Top Tips for Online Presenting
Ensuring positive effective body language
01
Master your online presence
This means getting your set-up right.
Imagine the screen as your presentation frame – this is the only view that your audience will see – so make it count. Your camera must be at eye level and the top of your head should be just below the top of your camera frame as you look at yourself on screen.
TIP #2: Posture like a professional
All too often we see people either leaning over their desk and into their camera. If you do this your arms will almost always be crossed in front of you, therefore closing your body off from your audience.
Our body language when presenting online should be positively professional. Sit upright with your hands – when they are in a neutral position – on the table or desk in front of you. Don’t be static though!
TIP #3: Hand gestures make people listen to you
- Gestures are a great way to convey energy, tell a story, emphasise a message and bring your content/presentation to life.
Prepare and practise your presentation and make sure you know exactly what you are going to say first, then add gestures to amplify key points and engage more effectively with your audience.
Here are some techniques to try:
• Count on your fingers to emphasise chapters of your story, or parts of an argument.
• Use your hands to physically reinforce a message and communicate scale (e.g. a big increase in sales; we’ve seen a slight reduction in absenteeism, there’s been a hike in the price of raw materials; this has only had a small impact on our bottom line.)
• Use the ‘listen up’ or ‘bottom line’ gesture (open palms with one hand slightly raised) to reinforce key points, but use it sparingly for greater impact.
• Pointing. It can be confrontational, but it can also be used for emphasis, – ‘you know what, I just remembered a great point’.
• Weighing up. Use your hands like a set of balancing scales to communicate alternate scenarios or views.
TIP #4: Avoid fiddling Most of us become extra self-conscious when we’re on a virtual call, especially when we catch a reflection of ourselves in the onscreen thumbnail. As a consequence, we’re often compelled to make adjustments to how we look. This can mean we start to fiddle with our hair, our beard, remove a piece of fluff or adjust our clothing etc. This can be really distracting for the audience. Likewise, we can subconsciously scratch an itchy nose, or pick at a loose nail, or play with our jewellery. Again, these actions are distracting and can annoy others on the call.
TIP #5: Your listening / resting face can speak volumes If you are not leading the meeting/presentation it can be very easy to drift off. Or even worse, become distracted by incoming emails and notifications. Whilst you might think you’re covering this up, hoping that nobody will notice that you’ve become disengaged, it’s almost sure to be picked up by others on the call, especially by those that are presenting. They will see your eyes darting to another screen or window; they’ll spot that your active, listening face has switched to a ‘pretend’ listening face, they might even sense when you’re typing. And when people pick up on the fact that you’ve tuned out, they’ll wonder why you’re there in the first place.
Tip #6: Don’t forget to smile
This is one of the absolute musts to improve your body language when presenting online! There’s plenty of scientific evidence proving the many positive effects smiling has on our emotions. Smiling releases endorphins, natural painkillers, and serotonin. Together these three neurotransmitters make us feel good from head to toe. When we smile we look younger and more attractive. Smiling relieves stress, lowers our blood pressure and boosts the immune system. It also makes us appear more successful and guess what? It’s contagious. Smiling will create the impression that you actually want to be there, which in turn will help to make the audience want to be there too.
Top Tips for online presenting
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Created on February 22, 2021
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Transcript
Top Tips for Online Presenting
Ensuring positive effective body language
01
Master your online presence This means getting your set-up right. Imagine the screen as your presentation frame – this is the only view that your audience will see – so make it count. Your camera must be at eye level and the top of your head should be just below the top of your camera frame as you look at yourself on screen.
TIP #2: Posture like a professional
All too often we see people either leaning over their desk and into their camera. If you do this your arms will almost always be crossed in front of you, therefore closing your body off from your audience. Our body language when presenting online should be positively professional. Sit upright with your hands – when they are in a neutral position – on the table or desk in front of you. Don’t be static though!
TIP #3: Hand gestures make people listen to you
Prepare and practise your presentation and make sure you know exactly what you are going to say first, then add gestures to amplify key points and engage more effectively with your audience.
Here are some techniques to try:
• Count on your fingers to emphasise chapters of your story, or parts of an argument. • Use your hands to physically reinforce a message and communicate scale (e.g. a big increase in sales; we’ve seen a slight reduction in absenteeism, there’s been a hike in the price of raw materials; this has only had a small impact on our bottom line.) • Use the ‘listen up’ or ‘bottom line’ gesture (open palms with one hand slightly raised) to reinforce key points, but use it sparingly for greater impact. • Pointing. It can be confrontational, but it can also be used for emphasis, – ‘you know what, I just remembered a great point’. • Weighing up. Use your hands like a set of balancing scales to communicate alternate scenarios or views.
TIP #4: Avoid fiddling Most of us become extra self-conscious when we’re on a virtual call, especially when we catch a reflection of ourselves in the onscreen thumbnail. As a consequence, we’re often compelled to make adjustments to how we look. This can mean we start to fiddle with our hair, our beard, remove a piece of fluff or adjust our clothing etc. This can be really distracting for the audience. Likewise, we can subconsciously scratch an itchy nose, or pick at a loose nail, or play with our jewellery. Again, these actions are distracting and can annoy others on the call.
TIP #5: Your listening / resting face can speak volumes If you are not leading the meeting/presentation it can be very easy to drift off. Or even worse, become distracted by incoming emails and notifications. Whilst you might think you’re covering this up, hoping that nobody will notice that you’ve become disengaged, it’s almost sure to be picked up by others on the call, especially by those that are presenting. They will see your eyes darting to another screen or window; they’ll spot that your active, listening face has switched to a ‘pretend’ listening face, they might even sense when you’re typing. And when people pick up on the fact that you’ve tuned out, they’ll wonder why you’re there in the first place.
Tip #6: Don’t forget to smile
This is one of the absolute musts to improve your body language when presenting online! There’s plenty of scientific evidence proving the many positive effects smiling has on our emotions. Smiling releases endorphins, natural painkillers, and serotonin. Together these three neurotransmitters make us feel good from head to toe. When we smile we look younger and more attractive. Smiling relieves stress, lowers our blood pressure and boosts the immune system. It also makes us appear more successful and guess what? It’s contagious. Smiling will create the impression that you actually want to be there, which in turn will help to make the audience want to be there too.