How To Be A Better Virtual Speaker

With social distancing sweeping the world right now you’ll most likely be looking at turning your workshops, your training sessions, talks and keynotes into an virtual experience. If you haven’t done this before, or you simply feel more confident on stage than in front of the camera, then this can feel quite daunting. But you need to know how to be a better virtual speaker. I understand that.

In light of COVID-19, public speakers need to adapt to the global context.  If you’re speaking at a virtual event, in the next few months, you want to continue your work as an online speaker. Some things will have to change.  Yes, you’re going to be speaking from home. But there’s some rules that you still need to follow. You still need to be professional.

Since I’m on the subject of talking about being professional, let’s start with your appearance.

Appearance Is Very Important

People are not looking for you to be all decked out in a suit and tie for a man or for a woman to be looking like you  were  just dressed by an image consultant but you still need to dressed in at least business-casual  attire. That means no t-shirts or baseball caps for men and for women and men alike no pajama looking attire.

Keep Your Energy High

If your energy starts to get low, you might lose people by not being able to keep their attention. Once you lose your audience’s attention its hard to get it back. What can you do before you present? Try drinking a cup of coffee, drink an energy drink. Put on some music and dance.Some presenters like to start their webinar with music playing. What ever works for you do it to help energize yourself.

Be Passionate When Talking

If you are not being passionate about what you are talking about how do you think people will believe you? People buy you before they buy a product or course, book, whatever you are trying to sell . The more excited you are about what you are talking about the more people will sit up take notice and listen to you. Be passionate with your speech.

Interact With Your Audience When You Can

When you are presenting virtual your audience’s attention span will be much lower because of distractions you may not be aware of. Give them some fun activities to do. Let them complete a poll, show a short video, or play a game with them. If you are using Zoom to present, break up the group by setting up meeting rooms and schedule 3 – 4 people in a group to meet and get to know each other better and work as a team to help each other out.

Use A Moderator If You Can

Having a moderator adds structure to your virtual presentation. Your moderator can focus on answering questions in the chat, handle any technical problems that might arise, any housekeeping issues that might come up, and help to keep your audience engaged. Your moderator keeps the session flowing and can take some of the stress
off of you as your moderator can give you a break from presenting. Having a moderator
and you the host are essential to the success of your virtual event.