Virtual Meeting / Presenting – Tip #10 Creating Your Content – Part One
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Welcome to our new world. As someone who has worked from home for the past 27 years, today is…Wednesday, just like any other one, unless I’m in a classroom.
Most of our business (pre-Covid-19) has been delivered in-person, 75% of which are two-day classes, the other 25% are one-day. Several years ago, we started experimenting with the various web-based platforms and created a concept we call the Virtual Classroom, and yes, it’s the next best thing to being there in-person. We do role plays, there are large and small group discussions, we white board; participants are talking, others are sending instant messages. I’m talking, typing and listening. (It also takes two people to deliver the class – I have a producer / co-facilitator helping me.)
We’ve had years to figure this out, and we’ve had a LOT of practice doing it. So now, you find yourself working at home, involved in virtual meetings and you think technology will “make it easy.” It won’t!
Each Virtual Presenting tip will come in a bite-sized chunk, so it can be implemented more easily. Plus, as this spills out of my brain, I’ll one day organize all of these tips into a book on the subject. (That was just a thought bubble, right?)
And one shamelessly salesy moment before I launch in…all of our classes (sales, presentation skills, negotiation skills and influence) can be delivered virtually!
You can contact Joe Friedman (love to speak of myself in the third person) by phone or email – 312-841-3364, jfriedman@zehrenfriedman.com. Zehren♦Friedman Associates website is www.zehrenfriedman.com.
Tip #10 – Creating Your Content - Part One
I’ve taken two weeks off – now I’m back with more mind-numbing content!
There are three components involved in planning your content when meeting or presenting virtually:
Analyze the Audience
Structure the Content
Create Visual Support
I’ve mentioned visual support in a couple of postings already, and there’s probably a blog or two more to come. The structuring part I’ll address next week. For today, we’ll focus on analyzing the audience. While this tends to be a bigger issue when presenting, where applicable, I’ll comment about how a particular tip applies to the virtual meeting environment.
The first question to ask is, “is this really necessary?” The definitive answer is, “maybe.” A second question is, “how do I do this with a group?” The answer is “selectively.” I’ll pose a number of topics / questions which by no means is complete, and by no means implies that all of these questions need to be asked or answered each time.
Will it help you to know this information? Will it change how the content is structured or what content is included or excluded? Your judgement will guide you.
Start by defining what your presentation or meeting objective is. What do you want this audience, or the attendees to do when you’re done? Move a process along? Make a decision? Commit to a course of action or next step? I addressed the value of having an objective and creating a plan for a meeting in the very first blog of this series.
When you’re presenting, the objective will tell you if a presentation is persuasive or informative. “Sign,” “commit,” “authorize,” “agree,” “act,” and “choose,” are actions that lead to persuasive presentations. If the objective is to have the audience “know more,” it’s informative. An educational presentation or a project update could be examples. Is there really such a thing as an informative presentation? Aren’t they all persuasive, regardless of the objective? (There’s your teaser to stay tuned for next week’s blog!)
Names, titles, demographic profile
Knowing people’s names allows you to address specific things to individuals (I mentioned introductions in blog 9 two weeks ago).
Titles helps you assess how detailed you might need to be with what you cover in the meeting / presentation. Microscopic view of the topic, 10,000-foot view or something in-between?
Demographics can mean a lot of different considerations:
Time zone – what will be most convenient for most participants?
Boomers? Millennials? X’s? Z’s? Examples used or stories told might have to change. Your visuals may have to change!
Region of the country? I’ve got a colleague who uses a background during video meetings that means something to the audience – like a landmark in their part of the world.
Language – it’s almost a guarantee that people not born in the US have English as a second language (even Brits and Aussies!). What accommodations need to be made?
Personal Information on key members of the audience – this certainly depends upon the number of people in the meeting or presentation, hence the emphasis on “key members.”
A story that might resonate.
An experience an audience member participated in (Social Proof in influence lingo).
Personal history – a prospect recently revealed growing up on a farm (then ending up in banking). I mentioned a client in the farm equipment industry and voila, instant credibility.
School, sports, arts, hobbies, family.
All of these can come from questions you ask during the meeting!
Wiring – introvert or extravert; creative or analytical; communication style, etc., etc.
Audience needs and interests
The heart of any persuasive argument (next blog) is problem / solution. Knowing needs is the path toward understanding the “problem” part of the equation.
Knowing people’s interests allows you to put information in order of importance to the audience. In a meeting, you might want to use this knowledge to structure an agenda.
Audience attitudes and biases
Any hot button issues you need to consider, leverage or develop?
Any landmines you need to avoid? One of our clients is an investment bank. There was a time (years ago) when the term “derivative” carried with it some very heavy baggage – sellers started referring to them as “structured products.”
Politics? What organization doesn’t have these. Does that impact the agenda, the discussion that one has or avoids?
Audience familiarity with topic and receptivity to jargon
Overview level? Detail level? Shoot for the middle? Judgement call, right? What happens when people missed the last meeting? How do we get them up to speed? Managing meetings happens by plan, not by chance.
Is everyone on the same team? In the same function? Does everyone know the jargon? The acronyms? (We’ve got a client that has named their acronyms as “TLA’s” – three letter acronyms, and of course, FLA’s – four).
Need a glossary of terms?
A glossary can go in the front or the back of the presentation / meeting notes or make a point to explain them when they come up.
Slang fits in here too – when you have an international audience, slang terms and idioms will lose the audience. “Like swinging a two by four,” lost a European audience once. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” lost my 24-year old this morning!
Your speaking pace may need to slow down – enough for you to listen to what you’re saying – that will help you to catch slang or idioms – a slower pace allows those who might be translating to English in their heads time to process.
Decision process
Who are the decision makers and what roles do they play? There are a lot of roles:
Decision maker
Influencer
Technical approver (legal / accounting)
End user
Budget owner
Rubber stamp or final approver – gives the final “go ahead”
Decision process and timetable?
Are there steps involved?
Does the end of each step have a decision component?
How much “wiggle room” is there in the timetable?
What are the decision criteria?
Are there other initiatives competing for the resources I need?
Now, your content becomes, “why our initiative is more worthy of being funded.”
Additional information I need – I’m not presenting this as the complete list, just something that gets you thinking about the audience in advance. Other issues might include:
Audience history with the topic.
What has happened during previous meetings?
Amount of time that has been allotted for the meeting.
Budgetary issues.
Covid-related issues.
Questions / Objections / Challenges – if you know it’s going to come up, answer it first! It could be worthy of being on the agenda, or part of the presentation.
Lesson? Successful meetings happen by plan and not by chance. Have a meeting objective. Send an agenda (and related material) in advance. Allow time for brainstorming and questions. Make decisions, then ask, “what ripples get created by these decisions?” Create next steps and end on time. Start this process by knowing as much about your audience as possible.
Stay Safe!
And, if you have suggestions for future blogs on Virtual Meetings / Presentations, let me know!
Joe Friedman is co-founder of Zehren♦Friedman Associates, Ltd, which sells and delivers sales, presentation, negotiation and influence training. Joe spends over 100 days a year in the classroom (virtually and in-person).
You can call Joe directly at 312-841-3364 or email to jfriedman@zehrenfriedmam.com.
