Welcome to our regular HR advice column, Ask a Resourceful Human. Here to answer all of your burning questions is Massella Dukuly, the head of workplace strategy and innovation at Charter, a media services company that aims to transform the workplace. Dukuly has trained over 10,000 leaders at startups and global enterprises, including Squarespace and the New York Times. Sign up for Charter’s free salary transparency playbook here.
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How do I build confidence and minimize nerves when virtually onboarding new employees to all of the tech that we use?
So much of my career has been built around facilitating workshops and conversations. Public speaking, whether virtually or in-person, can be intimidating. More so, virtual presentations may feel difficult because it can be harder to gauge your audience’s energy through a screen, especially if they’re muted and have cameras off.
Practice makes perfect-ish. I’ve led about 1,000 meetings virtually. It didn’t always feel comfortable, but I can promise you that time and repetition will increase your confidence.
On an ongoing basis, find ways to flex your presentation skills. Perhaps that’s volunteering to lead a low-pressure meeting. The more you get a chance to experience what could throw you off, the easier it will be to think through solutions when you’re sharing something new. Additionally, be sure to ask for feedback. I like to pick a trusted colleague before the presentation and ask them to share one thing I did well, and one thing I can do 10% better. Extra points if you have a specific skill you want them to keep an eye out for.
Get familiar with your platform—Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc. Do you know where the text chat is? Do you know how to unmute yourself and others? Do you know how to put people into breakout groups? Can you share your screen? This might sound elementary, but this is where I often see people get derailed. Specifically, people can be hyper-focused on their content and neglect to consider that using the platform as a meeting leader might be different from a participant. Get a colleague or friend to do a quick practice run with you so that you’re confident about the flow.
There’s a reason that you’re sharing in a live meeting rather than email or Slack. Usually, you want engagement or to demo something. Invite your audience into the conversation. Here’s what to share:
Be clear about your four Ps. This ensures everyone is aligned from the beginning.
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Purpose: What’s the purpose of the meeting you’re facilitating?
E.g., “The purpose of this meeting is to introduce and get everyone comfortable with our new platform.”
Product: What’s the tangible thing that people will leave with?
E.g., “You’ll leave having seen how to use these functions within the platform.”
Personal benefit: Why is this useful to your participants?
E.g., “The sooner we are comfortable using the platform as a team, the more quickly we’ll see data that will allow for automations.”
Process: What process will you use to get through the meeting?
E.g., “First I’ll share an overview of the platform, then we’ll open the floor for some questions, and then we’ll do a quick demo so that you can see it in action.”
Invite participants to keep their cameras on. I know, I can hear you saying, “ugh”! But research shows that cameras not only allow for better engagement, but better connection, too. It also ensures you don’t feel like you’re talking into the ether. Note: This is an invitation. You can remind participants that they can turn their camera off if they need to.
Invite engagement. Encourage participants to share both out loud and in the chat before you get started. If keeping an eye on the chat while leading the meeting feels daunting, let people know you will get to it at the end, or ask a colleague to monitor it for you.
Don’t overanalyze people’s expressions. Oftentimes, people’s faces look miserable when they’re listening, especially on a screen. Reading your audience is necessary, but only to a point. This is a reminder not to over-rely on your interpretation of what might just be someone’s thinking face.
Take deep breaths and pace yourself. Don’t rush through your content. After sharing important points, I often count three or more seconds in my head to let the message settle. This ensures that your audience comprehends your message. It will feel like a lifetime to you, but I promise they won’t feel it.
Last but not least, the whole “picturing everyone naked” thing never worked for me. In fact, it’s a little uncomfortable, but it is important to know that you’re not alone in feeling nervous. Public speaking intimidates many people, and some sage advice that changed my approach to being a facilitator was to remember that I wasn’t there to entertain anyone, but instead to create a learning experience. If you can remember that, you’ll have more impact than you think.—MD