THE BARD GROUP, LLC

OBJECTIVES

Be focused and on point.
Make it easy for the client to follow along and absorb what you are saying.
Come across as well-coordinated and organized.
Get the job done in the time you have been given.
Captivate the client and connect deeply despite the barriers posed by technology.

CHALLENGES

See Presenting Virtually — Engage Them

TECHNIQUES

A. Communicate in a way that prioritizes connection

In a virtual meeting, it is challenging to feel connected like we do in an in-person meeting. There are many reasons why. It is more difficult to read people’s cues and understand their personalities through the screen. You cannot know for sure if the client is listening or whether what you are saying is resonating. And, it’s challenging for the client to interject when they have something to say.

Here are ten (10) speaking tips to drive a deeper connection in a virtual meeting.

1. Speak at a moderate pace, not too fast or too slow. This makes it easy for the client to track with you.

2. Enunciate clearly. In the best of circumstances, the audio in a virtual meeting will never be as crisp as if you were sitting in the same room with the client. Compensate with strong pronunciation.

3. Maintain good posture so your voice remains clear. Sit on the edge of your chair to raise your energy level. Don’t slouch or slump because it will affect your voice projection.

4. Use shorter sentences so they can easily absorb your message.

5. Pause more often than you usually would to give your client moments of silence to jump in with questions or comments. It is easy to get on a roll and run on and on. Don’t let this happen. You will lose your audience.

6. Put animation in your voice — picture the client sitting in the room with you, and bring that level of energy and personality to the presentation.

7. Don’t read the slide because they will be bored. Don't read your notes because as good as you are, they will know you are reading.

8. Always describe your actions with words. If you are looking down to adjust the volume or are about to share your screen, tell them what you are doing. This demonstrates purpose and intent and keeps the client from wondering if you are multi-tasking.

9. Refer to your client by name because their name is the most important word in this conversation. When you use their name it spikes their attention and brings them back from wherever their mind may have wandered.

Example when asking for feedback or following up on a question:

“Michael, that’s a great question, would you tell me more about how that’s impacting your business?”

Example when you move to a new topic:

“I plan to spend the next 15 minutes on X. Dana, you mentioned earlier that this is something that’s very important to you, so when I am done, I will come back to see what questions you have.”

10. Ask questions more often than you usually would to engage the client in conversation and continue to build connection.

When they respond to your question, ask follow-up questions to keep them talking. What you learn will help you bridge what you do with what they need.

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More on asking questions in Presenting Virtually — Engage Them.

B. Manage the time you have been given

One of the biggest challenges to any meeting is managing time and even more so in a virtual meeting because it is more difficult to redirect a virtual team when you are running behind schedule.

The good news is that when you manage your time well, you create a competitive advantage. Here are techniques to ensure that you always end on time.

1. Plan for less time than you have been given.

If you have 60 minutes, then prepare a 45-minute presentation. 30 minutes means a 20- minute presentation, 15 minutes means a 10-minute presentation.

2. Rehearse as a team so you know how long you will really take.

Rehearsing individually, or just talking with the team about what you are going to say does not allow you to get the time down. You will only feel confident about your time when you rehearse your presentation, as a team, from beginning to end.

More on team rehearsal in Section C below.

3. Confirm time within the first 5 minutes of the meeting.

At the beginning of every meeting, confirm how much time the client has today. Gain agreement from them when the meeting should end.

Example:

“Mary, you originally said you wanted to finish at 3 pm. Does that still work for you?”

This simple courtesy shows the client that you respect their time and are focused on them and their needs.

The added benefit is that you and your team know up front if you need to make any adjustments to what you have planned.

4. Do additional time checks throughout the meeting and make adjustments as needed.

You have confirmed the meeting end time, so you can now have the opportunity to use time as a reason to keep things moving along while also showing the client that you are looking out for them.

Time checks are best done when transitioning between sections.

Example:

“Before we head into the next section, I want to take a pause. We talked about being finished at 3 o’clock and I know you still want to cover A and B. Given that, how would you like to use these last 20 minutes?”

The client's answer gives you important information and is a view into what’s most important to them, making it easier for you to redirect the team to what they want to talk about. All the while, you come across as empathetic to their needs.

