Hot Tips for Virtual Presentations
by Dana Bristol-Smith

Many companies are using online services such as WebEx to deliver information to employees and customers who are geographically dispersed. Technology company Agilent uses WebEx for interactive learning and training services, product demonstrations, technical seminars, and company briefings. In fact, they hold more than 200 virtual meetings a day!

Has your company traded live face-to-face meetings and presentations to online? If you work for a large company with multiple locations, get ready because if your company hasn't gone virtual yet, it will soon.

Here are a few guidelines to follow from KRM, a leader for virtual seminars, events and briefings for when you find yourself presenting in a virtual environment.

Before Your Session

1. Turn off any devices (such as cell phones, pagers, call waiting, speakers on your computers, etc.) that might make noise during the program, and take steps to eliminate the possibility of anyone walking in on you during the program.

2. Do not participate from a speaker phone or cell phone - the sound quality is poor. Use a headset or your standard telephone handset.

3. Remember that you are fully connected to the listeners throughout the course of the program. Take care to minimize extraneous noise from your location, such as shuffling through papers. If you use the headset, you can use the mute button during extended periods when you are not lecturing or commenting.

4. Have a glass of water at your desk to sip on throughout the program. Use a straw so as not to interfere with the placement of the headset microphone.

During Your Session

1. Speak Clearly - It's a big audience out there. Speak in a conversational tone and at a moderate pace. Elaborate on your speaking points, and try to avoid reading your presentation.

2. Refer To Your Written Materials -Please regularly refer to your location in the written materials (by page number, slide number or some other reference point) so that listeners will have a visual anchor and can more easily remain engaged as they listen to your remarks.

3. Simultaneous Remarks - Simultaneous remarks are particularly hard to understand on the telephone. Try to be patient and not speak on top of others when you are in group discussions or responding to listeners' questions.

4. Identify Yourself - When responding as a part of a panel of speakers to the listeners' questions it is helpful to identify yourself, e.g., "this is John...my suggestion is....".

As you can see most of these suggestions are common sense. It's important to remember that your voice is the only connection that you have to your virtual audiences.

Be descriptive, clear and engaging to keep your audience with you at all times. See you in cyberspace!

For more info on Virtual Presentations visit KRM

About the Author
Dana Bristol-Smith is the founder of Speak for Success, an organization that works with companies that want their people to communicate with confidence and credibility. You can email Dana at:dana@speakforsuccess.net

Home