Many people fear public speaking. It is most often based on lack of experience, self-doubt, fear of the audience’s reaction before it perceives the lecturer. This fear is dulled a little when you are about to perform online because the audience is on the other side of the screen. But other worries come. Will there be any problems with communication, sound quality, or picture. And also fear – the inability to see the reaction of the audience, the level of involvement, how interesting the material is, or you need to slightly change the presentation.

We’ve prepared a few tips for you to help run your online event with confidence.

1. The golden rule is to make a test of all systems before the event: check the stability of the Internet connection, whether the microphone, video camera, and so on are working well.
2. The speaker must know how to use all the tools that are used in video conferencing. For example, how to activate/deactivate a chat, or bring a presentation to full-screen mode. Some presenters display their presentations in slide editing mode, but this is not very convenient for either the speaker or the audience. To date, all applications have several modes that can be easily switched by going to the “Settings” of the program. If you use the most popular video conferencing application Zoom, there is a special icon on the main screen for switching to full-screen mode, which allows you to make a convenient presentation in literally 2 seconds.
3. Even if the topic is in itself very interesting and exciting, it is quite difficult to keep the audience’s interest for 2 – 3 hours. Think about how you can diversify your presentation so that it is not monotonous and tedious. For example, run a quiz or an interactive poll. To do this, you can use one of these popular services: mentimeter.com, AhaSlides, sli.do, Zoho ShowTime, Glisser, kahoot! or feedbackr. We talked about each of them in more detail in this article.
4. Consider the characteristics of the audience. The online presentation assumes that people from all over the world can watch and listen to you. Even if you speak universal English, some phrases or specific terms may not be clear to everyone. Use simple phrases, build short sentences and try to avoid slang.
5. Be clear about timing. If the declared duration of the presentation is one and a half hours, you should not stretch it to two hours, or vice versa, shorten it to an hour. Respect and value your listeners’ time.
6. During a virtual event, it is much more difficult to answer questions from the audience than in the offline format. But this can and should be done. The speaker should keep a close eye on the chat and take some time to respond. It is better to answer not during the presentation, but at the end of each block.
7. Pay attention to some details such as general background, lighting, clothing.

• the general background is better to be neutral, just a light wall, there may be bookshelves on it or a picture.
• the light source should be directed towards the face, but never from above or below. Also, avoid harsh lighting from the back, so the speaker’s face won`t be in the shadow.
• clothes should not merge with the general background, choose clothes without small patterns.
• it is better to place the camera at eye level and look directly into it. Incorrectly set light can easily reward you with a couple of extra chins or add a decade to your age.

8.   Charisma, charm, as well as the ability to work for the camera is a very important quality for a speaker. The “magnetic” presenter can say anything and look like anything, but everyone will listen to them with doubled interest. He “lures” the audience with his facial expressions, gestures, smiles, and other acting techniques. Some are given this by nature, others need to study long and hard to be interesting to the listener. To acquire the necessary skills, you can take courses in public speaking. Many are helped by theater courses, which liberate a person in front of an audience, give self-confidence and teach some acting tricks.

In general, experience is the best professional quality of a speaker. After several presentations, the person feels more free and confident, ceases to be afraid of the camera and the audience, and can ensure maximum success for any online presentation.

You must love to be a speaker. Understand that you are now delivering important information, so try to give your best. You need to constantly work on yourself and your skills. But besides this, you also need to know all the subtleties of frame construction, interactivity, and technical nuances. The team of ARENA CS can help you with this one, sharing our experience and professionalism.

Call us and we will hold an interesting and professional online event with you!