Here’s an example of how you might redirect the team:

“Jim, why don’t you spend 8 minutes on A and Terri, you take about 6 minutes on B, which will leave us 5 minutes for summary and final questions. How does that sound good to everyone?”

5. Always end on time.

In the best of circumstances, clients will start to tune out toward the end of a meeting, often because they think the close is perfunctory.

In a virtual meeting you are competing not just with what’s on their mind, but also the emails and texts that are luring them to multi-task, and the next Zoom call that is scheduled for the exact same time yours is supposed to end.

If you are running long, you can ask for more time, but it can be risky. The client may give it, but only because you asked, not because they want to stay longer. It’s hard for you to read what they are thinking, so know that you are more likely to lose ground than gain it.

Better to simply end on time.

To learn more, refer to Managing Time.

C. Prepare the team

In a virtual meeting, you no longer have the relational richness of an in-person meeting working to your advantage, so you and your team need to be more in sync than ever before to make a good impression and ensure high engagement.

By now, let’s assume you have the 3 key messages for this client and you’ve selected the right team to be in this meeting. Let’s take a look at ways to prepare and practice as a team to ensure the best possible meeting outcome.

One Week Before: Hold a Team Call (typically facilitated by the Team Lead)

1. Share what you know about the client and their situation.

People attending and their roles in the organization
Information about the company, industry, and competition
Their business objectives, challenges, opportunities, and more

2. Review Do > Know > Feel > Learn.

Know ahead of time what you want the client to do or what you want to have happen as a result of this meeting — i.e., a desired decision, takeaway, or next step.

In order for that to happen, determine the following:

What you want the client to know. (Keep in mind they will only remember 3 things.)
How you want them to feel when you are all done.
What you want to learn from them that will help you guide the conversation and align your solutions with their challenges.

3. Share your story outline.

The 3 key messages for this client that align what you do uniquely well with their challenges. These are the three things you want them to remember and to be able to repeat to others.
The 'So What' which is why the client should care about each of the key messages or, said another way, how each of the 3 key messages benefits them.
Proof points that validate that what you do works.

To learn more, see Presenting Virtually — Build Your Story.

4. Review the flow of the presentation.

The order of topics and your thoughts on how one section transitions into the next.
What key points the team must cover in each section.

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5. Agree on who owns what.

There can be only one Traffic Cop — one person in charge.

Assign one person to guide the conversation and ensure the meeting achieves its goals. Other team members are then free to focus on their content.

Having one person in charge, from start to finish, is especially critical when presenting virtually because your team cannot rely on visual cues to communicate with one another.

Decide who owns each section of the presentation.

When team members are clear on their roles, they will be able to stay in their 'swim lane'. You eliminate the potential of straying or ‘piling on’ which takes up valuable time and confuses the client.

6. Allocate time to each section.

Calculate the time needed for the content then add time for questions. This is the total time needed for the section. The more engagement from the client, the better your likelihood of a successful meeting.

7. Review how you will handle introductions.

Option A (Preferred for virtual meetings): Each member of the team explains (succinctly!) why they are at the meeting and how this benefits the client. This allows the client to see their face and warm up to each team member.

Option B The meeting facilitator does all the introductions. This approach allows the facilitator to say complementary things that team members cannot say about themselves, thereby building up the team’s credibility.

8. Agree on next steps.

Identify what each team member needs to do to get ready for the meeting and align with the main story. Examples:

Gather proof points
Revise slides
Refine their ‘So What’ statements
Rehearse themselves

To learn more, see Briefing the Team.

D. Practice to ensure the best possible outcome

Avoid the temptation to wing it…you want to, but you shouldn’t, and you know it. Rehearsing is when you work out your anxiety and fine-tune the experience the client will have with you.

Let’s walk through when, how, and what to rehearse.

Between 1-3 Days Before: Rehearse as a team

1. When to rehearse

If you only have time for one rehearsal, make it the day before and conclude before 6 p.m. so everyone has time to absorb, restore, and get a relaxing night’s sleep.

If you have time for two rehearsals, allow 2 days in between so the team has breathing room to refine their message and practice on their own.

