I’m coaching a lot of people on their virtual presentation skills these days, in workshops and one-on-one coaching for execs.
Here’s one question that comes up a lot:
“I know I’m supposed to look into the camera, but I want to see their faces to see their reactions to what I’m saying. How do I look into the camera and see their reactions at the same time?”
My answer surprises them.
There’s a world of difference between:
A. Causing the exact reaction you want as you speak, and KNOWING you caused it WITHOUT having to look
B. After speaking, stepping back to take a look to see what reaction they’re having because you don’t know
C. Having anxiety about what their reaction is and needing to frequently check it
These reflect different levels of skill.
When someone says they need to “see their faces” to know their reaction, it immediately tells me they don’t have sufficient skill to simply cause their intended reaction with their communication, and KNOW they caused it. Without looking.
You have to be pretty good to do that. The best way to build that level of confidence is to build your skills.
This level of ability gives you a superior degree of confidence. It’s a, “I don’t have to look, I KNOW I did it.”
For example, there’s a superior level of communication skill you can aspire to where you can say, “I don’t need anyone to tell me no one was multitasking during my presentation. I KNOW they weren’t.” And it turns out you’re right, they weren’t.
Or, “I don’t need to see if they got it. I KNOW I delivered it so well that they absolutely got it.”
Or, “They don’t need to tell me. I KNOW they liked my presentation. I KNOW they agree with me.”
Or, “I don’t need to see if they’re inspired or are going to act. They are and they will.”
And they do.
In other words, you knowingly caused it and you’re certain you did.
It’s not braggadocio. It’s a quiet competence.
This kind of certainty comes from being able to hit it out of the park, an expression describing an American baseball batter hitting a home run that makes the ball travel so high and so far, it flies way out of the stadium beyond anyone’s reach.
What I’m talking about is being able to tell by the perfect FEEL of your swing, by the impact when you connect with the ball, and the special sound of the crack of the bat … everything about that motion feels so right, you start running around the bases because you KNOW you have a home run.
It takes an incredible amount of skill to achieve that.
When you have that level of skill, magic happens. Whether it’s baseball or communication.
Society encourages self-doubt, but surrenders to superior communication skills.
This week one of our recent students from Mastering Virtual Presentations wrote that she’d been invited to present to 200+ people at a Virtual event earlier in the day. She wrote she created, “25 minutes of focused presentation, total connection with the audience, eye contact, Affinity, FUN and intention! It all came to life!”
She had 200 people watching her that she couldn’t see. Did she have any visible sign that she was connecting with them?
No, she just KNEW, just like the guy who hit the homerun knows.
When you have that level of ability, you can actually FEEL the energy of the audience coming back to you, even when you can’t see them. Don’t ask me how, you just do. If you know, you know. That kind of energy coming back to you is very powerful.
What happened after her talk? Over 50 people spontaneously reached out and emailed her kudos. 50 out of 200. Spontaneously.
When does that ever happen? Homerun.
By the way, she’s not a senior executive. She’s not someone people have to play up to. She’s an individual contributor. With noticeably amazing communication skills.
You either cause the reaction of the people in your audience, or you are the effect of their reaction.
It’s all up to you.
That’s why it’s so important for you to have a clear decision about what reaction you want to cause and the skill to do it. Then you can go ahead and cause it and KNOW you did it, whether or not you see their faces.
Work on your skills. Work on your intention. Work on your certainty. That’s how you get on the path to extraordinary outcomes most people think are impossible.
Be the cause!