Skip to content
American ExpressAmerican ExpressAmerican ExpressAmerican ExpressAmerican Express
  • Personal Accounts

    • Account Summary
    • View Statement
    • Manage Account
    • Make a Payment
    • Manage Pre-Authorized Payment
    • Add Someone to Your Account

    Business Accounts

    • Business Account Summary
    • American Express @Work
    • Merchant Services

    Online Services

    • Register for Online Services
    • Activate Your Card
    • American Express App
    • Manage Account Alerts
    • Sign Up for Email Offers
    • Online-Only Statements

    Other Services

    • American Express Gift Cards
    • Support 24/7
    • Welcome Centre
    CanadaChange Country
    English
    • Français
  • Personal Cards

    • View All Cards
    • Credit Cards
    • Why American Express?

    Small Business Cards

    • View Business Cards
    • Interested in a Card?
    • Refer a Business Owner

    Corporate Cards

    • Corporate Cards
    • Supplier Payment Solutions

    Quick Links

    • Travel Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • Platinum Cards
    • AIR MILES®* Credit Cards
    • Aeroplan®* Rewards Cards
    CanadaChange Country
    English
    • Français
  • Online Travel

    • Book Travel Online
    • Book Fine Hotels & Resorts
    • Book The Hotel Collection
    • Travel Support

    Business Travel

    • Global Business Travel Solutions
    • Meetings & Events

    Other Travel Services

    • Travelers Cheques
    CanadaChange Country
    English
    • Français
  • Travel

    • Travel Insurance
    • Air Trip Insurance

    Personal

    • Account Protector Ultimate
    • Identity Defence

    Other

    • Review Your Coverage
    • Submit an Online Claim
    CanadaChange Country
    English
    • Français
  • Membership Rewards® Program

    • Explore Membership Rewards
    • Redeem Points
    • Fixed Points Travel Program
    • About Membership Rewards

    Other Reward Programs

    • AIR MILES®* Credit Cards
    • Aeroplan®* Rewards Cards

    American Express Invites®

    • Front Of The Line®, Entertainment, Shopping & Dining Offers
    • Sign Up for Entertainment e-Updates

    Refer a Friend

    • Refer a Friend. Get Rewarded
    CanadaChange Country
    English
    • Français
  • Merchants

    • Merchant Services
    • Accept the Card
    • Manage Merchant Account
    • Contact Us
    • FAQs

    Corporations

    • Corporate Cards
    • Supplier Payment Solutions
    • Cardmember Resources
    • Program Administrator Resources
    • Global Business Travel Solutions

    Small Business

    • Small Business Solutions
    • View all Cards
    • Business Trends & Insights

    Global Network

    • Home
    • Issuers
    • Acquirers
    • Service Providers
    • Developers
    CanadaChange Country
    English
    • Français
  • Contact Us
  • Login
      • Account Summary
      • View Statement
      • Manage Account
      • Make a Payment
      • Manage Pre-Authorized Payment
      • Add Someone to Your Account
      • Business Account Summary
      • American Express @Work
      • Merchant Services
      • Register for Online Services
      • Activate Your Card
      • American Express App
      • Manage Account Alerts
      • Sign Up for Email Offers
      • Online-Only Statements
      • American Express Gift Cards
      • Support 24/7
      • Welcome Centre
      • View All Cards
      • Credit Cards
      • Why American Express?
      • View Business Cards
      • Interested in a Card?
      • Refer a Business Owner
      • Corporate Cards
      • Supplier Payment Solutions
      • Travel Cards
      • Cash Back Credit Cards
      • Platinum Cards
      • AIR MILES®* Credit Cards
      • Aeroplan®* Rewards Cards
      • Book Travel Online
      • Book Fine Hotels & Resorts
      • Book The Hotel Collection
      • Travel Support
      • Global Business Travel Solutions
      • Meetings & Events
      • Travelers Cheques
      • Travel Insurance
      • Air Trip Insurance
      • Account Protector Ultimate
      • Identity Defence
      • Review Your Coverage
      • Submit an Online Claim
      • Explore Membership Rewards
      • Redeem Points
      • Fixed Points Travel Program
      • About Membership Rewards
      • AIR MILES®* Credit Cards
      • Aeroplan®* Rewards Cards
      • Front Of The Line®, Entertainment, Shopping & Dining Offers
      • Sign Up for Entertainment e-Updates
      • Refer a Friend. Get Rewarded
      • Merchant Services
      • Accept the Card
      • Manage Merchant Account
      • Contact Us
      • FAQs
      • Corporate Cards
      • Supplier Payment Solutions
      • Cardmember Resources
      • Program Administrator Resources
      • Global Business Travel Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • View all Cards
      • Business Trends & Insights
      • Home
      • Issuers
      • Acquirers
      • Service Providers
      • Developers
  • Contact Us
CanadaChange Country
English
  • Français
  • Personal Accounts

