How to Succeed at Live Interactive Presentations

When was the last time you spoke in front of a live audience? Do you feel nervous about public speaking? Or do you get a shot of adrenaline from the experience?

Last week I gave an interactive, virtual presentation to a live audience of over two hundred people. One of my biggest fears at such an event is tech failure, such as losing the internet connection or a PowerPoint malfunction. Everyone doing a presentation has his or her own worries, and the best solution is preparation.

While fresh from the experience, I would like to share some tips on succeeding at live, interactive presentations.

Tip 1: Review the purpose of your presentation

A chat and learn presentation, such as the one I gave, is very informal and allows you about an hour to show your audience your expertise through a series of questions and answers. How well you prepare for your presentation helps the hour to go smoothly.

First, before the day of the presentation, reread the description of your presentation. Most likely, it was written about a month before the event so you may have forgotten what you promised to cover during your talk.

A quick review of the description is important for refreshing your memory about what topics and points you will cover during the hour. This way, you will fulfill your audience’s expectations. Jot down some points that you want to make sure you cover before the presentation finishes.

Reviewing your main points also reduces the chances that you’ll go off topic and speak to other areas of your expertise, leaving your audience feeling like they didn’t get their questions answered or the talk didn’t turn out to be what they expected.

Tip 2: Prepare for all scenarios before going live

Many things may happen during your presentation, some good, some bad. Have a backup plan in place in case your internet cuts out. What will the host do while you are working to reestablish your connection?

Test your work area. Is the noise level comfortable? Do you need to close windows if there might be distractions, such as a rise in traffic noise? Is the temperature comfortable? It’s never good if the room starts to warm up (or you start to warm up because you overdressed) and you break out in a sweat. 

Turn off distractions, such as alerts from your phone. Wear headphones if you are more comfortable with noise reduction. 

Have a pen and paper handy if you need to jot down some notes. Place a comforting beverage nearby (coffee if you need to wake up some more or just water). A sip of your drink can save you if you unexpectedly start coughing. A sip of your drink is also a great way to pause and collect your thoughts before you speak.

Practice your introduction about yourself. A smooth and organized introduction will make you appear confident, compared to an introduction filled with ums and uhs. It will give your audience a positive first impression.

Although an interactive presentation involves answering questions from audience members, preview the questions that were sent in early and tell the event host which one(s) you would like to start with. Practice your answers to those questions.

Tip 3: Create a strong first impression

It can be intimidating to speak to a live audience of hundreds without a script to fall back on and to answer questions without knowing them in advance. The key is to make a strong first impression and look like you are an expert in your field.

Speak slowly. It gives you time to organize your thoughts and you’ll sound more confident than if you are rushed. The event moderator will introduce you, and then you’ll introduce yourself. 

Start with questions that you feel most comfortable answering. If you have a series of points to make, or you want to talk about something with a series of steps, clearly define the points as first, second, third, etcetera. When you finish your answer, stop, and the moderator will summarize what you’ve just said and transition to the next question.

Remember to look at the camera. It may feel more natural to look at the screen to see what people are doing or check if you look okay, but eye contact with the audience only happens when you look directly at the cold, shiny eye of your webcam.

Tip 4: Let your moderator guide you through the presentation

The event moderator is the host of the show. Your moderator will ask you questions and transition you from question to question. If you’re stuck on what to say, count on your moderator to step in and smooth out any awkward, dead air time.

The moderator will monitor the chat, read out relevant comments, and share questions from the audience. It can be intimidating when the moderator reads a question for you to answer on the spot. It’s okay to take a few seconds to organize your thoughts before you answer. Also, at this point, you’ve shared enough of your expertise to establish yourself as an authority on the subject.

Before your presentation is over, the moderator will ask if you have any additional points to share. This is your opportunity to cover any points that were missed or share any final words of wisdom on your topic.

When your time is almost up, the moderator provides a strong wrap up of what you covered, including information on how the attendees can get in touch with you. Remember to thank your audience for attending!

Key Takeaways

The thought of making a presentation in front of hundreds of people can invoke fear in most people. Doing a live presentation to an audience without knowing what you’ll be saying in advance can be the stuff of nightmares.

If you’re already an expert on the topic, then remember that people are attending to learn from you. Be prepared with some key ideas, and then answer audience questions as if you’re chatting with a friend about your favourite subject. The best part is you’re not presenting alone. Your moderator is there to keep you organized and keep your talk moving along from start to finish.

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Challenge: Improve Your Vocabulary

Do you find yourself occasionally Google searching a word because you couldn’t remember whether it could be used the way that you’re thinking?

You might have heard that constant learning keeps you young. Learning new vocabulary or refreshing yourself on the use of some old ones is always great for exercising your brain.

