Giving a remote presentation online without feeling super awkward - My collection of tips from Toastmasters
Today marks 15 days since the state of alarm was announced in Spain for the coronavirus. It is incredible the capacity that we have as human beings to adapt to new circumstances. Of course, it is annoying not being able to go for a walk in the park, or enjoy some tapas overlooking the beach or just go to the gym to exercise a little. But all these are small (and deep selfish) annoyances derived from the extraordinary moment we are experiencing, where sanity personnel, security forces, and many other professionals are making an inhuman effort to fight against the invisible plague that is attacking the entire planet.
One of the areas that are emerging reinforced from these uncertain times that we live is the working remotely software. And within video conferencing software, the skill that is flourishing and gaining in importance is the remote presentation skills.
How to present remotely effectively is a skill that in this historical moment that we live is more important than ever.
One of the mantras of Toastmasters International, a Leadership and Public Speaking organization to which I have belonged for 5 years, is that we are continuously doing “public speaking”. Many times we associate public speaking to give a talk with hundreds of people listening to us like Ted Talk or to that mega-events of the guru Tony Robins in which thousands of people go crazy while he takes off all his charisma
Most of us will not have the opportunity to give a TED talk or fill a basketball hall to give a talk to 20,000 people as Tony Robins does.
But most of us will have the opportunity to speak to a group of 4 people or to present something to coworkers. That is also public speaking, and that is something that Toastmasters continually insists on.
Public Speaking is any situation in which we want to communicate our ideas to another person (s), even if we speak to an audience of a persona, it does not stop being public speaking!
In these distant social times that we live, once again Toastmasters helps us to be prepared for the world to come. A few months ago in the Toastmasters magazine, I saw clubs that they do their sessions online, at the time I did not pay much attention since I prefer to go to my local club and do the meetings and physical presentations (and enjoy a beer and some snacks when the session ends) but now that is not possible, now that the Toastmasters meetings have moved to Zoom, I have read with more attention these articles of the best practices that Toastmasters International makes available to us. Becasue in the end, public speaking is public speaking, either in person or online.
A couple of weeks ago I put together a series of notes in my Evernote on how to make effective presentations remotely. And last week I had several online meetings, and in 3 of them, I had to deliver a presentation, a great opportunity to practice Toastmasters tips and test my list of best practices when presenting remotely.
I leave you here the mind map that I create to use as a support to prepare my online presentations, maybe it can be useful for you!
Click HERE to download the mind map
I also take this opportunity to wish you the best in these complicated days we are living, and also, I encourage you to visit Toastmaster web and see how useful joining this club of curious minds might be.
Have a wonderful week and #staysafe
@yolocalizo
Transitioning from one job to another can be an enriching experience, or it can be a nightmare.
I have detected in my different movements, and after seeing many colleagues making transitions, that there are a series of usually effective tips.