Giving yourself more room to move around will energize your presentations, but you’ll have to leave your comfort zone!
The Problem
Most of the time, we’re sitting down during remote meetings. We also remain seated during our remote presentations. And that’s a problem, because when we sit we’re more relaxed. And when we’re more relaxed, our voices, body language…our whole attitude becomes less lively and more boring. And do we want to bore our remote audience during our presentations. No. No we do not.
Get Up Offa That Thing!
The answer, of course, is to give ourselves more room to move around when we present online. When we move away from our desks, we have more space to use for wide gestures, moving around, and generally being more energetic than is possible when you’re sitting down right in front of your camera.
But now there’s another problem: the background we show while seated becomes a big part of the presentation.
Backgrounds are important
The photo above features a view into my office. I spent three days cleaning it and curating what people can see. There are labeled containers, various pieces of art, and other things visible in the background that broadcast the message “this is an artist’s office.” But the most prominent feature is my big face, which is front and center. So when I’m sitting down, the office complements my message.
When I stand up, I become just another element in the busy background. There’s too much going on and the audience’s attention isn’t necessarily riveted upon me.
A plainer background is key
In this image from a speech I gave at Toastmasters, you can see that I’ve moved to a different part of the room. There is much less going on in the background now, so it’s easier for the audience to focus on me. Because this was a 5-minute speech for a group of friends, I didn’t take the time to remove all of the photos on the wall. But if I were shooting a webinar, I would’ve.
Moving away from your desk allows you more freedom of movement, whether you’re standing or if you’re in a wheelchair. More of you is in the frame and you get a bigger “stage” to use.
The mess behind the scenes
To prepare the location for the video, I rolled some file cabinets out of the shot and moved some art supplies that had been wedged between them. I also needed to add lighting and a second camera. Here’s what it looked like from my point of view:
Now you can see the sausage being made! That big object on the left is a spotlight behind an umbrella, and there was another one to my right that’s out of the frame. You can see all the mess that’s off camera and the folding screen that I sometimes use to hide my office view when I’m seated during a Zoom meeting.
I’d also like to point out my low-rent teleprompter, which is that long sheet of paper taped to the camera stand. I printed out my speech outline and made the main points super-big and in red ink so I could read them without my glasses while I was onscreen.
Camera #2 is perched atop the camera stand, held in place with a rubber band. The cable is snaking across the room to reach my laptop.
Now you try it!
All in all, it probably took me about 20 minutes to set up and break down the new shooting location so it wasn’t that hard to do. If you have a laptop, you don’t have to worry about using a different camera. Just move the laptop.
It might seem a bit weird at first to move away from your desk while doing your remote presentations. But you’ll feel more energized, which will come across to your audience. Give it a try and let me know how it worked out in the comments below!