For Virtual Presentations, Boost the Interaction Factor

 

The uncertain economy is forcing company CFOs to cut budgets and find efficiencies wherever they can, and one of the first places they look is travel expenses. Budgets are being slashed for all but the most necessary travel demands. How then are sales reps supposed to meet with key customers? How are important administrative and planning meetings supposed to take place?

Fortunately, the flood of new Internet-based communication technologies – think WebEx, Skype, etc. – has stepped in with an alternative to face to face meetings that is more than capable of filling the gap. Web-enabled meetings are rapidly becoming the preferred model for meetings of all types for companies of all sizes. The amount of money and time being saved by using a virtual meeting model is enormous, with very little – if any – loss in work product.

However, virtual meetings do contain some challenges from the presentation/delivery point of view. Research into the way people communicate reveals that audiences process input on three levels: Visual (facial expressions, body language, gestures, eye contact), Vocal (tone and pitch of your voice and pace of your words) and Verbal (the content of the message you are sharing). The research also tells us that the Visual component makes up 60% of the impact of the message, i.e., the value or believability factor the audience assigns to your message. Vocal impact makes up 30% and Verbal makes up only 10%.

You don’t have to be smarter than a fifth grader to figure out that, since the Visual component is generally lacking with Virtual presentations, something has to be done to compensate for the missing 60% of the impact of your message. Here are three important tips to help you retain the impact you need for your virtual presentations:

1. Make your PowerPoint slides as visually appealing as possible. A WebEx presentation still has a visual component in the form of the slides you use to guide the meeting. The impact is not nearly as significant as if you were able to interact with your audience face to face, but there is still value to be had here. Slides should be simple to read and pleasing to the eye. Don’t crowd too much information on one slide. Use colors that complement each other. Don’t use anything smaller than 22 point font size if at all possible. The slide deck is there to support your conversation; it is not supposed to take the place of the conversation. (Note: while a web cam interaction is also a visual option, it is hard to manage web cam meetings with multiple participants, the images are jerky, and keeping track of the video is distracting and annoying at times. If you use the) web cam at all, it is best to do a quick introduction at the beginning so everyone has a picture in their minds of what you look like, and then turn it off.

2. Up Your Vocal Game. With no way to connect with you visually, the attention of your audience shifts to your vocal skills. They become much more aware and sensitive to your tone of voice, inflections, pauses, pace, pitch alterations and volume. They infer meaning from the way in which you speak, and will judge your truthfulness, credibility and competency by the tiniest variations in each of these areas. You must practice your delivery in each of these areas in order to produce the relaxed yet confident delivery package that will resonate with your audience. You don’t need to sound like an FM radio DJ; you just need to sound like the best version of yourself.

3. Boost the Interaction Factor. This is the most important feature to add to your virtual presentation strategy. In a typical face to face presentation or even a static Webinar, the emphasis is on the speaker and the information he is delivering. In virtual presentation, the focus has to shift to involving the audience members in the experience. This is accomplished by regularly calling on each participant during the call to share their feedback, insights, experiences, questions, etc. Most virtual platforms also provide you with embedded tools that allow participants to make notations on the documents being viewed, provide answers to poll questions, etc., to keep them even more engaged. The rule for a 90-minute meeting is to have approximately 45 interactions distributed as evenly as possible among the participants. This interaction process keeps them on their toes and paying attention, because they want to be ready to provide an intelligent response in case they are called on. This process also helps create a sense of ownership among the participants of the content being discussed, and boosts follow through after the presentation is over.

 

Re-Print Permission
This article may be reprinted in it's entirety if the following conditions are met:

1. The complete tag with the author's name and contact information is included immediately after the article.
2. A copy of the printed article is mailed to the author at 10101 SW Freeway Suite 630 Houston, Texas 77074 within 30 days of publication.
3. The article is presented in a positive light as part of an appropriate business related publication.