PGi Blog Resources for UCaaS and Global Collaboration for Business Clients
Today’s enterprises enjoy the freedoms of communicating and collaborating virtually. With so many business professionals on the cusp of adopting virtual meetings, it can be a challenge to create engaging presentations.
Fret no more! We have cooked up 7 presentation techniques that will grip your audience and elevate your presentation savvy.
1. Get Hands-On with File Presentation
Your audience will be more engaged with your presentation when they feel included. Nothing feels more inclusive than giving them hands-on interaction in your presentation. This is where File Presentation comes into play.
Presenters can leverage file presentation to share and present library files with meeting attendees. By sharing commonly used file types such as PDF, PowerPoint, Word, or Excel, your audience will be laser-focused as they review and discuss business-critical details.
2. Set Time-Limits for Stand-Up Meetings
Are you hosting a stand-up meeting? If so, remember that teams can lose interest if the meeting runs too long. Make sure you set a limitation on the period of time, as standing meetings might not be for everyone. Typically, a stand-up meeting can help teams stay aligned but should last 15 minutes or less. Keep it short and sweet.
3. Use Your Webcam to Engage Your Audience
Webcams are a powerful tool in the virtual meeting world. After all, they let your audience see your facial expressions and body language as you speak.
This up-close and personal virtual meeting technique can keep your audience’s eyes glued to your presentation. More importantly, the right body language can make you a more influential presenter.
A study reported that 70% of communication is body language, 23% is voice tone and inflection, and only 7% is your spoken words.
If you have remote attendees and don’t include non-verbal cues, you’re losing 93% of your presentation power. Turn on your webcam in an online meeting to maximize effectiveness and attendee attention. After all, everyone wants to see your pretty face.
4. Evaluate if You Need PowerPoint
Before you put together your presentation, it doesn’t hurt to ask yourself if you really need to use PowerPoint slides; while they may convey information to your audience, they are not always a requirement.
In fact, there are several scenarios where you can actually improve your presentations by ditching PowerPoint. As a good rule of thumb, unless slides add value to your presentation, don’t be afraid to ditch them.
If you do opt for slides, try to use 20 words or less on every slide. High-level, compelling “hooks”—like statistics, quotes, images, animation or keywords— keep your presentation on track and your audience engaged.
5. Give the Headline and Then Sit Down
For brainstorming meetings, the host tends to do all the talking to get the ball rolling and then gets stuck in the “no one else is talking” rut. Instead, introduce the headline, problem, need or idea and then say “Go.” Sit down and chime in only when absolutely necessary.
6. Use @ and # During Meetings
Social media is a unique tool for taking the meeting to the next level, making it more of an event than just another 30-minute meeting. Give your teammates kudos and even start your own meeting hashtag to add a social interaction element.
7. Give Meeting Attendees Multiple Options to Join
When hosting your presentation, you will have teams collaborating in a variety of environments. Think about it – your meeting attendees may be working from home, on the go, or working from an office.
In any of these circumstances, they need either desktop or mobile apps that offer easy access to your meeting. Collaboration should be easy. Offering multiple options to join your meeting gets your presentation off to a solid start.
Are you ready to take your presentation skills up a notch? GlobalMeet helps you implement these virtual meeting tactics and so much more.
