Over the past three months, I’ve signed up for a lot of webinars and I’ve given a lot of CEU webinars to architects. They are not my choice of how best to communicate, but it’s all we have right now so we must make the best of it.

I’ve sat through some good webinars and I’ve sat through some boring ones. My point is, if you give presentations over Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Webex you better have your presentations skills better honed in because there’s a different dynamic going on with these webinar calls.

With that, here may be some helpful hints.

1. Time to brush up on not using “crutch words,” i.e., you know, umm, like, okay, etc. Most people on the call are really tuned in to what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Most of the time you’re showing a PowerPoint as the main screen and there’s a small screen of you somewhere on their monitor. You don’t have body language to bail you out, so don’t be lazy with your verbal language. Practice, practice, practice.
2. Which brings me to point number two. Never hide behind your canned profile picture … show yourself live! Get ready for the presentation as if you were presenting in their office in-person. Dress for success and look your best. Remember, people do business with people they like, and you can’t be liked when you don’t show the real human side of you!
3. Be yourself; show your personality. “You do you Boo!” I find when I’m presenting on any web call, my “dad jokes” really come out. I have no idea if people are laughing, or rolling their eyes (probably the latter) but I do my best to be professional but fun, serious but approachable and open.
4. Pay attention to your background! Virtual pictures are not a bad option, but the best is live, I like a real room background. Don’t worry if you don’t have a thousand books in the book case behind you. Make sure your background is clean and organized without a lot of clutter. If you use a virtual background, make it a business professional background and not a picture of your dog or cat playing.
5. S@*t Happens! If something goes wrong, don’t panic, do the best you can and move on. I’ve been on several calls where something has gone wrong, it happens. The good news is, most everyone understands that can happen and they will roll with you.
6. Lastly, before your call, try to define what success looks like. Don’t forget, everyone sells so you have to define what outcome you want from this webinar. What are you trying to accomplish? What’s the takeaway you want your audience to leave with? My experience is when you define what success looks like, the way you present the material changes … you’ll begin to present in a persuasive way.

After writing this blog it seems there’s more to cover so next time I’ll focus on the content of the presentation. As always…

My two cents.