Things to Avoid in a Virtual Presentation

You must have noticed how drastically the impact of a presentation changes when it is presented online. A Virtual presentation is a lot different from a traditional, offline presentation. You cannot make direct eye contact with everyone in the audience. Any positive impression your body language might have had is nullified. Your whole body cannot even be seen on the screen. The size of the screen is impractically small. It implies that you have to use other visual aids to pique the interest of the audience. Since we are quite new to the concept of virtual presentations, it is difficult to garner more engagement. Now that you might be aware of what to do in an online presentation, given below is a guide on what NOT to do:

Being non-linear and switching between the topics

Confuse the audience once and you lose them forever. Keep in mind to avoid confusion as much as possible. The best way to ensure this is by not switching randomly between the topics. When you prepare a presentation, you arrange the topics in an orderly way. Make sure to follow the order while presenting. If what you are saying does not match what is being shown, the audience is bound to be baffled.

Expecting the audience to be formal

People usually attend virtual presentations from their homes. A home is a place where being formal is not an option. Drop the formality and light up the atmosphere with a joke or two. You can choose to be a lot more flexible and casual since you are not meeting in person. However, being informal does not mean not preparing for the presentation and blabbering.

Avoiding hiring a professional

If, for some reason, you thought, “Okay, it’s only an online interaction, no need to opt for presentation design services”, then you are probably wrong. Never underestimate the power of a virtual presentation. You can pull off a great presentation if you employ professionalpresentation design services to get the work done for you. The importance of presenting professionally, whether online or offline, cannot be stressed enough.

Not distributing the agenda

Your online conference should have a planned agenda just as an offline conference has. Distribute the agenda ahead of time. Basically, an agenda lists out the events/activities to take place in the meeting. The attendees should know what to expect. When you fail to provide an agenda, the audience is not mentally prepared about anything. For instance, they might start feeling lazy because they did not expect the presentation to last this long.

Being unenthusiastic

You must have observed that there is something about the virtual interactions that lead the host to be flat-voiced. Only a few are able to start enthusiastically and sustain that energy throughout. The more flat you sound, the more your audience is going to be stupefied. Add some dramatic effect to the tone of your voice. Besides, your unflinching ability to create dynamism will make you sound more confident.

Talking continuously

Two major turn-offs of a virtual conference: talking continuously and talking for too long. Take breaks in between to interact with the audience. Get them to respond, somehow. Most importantly, do not waste their (and your own) precious time. Sometimes, the presenters lose track of the time. This results in them going on for hours and hours. If you find yourself going off the rails, stop there and then. Keep a timer handy if this is the case with you too. Don’t be nervous either. You surely don’t want to go out of breath in front of so many people, right?