5 PowerPoint tips to boost your next virtual presentation

We’ve all heard of the classic nightmare. You arrive at work or school and stand up on stage to deliver a speech, or presentation, before the wave of realisation that you forgot your trousers. Cue laughter, embarrassment, and potential disciplinary action. However, as presentations have shifted into virtual spaces, these nightmares are wearing new faces: a stage replaced by a screen you’re struggling to share; a lack of trousers has become an accidental cat filter over your face; and a laughing audience has transformed into a sea of blank screens and muted mics.

Even in the waking world it’s easy to feel discouraged when presenting virtually. Audiences have more work and home distractions than ever, all competing with you for their attention. Real-time audience feedback is lost, which can make it feel like you’re speaking into the void. But fear not. We’ve pulled together our 5 top tips for keeping your virtual audience engaged, present, and tuned in, so buckle up and turn your virtual presentation nightmare into your visible presentation dream.

Tip #1: A virtual presentation is still a visual presentation

We’ve talked about the new challenges of virtual presentations. But our first tip is a reminder that a lot of the core principles when creating your content are the same. No quick tip will keep an audience engaged if their screens are full of dense bullet points and tiny text.

Luckily, we have some pre-prepared tips on the matter! Follow these principles to set up a strong foundation for your presentation:

• Craft a story with your content that’s tailored to your audience
• Create visuals to engage your audience and drive home your key message
• Cut big blocks of bullet point text that cause ‘Death by PowerPoint’
• Control the flow of information with animations and clicks

Tip #2: Speaker notes, not speaker scripts

Speaker notes are an excellent tool during a virtual presentation. Dual monitors mean that having your notes at hand is much easier than when presenting in person. Use this to your advantage! Structuring your notes according to your animated clicks and transitions can really help with timing your delivery to flow through your story and keep your audience hooked.

But remember: notes are… notes. Don’t be tempted to write out a full script and read to your audience – written and spoken language just sound different. Simply reading out a script is a surefire way to put your audience to sleep. Be present, be authentic, and speak naturally. Of course, this takes practice. But the first step is trusting that you know your stuff, and you can speak to your content without needing a script.

Tip #3: Encourage audience participation

One of the best ways to capture audience attention in a is by getting them involved. Ask questions. Encourage discussion. Get people thinking.

There’s plenty of easy tools you can use throughout your virtual presentation to engage your audience:

• Polls can assess prior knowledge or gather opinions – many online meeting platforms have these features built in these days, but there are also bespoke tools like Mentimeter.
• Breakout rooms can facilitate discussion or be used for relevant exercises and practise.
• Asking questions of your audience, and using the raise-hand feature, allows you to call on participants to respond and add to the discussion.

Try involving people every 5-10 minutes or so to prevent focus and concentration from drifting away. These changes in rhythm will not only keep people interested, but boost knowledge sharing and discussion amongst audience members.

Tip #4: Check your tech (and check again)

Tech is notoriously tricky to wrangle (have you ever tried to fight a printer?). Tech troubles can have a big impact on your virtual presentation – nothing puts an audience off faster than the eldritch screech of microphone feedback.

Luckily, we’ve compiled a quick checklist below to iron out those troubles before they happen:

 Firstly, is all your hardware up to the task?

• Where possible, you want to maximise the strength of your internet connection. Are you close enough to the router? Can you plug in directly with an ethernet cable?
• Having clear sound will make it much easier for your audience to understand you. Remember that you don’t get to hear your own audio, so record yourself or jump on a call with someone using the platform you’ll be presenting through to check. Does it sound better using a headset or the built-in mic on your computer? Are you sat next to an obnoxiously loud washing machine?
• If you’re planning to turn on your camera, avoid having any distractions in the background. Are you underneath a window with the dazzling midday sun at your back? Have you still got your washing up behind you?

Secondly, do you know the software?

• The first hurdle will be sharing your screen. Do you know which screen will be shared? Do you know where the button is? Do you need to share with sound?
• Setting up breakout rooms can be time consuming. Are you familiar with how it works? Is there someone who could co-host and set up the rooms for you?

Just a small amount of tech prep and practise goes a long way to keeping your virtual presentation smooth and your audience focused on you (rather than your pants hanging up in the background).

Tip #5: Rehearse!

Just like in-person presentations, practise makes perfect. As well as checking over your slides and notes, make sure you have a chance to do a full run-through of your presentation:

• Use the software you’ll be using
• Check your engagement tools work as intended
• Practise in the space you’ll be in
• Bring someone in as a dummy audience member to get a feel for really presenting (and as a chance for some feedback too!)

Perhaps most importantly, rehearse as if you’re doing the real thing. Yes, that means talking out loud. It may feel a bit awkward full-throttle presenting into empty space, or to one guinea pig co-worker, but that’s better than stumbling over yourself in the real thing!

As well as improving your presentation, taking the time to rehearse will help you relax. You’ll know your slides are ready, you’ll know your computers ready, and you’ll know that you’re ready.

And now that you’re ready, all there is for us to say is good luck and have fun!