What are some ways to learn new vocabulary to keep your mind sharp?

One way is to subscribe to journals or blogs related to your profession or topics that you have an interest in. Often you’ll run into new concepts or terminology. If the meaning of the word is not in the article, you can search for it online. Or you can bookmark industry-specific dictionaries that will give you the meaning of a word in the context of the industry. For example, this dictionary defines legal terms.

If you’re keen to expand your vocabulary, this site explains the meaning of commonly confused words and how to use the words correctly. For example, this article defines the meaning of effectiveness versus efficacy versus efficiency. Even if you know the meaning of words such as ocean, sea, and coast, you may be interested in the specific distinctions in how they are used, according to cartographers and hydrographers.

Knowledge can be very empowering, even if you are expanding your knowledge one word at a time.

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Why You Need a Mentor

Most learning experiences – including hour-long workshops to week-long conferences – teach you relevant lessons, but they may not give you the knowledge or skills you need to reach your goals. Having a mentor is advantageous when improving your career, business, or yourself.

You can sign up for webinars to learn new skills. But when the webinar is over, it is up to you to apply the lessons you learned. The downside of this approach is staying motivated over time and continuing to apply the skills you learned.

Another approach is to register for a course with live webinars and mentoring from the instructors and peers. As a result of the mentoring from this community, you may notice an immediate improvement in your learning experience for several reasons.

Learning is personalized

It’s easy to watch and observe while you’re learning something new. It’s easy to get excited about a new concept. But you don’t know if you’ve achieved true mastery of what you’ve learned until you apply it. Having a mentor personalizes your learning.

The interaction during a live webinar is motivating when you hear about how your peers apply the lessons and get positive results. You’ll feel like you’re on the right track and not alone in your journey toward self-improvement.

You have the opportunity to ask questions about your situation. Your mentor will give you feedback about your particular concerns and comment on your progress. With this type of learning, you’ll feel like your effort in the course mattered.

After each webinar, some courses allow you to meet with peers on platforms such as Discord to practice what you learned and discuss your opinions about learning points. These interactions with peers make you more accountable for your learning. You’ll want to be the next person with a success story to share with the group.

Opportunities to practice and improve skills

With most courses and webinars, you take notes, then shelve your notebook somewhere until you need to reference a point from one of the lessons. However, the best and safest way to implement what you’ve learned from a course is with practice. You can make mistakes without worrying about making mistakes.

A role-play to demonstrate the point of a lesson can be an effective way to get a message across to an audience. However, it is difficult to tell if you truly mastered the lesson’s objective by watching the sample role-play. For example, if you are learning to deal with a difficult work situation, you can watch a role-play of a conversation. When faced with a difficult situation at your workplace, however, you might not be able to follow the script from the demonstration.

When you are involved in role-playing during a practice session, you have the opportunity to try out a situation in a safe environment. If you make a mistake, you can try again. You can say, “pause” to stop and think about what you should say next, and then “resume” the role-play when you’re ready to continue. You can repeat this several times to figure out the best solution for the situation. (Something you can’t do in real life.) Audience members can also sub in as you switch roles and test out alternate endings for a scenario.

The practice sessions with peers are a valuable way to grow your skills. Most importantly, only by practicing do people realize what they don’t know.

Opportunities for feedback

Having a chance to practice what you learn and receive feedback from mentors is the best way to evaluate your learning. You have a safe environment to try out different scenarios and improve yourself. A mentor will tell you what you are and aren’t not doing well and provide suggestions that work for you.

For example, if you are learning how to be a more effective public speaker, your mentor could watch your presentation and provide you with feedback afterward. Your mentor might notice that you need to interact with your audience more. Instead of reading through a checklist of all the methods for improving speaker/audience interaction, your mentor could suggest tips that work specifically with your personality style.

Ongoing feedback is also critical to your self-improvement. In a live webinar course with role-play opportunities, you can role-play with peers during the course. After each session, you receive feedback on what you did well and what you need to improve. During subsequent sessions, you can review your notes on the feedback and apply them to your next role-play. Over time, you’ll notice a gradual improvement in your skills.

Chances to review and reflect

Group support and mentoring are very important in your learning and growth. When your peers talk about how the lessons have changed them, you realize that you are not the only one going through a period of transformation.

It is very motivating when a peer shares how he applied the lesson and achieved a great result with a client. You feel motivated to do the same. You can relate when a peer talks about how she feels she’s changed because of the course.

Mentorship is an effective way to learn. Your mentor is your guide as you develop new skills. Ongoing feedback from your teacher and the peers in your course allows you to learn at your own pace. The encouragement from your teacher-mentor and peer-mentors as you practice what you learn results in improved skills and knowledge.

If you are ready to learn from a mentor, you can follow these tips on finding the best mentor for you.