Tips for Better Online Tech Presentations

Mark Koschmeder
Posted by in Technology


An online technical presentation is an excellent way to present complicated material in an engaging and interesting way. Providing technical information orally with pictures and graphs is often easier than with a written report, which can be difficult to explain. According to the University of Delaware, 80 percent of a successful online presentation is the information while the remaining 20 percent comes from the speaker, so you have to feel comfortable and confident in the delivery of your technical presentation to achieve the most effective results.

Plan your technical presentation well in advance. Create slides using text, graphics, and visual elements, and know what you're going to say about each one. Write out the key points and learn your pitch extremely well so that you can answer questions from your audience as they arise. Place your primary focus on the information in your technical presentation and the people you are presenting it to instead of the technology itself. As long as you're comfortable using the Internet, you should have no problems with an online presentation.

When you're creating an online technical presentation, speak to the camera as though it were a person. Make eye contact—face your audience directly to convey authority and confidence in your subject matter. Avoid fidgeting and playing with your cellphone or other nearby items too. According to "Forbes," unnecessary movement is amplified when you're on the camera; plus, it creates significant background noise, so be mindful of what you're doing.

Avoid putting too much information on one slide. You want your audience focused on listening to you and absorbing the information you're presenting. If you put too much text on a slide, your audience will be reading instead of listening. Visual aids make a technical presentation more interesting and easier to remember. Instead of large blocks of text, break up information with charts and graphs that are easy to understand. Make sure each slide is clear and your print is of high quality—use a common font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, and ensure it's large enough to read.

A technical presentation may contain confusing computations and difficult information that your audience needs to sift through and understand. When you present this type of information online, present it clearly and with authority to facilitate your audience's comprehension. Always be prepared to clarify what you're saying, and eliminate any distractions that could make it more difficult for others to pay attention. Finally, your technical presentation doesn't have to consist of words alone. Engage your audience members and assert your personality to make it easier for them to digest the information.

 

 

(Photo courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net)

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