5 Ways Technology Is Changing Work Presentations

Posted by Belinda Huckle  |  On March 31, 2018  |  In Presentation Training, Tips & Advice

What a great time it is to be a presenter. There is so much innovative technology out there to help you bring your presentations to life, not to mention a multitude of other tools to help you prepare.

Using the right technology won’t make you a good presenter, but it can certainly help bring out the best of your presenting skills. Read on to learn more about the technology that can enhance your presentations.

1. Cloud Storage

Cloud storage can host absolutely anything you might need for a presentation, and you don’t have to pay anything for the privilege. Google Drive offers up to 15GB for free, while the likes of Amazon Drive and Microsoft One Drive offer up to 5GB, which means you could host hundreds of presentations quite comfortably.

One great advantage of using the cloud as part of your setup is that you are not reliant on any one piece of hardware. Just imagine how awful it would be if you prepare a presentation on a laptop that fails on the morning of your presentation? Because cloud storage is hosted online it isn’t reliant on one point of failure (i.e. a laptop hard drive), so you will always have the peace of mind that your work will never be lost.

Another advantage of using the cloud is that your presentation and the source material that goes with it will be accessible from literally anywhere in the world with an internet connection. It may be that you prefer to not take your laptop away with you when you have to give a presentation at a conference, or it may be that you suddenly need to access your presentation slides/source material when you don’t have your own setup to hand. In either scenario, the cloud will have you covered.

2. Video Calls

This is a real game changer. The term ‘video conferencing’ has been around since the 90s, but it’s only in relatively recent years that internet connections around the world have become fast enough to make this a viable option for nearly all business situations. No longer does a speaker need to be restricted to a specific location, and no longer does an audience have to travel somewhere to attend a presentation.

While there is no way for a webinar or online conference to entirely replicate the human interaction that comes from presenting to a room full of people, there are some clever tools that can help you humanize a video presentation.

3. Video Overlay with Personify Presenter

Personify Presenter enables you to project yourself over your slides in the same way as you would stand beside a screen in a ‘real’ room. It replicates a stage situation on the screen by superimposing a camera feed of you, in your own room, onto the same screen as your slides.

You can control the slides in the same way as you would in any presentation, but with Personify you have the power to point to them as if you were up on stage. If your viewers can see you move and point then they are a lot more likely to remain engaged than if they were simply listening to your voice and looking at a screen of ‘flat’ slides.

It is also likely to improve your performance as a virtual presenter because it compels you to stand up and project your message confidently. With Personify Presenter, the physical experience of presenting to an audience is not lost by distance.

4. 3D printing

Advancements in 3D printing have been a godsend for presentations that demonstrate a particular item/product. The visual impact of a prototype or scaled model can really make all the difference to a presentation. Words and pictures can tell a story, but there really is no substitute for the tactile experience of a real object.

A presentation that an architect may give to a property developer is a great example of just how powerful 3D printing can be in a B2B context. For an architect to be able to refer to a scaled model of their development will add so much more weight to their presentation than if they were merely referring to pictures on a screen.

Architectural modeling isn’t a new concept, but it is only thanks to 3D printing that a company has the ability to produce multiple scaled models throughout a design process quickly and efficiently. Presenters can now bring their work to life without having to go through a painstaking modeling process.

5. Virtual and Augmented Reality

Things have moved on from the days of marker pens and flip charts. Virtual reality headsets have completely revolutionised how salespersons, architects and researchers can showcase prototypes to their clients.

The goal of virtual reality tools is immersion. This technology allows a presenter to provide an experience for the client, to incite an emotional response that supports the spoken message. In an experiential session, this will allow clients, prospects or customers to personally experience what the presenter is discussing.

In the case of an architect presenting to a client, being able to step into the space facilitates an opportunity to test how they will interact with the proposed construction, and adjust according to the results.

Augmented reality by contrast layers a design over the existing reality via a screen on a smartphone or tablet. This would enable presenters to persuasively demonstrate “before and after” examples, such as recommendations for a proposed home renovation, product design, or development of enhanced technology.

With virtual and augmented reality presenters are empowered with the ability to excite the senses with a visual aid beyond presentation slides, and drive their message home with an immersive experience.

Present with Confidence and Excel at Work!

These technologies are not here to replace your rhetorical skills, but to accompany them in the confident and persuasive delivery of your presentation. Remember that these tools are changing the ways in which we present at work, but not the fundamental skills that underpin any presentation: confidence, persuasion and rhetorical savvy.

If you would like to learn more about presenting, and how to support your presentation, get in touch with the team at secondnature today!

Belinda Huckle

Written By Belinda Huckle

Co-Founder & Managing Director

Read Bio

Belinda is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of SecondNature International. With a determination to drive a paradigm shift in the delivery of presentation skills training both In-Person and Online, she is a strong advocate of a more personal and sustainable presentation skills training methodology.

Belinda believes that people don’t have to change who they are to be the presenter they want to be. So she developed a coaching approach that harnesses people’s unique personality to build their own authentic presentation style and personal brand.

She has helped to transform the presentation skills of people around the world in an A-Z of organisations including Amazon, BBC, Brother, BT, CocaCola, DHL, EE, ESRI, IpsosMORI, Heineken, MARS Inc., Moody’s, Moonpig, Nationwide, Pfizer, Publicis Groupe, Roche, Savills, Triumph and Walmart – to name just a few.

A total commitment to quality, service, your people and you.