After spending a year giving virtual talks, I wanted to share a few tips on shouting into the void - some my own reflections, others bestowed upon me


It's a stifling way to start a discussion. Instead, tell everyone to open their mics for 5 seconds and say hello. It's chaotic, energising and funny - and reminds everyone to mute themselves anyway.

You can take questions from the chat, react to things, summarise main points/ask your own inciting questions (typed out in advance to copy-paste). Remind people to share ideas in the chat - not just for your benefit, but for everyone else's too.

Ask people to take a moment to reflect on things. Tell them to take a note. Wait for people to become brave enough to answer your question. Give them tasks. If you're comfortable, people will take your lead.

Will people be able to see your slides? Can we edit out pauses or silences? Where will it be available? Will people be able to see the chat? Can I decline to record if the format doesn't suit a recorded version?

People lose concentration much more easily online. Change your topic and sections regularly. Interject with exercises, tasks and questions. Use visuals (not walls of text) to keep attention.

Changing the person on screen helps, but be kind to those you ask to share screen time. Ask them to agree/prep in advance, ask them to elaborate on a point from the chat or simply ask for them to share an example/experience you know they have.

Use multimedia - show them videos and images to react to. Use polls and other interactive tools. But always test these things in advance with the specific platform/connection.

If someone can't hear you, can't see the video, are having issues with a tool - have someone on hand to help address these problems so you can keep to your main job. The assistant can also monitor the chat, flagging interesting issues and questions.

This goes for both technical issues and your content. Maybe if they can't hear you their speaker is broken. Perhaps the question they're spamming in the chat is not about your content, but about their dissatisfaction with the universe.

I don't do the curated bookshelf thing, but I do make sure the angle doesn't give them a view up my nose, the lighting is good enough that they can see me and that I at least try to look into the camera sometimes.

If appropriate for the format, breakout rooms allows people to react and share ideas. It can also give people practice talking about an idea, so that when you come back to the main session they'll be more at ease sharing views.

Hope you found these useful. Some of these were inspired by tips @alexekkelenkamp, @DavidHenigUK and Lars Duursma shared with me - so thanks guys!
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Once a month I share ideas, stories and skills based on things I've read or projects I've done: https://tommoylan.substack.com/

Once a month I share ideas, stories and skills based on things I've read or projects I've done: https://tommoylan.substack.com/