2. How to rehearse

The Team Lead establishes rehearsal protocol

This includes how the team will comment and agree on content and messaging, who is allowed to provide feedback, and how that will be managed.

Set the expectation that cameras and audio will be ON for the entire rehearsal.

As soon as one or two attendees go on mute or turn off their camera in any virtual meeting, productivity suffers. Everyone must be fully present and connected.

Rehearse exactly how you intend to do it live.

Rehearse in character — voice, energy, pace, passion, facial expressions.

Practice your content as well as ways in which you intend to engage the client.

Rehearse questions you anticipate the client will ask. Practice replying with concise, persuasive answers.

Practice with the same technology you will use for the live meeting.

Share and advance slides as you plan to do it live.

Decide how the presenter will cue the next slide if they are driving. Avoid saying “Next slide please” every time. It will get old. Make it more conversational.

When the slide is not needed, stop screen sharing. Practice this! You want to maximize the time people are looking at each other.

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Focus your feedback on building confidence while enhancing performance.

Positive feedback should always outweigh negative 3:1.

When constructive feedback is needed, don’t lay it all out there. Focus only on what will have the greatest impact. Often, just a few tweaks can make a world of difference.

Be specific about what the team member does well and how they can improve. Do not leave your feedback open to interpretation.

For example, instead of saying, “Focus on slowing down.”, you might say:

“Smile at the camera for a moment before beginning to speak. This will give you time to take a deep breath so you start with full lungs. Then while you are speaking, emphasize important points with dramatic pauses. This will help you moderate your tempo and continue to breathe naturally.”

Tell them why the feedback you are giving is important. People are more likely to make a change when they understand how it can produce a better result.

Example:

“Slowing down your tempo will decrease your anxiety so you will feel and come across more confident. It also allows the client to keep up with and absorb what you are saying.”

Always end on a positive note.

3. What to rehearse

Rehearse the Open and the Close.

These are the most important parts of the presentation (both typically owned by the Team Lead). Rehearsing these is critical.

The Open grabs their attention, gets them talking, and gives your client a reason to mentally commit to this meeting. It sets the stage for the rest of the presentation.

The Close solidifies what your client will walk away with, and significantly contributes to how they will feel about the presentation hours or even days later.

Rehearse each core section of the presentation.

Fine-tune consistency of message across the team.

Track the time it takes each team member to present. Shorten or change content as needed to be sure you will collectively end on time.

Provide feedback on presence and communication skills. Be sure each team member is genuinely connecting with the client because we know that decisions are made primarily based on emotion.

To learn more, refer to Communication Skills and Presence.

Rehearse how you intend to engage with the client.

Practice asking questions, then restating or rephrasing, and checking in to see if you have it right.

Practice asking follow-up questions.

Rehearse answers to questions you anticipate the client will ask, replying with concise, persuasive answers.

To learn more, see Asking Questions and Listening and Responding.

Practice handing off from one person and section to the next.

Decide if each speaker will hand off to the next person, or if the Team Lead will take it back each time. Rehearse your handoffs.

As you move from one speaker to the next, summarize what the client just heard. Leave nothing open for interpretation.

Check-in to see if they have questions and comments. Remember, you want them engaged, you want them talking, you want to know what they are thinking. Start your question with “what” or “how” to get them talking.

Example:

“Before we move on, what questions can I answer?”

Open the next section by headlining what’s coming. Make the headline intriguing to spike their attention in case they have checked out for a moment.

To learn more, see Rehearsing as a Team.

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ADVANTAGES TO YOU

You clearly and succinctly share your message and hold the client’s attention.
Each team member is comfortable with who is doing what, allowing you to maximize the time you have been given.
You are able to redirect your team to ensure you get your critical messages across within the time you have been given.
Rehearsing virtually helps you gain confidence in front of the camera. Pace, posture, micro-facial expressions all get better with practice.
You are free to enjoy the moment and deliver your message with passion and energy. You come across more confident, comfortable, and natural.
You engage the client in conversation creating a meaningful connection with them.

ADVANTAGES TO THE CLIENT

You make it easy for the client to pay attention, absorb, and remember your message.
The conversation feels natural and spontaneous to everyone in the room.
They feel a connection with the team and confident you can get the job done.