3 Tips for a More Engaging Virtual Presentation

by Maria Iams

This year especially, we’ve coached a lot of clients about how to give an engaging virtual presentation. We are well past coaching about lighting, background, and camera angles, and now it's more about how to keep your audience engaged in this impersonal, digital environment wrought with distractions.

Simplify your strategy with these three tips. I call them the three S's: structure, storytelling, and slides.

Structure

Tell your audience what you're going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them. Using this structure, you will provide the "so what." You will let them know why they should be paying attention in the first place. Be sure to signpost throughout your presentation or meeting. That means, you have clear transitions when you are moving from one topic to another.

A signpost could be something as simple as, "We talked about this, and now we're talking about that." It’s super helpful to let people know where you are in your presentation.

Stories

The second tip is stories. If you are not telling stories, you are missing a great opportunity to build a connection with your audience, to engage them, and to compel behavior change. Make sure your stories are short, they have a point, and they are relevant for your audience.

Slides

Finally, consider your presentation slides. I have seen some really text-heavy slides and that makes your content tough to decipher in the virtual environment. You don’t always know what the presentation view is like for your audience. Do they see a split screen with you and your slide? Is it primarily your slide with a smaller view of you? It’s possible your slide is very small relative to their screen, so, keep your slides simple. In fact, if you typically put a lot of information on a single slide, break it out over a few slides so it is easier to read. Then, you can quickly click through those slides which gives you a little bit of forward momentum for your presentation. Win-win!

Structure, story, and slides. Adopt these strategies for your next virtual presentation and you’ll find better audience engagement and have more impact with stakeholders.