6 essentials for delivering a superb virtual presentation

Face-to-face meetings have become a luxury.

Thanks to the pressures of time, budget, distance and over-scheduling, the “location” field in many meeting invitations is populated not with a conference room number, but with web/phone connection instructions.

The convenience that technology affords comes at a cost:

If you want to convey presence and professionalism, here are six ways to win the room in an online meeting:

1. Focus your message and your attention.

Plan out your key points. Calculate the minutes you can afford on each topic, and stick to that schedule. If the conversation veers off track, steer it back.

Never, ever multitask—especially when you’re the host or presenter.

2. Show what needs to be seen—no more, no less.

If you’re sharing slides, try to share just that app, rather than your whole desktop. (We’re fascinated by chat, email and calendar alerts popping on screen, but wouldn’t you prefer that we see your message instead?)