For when you’re presenting to a grid of black squares
I asked the participants in my virtual workshop what challenges they experience when presenting. Some of the usual answers surfaced: finding the right content (and the right amount of it), feeling nervous, having enough preparation time, and trying to create the slide deck that doesn’t look like a user manual.
Then came an unusual (and wildly appreciated) answer:
Presenting to an audience that refuses to be on camera.
Let’s be honest: most of us are thinking about ourselves when we decide whether or not to turn on video in our meetings. And we all know exactly how taxing the virtual environment is on our brains; the cognitive load is real. I’ve got all kinds of mercy for that.
Yet when we’re the ones presenting—when the shoe is on the other foot—it’s hard to not see our colleagues’ faces.
Without video…
… we lack (what little remains of) the non-verbal cues that tell us whether our audience is tracking with us.
… we lose the fueling energy that comes from smiles or nodding heads.
… we can easily forget there are people on the other side of the screen. People that we are trying to serve with our messages.
How are we to navigate this challenge… to manage our energy and connect to our audiences when they appear to be little more than a grid of black squares?
This has become my reality. In my workshops, I rarely have more than half of the attendees on camera, so I’ve become accustomed to this challenge and have some insights to offer.
Seven tips for managing your energy when presenting online:
Ask them to turn on their video.
Don’t overlook the power of the obvious. Sometimes just asking everyone to turn on the camera will yield a surprisingly positive result. Express an understanding of why they might not want to. Then remind them that everyone gets more out of the meetings when they’re on camera because of the enhanced non-verbal interaction and the mitigation of distraction. What’s the worst that can happen?
Dial up the empathy.
Before you log on, remind yourself of some of the good reasons why some people aren’t turning on their video. It’s not always borne of obstinacy; sometimes it’s a legitimate challenge in their environment or even their health. I had someone DM me during a workshop to apologize for not being on camera; he expressed self-consciousness about a facial disgifurement. I can only imagine how liberating the virtual world is for someone who previously struggled daily to overcome that pain. Tapping into an extra portion of empathy will help us remember that we’re serving real people who experience real challenges and pull us out of our frustration that they’re not on camera.
Leverage alternative interactions.
To stem the energy loss, find other ways to drive engagement. Ask them to annotate on the screen. Use the whiteboard features. Prompt usage of the chat with questions for them to answer. While none of these will offset the lack of visual input, each of them can buoy your sense of engagement, help you ensure they’re tracking with you, and will fuel your energy.
Focus on someone who is.
Find that person… the one who in the real world would be nodding and smiling their way through your presentation from the front row. Mercifully, there’s usually one or two in the virtual setting, too. Scale your window so the faces are as large as possible and ensure that person is in view. If you talk to them—as though it were a 1:1 conversation—it will boost your energy and sense of connection… and everyone else will feel it, too.
Simulate an audience.
If literally nobody is on camera (or you’re presenting in a webinar format where you can’t see the attendees), place a photo of a friendly face—perhaps someone you know—near your camera. It’ll help you approximate eye contact with the audience by directing your gaze to the camera, will elicit a smile from you, and remind you that there are, in fact, people on the other side of the screen.
Send them to breakout rooms.
This one’s a little crafty. I’ve found that nearly everyone will come on camera if they’re in a breakout room of no more than three or four people. And sometimes when they come back to the main room, they leave it on because the ice has been broken.
Summon it yourself.
At the end of the (virtual) day, our energy is ours to manage. Test out ways to invigorate yourself. Stand up while you present. Before you go “on,” play some of your favorite high-energy music and do some squats or other large-muscle movements to both release the nerves and enliven your body. Amplify your gestures on purpose—they will initiate a virtuous energy cycle inside you. And interject some reminders to dial up the energy at several points in your notes.
This isn’t an easy task. And yet it’s a necessary one. Our energy is a key component in our audiences’ engagement—and therefore their response to our presentations. Since this is our present and foreseeable reality, it’s worth the investment in learning how to fuel ourselves for the sake of our audiences and the ideas we’re striving to convey.