How can you be more engaging and sound conversational when speaking virtually, on webinars. Skype, or conference calls?
Here are a couple of low-cost tips:
1. Look into the webcam while speaking. It’s not so easy, but here is a low-cost, low-tech solution to encourage you to look into the web cam: a “Webcam Buddy,” a face with one eye cutout around the webcam. Then “talk to the eye” when you are speaking.
2. Use a face picture. If your audience or conversation partner and you can’t see each other (as in a conference call), place a picture of the person (or people) you are talking to nearby. Try my “Audience on a Stick.” If you don’t have pictures of the people you are talking to, you can use a picture of someone else, to give you more of a sense of conversation.
For more tips on communicating and presenting in a virtual environment, see my presentation (34 min) on virtual engagement, Virtual Communication Skills: Bridging the Digital Divide.
This presentation was given last month at a conference in Copenhagen, which is why they introduce me in Danish (my presentation is in English!):
Have you found some easy ways to be engaging virtually?