asbjorn_speaks

Great question, that's so relevant right now!

The major mistake I usually see is that people loose eye-contact with the online-audience, because they too often look at themselves in "self-view-screen". So, the first (and very important point) is to turn off the view, so you won't look at yourself all the time.

Also, it's important to be at eye-level with your audience. Don't look down at them. Automatically, the unconscious reptile part of the brain will feel threatened and the audience will feel like they are being talked down to. So, it's very important to put your computer on a box or a stack of books, if you don't have a height adjustable table.

Lastly, the third most important thing is to show passion, smile and use your body (hand gestures and vocal variety) to keep people engaged in front of their screens.

Great questions both of you!

The great scientist Kendall Haven did, back in 2012, the first neuroscience research project on "Your Brain on Story". He studied how our brains react to stories and how different storytelling-elements affect the brain and how the information is received. This research was ordered by Obama (The American Government).

Long story short, the study showed that within the brain, there is a little walnut-shaped area that the scientists chose to call “The Neural Story Net” because it works as a net that filters the information that the brain gets into a storytelling frame, even if the information isn’t told in a story. This storytelling frame is: main character, helping assistant, opponent, fight, and a solution. And by framing your information in this frame you will always captivate people. They cannot help listening. This is roughly the same frame used in Hollywood. Think about the Batman movies for example; They always have a "main character (Batman), helping assistant (Robin), opponent (The Joker usually), fight (About the planet), and a solution (Batman saves the day)".

These elements can also be used when presenting. For example, I once had a client who worked for a major charity (NGO) and she had trouble raising money. I asked her why she was there: "Why are you doing this work? The pay isn't great. The hours are long. You must have some reason to do it?" And she did. Her father was an ambassador in India and as a small kid, she clearly remembers staying in big fancy hotels with views over the entire city. And she could look down at the massive slums from her window and that's where her passion started. I told her, that this is the story she should tell. And she did. And she starting raising way more money for her NGO.

Here is a link to a talk Kendall Haven gave at Stanford University about the study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGrf0LGn6Y4

Good question! This made me think of a few funny stories I had from previous clients.

I once coached a CEO, who was extremely nervous about being on stage. So, when he finally got on stage, his body was so full of adrenaline and kortisol, that he didn't realise what he did with his arms. I filmed him while he was up on stage and when he saw the film, he was really embarrassed because his arms/hands were touching his crotch multiple times during the speech (which is an unconscious motion that relaxes the body and makes the adrenaline and kortisol go down immediately). This is an extreme example of a nervous tic. A less extreme example of nervous tics could be the Ph.D. student who didn't realise he danced back and forth on his feet while presenting.

Anyway, you can imagine that the CEO was very happy after that coaching session, since he had no idea about his "crotch-problem".

One great tip I always give is to film yourself when you present something, because you'll find out what your nervous tics are.

With my clients (fx politicians, professors, etc.) I always use a kind of harsh method. This method is also used to train dogs, and I always warn my client (with a smile) and ask if it's okay. I call it the "BIIIB"-method. It's simply that I say "BEEB" out loud every time they say a filler word. That is so annoying for the client, that within minutes, they've got a new relationship to the word "UUUHM" :)

Try having your friends "BEEB" you.

The reason why you say "UHM" is because your cortisol and adrenaline are high, so your feeling of time can be 3 times faster than it is in real life. And you think, unconsciously, that you have to say a sound all the time. But an effective method is reminding yourself that you can do the exact opposite: make a pause of sound. And that's wonderful for the audience and can help make your points stronger.

Thats very good. I totally agree. Hi from asbjornspeaks.com