Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should

Maybe it's just me, but conscious and unconscious speech affectations on a Web seminar or podcast are as distracting and off-putting as misspelled words on a Website or in a business email.

I used to register for Web seminars just to be eligible to get access to the archived version at some later date. And, as we all know, that doesn't always happen. But, when I did go back to listen to the recording, I realized why I never scheduled the time. Way too many presentations are delivered in a monotone as if it's the Monday morning meeting that no one wants to attend.

Recently, I've been registering and actually blocking the time to attend the live event.

But, most times I've clicked off almost as quickly as I've joined. One instance was where the presenter not only had a very strong accent that made it difficult to understand him, but also had several habits, e.g. tooth sucking noises, that made for a quick exit even though I really needed the information. Another was one where the presenter did that thing with her tongue against the roof of her mouth as if she's "tsk"-ing the audience, but really just telegraphing a new thought. And, of course, there are still those monotone presentations that lull me to sleep.

It's great that so many companies are being so generous with their expertise and anecdotal experience. But, competition is fierce for people's attention and the presentation needs to be as professional as it would be at the annual customer conference or major tradeshow. What are little speech anomalies in person are magnified when you're staring at a PowerPoint or shared desktop presentation and just hearing a disembodied voice. Even though it is a global business environment with people from all over the world working in companies all over the world, for the most part we still look for presenters to speak with little or no accent and in English not only for US presentations, but ones with global audiences. People bail out very quickly and it's that much more difficult to get them to come back for the next online presentation.

So, make sure your presenters are completely prepared and confident in the material they're presenting. Practice. Test a recording on colleagues. You've spent time and money on everything else leading up to this online presentation.
Invest a little more time and money on professional instruction to really set your company apart from all your competitors. It will definitely translate to the bottom line when you put on a great presentation in a confident, knowledgeable, and entertaining manner.
Prospects will demonstrate their appreciation by becoming clients.