JULIET FUNT GROUP

Virtual Presentation Skills (VPS)

Executive Summary

Presenting with charisma and confidence in the virtual realm is a critical new success factor, and it’s not going away. This course will help your team advance their goals, strengthen their virtual impact, and win more deals.

ISSUE

Many executives, sales teams, and other professionals have spent decades learning to be engaging and effective in front of an audience—in person, that is. But when needing to present through the tiny, intimidating lens of a webcam, many find their confidence evaporating. Creating a connection and logical content flow in a virtual presentation is harder than it looks.

SOLUTION

The VPS course teaches every professional to be in control, confident, and capable virtually. It’s perfect for any professional who’s online presence impacts a their brand or it’s bottom line.

Total time commitment, including our peer-coaching process, is 60-90 minutes per week (two lessons per week) over five weeks*.

Each of the ten micro-learning lessons contains:

A three-minute instructional video
A self-facilitated peer-coaching guide to practice each
lesson in small groups
A one-page summary sheet of each lesson’s core takeaway
*Or choose the VPS Boot-Camp Schedule of two lessons per day over one week.

COST

The cost of a VPS initiative typically runs from $730 to $1230 per person depending on 1-1 coaching add-on hours, and economy of scale.

RESULTS

After this course teams will display consistent standards of excellence including: increased virtual professionalism, more confident on-camera demeanor, made over backgrounds and tech, heightened focus on understanding audience needs, and increased skills and clarity around preparation and scripting.

COURSE CURRICULUM

Prescribed lesson flow is two lessons weekly for five weeks, or two lessons daily for a one sprint week.

LESSON 1

INTRODUCTION TO VIRTUAL

Getting started and understanding the environment

Lesson 1 introduces us to the overall course content as well as to your presenter, WhiteSpace CEO Juliet Funt, a globally beloved veteran of the keynote stage and a frequent virtual presenter to audiences of thousands. In this lesson we encounter the two key levers upon which presentations are amplified, Production and Performance. Covered also is the profound level of intentionality needed to pull ahead of the pack as a virtual presenter.

LESSON 2

THE THREE LEVELS OF VIRTUAL

Learning how to choose the perfect amount of prep and effort for each event

A common misconception in the world of virtual presenting is that all presentations should have the same level of preparation, consideration, and investment. Now we debunk this perspective with an exploration of the three ascending levels of virtual presentations. Here we also discuss the intimacy of a post-COVID environment, which can leave teams confused between realness and the kind of sloppiness that has a price in perceived professionalism.

LESSON 3

PRODUCTION 101

Core knowledge regarding lighting, audio, camera angles, and backgrounds

Though some proactive team members may have Googled their way to a cursory understanding of production fundamentals, usually the learning stops short of the standards most executives wish their teams would adopt. In this lesson we cover the instruction needed to achieve uniform, standardized levels of production excellence across an intact team.

LESSON 4

NAILING THE FIRST MINUTE

Making first impressions that create lasting connections

As we pivot to discuss performance, we quickly realize that the individual skills that comprise a tool kit of distinction are overwhelmingly numerous, so we focus here simply on the first minute. Teams will learn how to own the “stage,” perfect the critical first three paragraphs, and avoid the one common mistake that kills relationship building.

LESSON 5

SPEAKING INTO THE VOID

The enormous challenge of presenting in a no-feedback environment

Here we address the number one fear, concern, and distraction in the world of virtual: the painful lack of feedback. Even experienced presenters find it intimidating to move through a deck or sales conversation without the cues that have allowed them to “read the room” for their entire careers. The solution will be found in the WhiteSpace framework of “raising the real while lowering the ideal.”

LESSON 6

INSTANT MAGNETISM

The simple math equation that makes you more likable on camera

With the constraints of a small screen and a seated position, it’s truly difficult to come across as energetic and charming virtually, but there is a way to combat this challenge—and it’s an inside job. This segment helps us understand how caring more deeply about our work and caring more deeply about the needs of each specific audience can, in parallel, make us far more interesting to watch.

LESSON 7

WRITING, EDITING, AND SCRIPT CODING

How the right words on paper can make your presentation more effective

Attention spans are seriously limited in virtual, so getting to the point becomes a survival skill from the first paragraph. But great writing skills haven’t been needed for presenters used to casually improving through an in-person chat. Virtual demands more — more prep, more clarity, and more brevity. All of which we will cover in this module.

LESSON 8

THE ART OF BEING READY

Understanding the rehearsal process the best presenters use

Mistakes around proper preparation vary from having too little to having too much, creating a stilted and robotic read. Many teams, executives, and pros don’t have a system for preparation at all, but not for long. Juliet is here to the rescue. In this session we discuss the methods the very best live and virtual keynoters use to get ready and how to adapt them for the screen.

LESSON 9

THE INSTRUMENT OF YOUR VOICE

Learning vocal techniques that allow you to engage, impress, and be interesting

Dozens of vocal attributes can make or break a successful presentation. A few that this module covers are the musicality of the voice, pace, how to avoid or alter monotone, the full use of range to create emphasis, and lifting and lowering intonation to build or sabotage authority.

LESSON 10

THE PRESENTATION STRING

How to make your slides work for you and a wrap-up of the course

The right minimalist slide decks can lift up a presentation, but the majority are weighty and instead drag us down. In our concluding session, we focus on the support of slides and how to create artful use of just the right number of them. We then wrap the course with instructions on next steps for individual and team education.

Feedback

“Our team worked with white space to improve our virtual presenting skills and found the content to be illuminating, to say the least.
Regardless of discipline, every team member found immediate and
implementable ways to show up more effectively for both client meetings and internal share-outs. This particular topic couldn’t be more essential to the future state of our business, and I’m delighted we found support at such a high level. This will make a big difference as we continue to refine our presentation.”

— Jordan Atlas, Chief Creative Officer, Edelman

“This instruction was exceptional. Full of practical tips and philosophical insight, Juliet’s teachings raised everyone’s online presentation game. We also loved the live coaching component, which was delivered with skill, humor, and grace. The entire group felt more confident after only an hour. I recommend with the highest regard.”

— Jamie Jones, International Centre for Women Playwrights

“Since learning the white space content on Virtual Presenting, my peers say an annoying trend has begun. Whenever they’re presenting virtually, the feedback they get is ‘You should do things a bit more like Kristen.’ It makes me laugh but also feel so good to be inspiring new levels of presentation excellence in our teams—and I owe it to Juliet. This topic is one we can’t operate without if we’re competing in this new digital world.”