When you are the host of an online presentation, be it a webinar or a video conference with co-workers or superiors it is important to make sure that the presentation is interesting and keeps people’s attention.
It is a fact that most humans can tune out and begin to daydream when they lose interest in an activity they are participating in. This can lead to disastrous results, especially when you are pitching clients or attempting to engage prospects or leads.
It is true the teacher is just as important as the subject and the leader needs to ensure that their subject matter will be well received.
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Why Would You Want To Make It More Interesting?
You may be wondering why this is important, after all if the conference is for employees of a company are they not responsible to listen as part of their job? Sure they are.
But, remember that as a leader, which the host in a video conference or webinar setting always is, you also have the responsibility to make sure to provide an environment that stimulates interest and engagement from the audience in order to have a productive and well trained team.
And, of course, if you are conducting a webinar for potential leads and prospects, no matter what business you are in, the interest of that audience is that much more important because it could mean the difference between gaining and losing clients and customers.
So, why not use these tips to make your presentation more interesting and really wow your audience.
1. Demonstrations
Providing visual demonstrations of anything applicable is one of the best ways to make presentations more interesting. For example, if the focus in on a software, then by all means show it in action right within the presentation.
The ClickMeeting webinar platform provides the Desktop Sharing feature that allows your audience to see your desktop live. You can do a step by step demonstration so they can its effectiveness and how it works in action.
2. Polling
Polling offers benefits for both the audience and the host. The host can receive feedback from participants about any topic. This enhances the decision making process, brings general feedback and new ideas to the table. And, when the audience knows that polls are part of the event, they will be more tuned in and interested in the content because they know their input will be needed and considered.
3. Humor
Humor can go a long way to make even the most tedious topics more entertaining. Of course, you need to be appropriate depending on the setting, but a few funny moments, possibly pre-planned and sprinkled throughout the presentation can make it much more fun and therefore, more interesting.
4. Visuals
Did you know that most humans learn and absorb information better visually than by simply listening to verbal information? Visual representations of ideas, lessons, concepts and thoughts provide a unique and effective way to exhibit the relationships between different parts. Images allow the audience to better focus and engage with the meaning of the message that is being conveyed.
A great example of this are data charts; imagine the difference in being told about data versus seeing it on a bar or pie chart. This applies to virtually any type of content, where visual elements help people to focus on meaning, group similar ideas together and in general provide a much more meaningful message by using their visual memory.
5. Audience Participation
Another great way to make presentations more interesting is to invite audience participation. This can be in the form of a Q&A and/or comments. Of course, the host should decide if they want to have these public or private, such as in a moderated chat. When the audience is able to participate and contribute to the session they will be much more tuned in to the meeting.
One option is to ask the audience questions throughout the session, and the other is to actually ask them to submit their own questions and/or comments. Of course, both options can be used in conjunction. The timing of when these will be answered and addressed should be prepared by the host beforehand and planned into the session. It is not a good idea to wing this as it will impact the timing of your session and the flow of the presentation.
6. Brainstorming Sessions
Another great way to engage your audience and stimulate interest is with brainstorming sessions. If these apply to your particular event subject you can enable the chat feature and ask your audience to brainstorm particular ideas.
7. Prepare A Script To Follow
There is nothing that makes a speech or presentation more boring and monotonous than long pauses from the host. Sometimes webinar presenters can lose track of their thoughts and so they will stumble and pause or worse yet, say ‘umm’ too many times, which, disrupts the flow of ideas that they want to convey and therefore disrupts the engagement of those listening and watching.
The best way to prevent this is to have a script in front of you at all times. It should be as detailed as needed and at the very least should be a simple outline, so, that you don’t have to search your memory for things you want to convey, it’s all there in front of you.
Final Thoughts
As you can see there are many ways to make online conferences more interesting. Remember that no matter what business you are in, the audience can be your most important asset.
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