A few years ago, I laughed at the idea of learning presentation skills online. You have to be in the room to experience it and get feedback, I thought.
I seem to have proven myself wrong.
This month, 12 people participated in my live webinar on “How to Wow your Audience in English – Top Tips for Japanese Presenters.” Meanwhile, other registrants who couldn’t join at the time received a recording to view at their leisure.
After the webinar, one participant commented in a Facebook group:
This was my first webinar. I could hear Helen’s voice clearly through the computer. When I typed in questions, Helen immediately answered. It was like being in the same room. And the content was extremely useful!
In the 45-minute webinar, we looked at five problems that audiences often experience and easy tips to avoid each. For example, one bemoaned problem is the speaker reading from PowerPoint slides instead of facing and engaging with the audience. Now, if I told you simply to face your audience, you may say, “But I need to look at my slides because I can’t remember what to say” or “If I look at the audience, I feel really nervous.” To overcome these root problems, I presented five tips that anyone can use.
So, yes, you can learn presentation techniques online. What’s important is then to put them into practice at your next presentation, sales pitch, or team meeting and wow your audience!
