Boost your online presentation skills in Teams

Teleworking and Teams, it’s almost impossible to have one without the other these days. So it is about time we improve our online presentation skills in Teams…

Think about your role and your expectations of the meeting. Do you want a lot of interaction with your group, or do you simply need to present something without interruptions? How many people will attend and do you want everyone to be able to take over presentations? Do you need a lobby, or will you let anyone enter the meeting anyway?

There are several options you can choose when setting up your meeting. Choose who your presenters will be, allow or don’t allow participants to unmute,… All depends on your type of meeting.

What and how do you want to share your content? There are four options, each one for a different purpose.

• Share your desktop: sharing your desktop means viewers see everything you can see (including email notifications and other tabs that are open). This is only useful when you need to switch between different applications. If you only need to present your slidedeck, this is not the option for you.
• Share a window: when you want to present one application (e.g. an Excel sheet of just a PowerPoint presentation), this is your option. The advantage here: you can toggle between your applications, but viewers will only see the application you are sharing.
• Whiteboard: working together during a brainstorming moment of need to gather different ideas? Whiteboard can be used by the different participants simultaneously. So you can gather ideas and present them at the same time.
• PowerPoint: the least used option, but maybe the most useful one. This option allows you to present your slidedeck and keep the overview of slides. You even have your notes on the side. This option is great when you have multiple presenters: other people can ask to take over control of your presentation.

One more tip: if you are sharing something with your audience, a red square will appear around the item (or items) you are sharing. This is a great reminder for you to know what your audience is seeing.