Success in a Virtual Meeting World

On June 27th, over 12,000 networking and communication professionals attended Cisco Live!, a premier training and educational event in Las Vegas. The surprise? Another 6,000+ attended virtually. Cisco isn't alone. Marc Benioff, CEO of salesforce.com, will host Dreamforce in December, the largest cloud computing event of the year. The onsite registration? 20,000. The virtual participation? Over 10,000 avid virtual attendees will be involved in the cloud vision of the future.

Remote meetings, trainings, and presentations are a workplace reality. It's no longer, "Someday I have to learn more about presenting virtually." Today there's another reality: "My career is dependent upon me becoming a VIRTUAL presenter."

Now is the perfect time for you to step-up and become a better virtual presenter! PowerSpeaking, Inc. can help you get started. Just remember this simple acronym: V. I. R. T. U. A. L.

V - Voice Matters. It is the most important style element you offer in a virtual presentation. Use vocal variety to keep people engaged -- and stand while presenting to increase your overall energy.

I - Interactivity is KEY! Interact with your audience by asking frequent questions and using the chat and polling options. The more interactive the presentation, the more memorable it will be!

R - Read your Audience! Many virtual platforms have an indicator that tells you when your audience loses attention to the screen. Energy is dwindling? Re-engage them by asking a question, taking a poll, or asking everyone to give a one-word answer.

T - Track your audience's participation. Make a list of participants and tick off who has participated. Call on those less active.

U - Understand your audience's level of experience with virtual training. Educate and inform when necessary. Provide the ground rules. Educate how to use the tools. Have a partner to assist those having technical difficulty while you maintain the focus on the agenda and active involvement.

A - Annotate, Annotate, Annotate! Use your pointer, text, and other tools to keep your visuals alive-and your audience engaged.

L - Listen! Let them know you hear them by commenting on their participation, comments, and questions. Paraphrase. Use their names.

Want some nuts and bolts on becoming a more savvy virtual presenter? Click for more specific virtual best practices. More info on Virtual Presenting

Become a premier HighTechSpeaking® presenter and, at the same time, see virtual skills in action. Participate in our newly publicly-offered 4-module web seminar. New HighTechSpeaking Web Seminar