Don't focus on the 'what', but on the 'how'

At the last event for 2020, professional speaker Greg Ward talked to a room of young professionals on how best to present online versus in person. Our newest Auckland Young Professional champion, Kate Fursova, a Quality Coordinator at GHD, wrote about the event and her key take-outs.

In our new reality since COVID-19, more and more, online meetings are replacing face-to-face ones. We all have to be flexible and adjust to these unique circumstances.  

I'm glad I had a chance to attend the event with Greg Ward. It's always a pleasure to watch such an experienced specialist who's passionate about their job. Greg shared some excellent tips and tricks on presenting online and keeping the audience engaged.  

In our Quality team at GHD, we do various presentations to leadership, project teams or new starters. And to most, quality is a dry topic. It's hard to keep your audience engaged when it comes to systems, standards, and compliances. However, the key take out of Greg's presentation is that the success of the presentation highly depends on the presenter. If you are uncomfortable or not confident in what you're saying, your audience will immediately notice it and reflect your behaviour. 

It's all about being a confident speaker. 

A confident speaker has good eye contact, has a good 'power pose', and projects their voice well.  

With online presentations, meeting presenters often forget that their audience is real human beings and not just a screen and a camera. Greg's advice to create a feeling of a live event or a face-to-face meeting while presenting in online space is simple - we must focus more on how we present instead of what we present.  

I'm rethinking about how I deliver my presentations and not what's on my slides!

Find out more about Kate

Find out more about our latest Auckland Young Professional champion, Kate Fursova