{"id":12527,"date":"2020-11-01T14:16:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-01T14:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/?post_type=articles&p=12527"},"modified":"2020-12-29T14:16:52","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T14:16:52","slug":"virtual-presentations-and-meetings-require-new-approaches-for-success","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/virtual-presentations-and-meetings-require-new-approaches-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual Presentations and Meetings Require New Approaches for Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Presenting Online<\/h2>\n

Giving presentations online rather than in person requires thinking about how to design PowerPoint slides, keep remote audiences engaged when they are facing more distractions than usual, and troubleshoot technology snafus that arise in these situations.<\/p>\n

Pick up the pace.<\/strong> Attention spans dwindle during virtual presentations. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean you need to cut the amount of your presentation content, but rather that you spread it over more slides so there is more frequent on-screen change for audiences,\u201d said Roger Courville, a Portland, Oregon-based speaker and trainer who teaches people how to communicate online and is the author of The Virtual Presenter’s Handbook (CreateSpace, 2009).<\/p>\n

Be proactive in guiding audience attention.<\/strong> Presenters should assume that some people are multitasking during an online presentation, Courville said. \u201cYou have to ask what the audience is taking away if at times they only glance at what you’re presenting,\u201d he said. \u201cOne thing you can do is make sure the titles on your slides are more descriptive and capture the main point of the slide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virtual presenters also should use their voices to guide viewer attention, Courville said. Do not rely only on slide pointers or annotation tools provided on Web-conferencing platforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens if some people aren\u2019t looking at their screens for a while?\u201d he said. \u201cA presenter might say something like, \u2018What do you see below the picture of the woman on this slide?\u2019 or \u2018Look at the data on the right-hand portion of your slide.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Courville said presenters should monitor audience attention levels by checking whether people are actively participating on chat features or submitting questions during a moderated Q&A. Some Web-conferencing platforms also have a feature called an attention indicator that detects the active application on audience members\u2019 screens. If a conference participant has switched to checking email, for example, the tool would register the change. Courville said that while the tool should not be used punitively, it can help presenters get a read on when attendees may be drifting away so they can switch tactics, such as by introducing an audience poll or a short Q&A session.<\/p>\n

Remember: Unnecessary flair can cause technical problems.<\/strong> The use of animation and complex transitions on slides might work well in person, but they can cause problems online, said Bethany Auck, Founder and Creative Director of SlideRabbit, a presentation design and production company in Denver, Colorado.<\/p>\n

Web-conferencing platforms handle slide upload and display differently, and experts say it is best to go simple when designing slides, keep file sizes low, and avoid the use of animations or complicated transition techniques between slides.<\/p>\n

Consider slide contrast issues and viewer screen size.<\/strong> Assume that many will be viewing your online presentation from smaller laptop screens or even on mobile devices, said Ken Molay, President of Webinar Success, a Web-conferencing training and consulting company in Cary, North Carolina. \u201cDesign your slides as if you’re creating them for viewers in the back of a large auditorium,\u201d Molay said. \u201cUse larger fonts and plenty of white space, and don\u2019t put things near the edges of your slides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that you will not be able to see how your slides display on your audiences\u2019 screens, and your viewers\u2019 computer settings for contrast, brightness, and color may vary widely. \u201cRemember that light colors can easily wash out online. Stick with high-contrast color designs, and avoid using subtle tone variations that can be difficult for virtual audiences to see,\u201d Molay said.<\/p>\n

