In the current climate of virtual overload how do you get your voice to be heard above the others? When discussing a topic as important as cybersecurity, how do ensure that the viewer is listening to what you have to say?

As the leading provider for virtual cybersecurity summits, Data Connectors has surveyed both their attendees and Vendor Partners to compile a list of presentation best practices. This quick summary of Dos and Don’ts for how to put forth the most informative and engaging presentation can be easily implemented to ensure the best audience participation.

This series will highlight some video best practices, so you can slam-dunk your next on-screen appearance.

Preparing Your Set: Video Quality and Location

Most of us are still working from home and may not have the best set up for our home offices. Often we are at the kitchen table, or bedrooms or evening hiding in a closet to find some small solitude of quiet. Obviously this is not ideal when you need to record a presentation or attend a session live. 

Lose the Virtual Background

However, you don’t need a soundstage in order to put together a good presentation. In fact the home office can often bring a more personal approach and make you more relatable to the audience. We have seen overwhelming stats that people prefer to see a real background to a virtual one. Often virtual backgrounds are loud, obvious and more distracting than what is really behind you. So don’t be afraid to flaunt your personal style! Just ensure that you choose a location where your background is not too busy, as that may be distracting, but don’t be afraid of appearing real in your video. (Everyone loves when a furry animal joins the party for a couple minutes, in fact, bring them into the fun.)

Have an Angle

There are a couple other important features to consider when choosing your recording location. Lighting and camera angle are key elements to elevating your video production quality that are too often overlooked. You could have the best message to share but if no one can see your face, or if they are distracted by looking up your nose because your camera is below eye level, it may all be for nothing. 

Don’t get lost in the dark! Situate yourself to ensure that you have lighting, natural if possible, in front of you (behind the computer / camera). This will guarantee that you are well lit and visible to the audience while presenting. If the video image is too dark, audience members often either spend more time trying to correct your image to see you better or lose interest as they cannot make a personal connection with you on screen. 

Get Framed

Make it all about you. Make sure that you frame your profile within the center to the screen with the camera at eye-level. Properly framing yourself on camera ensures that you are the center of attention, eliminating background distractions. It will also allow for a better link with the audience. When presenting live you have the ability to be animated, emphasize points with your hands or with facial expressions. You want to ensure that you are properly centered on-screen in order for the audience to properly see all this interaction virtually. Having a conversation with the camera is like having a one-on-one discussion with each individual audience member, giving you the ability to really connect with them as if they were in front of you.

At home, connectivity Issues affect us all and we can’t always get around it. Especially when your kids are playing Fornite in the next room and your spouse is watching YouTube videos or catching up on the latest Netflix series. We are at the mercy of our personal wi-fi bandwidth now that we are no longer physically connected to our office LAN. That said there is a quick and easy trick to ensuring the best video quality when you are recording your presentation. Record to Computer – not cloud! Not only is this safer for security reasons but the video product and quality is often much better when recorded directly to your local machine. The default setting on most video recording platforms is set to record to the cloud, you want to go into your setting and change this so that it will record locally. 

Tips and Tricks: Getting Great Video Qualit …

Virtual Events Posted by Jen Greco on Feb 26, 2021