The pandemic has meant that all of us have had to learn to meet and speak across platforms like Zoom or Teams. Many of us facing the challenge of having to become Virtual Speakers overnight!

Here we want to introduce 7 professional camera speaking tips that will help you increase Camera Presence and Authentic Communication 10-fold and fast!

Start with the End in Mind – The Audience  

Great communication begins with understanding what is in it for the audience. By placing the audience at the center of every message you not only gain genuine rapport but will also free yourself from self-focus. The benefits of being Audience-centric is multifaceted as you gain impact and confidence at the same time!

To do this effectively we suggest you think about your audience before any form of communication. Use some of our toolkit questions around your messaging to clarify thoughts and your speaking approach.   

7 Sample Questions from Our 70 Point Audience Focus Toolkit are:  

1. What ideas would be helpful for your Audience in Your Messaging?
2. What is the need in them that you are servicing?
3. What will help them feel connected to you and your message?
4. Where are they emotionally and what do you need to say or do to gain a deeper connection.
5. What will keep them focussed on your message?
6. What will successful messaging look like?
7. What are the main barriers that could get in the way preventing you from achieving your communication aims?

The above tools will not just prepare your information and help you deliver with more impact they will also ensure you come across as an expert in your message. They will help prepare you to come across with more credibility, trust, and authenticity in your performance on camera.  

Build Your Camera Speaking State

Understanding that communication is more than just information and a critical component is the animation, mood, energy, and optimism you bring with your message. We only have to switch on the TV and observe a professional perform on camera to understand how you achieve greater results if you are passionate about your presentation.

To prepare your approach we recommend you build your speaking state. Think of it as a hat you can wear ahead of any presentation.

The approach to building the right state requires you to master a range of pre-talk approaches however here are a few quick-win camera presenting tips:

1. Posture
2. Smile
3. Speak with Intent.

Posture and gesture form a key part of your nonverbal communication and in fact, create a direct link with your level of clarity and conviction when presenting. By ensuring you are showing up with your best posture you are sending your own mind and the minds of your audience a strong non-verbal signal. This will not only build belief in your audience it starts the cycle of increasing your self-confidence and camera-confidence. Get in touch with us to find out exactly how we shift your presenting confidence quickly!

Similar to posture for the body, smiling for the face will not just change your own internal emotional temperature but alter the perception of your audience. Whilst it may feel unusual like any new action – by building it into your pre-talk routine you relax your audience and specifically you relax your self – increasing the impact of your camera work.

Finally, the role of voice in today’s virtual communication has never been so critical, by speaking with professional voice control you will sound more likable, impactful, and confident. There are simple voice exercises you can do that can be simply done 30 seconds ahead of a presentation.  The most basic of these routines is simply recording your personal intro which should be no more than 30 seconds. Try that on your smartphone and playback. It may feel uncomfortable at first however we can promise you it gets easier and with the right approach, you will start to love your own voice!

Above are a few professional camera speaking tips to help you get started. We recommend you trial them and if you are facing a challenge or simply want to be more impactful do get in touch and we will be happy to show you how we can help.

Tags: camera speaking, Leadership Communication, Presentation Courses, presenting impact, virtual communciation