Talk about the before picture and the after picture. So, d onвЂ™t only tell your audience about the solution - talk about the problem and then the solution. ДЄs Nancy Duarte shows in her book, Resonate, great speakerвЂ™s capture attention by toggling back and forth between what is and what could be. Keep your virtual communication dynamic by using different types of content to create contrast and keep them engaged. ДЄs great as stories are, if thatвЂ™s the only type of content you use, theyвЂ™ll lose their impact. Something along the lines of, вЂњI was chatting with my colleague yesterday, and s he saidвЂ¦ вЂќ is sometimes all you need to make your content feel story-like.

A quick anecdote : Story snippets are impactful as well.Talk about the challenges you faced and how you overcame them. A business story : T alk about a time when you were in the audienceвЂ™s shoes.A customer story : I f youвЂ™re uncomfortable with a personal story, consider a customer storyвЂ“let the audience see themselves in the shoes of people that have been there before the m.Audiences tend to connect well with vulnerability. A personal story : We think the more personal, the better.Here are several story types to considerВ forВ your nextВ virtual communication: They donвЂ™t even have to have the expected beginning, middle, and end. S tories donвЂ™t have to start with вЂњ O nce upon a timeвЂќ to be effective. Stories are also likely to keep your audience interested and engaged, no matter how many virtual distractionsвЂЇsurround them. When weвЂЇcanвЂ™t be in the room together, stories makeвЂЇus feel as if we are. ThereвЂ™s a reason we like d bedtime stories as kids and ghost stories around a campfire -t heyвЂ™re engaging!ДЄt Duarte, w e believe stories connectвЂЇpeople like no other content can. ДЄll of these are immensely more engaging than a boring, expected intro duction. And our personal favoriteвЂ¦tell a story.Use a quote from an interesting person.They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so consider showing a powerful visual instead of speaking. A statistic can wow them and get them to pay attention.An analogy can be a powerful way to simplify your content and ensure understanding from the start.TryВ one of these techniques in yourВ virtual communicationВ toВ grabВ your audienceвЂ™s attention:

Instead of simply introducing yourself by name and titl e or telling them what the presentation is going to be about, c reate a strong, interesting, memorable introduction that engages your audience from the very beginning. Research show s that speakers have about 30 seconds to capture the audienceвЂ™s attention before they decide whether or not to pay attention. Your audience is more likely to hear your message if itвЂ™s presented in shorter bursts. Remove conjunctions such as вЂњandвЂќ and вЂњso, вЂќ and see if you can limit each sentence to 10 words max. If you find your sentences sound long, create your content in smaller chunks. B ut when you speak them, you might identify verbose language. ItвЂ™s sometimes difficult to know how longwinded your sentences are when you read them. Your audience might have difficulty absorbing lengthy sentences. Keeping it short not only matters at the presentation level, but also at the sentence level. Your audience will appreciate getting that time back, and theyвЂ™re more likely to hear everything you say, not just bits and pieces. T hink about what details you really need in your virtual communication, and offer the same message in a more concise way. Maintaining engagement for 30-minute talks is more doable - and 15 minutes is even better. Your audience has too many other things to pull them away. In вЂ“ person 60+- minute meeting s were difficult, but v irtually, itвЂ™s practically impossible to pay attention.

When it comes to your overall presentation length, keep it short. Keep Your Presentation (andВ Sentences) ShortД«ecause everyone is multi-tasking while working from home, itвЂ™s important that your virtual engagement is concise. Here are 5 simple ways to adjust your virtual content and keep people engaged. The good news is y our content - what you say - can grab your audienceвЂ™s attention and keep them focused. Д«etween k ids, pets, back-to-back virtual meetings, email inbox es, Tiger King, and copious amounts of quarantine snack s- itвЂ™s no wonder everyone is feeling distracted.ДЄccording to Forbes, more than 80% of American employees have reported feeling significantly more distracted since they started working from home. So, when itвЂ™s your turn to lead one, you know what youвЂ™re up against. YouвЂ™ve been on the audience end of virtual gatherings for the past couple months.

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