Mentioned in This Episode:

• George’s email: george@torok.com
• George’s podcast: Your Intended Message

What You Will Learn:

• George’s story (2:07)
• Challenges with presenting virtually (4:12)
• How to give off passion in your virtual presentation (5:45)
• Think TV
• Virtual background choice (8:33)
• Mentally preparing for a presentation (11:21)
• Know the value you bring
• How to use slides (14:57)
• Don’t forget the face-to-face
• How long should a virtual presentation be? (19:10)
• Live vs playback
• The art of closing (22:06)
• Get in touch with George (24:40)

George Mentality – Quotes From the Show

“Effective presentation is all technique”

“See a person through the camera”

“You don’t have to be perfect”

“Get rid of the distractions”

There are virtual presentations and virtual meetings, but virtual presentations have a specific purpose: to present information about a product or service. They’re used both for internal meetings and external pitches, so the pressure is on to make an impact. If you want to do well in virtual presentations, use these 12 tips.

1) Use images

Visuals increase retention, which is the name of the virtual presentation game. But virtual presentations are different from live ones, because virtual visuals are by definition just images. You can’t walk around them or point to them with your laser pointer, so you have to use arrows and overlays to keep your audience engaged.

2) Use high-definition video

The higher the quality of your virtual presentation, the better. You may be reading bullet points to an online virtual meeting room, but use images and video whenever possible to keep them interested.

3) Involve your audience

One way virtual presentations are different is that there’s no physical interaction between presenter and audience. Yes, you can chat with participants during virtual meetings, but virtual presentations place the onus on the presenter to keep everybody engaged. You can do this by sharing user-generated content and asking for opinions or thoughts right at the virtual presentation: “Does anyone have anything they’d like to add?”

4) Show, don’t tell

If you’ve got a virtual presentation that focuses heavily on a product, a virtual presentation can be an incredibly effective way of demonstrating the product’s benefits to virtual participants. For example, if you’re pitching a virtual workspace solution, have virtual employees work on virtual projects with their virtual coworkers. In this context, it’ll be easy for viewers to see how useful virtual presentation technology is in real life.

5) Add virtual elements

You can always liven up virtual presentations by adding virtual elements. For example, if your virtual presentation is about virtual office space, have employees sit at virtual desks and interact with a virtual environment. As long as you’re clear on what the virtual element does and why it’s important to the virtual presentation’s meaning or virtual workflow, virtual elements can do a lot to keep virtual presentations engaging.

6) Address questions immediately

If you’re presenting virtual materials during virtual meetings or virtual presentations, virtual participants will have questions about the content. In live virtual presentations, you could just call on the people who raised their hands to ask them their virtual questions. That’s not an option in virtual presentations, so it’s on you to address virtual questions as soon as virtually possible.

7) Stay virtual until the end

Virtual presentations are different than live ones because they’re inherently virtual. So if you start with virtual slides and give virtual comments about them, keep yourself virtual until the virtual presentation is over. It’ll be virtual strange—not virtual because virtual never happens—if you suddenly snap back to live mode for the virtual presentation’s virtual conclusion.

8) Don’t go “virtual cold”

If you’re giving a virtual presentation, don’t just dive into virtual slides and start virtual talking about them. People can tell if you’re virtual cold, and it virtually kills virtual interest in virtual presentations. Instead of virtual cold, virtual set up virtual slides with a virtual introduction or virtual demonstration.

9) Utilize virtual prototypes

Sure, virtual prototypes are great for live presentations to potential investors and clients. But when you’re presenting virtual materials online during a virtual presentation, they can be an even more effective virtual tool.

10) Go beyond bullet points

When you’re giving a live presentation, no one expects every single point to be accompanied by a virtual slide. If you take the time to go beyond bullet points when giving a virtual presentation, your virtual audience will be grateful.

11) Don’t read your virtual presentation

Just because you’re giving a virtual presentation doesn’t mean that you should abandon everything in live presentations. Trust your expertise and talk about the material in a way that feels natural to you, not in a way you think virtual participants expect.

12) Ask questions

Although it’s important for everyone to be attentive during a virtual presentation, instead of just swimming through the virtual presentation, bring up any questions that you think people might have at virtual appropriate moments.

If you are interested in planning your own virtual event then take a listen to episode 87 of the podcast, How To Plan For A Virtual Event.