    • Account Summary
    • View Statement
    • Manage Account
    • Make a Payment
    • Manage Pre-Authorized Payment
    • Add Someone to Your Account

    Business Accounts

    • Business Account Summary
    • American Express @Work
    • Merchant Services

    Online Services

    • Register for Online Services
    • Activate Your Card
    • American Express App
    • Manage Account Alerts
    • Sign Up for Email Offers
    • Online-Only Statements

    Other Services

    • American Express Gift Cards
    • Support 24/7
    • Welcome Centre
  • Personal Cards

    • View All Cards
    • Credit Cards
    • Why American Express?

    Small Business Cards

    • View Business Cards
    • Interested in a Card?
    • Refer a Business Owner

    Corporate Cards

    • Corporate Cards
    • Supplier Payment Solutions

    Quick Links

    • Travel Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • Platinum Cards
    • AIR MILES®* Credit Cards
    • Aeroplan®* Rewards Cards
  • Online Travel

    • Book Travel Online
    • Book Fine Hotels & Resorts
    • Book The Hotel Collection
    • Travel Support

    Business Travel

    • Global Business Travel Solutions
    • Meetings & Events

    Other Travel Services

    • Travelers Cheques
  • Travel

    • Travel Insurance
    • Air Trip Insurance

    Personal

    • Account Protector Ultimate
    • Identity Defence

    Other

    • Review Your Coverage
    • Submit an Online Claim
  • Membership Rewards® Program

    • Explore Membership Rewards
    • Redeem Points
    • Fixed Points Travel Program
    • About Membership Rewards

    Other Reward Programs

    • AIR MILES®* Credit Cards
    • Aeroplan®* Rewards Cards

    American Express Invites®

    • Front Of The Line®, Entertainment, Shopping & Dining Offers
    • Sign Up for Entertainment e-Updates

    Refer a Friend

    • Refer a Friend. Get Rewarded
  • Merchants

    • Merchant Services
    • Accept the Card
    • Manage Merchant Account
    • Contact Us
    • FAQs

    Corporations

    • Corporate Cards
    • Supplier Payment Solutions
    • Cardmember Resources
    • Program Administrator Resources
    • Global Business Travel Solutions

    Small Business

    • Small Business Solutions
    • View all Cards
    • Business Trends & Insights

    Global Network

    • Home
    • Issuers
    • Acquirers
    • Service Providers
    • Developers

CanadaChange Country
English
  • Français
Business Cards
Small to Medium
American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card
Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Marriott Bonvoy™ Business American Express® Card
American Express® AIR MILES® for Business Card
American Express® AIR MILES® Gold Business Card
American Express Business Edge™ Card
View all Business Cards
Large/Corporate
American Express® Corporate Card
American Express® Corporate Gold Card
Corporate Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express® AeroplanPlus®* Corporate Card
American Express® AeroplanPlus®* Corporate Platinum Card
View All Corporate Cards
Supplier Payment Solutions
American Express vPayment
American Express Corporate Purchasing Card
American Express Business Travel Account
American Express Buyer Initiated Payments
American Express Corporate Meeting Card
View all
Trends & Insights
Trends & Insights
Insights and Inspiration to Help Grow Your Business
Managing Money
Cash Flow
Financing
Creating Efficiencies
Suppliers
Inventory Management
Productivity
Automation
Planning for Growth
Strategy
People
Business Expansion
Risks and Controls
Innovation
Industry Thought Leadership
Industry Insights
Oil & Gas
Construction
Thought Leadership
Request Info
  • Trends and Insights
  • Planning for Growth
  • Strategy
Business Class

