Many professionals are learning that they’re going to be conducting virtual sales presentations a little bit longer. The world of virtual presentations is at an all-time high. Everyone is getting used to this new reality, but not everyone is effective at delivering these virtual meetings. When it comes to delivering a sales presentation and trying to engage your prospects to purchase your product or service or to move forward in your sales process, your virtual presentations are the most important presentations you’re going to make. I’m sure by now you have seen virtual presentations that have gone horribly wrong. Bad lighting, bad audio, bad internet, people not understanding how technology works. The list goes on and on. You don’t want to be that person. How do you do virtual presentations effectively? Today we’re going to dive into the big problem of virtual presentations. Here’s the five tips for having an effective virtual sales presentation.

Use Good Lighting

When I sit with a sales appointment or someone trying to sell me a product or service and they don’t have correct lighting, that’s not good. People want to see your face. They want to see the person they are having a conversation with. The way you can connect with the camera and your prospect is by being seen well. You can get a simple, small ring light. There’s a ring light that I use for all my blogs. I have multiple lights. You can get aggressive lights, you can get small lights. Position it behind your camera so that it shines on you. Don’t be the person that has improper lighting. It distracts your prospects from enjoying your presentation.

Use the Right Background

If you’ve watched my blog below and others like it, I have a green screen background, and I multiple background options. I use what green screen background is appropriate for my blog or my podcast. The reason I have my green screen up is because I’ve been working frantically at my desk all day. So instead of cleaning my desk and hiding sensitive documents, I put my green screen up, correct my lighting and get going on my blog. If you don’t have a green screen, your background should not distract from the presentation. There’s two theories on how this is done. Some say to have a clean background, and some say have a background that is professional but also brings life, warmth and shows personality. Whatever you choose, don’t allow the background to distract from you, the presenter.

Know Your Technology

There is a zero expense associated with this tip to make your virtual presentation effective. No matter what you are using to present, take a few minutes to know the technology. Log-on in advance. Practice with all the features you will use, like screen sharing or document sharing. If you are constantly fumbling with the technology during the presentation, you look unprofessional and unprepared. You want your prospect on the other side to feel confident that they can do business with you because you are a professional, you are an expert in your craft. And in today’s world, your craft is virtual sales presentations.

Speak to the Camera

To really get a feel for how this works, I suggest scrolling down to my vlog below. When you’re not speaking to the camera, it makes it feel like you’re not speaking to me. When you’re doing a virtual presentation, if you have an external camera such as the one I use, look at the camera to make your virtual presentation effective. Watch my video below for an example of this. It’s a natural tendency to want to look at the screen when the audience is talking to you, and that’s okay. But as long as you know when it’s your time to speak, you redirect your eyes, you look directly at center of the camera and you can speak. If you’re in an engaging in constant back-and-forth dialogue, look at the camera the entire time. You can hear what your prospect is saying. Unless they have to show you something, you can hear the conversation. You want to maintain eye contact. That creates personality, familiarity and trust. If you have a laptop or a stationary computer that has a camera built into it, raise the camera up. Ensure the camera is eye level. To speak directly to the camera, you may have to raise your laptop up. When I’m on the road and I only have my laptop to do a virtual presentation in a hotel room, I put the trashcan on the desk, turn it upside down, I put my laptop on top of it to get eye level with my camera. Do whatever you need to do so that you can speak to the camera. 

Sit Close to the Camera

Frame yourself so that your shoulders and head are the main focal point in your sales presentation. To have an effective virtual presentation, you want people to hear you and focus on the valuable information you’re delivering. You don’t want the focus to be on the background. When you sit closer you create a natural element of familiarity. You create a natural element of a bond by simply speaking to the camera and being close. If you’re far away, you remove that element of closeness and proximity.

I hope these five tips to have an effective virtual presentation were helpful. And this is going to be a two part blog series, so come back next week for five more tips for having an effective virtual presentation. If you need help with this, you can reach out and get connected with me. Text hello to (661) 228-8967 Get connected with the Catapulting Commissions Community.

https://youtu.be/XK4z_EMGQwE