Article: Speaking At Remote
Events: How To Be Present When Your Body Isn’t
RainToday.com, September 2008
By Vickie K. Sullivan
Between high travel expenses and the fun of working in your
jammies, e-events work for presenter and audience alike. But
many presenters make the mistake of treating this format like
a typical speech. Webinars and teleseminars have a different
dynamic, a different relationship between presenter and audience.
Below are two of the biggest distinctions between a remote
event and an in-person speech, and two strategies to make
your next e-program the best one yet.
Lack of feedback and focus
Like many performers, speakers respond to the energy of the
attendees. Professional presenters constantly read their audience’s
body-language and can adapt to that reaction in an instant.
When a speaker knows the attendees are responding well, they
relax and “play” with the participants. It’s
those interactions that create classic spontaneous “moments”
no one forgets. They also can spot the “problem children”
and know how to draw them back in.
Webinars and teleseminars lack that unprompted give and
take. When speakers don’t have that visual feedback,
they can’t adapt to the audience in real time. They
are presenting in a vacuum, having no idea how their ideas
are coming off or if they need to change course. Result: Their
energy naturally goes down. Going through the material –
rather than being with the audience – becomes the goal.
The second difference is also about focus -- of the audience.
In a speech, the participants are more captive. They are gathered
in a room, away from their normal environment, not surrounded
by the distractions of their office. Most of the time, they
are there voluntarily (except for the poor trainers who have
to teach the “hostages,” those participants forced
to attend by their supervisors). And yes, while it’s
possible to check email via our blackberry, the physical presence
of other people is more compelling. The audience pays more
attention because they don’t want to “miss anything.”
Participating in Webinars creates the opposite setting. We
are alone, safely tucked into our most comfortable environment.
A place rife with tempting distractions and no way to get
caught. Now be honest: How many of us have checked our email
while listening to a webinar? Surfed other sites? Read the
Google RSS feeds? It’s much easier to multi-task when
it’s right in front of us. Result: All of these options
make our attention span shorter than it already is.
Start smart
So how can we counteract these differences? By adapting the
way we present from the very beginning. In live speeches,
many presenters start by introducing themselves and explaining
their background. This introduction is important because it
creates the context for their remarks. Researchers explain
the methodology; business people focus on their experience
and track record.
Audiences in remote events need the context but not necessarily
at the beginning. Many have already read your bio, so there’s
no need to start with an in-depth recap of your experience.
If you start with that information, many attendees tune out.
Their thinking: “I’ve already read this. Wonder
what’s in my email inbox?” And getting them back
is a lot of effort.
What’s needed is what insiders call a “bomb”:
Something that will immediately provoke attention. It doesn’t
have to be obnoxious or overly controversial – just
an insight that can immediately change their perspective.
It lets the audience know they are in for a wild ride and
to pay attention or they’ll miss something good.
Then, you can relate your experience back to that remark.
Keep the bio short and move on quickly. You can also relate
to your experience throughout the session, as long as the
key point stays in the spotlight. Examples: “I’d
say that the majority of my clients want (enter key benefit
here) and find that (enter key point here).” Or: “I
get hundreds of emails a month about (enter biggest challenge
here), and the most common question I get is….”
Don’t data dump
Without the visual feedback, humor becomes much more risky
for the presenter in remote events. Rather than risking failure,
many speakers depend too much on the material and overload
the audience. The thinking: If the content is compelling,
the audience will stay engaged and won’t shop for shoes
on the Internet. (I plead no contest.) The result: The audience
gets overwhelmed and tunes out. They “half-listen”
and the multi-tasking begins. Bottom line: Drinking from a
fire hose is not intriguing.
Humor serves a very important function: It gives the brain
a break to process the insights that were just unveiled. It
also bonds the audience by sharing laughter from a common
experience. The best alternative for remote events: stories
and Q and A.
Many professional speakers use stories to make their points
come to life – and create opportunities for situational
humor. For remote events, the story changes. Have shorter
vignettes or examples for every key point. And have more of
them. It’s better to have less content that the audience
remembers than more content that they forget. Stories engage,
and shorter attention spans need that engagement.
Question and answer sessions serve the bigger need: the attendee’s
agenda. Everyone on that call or online is there for a reason.
They need more information to make a decision, or ideas to
implement. By breaking more frequently for questions, you
get the chance to clarify your points. It is critical to clear
up any mysteries as soon as possible; confused participants
stop listening until their question is answered. So don’t
save the Q&A for the end. Break the program up into segments
that include questions before moving on.
Conclusion
Remote events are everywhere and for good reason. They are
effective branding and education tools that get our point
of view into the marketplace. Different formats need different
presentation strategies. By addressing the lack of visual
feedback and shorter attention span of our audience with strong
openings, more stories and Q&A interactions, we can use
these programs to boldly go to markets we have not gone to
before.
Since 1987, Vickie K. Sullivan, President of Sullivan Speaker
Services, has generated millions of dollars in speaking fees,
book advances and ancilliary income for her clients. Sign
up for her free market intelligence at http://www.SullivanSpeaker.com
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