Pardon my language, but having to present to your laptop [BLEEP] sucks. It's just not an ideal situation at all. Your audience is already SO tired of
video calls, you can hardly see them, everybody's on
mute so you can't hear if any of your jokes land, and then at the end, everybody
just kind of waves in a sad silence. I mean, it's terrible. Yet, in
quarantine, we all got to present over video call, and we all might be doing it
for a long time. Who knows how much longer? So, what do we do? We get good at presenting over video
because after all, it's the only thing we can do right now. The only way we can
communicate our plans and ideas to each other. In this video, I'm going to suggest
three things you can do to make sure you nail every video call presentation. And
no, I'm not going to talk about facing a window, and remember to wear pants. I'm
assuming you know those basics. I'm also not going to get into fancy
headphones and microphones. In my opinion, that stuff causes more
problems than they're worth. Hey everyone and welcome to the
presentation! How's that audio quality, huh? What? What do you mean? What do you
mean it's out of sync?? Your laptop usually does just fine. No, in this video I'm going to talk more about your performance. So, let's jump in with piece of advice
number one, which is right out of the YouTube Creator Playbook:
Get your energy up. Just like the camera adds 10 pounds, it also takes away 20% of your energy. You need to compensate for that by getting your energy up a few notches before your presentation. Now, how you do it is up to you. Maybe before you present it's jumping jacks, coffee, or heavy metal
music. Those are my go-to's. Whatever works for you, as a part of
preparing to present, get your enthusiasm and positivity up. You may worry it feels
fake, but on camera, it'll just look like you
really believe what you're talking about. This is especially important if you're a
manager or executive. You need to rally the
troops and be a positive example of all the hard work that is being done.
So, get that energy up before you get on camera. Inspire your team during these crappy times. Okay, very much related to tip number one is tip number two,
be animated with your delivery. Can you imagine having to present on stage while
seated at a desk? Well, we're almost all seated when we
present over video call and it is just so restricting to our delivery.
We feel frozen. We can't move and gesticulate. So,
try this. Look around your house - see if you can perch your laptop
up high, like on a bookshelf, so you can stand and present.
This will help free up your hands and really let you be emphatic
about your points. Now I will say it's definitely not easy to find a high place
for your laptop that also has good lighting, but look
around, maybe you can find a spot or maybe you can bring a lamp over,
etcetera. My current situation looks like this. Oh, hello. I'm here in front of the window. I have my laptop sitting on a
laptop stand that I got for pretty cheap on Amazon, but you could
also just put it on a table, or dresser. It's sitting on top of
another table just to get it nice and high so that the camera is at my eye line. It doesn't need to be pretty; it just
needs to work. If you can't find a way to stand, at
least try to sit up, and maybe lean forward a bit.
It helps bring your energy forward. By the way, these tips are actually from my own little cheat sheet that I wrote up that I look at before
every presentation over video call. It's just a checklist that covers these tips
and more like camera angle, sound and rehearsal. If you want,
I'm happy to email it to you - just click the link in the description,
and I'll send it over. Okay, tip number three. This is a big one. Don't read. Explain. You might love presenting over video call because it means you get to cheat. You don't have to memorize! You can just
read a doc right in another window, right? Eh, try not to do that, because everybody
can tell you're reading. We can see your eyes scan
back and forth, and it just sounds artificial. You - might - love - presenting - over -
video call - because it - means - you - get - to - cheat.
You - don't have to - memorize. You can just - read a doc - right in - another window. Nobody wants to be read to, so if you haven't memorized your whole script and you have to look at it, at least break it down into bullet points and rehearse explaining those in a more conversational and personable way.
Just try not to ramble. People's attention spans are even
shorter over video call since their email and Twitter are literally
a click away. So, keep it short and punchy. To recap: Get your energy up. Be animated with your delivery. And explain, don't read. I'm Matt Koval. If this video was helpful,
give it a like. It'll help me out. Be sure to subscribe for more presenting tips, and if you do want my presenters' cheat sheet, click the link below and I'll
email it to you. And with that, and this video, I think you're going to
crush it. This can't be out of sync, look at this
microphone. I spent two hours on this, it can't be out of sync!
