Best practices for a successful online presentation
This blog is brought to you by Holly Brennan, Account Coordinator, MAVERICK
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual conferences and other online meetings have become prominent tools in the workforce and it looks like they’ll be here to stay indefinitely.
To ensure virtual meetings are engaging, productive and an overall success, MAVERICK has developed a series of helpful tips.
Practise makes perfect
Before taking your virtual conference live, it’s important for you and your team to conduct a dry run of the presentation. This will avoid any technology hiccups, awkward pauses, reading off scripts and repetition of information.
If feasible, record your dry run and re-watch it so you can identify areas that could use improvement. It can benefit your analysis to focus on a few specific skills.
Appoint a moderator
A meeting without a moderator is almost certain to go off track. By appointing a moderator, your team can be confident that your meeting will flow and keep everyone focused on the topic.
Having a moderator for online meetings is especially important as there's a high chance of miscommunication due to internet connectivity and audio or video quality issues.
A moderator can manage time, significantly boosting productivity as it helps you extract a lot more value in the allotted time.
Engage your audience
Avoid following a script and find time to rehearse the delivery. By reading off a script, you will quickly lose the interest of your audience. Rather, create an outline with bullet points so you can ensure you’re on track while still sounding authentic and conversational.
Make the presentation a conversation. Engage with the audience at at least every third slide by asking a question, seeking feedback or creating a poll.
You want the presentation to be visually appealing to keep the audience alert. This can be done by incorporating lots of images and limited text per slide.
Whatever the purpose of the call, provide value to attendees by clearly communicating your message and giving them actionable tips and advice.
Minimize distractions
Distractions can easily cause miscommunication in an online meeting. To avoid this when cameras are turned on, encourage both presenters and the audience to participate in a well-illuminated room with a clear background.
Use headphones and a collar mic instead of your laptop's mic to ensure clear communication.
End with a call-to-action
Do not end the meeting with vague messaging.
Utilize the moderator to extract action items for each of the agenda items and provide the audience with a list of main takeaways.
Seek feedback from audience and always ask for ways the you can improve the next meeting.
Finally, if you’re struggling to stay productive while working remotely, check out our blog for tips on how to work from home effectively.
Stay safe, stay well, keep happy!
Pro tip: Turn on Zoom’s ‘Touch Up My Appearance’ feature for the morning meetings you aren’t quite fully awake for! Its a filter to your video display that gives your face a softer look and minimizes those dark circles 😉
