Last year dealt us a black swan event, infamously – “COVID 19”, painfully disrupting face-to-face routines and opening the digital flood gates of apps. Teams have had to adjust and adopt alternative ways of collaboration including digitally organizing and delivering presentations – a skill you can’t afford to miss out on. In this article, I dive deep into some tips that could help you or your team plan, organize and execute a decent if not exceptional video presentation.

Tip 1: Build team camaraderie

If you’re working with a new team, it pays to know each other to a point of relaxation and banter. Understanding their time zones, culture, music, unique food and even pass time can help ease the tension of working on a project. This may include knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses as it will come in handy when allocating roles.

Tip 2: Select a good team leader

After a day of interaction, the team must identify an agile team leader who is responsive to updates, with a strong ability to track team progress, communicate effectively and is time conscious. A team leader with experience in a similar assignment can be a big advantage.

Tip 3: Understand the objectives

A specific day should be allocated for the team to jointly review the objectives of the group video presentation, allowing everyone to have a mutual understanding of the expected outputs. Every team member should personally read the video assignment brief prior to joining the meeting so the discussion can focus on clarifications and strategy.

Tip 4: Talk strategy with the team

Strategy is not rocket science, it is a simple roadmap that shows “what” is to be done by “who”, “when”, “how”, yet the “where” is no longer relevant in a digital setting and you can talk about the “which” App to leverage.

Tip 5: Identify collaboration tools

The following tools are a must for effective team collaboration.

An Instant Messaging App helps team members to stay in touch and up to date with progress. Ensure each team member has the IM app on their phone. I personally use Microsoft Teams, Business Skype for corporate collaboration and WhatsApp and Facebook messenger for personal collaboration. Other Apps include Telegram, WeChat and snapchat. Pick one that works for everyone. Videoconferencing Apps enable a more visual interaction and is recommended frequently when big decisions are to be made or when discussing critical success factors to the strategy execution. I personally use Zoom, Skype for business, Microsoft teams and Google meet interchangeably. Document processing Apps such as Pages, Microsoft word, or Google docs will be required when building the content and to do this efficiently read carefully the next tip on cloud collaboration.

Tip 6: Cloud collaboration

Cloud computing has made it possible for teams to access, develop, review and edit documents real-time. This approach is called cloud collaboration and it allows teams to see versions and access changes as they are being made to a document. I personally use (iCloud, google suite – docs, sheets, slides) and professionally use OneDrive and SharePoint. The days of combining multiple documents and wrestling with outdated versions is a thing of the past. Are you still in the past?

Tip 7: Content development

The content to be developed should be structured in the format recommended by the assignment brief. This may be a corporate presentation format or an academic institution structure but everything has an introduction, main body and conclusion. Check all boxes and make sure to dot the “i’s” and cross the “t” before finalizing your presentation. But since we are talking about a digital video presentation, remember to smile 🙂 often and pause to catch your breadth!

Tip 8: Video presentation quality

A visual presentation may be delivered live or using an edited compilation of videos from all team members. A good quality video is made possible by the following factors:

1. Crystal clear sound with no background noise like the clanking of “sufurias” read- pots
2. High quality video visual which is made possible using a camera with 4K, HD or 1080p capacity at 30fps (frames per second).
3. Good lighting which should not be too bright, reflective but ideal for a soft clear look.
4. Visual stability is important and is made possible using a tripod when using a camera or smart phone. You can also use your laptop and ensure it is placed on a steady surface.
5. Grooming is important and make sure you look decent and not too distracting or drab.

Tip 9: Live video presentation

If presenting live, make sure the video sequence is well rehearsed and synchronized for each team member. If your presentation relies on Slides, then make sure to identify one team member to project the slides to avoid the disruption of switching from one shared screen to another. Remember to practice time limits and transitions for a smooth flow.

Tip 10: Recorded video presentation

If your video presentation is a recorded version, every team member must submit their clips on time to allow for editing which can be tedious. Have scripts to help in precision with words and concepts and identify a member of the team who can support video editing early in advance to allow enough time for practice. I personally use Apple iMovie, Microsoft video editor, and In Shot for video editing. Quality control : It adds value to have a team member with a good eye to monitor quality of everything from the content, script, video and audio recordings. A good quality presentation ensures that the form, structure, content and aesthetics are well coordinated. Making the presentation accessible: A live presentation can be recorded depending on the videoconferencing application used. Both live and edited recorded videos can be hosted on a variety of platforms including YouTube, google-drive, drop box, OneDrive, SharePoint and many other options depending on the sensitivity of the content. Choose what applies to you and investigate how the uploading is done.

Remember to enjoy the journey.

Although working digitally can be tasking, remember to enjoy each step of the journey and allow your mind-map to be challenged . When you accomplish the task, it will be another skill under your belt which will go a long way in enhancing your productivity and competitiveness.