Tips for presenting
Online presentations are not the same as live ones. Many of the skills you have for doing live presentations and meetings are transferable to Online meetings and presentations, however, I think there are some new skills needed also.
It is very easy for a participant in an online presentation to "tune out", you just shut the presentation window down, and do Email. With a large audience it can also be difficult for a participant to get noticed, and to get help, or ask a question, here are some tip to think about when doing online presentations -
Use two presenters - Two different voices on the call will prick peoples attention when you change presenters. It also helps to break sections of the content up, people understand that a new idea is about to be presented when the presenter changes. The second presenter can also be working the back channel communications while the other is presenting. They can be answering IM questions or using the built in tools of the chosen software package to assist participants.
Use large numbers of slides, with limited detail on them - Dont put two much detail on the slide, you may be tempted because hey, people can read the slide now that they are six inches from there computer screen, Vs the back of a room. People still wont read your slides in detail. Use a large volume of slides to keep things moving on the screen, but the information should still be in what you say. If all the answers are in your presentation then just Email the presentation, you are not needed!
Show me what you mean - You have the tools to show people what you are talking about, so dont use detailed slides, so if this is a demo of a new application, then demo the application! your tools let you, and there are limited numbers of participants, then let the participants run the application on your machine also. Hands on is always better.
Quick and simple - Limit the amount of time your presentation will go for. I never understand why presentations are always scheduled for 1hr, and then the slides are built to pad out the hour. Start with 20minute presentations, and maybe a few of them to get to your hour if you still need it. People can give up 20minutes, they can also then think about what you said in that 20minutes before your next scheduled presentation. If you say your presentation will be for an hour, then make it for an hour, no longer. As with face to face presentations you need to practice to hit the timing.
Arrive early - Have the session up and running to welcome participants as they arrive, dont just start the session right on the allotted time, as you will have to wait for participants to get in, and get set up. Also, as a participant you feel the session will start on time, if you arrive and find it is already started a bit early.