July 30, 2020

How to Give an Effective Online Presentation from Home

How to Give an Effective Online Presentation from Home

Twitter Icon
Facebook Icon
LinkedIn Icon
American Express

Summary

Make sure your audience is paying attention to you and not your work-from-home situation with these online presentation tips.

Twitter Icon
Facebook Icon
LinkedIn Icon

Online presentations are the norm now that more people are working from home. For many, moving from in-person to online presentations may bring a new set of challenges to overcome.

Are you concerned you might fumble with new technology or appear frazzled when presenting in an unfamiliar digital arena? You’re not alone. These eight tips can help you deliver online presentations like a pro.

1. Simplify your slides

Each web conference platform has its own distinctive way of displaying slides. Avoid technical hassles by designing simple, easy-to-read slides.

Place text in the center instead of at the edges of the slides because they may not display correctly on your audience’s screens. Also, consider creating high contrast slides—they are easier to read for your virtual audience.

Remember: Online listeners are likely to multitask or to be distracted. To prevent them from missing your main points, you need to drive home your key messages quickly. To do this, use a sentence headline for your slide titles that states the main point of your slide. You can then include the evidence for each of your key points in the body of the slide.

2. Do tech prep

Technology keeps us connected, but its complexity creates additional avenues for potential disruption. One way to prepare is to look at technology through the lens of Murphy's Law, which states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Focus on what you can control.

Use the most reliable internet connection you can. Web-conferencing providers generally consider a wired connection to be more optimal than wireless (WiFi) connections. And WiFi connections are considered better than cellular connections.

Have another laptop (or emergency tablet or phone) at the ready in case you encounter a problem.

Download a PDF version of your presentation to pull up in case there's a technical mishap with your slides (You do this by selecting “Save As” and choosing “PDF.”) When saving your presentation as a PDF, remember to delete your hidden slides first as they will not remain hidden when you display your PDF presentation.

Close any unnecessary applications to ensure that they don’t interfere your web conferencing software. Also shut off any other background activities that require a substantial amount of memory or bandwidth, such as downloading or uploading large files or instant file synchronizations.

Get familiar with the platform you're using in advance. Practice muting and unmuting your microphone. If you're the host, practice muting and unmuting one or all other participants. Follow the instructions in the help center of your video conferencing app so that you don’t fumble during the event.

3. Set the scene

Eliminate any visual clutter behind you. Clutter includes plants, boxes, piles of books, food, toys, laundry, pets — an ideal background is a plain wall to eliminate distractions and look professional.

If you can’t tidy up your space, you can also create a sophisticated virtual background. You can upload these designs to any video conferencing system that allows for customized backgrounds.

4. Ditch the sweatshirt or other at-home apparel

Wear your regular workplace casual clothes. When picking out an outfit, avoid distracting patterns or multi-colored shirts, as well as shiny fabrics such as satin or silk as they may shimmer when you move your body on camera. Solid colors are best—you want people to focus on your message, not your clothes.

5. Light up your face

If the lighting in your room isn’t optimal, set up a desk lamp behind your laptop, centered right over the camera to light up your face. For this to work well, minimize the lighting from other parts of the room by lowering the shades to prevent light coming from the side or the back.

Avoid sitting with a bright window behind you as it will make you appear dark and foreboding. Switch positions so that you sit with the bright window in front of you.

