The current situation has forced millions of people to replace traditional workspaces with virtual ones. This has boosted remote work, and apps that allow for recreating virtual workspaces have experienced significant growth, such as Teams, which announced last week that it now has more than 75 million daily users.
This reality has meant that the many meetings that were previously held in person have now moved online. In addition, there are the events, conferences, and webinars held by professionals dedicated to training, consulting, or as spokespersons and speakers at conferences. Also confined to their homes, they have had to find new online spaces to carry out their work.
Both have to adapt to speaking in front of a camera. Although it may seem the same, there are differences between communicating with a virtual audience and speaking in front of a physical audience. Digital conferences present their own challenges. Therefore, we’re going to offer a series of tips for preparing your online conferences:
Tips for preparing for the online conference
-Practice your voice in advance: Before you begin broadcasting live, you need to prepare. Therefore, it’s important to practice your voice, especially if you’ll be speaking for an extended period of time. If you’ll be speaking for a long time, having a glass of water nearby to clear your throat is a must.
-Choose the best approach and position: It’s also a good idea to practice as if you were actually speaking live before the conference starts. This way, you’ll know whether it’s best to present standing or sitting, and what position to occupy on the screen.
-Choose a good background: The background and other elements that will be visible on screen should also be taken into account. It’s a good idea to have a clear environment so that the person speaking is the focus.
-Check the material: It is also necessary to make sure that the material to be used (presentations, images, slides with text, etc.) is prepared and ready for use.
-Dress appropriately: Don’t forget to dress for the occasion, as if the conference weren’t taking place at home, but in a formal work environment.
-Be direct: The length of your talk depends on the topic you’re addressing, but you should always try to be as direct as possible so that your audience’s attention doesn’t wan. Speaking directly and energetically is a good way to keep your audience engaged.
Pay attention to the technical section
-Check the microphone: When conducting a live conference , the image is one of the most important elements. Therefore, it’s necessary to test the microphone and place it at an appropriate distance so that the sound is captured perfectly: neither too low nor with volume peaks. It’s always better to use an external microphone (either a lavalier or directional) rather than the built-in microphones on tablets or laptops.
-Use a suitable camera: The camera you use will make a difference. It’s preferable to use an external camera rather than a built-in webcam, as the image quality will be substantially better.
-Use additional lighting: In addition to ensuring the focus is correct, lighting is very important, as it will make the difference between a sharp image and a dark blur. Therefore, it’s advisable to use lighting devices such as spotlights.
-Check the external elements: If you are going to use supporting graphic material with a projector, it is advisable to test it beforehand so that the projections do not appear excessively illuminated in the image.