Leading Small-Group Virtual Meetings<\/h2>\n

Many of us have been conditioned to hold hourlong meetings, but experts say that standard should be reconsidered with today\u2019s new reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most powerful tools built into videoconferencing solutions is the instant meeting,\u201d Courville said. \u201cYou can easily set up virtual meetings and collaboration sessions in short blocks of time as needed. There are product development teams I know who hold 15-minute videoconferences every morning. The medium can be used as flexibly as a phone call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaders, mute yourself when others are speaking.<\/strong> \u201cMany of us use words like \u2018OK\u2019 or \u2018uh-huh\u2019 as confirmation that we\u2019re listening when others are speaking,\u201d Molay said. \u201cBut in an online meeting, especially if you\u2019re the leader or a person of higher authority, others often hear that and they stop talking, wondering if you wanted to interrupt to say something or even that they might have said something wrong. If you stay completely silent, it lets people complete their thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Note that not all technology platforms are created alike.<\/strong> If you have not yet purchased a videoconferencing or Web-conferencing platform (most major providers are offering discounts or free trial versions of products during the coronavirus outbreak), Molay said it is important to understand the differences between systems.<\/p>\n

For example, the videoconferencing platform Zoom is among those that Molay said have a useful \u201cpush to talk\u201d feature that is handy for small-group virtual meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone enters the meeting in a default mute mode, but when they hold down the space bar, it opens up their microphone,\u201d he said. \u201cIt only stays open while it\u2019s pressed and people are speaking, like the old walkie-talkie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molay said the feature is good for group discussions in which everyone wants a chance to participate but a leader doesn\u2019t want all microphones open at once, since they\u2019re likely to pick up background noise when participants work from home.<\/p>\n

You also may want to compare audience polling tools in different systems, Molay said. \u201cSome only allow for a few response choices, while others offer more,\u201d he said. Many users likely will also want a polling feature that allows participants to select the best answer, rather than all that apply, he said.<\/p>\n

Question management tools\u2014a helpful feature for more structured and moderated Web conferences\u2014also can vary by platform. These tools give session leaders a way to prioritize audience questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have 100 people in a Web conference, you\u2019ll want a way to mark that certain questions might be a high priority to address on air versus a lower priority that you can follow up on later,\u201d Molay said. \u201cSome platforms are better than others in how they allow you to reorder and organize questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that other key system features to evaluate are the number of participants allowed on video calls, the ability to automatically record Web conferences for later viewing, and tools that allow you to easily edit recordings or create transcripts of online meetings.<\/p>\n

Watch how you position yourself on webcam.<\/strong> Do not position yourself in front of bright windows, which will place you in shadows. Raise your laptop so the camera is at eye level or higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaptop webcams are sitting lower and often shoot straight up into your nostrils,\u201d Molay said. \u201cThat\u2019s not the best look for most people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Troubleshooting Technical Problems<\/h2>\n

People will inevitably experience problems with video, audio transmission, or other functions in virtual settings. \u201cThe first thing to do is isolate whether it\u2019s just that person having the issue or everyone,\u201d Courville said. \u201cIn most cases it\u2019s just one person, but you usually don\u2019t want to stop the whole meeting or presentation just because one person is having a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molay said leaders can afford to spend only a limited amount of time trying to fix an individual\u2019s issues. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to focus on squeaky wheels in online settings, but you don\u2019t want to slow down 30 people to satisfy one person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meeting leaders also can mute and unmute participants on most platforms if people are having technical issues and bothering others, Courville said.<\/p>\n

Auck, SlideRabbit\u2019s founder, said one tactic she uses when leading virtual presentations or workshops is to keep a second computer in view and log in as an attendee. \u201cIt won\u2019t account for all of the variables of people logging in remotely, but you\u2019ll have a tighter view of any lag in how your slides are advancing for viewers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mike Fasciani, Senior Research Director at research and advisory firm Gartner, said employees who reside in bandwidth-challenged areas can take steps such as turning off video and joining meetings using dial-in audio options, while still seeing the content being shared through a browser.<\/p>\n

Remote workers also can use their 4G-enabled smartphones rather than laptops or desktops in virtual meetings, he said. \u201cMany video-meeting and workstream collaboration applications were built with a mobile-first design intent and so work as well as, if not better than, the desktop and Web client access,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among the challenges of working through the pandemic is using new technologies to communicate. Many of us are learning new skills through trial and error, a less-than-ideal approach to doing business. 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