6. Make sure they can hear you and only you

Ideally, you should present in a quiet room. However, working from home with a partner or kids can make it less of an ideal setting for controlling background noise. You can mitigate this challenge by investing in a good headset with a built-in microphone that cancels or neutralizes outside sounds, as well as turning off your phone and any noisy computer notifications.

7. Look them in the eye

Raise your laptop so that your camera is at eye level. You can do this quickly by placing a box or a stack of books underneath your laptop. Practice speaking to the camera, not the screen. Also, angle the laptop screen so that you are centered in the frame, and your head is not cut off.

You may also need to move back a little. If you sit too close to your laptop, your face may look blown up. That’s not the most flattering angle. Either sit with your back resting comfortably on your chair or push the laptop back. Ideally, it would help if you sat at an arm’s length from the screen. Sit up straight, smile. Make an effort to look good. It will show.

8. Regularly re-engage your audience’s attention

An audience’s attention can drift , especially during an extended online presentation. One way to judge your listeners’ attention level is through the attention tracking feature that is available in some web conferencing applications. Attention tracking features are indicators next to each attendee’s name on your attendee pane that show you if the person has an app other than the web conference at the forefront of their screen.

Regardless of whether or not your web conferencing platform offers an attendee tracking feature, consider planning ahead of time to re-engage your audience’s attention.

For one thing, spread out your points over more slides, rather than less, so that new slides appear on the screen periodically to bring wandering minds back to you and your message.

To prevent listeners from tuning you out, pick up the pace. If you speak at a leisurely pace, you risk losing your virtual audience. You can also re-engage drifting attention with frequent change-ups or interruptions in your speaking pattern by:

  • Asking a direct or rhetorical question,
  • Soliciting feedback or comments,
  • Using engaging images here and there,
  • Telling an anecdote that illustrates your point,
  • Providing an example or two to explain a point or introducing a metaphor to bring a pivotal point to life, or
  • Showing a brief video clip that ties into your message.

Use anything that’s relevant and breaks up a monotonous pattern, and you’ll come across as a more engaging presenter.

 

This article was adapted from an earlier version https://amex.co/2WkPFmd

 

 

This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion on any issue. It should not be regarded as comprehensive or a substitute for professional advice.

Twitter Icon
Facebook Icon
LinkedIn Icon
Want to Dig Deeper?

American Express Cards

  • Personal Cards
  • Credit Cards
  • Small Business Cards
  • Corporate Cards
  • American Express Gift Cards
  • Add Someone to Your Account

More Products & Services

  • Membership Rewards® Program
  • American Express App
  • Insurance Home
  • Book Travel Online
  • Merchant Services
  • Accept the Card

Important Links

  • Form & Document Centre
  • Online Services
  • Global Assist
  • Shop Confidently
  • See Merchants Near You
  • Refer a Friend

Company Information

  • About American Express
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Sign Up for Email Offers
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Moving Abroad?
    • Personal Cards
    • Credit Cards
    • Small Business Cards
    • Corporate Cards
    • American Express Gift Cards
    • Add Someone to Your Account
    • Membership Rewards® Program
    • American Express App
    • Insurance Home
    • Book Travel Online
    • Merchant Services
    • Accept the Card
    • Form & Document Centre
    • Online Services
    • Global Assist
    • Shop Confidently
    • See Merchants Near You
    • Refer a Friend
    • About American Express
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
    • Sign Up for Email Offers
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Moving Abroad?

American Express
CanadaChange country
English
  • Français
  • Facebook
  • Connect with Amex on Instagram
  • Tweet your questions to @AskAmex
  • YouTube

  • Trademarks
  • Terms & Conditions of Use
  • Updated Online Privacy Statement (01/2018)
  • Complaint Handling
  • Codes of Conduct & Commitments
  • Amex Bank of Canada Prime Rate
  • Security Alerts
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Accessibility Plan
  • Cardmember Agreements

Amex Bank of Canada, P.O. Box 3204, Station F, Toronto, ON M1W 3W7

Copyright © 2021 American Express Company