If you feel like your virtual presentations are not as good as your in-person ones, you are not alone. But it doesn’t need to be this way. In this episode, I'm breaking down the similarities and the differences between in-person speaking and virtual speaking. And I'm going to show you exactly what you need to do to improve that virtual presentation, and how to start doing that today. Because virtual speaking is becoming more profitable than in- person events. So grab a pen and join me. You don’t want to miss this.

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

Check out www.howtostartspeaking.com
Check out Episode 127 How to be Captivating on Camera with guest Mike Ganino

Episode takeaways you don’t want to miss:

Virtual events are not “Plan B”.

The reason your virtual presentation is not converting as well as your in person is likely because you're not putting the same effort into preparing for it, delivering it and wrapping it up afterwards.

We’ve got to stop treating virtual speaking opportunities as less than important as our in person counterparts, because they’re not. In fact, virtual speaking opportunities are starting to become more profitable than in person speaking opportunities. So stop thinking of these virtual presentations as like, the next thing, the plan B. The virtual stage is just a different avenue, and one that’s not going away.

It’s all in the numbers:

1. Online events have lower costs and that means more money in your pocket

Deduct all those travel expenses from your speaker fees and all that time lost in transit to get from here to there, now you have a larger bottom line and more time. And if you fall into that category, where you're coming out of pocket to travel to speaking opportunities so that you can get those leads and connect with your audience, now, you no longer have to make that investment. The only investment you have to make is time, the time to prepare for it and deliver it well.

2. An online room means a larger audience

In person events have a cap on the amount of people the room can hold. But the online stage is accessible to even more people, more people can fit into the room. And people who otherwise couldn’t have traveled an event for a number of reasons, are not able to attend online. And that opens so many more doors for you…

3. Online makes it easy for your audience to convert

After any presentation, you probably have a next step for your audience. Some opt in, they're going to join some lists, download a resource, do something like that. With an in-person presentation, this likely requires them to take a step that is not at their fingertips (take out their phone, go on the laptop later when they’re back in their room. And some won’t go through that effort. But with a virtual event, you can simply drop a link on the chat box and all they have to do is click the button. They are already on their computer, listening to you, they're engaged, they’re hooked. They’re more likely to act.

Don’t assume your audience is not interested.

Have you asked your audience lately if they're attending virtual events? They probably are.

Nothing this year is the way it's always been. And we've got to grow and adapt and improve where we can. So if we're not going to in person events at this time, now it's the time to double down on the virtual speaking.

Steps to make your virtual presentation just as engaging and impactful as your in-person presentation

Before the event:

Once you book a virtual speaking opportunity, treat it just like you would an in-person one, block the time off on your calendar, along with a before and after buffer. Because if you were going to an in person event, you would arrive early, you would do a soundcheck, you'd stay later and connect with the audience members. So why are we not doing that for virtual events? Put it on your calendar, and block out a buffer before and after.
Once you've got the time and space, spend time working on the presentation. Develop it just like you would an in person one. Ask the host about the audience, “Who's attending? What are they struggling with right now? What do they need to hear from me?” Then, work in all of that relevant information into your existing presentation to make it the best it could possibly be for that audience.
In person, you might have had activities that were super fun and engaging while you were in the room with them. But how does that translate online? You might need to rethink some of the content and make it relevant for a virtual platform. So make sure you're taking the time to prepare that presentation, develop your slide deck and have all of that stuff done ahead of time.
Practice and rehearse, just like before. Yes, you should still be practicing and rehearsing for your virtual presentation.

Day of the event:

Create a pre presentation routine that gets you “in the zone”. You can’t just jump from a meeting with a client to login and give your talk. We all are going to have different things that help us get in the zone. Make sure that you're taking time on the day of your presentation beforehand to get in the zone.
Login early. Do a soundcheck. Run through everything. Make sure you know how to share your screen to show your slides, that you know how to make sure your mic is on, your camera is on, etc. If you were at an in-person event, you would have check all your technology, done a soundcheck. This is no different. Treat it as a high value presentation because it is.
Once in the room and you're delivering your talk, don't sit back and slack and think that everybody's used to this by now and you can just kind of roll with it. How can you make your presentation stand out from all the other conference calls, live streams and all the other things that your audience is currently attending? Get out of your seat, be engaging, chat with them, not just at them. Use the chat box and make sure that you're doing your best to bring your audience into your presentation. When the audience can't feel like you see them, you've got to take that extra step to tell them that you do, And to show them that you understand where they're at right now and call out their pain points. So do your best to make sure that the presentation feels like you're including the audience, and that it's a highly engaging one.
Once you've delivered the presentation and you've connected with your people, you know you’ve served them well, it’s really tempting to just hit the like red button, leave the room and be done with it. But if you were in person, you wouldn't just leave the event, you would be connecting with those audience members. That means sticking around for QA and engaging with everybody who messaged you on social media during your talk afterwards. You're continuing those conversations. You're asking them what their biggest takeaways from your talk was. And you're collecting all of that feedback.

With virtual presentations, you have the potential to make just as much money, if not more money as you could in person. So dedicate the exact same amount of time and effort that you would have put into an in-person event, so that you can truly make the most of it, and serve your audience in a way that is going to keep them coming back for more. Even as in person events start coming back, virtual speaking will continue to be a huge part of speaking in general. It’s another avenue for more people to hear your message. And that's not going away. So learn how to maximize these opportunities right now, master the art of virtual speaking, because it is going to pay off for you for the long haul.