off gives the presenter the impression you are disengaged and uninterested. A virtual meeting is a professional event, so keep in mind what others are seeing and show up as if it were in person: on time and properly dressed. Mute the audio when you’re not talking.
Virtual meetings can suck, but it’s your job as a presenter to make sure they suck less. Here are 8 tips you can use to not suck and engage your audience:
- Eye contact
- Stand up
- Purchase a good microphone (but not too expensive)
- Utilize breakout rooms
- Use polling question
- Use Conferences i/o
- Use multi-camera shots
- Simplify your slides and tell more stories
As a bonus, here are some tips for your internet speed and connection:
- Know your minimum internet speed, upload bandwidth, and network latency
- Internet speed should be 200mb/s, upload bandwidth should be 1.5mb/b, and network latency should be less than 100ms
- Improve your internet speed by shutting down background programs, freeing up hard drive space, and rebooting your router and modem.
If you follow these tips, you should be well on your way to giving a better and more engaging virtual presentation.
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