Make the Most of Virtual Meetings: 5 Tips

Virtual meetings have at least one advantage over face-to-face meetings: They can be pulled together much quicker, so they’re perfect for dealing with unexpected challenges and time-sensitive issues.

Ron Marks, CEO of Results Seminars (www.resultsseminars.com), says that virtual meetings “work best when speed is of the essence. They’re an ideal way to convey information immediately.” Do you need up-to-date feedback from the field? Is there product misinformation out there that must be corrected? Has a company policy changed? As long as you have the software in place, you can connect your sales team online.

A virtual interaction requires sharp content and focus. Sheri Jeavons, virtual communications consultant and founder of Power Presentations (www.powerpresentations.com), points out that while much Web meeting software is excellent – she cites WebEx, Live Meeting, GoToMeeting, and Adobe Connect as being among those good choices – even the best software can’t do it all. “There’s no substitute for relevant, value-based content,” Jeavons says, “and you must communicate that content with conviction.”

These five steps will help you present your information with as much power as possible:

1. When speaking with or presenting to a large group, speak as if you’re talking to an individual person. Record a quick practice session and evaluate your effectiveness. Give yourself time to get over any self-consciousness and use your recorded practice sessions to correct mistakes.

2. You don’t know where your audience is or what distractions the audience members are facing, so do everything you can to make it easier for your listeners to absorb the information. That means shorter sentences, more pauses, emphasizing certain words, and repeating the main idea several times during the presentation. Standing up automatically infuses your voice with more energy.

3. Break the information into small segments. If the idea you’re presenting is complex and full of details, schedule multiple meetings instead of trying to cover too much in a single session.

4. Make it as interactive as you can. In real life, visual cues tell you if people are bored or confused. While the virtual format isn’t perfect for this kind of give and take, don’t drone on. Build stopping points and pauses into your presentation to allow for questions and to make sure participants understand your main points.

5. Solicit feedback and/or retention checks immediately after each virtual meeting. If something isn’t working, adjust your presentation method to make sure that next time you come through loud and clear.

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