[Alert Sales & Marketing Team] How to Nail a Presentation virtually in 6 steps?

Are you a salesperson or a marketer who does a lot of presentations? What is that one thing that differentiates a good presenter from a bad one? A good presenter takes a lot of energy from the audience and acts accordingly. Also, smart ones do minor improvements based on the audience's reaction to the content. In the virtual world, you’re more and more likely to find yourself giving a remote presentation to a virtual roomful of colleagues. Especially in Zoom Presentations, you are most often staring at the Brady-Bunch-style quadrants on a computer screen. But, with no emotions, No claps, no woohoooo moments. And, when the Camera is off it becomes super awkward!!! Without in-person interaction, it’s harder to create a communal atmosphere and easier for people to get distracted and tune out. Some of them daydream while most of them fall asleep! Well! Nonverbal cues are a big deal in any presentation. So, as a virtual presenter, you now have two big challenges!!! 1. How do you elevate your presentation in a virtual meeting? 2. How to grab and engage the attention of your audience? Also, get the verbal and non-verbal cues as feedback to ensure that the presentation is doing good.

1. Tell them you are different:

Zoom Fatigue is a big deal now! Your audience comes well-prepared not to listen to you. The first thing you need to do is break this idea. Set a clear expectation. There are multiple techniques you can use to guarantee your audience that your presentation will be different. HOW? Call your audience by Name and welcome them individually. Do mention that the session will be followed by questions thereby leaving them no choice but to listen.

2. Please switch on the Camera:

Switching on the camera is a great deal to hook attention. Yes, you will see some drop in users when you ask the audience to switch on their camera too. But be very polite and always ask if it is possible to see them too. To avoid embarrassment, do mention this meeting is a video call and the audience will be prepared enough. Everyone is bored in the same room, all you need is a bit of push and you will have a great meeting for the week.

3. Ask at least one question every 10 mins:

The biggest mistake every presenter makes is talking into a laptop camera for 10 minutes straight. You look over the faces of your fellow attendees on-screen and they look bored, disengaged, or distracted. You ask a question and silence reigns, so you grit your teeth and barrel through your presentation, hoping to get things over as quickly as possible and finally end with some Q&A. It is a good practice to ask some questions, but ensure to clarify every 10 mins to know that they are listening. It is most likely that to your first question, they may go blank. Don't embarrass them! Instead, do a filling and help them. They will learn to gain attention in the future. Even while presenting, it is important to gauge audience reaction and interest.

4. Always have something interesting on your screen:

Loading your slides with just text? People can either listen to you or read through the slides. You choose! Because it is always very boring to listen to a presenter who is just reading aloud a slide full of text. Be it in person or virtual this is a big NO. Say you are using the Animaker deck to avoid all this. By using Characters that look like the presenter or your client. Sometimes it can be a big icebreaker. Try asking your audience, “Does this character look like me?” and capture their attention at ease. Break the monotony with personalized avatars in the presentation and a lot of companies are using them to their fullest. They help increase audience attention, boost feelings of inclusiveness, and encourage interaction. Jazz up your presentation with cool gifs, animations, videos to make it even more interesting. You can go that extra mile by adding a pinch of humor to it. After all, no one ever complained about a funny interlude in a presentation!

5. Move around to move your audience:

Nothing makes people feel closer and connected than moving themselves towards the camera. This is a very old technique which the theater artists and film actors do a lot. Moving towards or away from the camera to make people hooked to the story. So, it is a good idea to move towards the camera and move back some time to gain attention. Even some presenters walk and show set props to make it more interesting. Don't overdo it and just disappear for minutes.

6. Keep it short:

In the past, I did my first presentation. After reading my script my mentor advised me to be just precise without diluting the meaning. I found it very difficult. But after doing it, I could really shave off my presentation by half. It is a good practice to trim down the content without diluting the meaning. HOW? By replacing textual content with visual content. By embracing the video platform and utilizing online tools like Animaker deck, you can transform your standard Zoom meeting presentations into a fun and creative work experience. It makes a big difference in a presentation especially if it is virtual. Do you want to create a killer presentation?