In the thick of the coronavirus crisis, the CEO of a major health care provider delivered an important video presentation to his thousands of employees. They needed encouragement. They needed reassurance. They needed to know the organization was doing everything in its power to ensure their safety. But the CEO’s video provided none of that. He looked overwhelmed and exhausted, delivering a disorganized address in a dull monotone, which gave the sense he was struggling to keep his head above water. One stunned staffer wondered, “Was he on drugs?”
The COVID-19 crisis has made clear the critical importance of delivering effective video presentations. During the work-from-home mandate, online video has become an essential business tool, allowing colleagues to continue collaborating even though they’re apart. The role online video will play in the future of business cannot help but grow now that so many organizations have seen how their staffs can still speak face-to-face even when they’re physically apart.
But communicating effectively via Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, or any other online video format, requires good on-camera skills. This is especially true for executives delivering presentations, whether to staff, clients, shareholders, or the community at large. When people don’t have the luxury of being in the same room as the speaker, it is harder for them to perceive the full range of vocal and visual communication cues that are essential to effective delivery of messages. It becomes easier for audience members to to tune out, to multi-task, to play with their phone, instant message, or check emails rather than pay attention. So, an enhanced skill set is needed to be an effective presenter on camera, whether the camera is the tiny dot at the top of your computer screen or a professional broadcast camera in a network studio.
Breaking through the camera lens to grab and hold an audience’s attention requires an extra dose of what works well in person. The television news anchor who smartly delivers your news each day seems perfectly normal when you watch him or her on television. But, if that anchor were to speak with precisely the same delivery during a conversation in your kitchen, you’d think the person was rather strange. That’s because TV anchors, who are among our most skilled and effective on-camera communicators, are putting extra emphasis and drama into their delivery to make you interested in what they’re saying. The anchor’s voice and body say, “This is important and interesting. You must pay attention.”
For most people, who are not TV anchors, the route to become compelling on camera is to add extra energy to your delivery, typically an extra 5-10 percent. Much more than that and you’d seem unnatural, as if you were yelling for no purpose.
It’s more than simple extra energy that’s needed, though. A monotone, whether it’s soft or loud is simply deadly on camera, even more so than in person, so vocal variation is absolutely critical to maintaining an interesting delivery.
We want to vary our pitch, pace, and power. The speaker’s pitch, for example, may rise when emphasizing key messages. Parenthetical remarks can be set apart with a lower pitch. A speaker with a naturally fast pace, typical of New Yorkers, can slow down to bring attention to important points. And, to gain and maintain the audience’s attention, add some extra power—volume—at key points in your presentation, including the open and your call to action.
These are just starter tips for making yourself more compelling on camera. Truth is, there should be variation in all three of the Vs: vocally, visually, as well as verbally, meaning your word choice.
Visual variation involves letting your body show passion for your subject. Use your hands. Hold a prop. Or, refer to a whiteboard. Anything to make the presentation more visually interesting and reinforce your messages.
Of course, variation in delivery counts for nothing if your presentation is not well organized. So, know what you want to say. Invest the time necessary to structure your presentation, with a good outline or at least bullet points as a prompt. And practice. Very few of us are such skilled speakers that we can deliver a great presentation extemporaneously. The best on camera talkers are well rehearsed. The more you practice, the better you ‘ll know the structure of your talk. And, the better eye contact you’ll be able to give your audience. One tip is to type key points onto a document on your computer that you can refer to as you speak to the camera at the top of the screen. Or paste a brief paper outline of your talk right next to the camera. This is the poor man’s technique to gain a fraction of the advantage tele-prompters give TV news anchors; the prompter scrolls their script right in front of the camera lens.
One final tip: enjoy the process of speaking to the camera. The old saying is the camera never lies. If you’re uncomfortable, nervous, or exhausted—as our health care CEO was—the camera will reveal that in an instant. If, on the other hand, you genuinely enjoy the opportunity to communicate with your audience and share important messages it will show and your audience will instantly become more receptive, focusing on what you have to say rather than any flaws in your appearance or presentation.