Public Speaking Tips for Presenting Online

Since Covid, many of us have delivered presentations regularly over the Internet.
The challenge is keeping people engaged when they are not even in the same room.
For instance, I have a television in my office on the wall in front of me.
However, I would never have the TV on during a meeting, in person, or online (Honest!)
Nevertheless, I know that if I have a TV in front of me, others may do too and may be tempted to keep it on.
I remember running an online Storytelling course, where one of the participants, who had her speaker on mute throughout the training, accidentally turned it on.
There was music, talking, shouting, - everything imaginable going on in the background.
I do not think it was for her entertainment, it was probably just the circumstances she had to deal with, working from home.
So when we are presenting online we must remain aware of the many levels of distraction that might be happening at the other end of the line, both deliberate and beyond the participant’s control.
In some cases, the attendee thinks they can do two things at the same time, in others they just happen to be burdened by a distracting environment.
All the tips I would offer for a normal presentation where the audience is present in the same room will still apply – just more so, as the speaker needs to reckon with battling even greater levels of distraction than normal.

10 tips for presenting via Teams or Zoom

1. Stand up

This is probably my number one tip, particularly for the lead presenter.
If I am running a session online, I will find a table, put a chair on the table, and then put my laptop on the chair.  The audience is still seeing little more than my head and shoulders as if I was sitting in front of my computer, but I find that if I am on my feet I feel a little more alert and in control of the situation.
If I happen to be covering the specific subject of online training, I will probably choose a moment when I will hop from side to side in front of the camera, to show the participants that I am standing, rather than sitting.
The reason I do this is very simple.
It is all about the voice.
One danger for a speaker is that when they sit down, their voice tends to ‘sit down’ as well.
When we sit we can easily become passive, which can be reflected in a flat monotone voice.
Many telesales companies insist that their salespeople stand up when pitching over the phone.
Clearly, it has nothing to do with being seen, it is to keep up the energy and if they need to respond to questions during the presentation, maybe they will ‘think better on their feet’ if they are actually ‘on their feet’.

2. Eye contact

Eye contact in an online presentation means creating the illusion of eye contact.
You create eye contact by looking into the little black dot at the top of your laptop – i.e. the camera.
Instinctively we will want to look at the image of the person we are communicating with, but that will appear to them as if you are looking away while talking to them.
That is fine for part of the time, but if we remember that the benefit of making eye contact in a presentation is to make a connection and send a message of honesty or conviction, then it is important occasionally to look into the camera; particularly if you want to impress a significant point onto the audience.
And of course - the best news is that unlike in a room where you have to move your eyes from person to person - just by looking directly into the camera you will appear to be looking directly at everyone!

3. Opening words

This tip is taken straight across from a public presentation:
‘Know your first words!’
The opening moments of any presentation are when the participants should be at their most attentive.
It is, therefore, worth having something impactful to say and thereby showing the participants that
‘We have started.’
Too many presentations start with vague expressions of greeting or getting around to getting started.
And particularly online when we may be competing with distractions at the other end of the line it is worth having an opening set of words that capture the listeners’ interest and show them that their attention is required.
(For top tips on opening a presentation, please check out a previous article
https://www.ataps.co.uk/about/blog/public-speaking-tips-for-openings.html )

4. Gestures

In an online presentation gestures are important for one reason: to support vocal variety.
If we realise that ‘when the speaker sits down, the voice sits down too’, the potential for ocal monotony will increase when the hands are inactive.
So if you can imagine all the visual and possibly aural distractions at the other end of the line and now added to that there is a flat and unchanging voice, it will be very hard for the listener to concentrate.

Clearly, the gestures do not need to be as significant as if the speaker was on stage, but small gestures of emphasis and reinforcement can still be used to ensure that the keywords are being emphasised.
Therefore, if you need to present and respond to online comments and questions from the participants at the same time…..

5. Have a partner

If you need to type responses or give online indications at the same time as you are presenting - firstly congratulations if you can manage to do it – my brain cannot do two things at once, - but do engage someone else to do the keyboard work while you are presenting.
There will always be some multi-tasking champions who can manage both excellently, just as I remember being told of a school teacher who could put up an exercise on the board with both hands writing words at the same time!
For most of us, just presenting well is already enough to think about.
And possibly the best way to destroy your vocal variety is to fix your eyes on a screen, lock your hands in position over the keyboard, and then try to speak at the same time.

6. Questions

Particularly if working online and for all the reasons of distance and potential distraction outlined so far, one way of keeping engagement is to insert plenty of questions into the presentation.
These could be:
- specific questions on the subject that require a direct answer
- rhetorical questions that at least require the attendees to respond in their heads, even if not out loud
- general engagement questions like -
                Does this make sense?
                Are you still with me?
                Is that clear?
and you can back these questions up by establishing that they nod or show that they have acknowledged the question.

7. Schedule regular breaks

This could mean taking breaks a little more frequently than in the classroom or at least changing the activity or interaction regularly so that the attendees do not sink into a repetitive pattern.
Regular short breaks might work better than one or two longer ones.
It might depend on the nature of the training material or what a particular group of students prefer.

8. Vocal variety

This is essential for any presentation, and it needs special attention when presenting online.
As each student in this virtual world is effectively sitting half a meter away from you, you do not need to be as expansive and dramatic as you would be in a larger room, nevertheless on a smaller scale you still need to pay attention to creating variety and emphasis in your delivery. 
Most of the tips for speaking to a large room still apply
https://www.ataps.co.uk/about/blog/public-speaking-tips-for-intonation.html

9. Signposting and boundaries

To prevent the attendees from mentally wandering off, it can be helpful to regularly sign-post where you are in the presentation, sum up what you have just covered, and indicate a change of direction or a new section of the training.

10. Videos on!

A frequent theme of frustration in online presenting is participants who hide behind their switched-off videos!
Sometimes when there are many people attending from all corners of the earth, it may be due to band-width.  However, more often it is a personal choice.
The best solution is, rather than making it sound like they are doing you a favour to you by having their camera on, let the participants understand how it would benefit them to have their video on.
Let them know that you can tailor your pace and content more effectively if you can see them and gauge their reactions.

Pretty much all tips and principles that apply to public speaking in a room in front of an audience will also apply to leading a presentation online.
We just need to be aware of the new environment and refine and adapt our style for our brave new digital world!