Does Virtual Content Quality matter more than Style Points?

You gotta have style, these days. Virtual style. Or, do you? You and I read a lot of tips for how to look great during virtual presentations. Including what clothing to wear (our brand colors). Did you know your personal brand has its own set of colors? Hair and makeup enters into the virtual style scenario. (Bring whatever hair you have.) Plus, there are a ton of consultants who are more than ready to help you up your virtual style game points for virtual presentations.

Let’s just hit the virtual pause button here.

Unless you have invited folks to attend a virtual pajama party (aka way-too-relaxed business casual), people attend meetings with one expectation. What is the relevance and value of the content and message they receive?

Without relevant and valuable virtual content quality, or in-person for that matter, style points do not matter. Sometimes at all.

In fact, if your virtual style overshadows content quality, things go south. Quickly. Attendees / participants spend more time checking out your home. Or, whether the green screen background you choose is risky. And as far as wearing my brand colors (orange and turquoise), well, both those colors clash with the background of my home office. And seriously, I’m not bothered at all.

Because virtual content quality transforms lurkers and spectators into engaged virtual participants. Or not. If you only are a talking and extremely stylish head speaking at a bunch of spectators, the value is lost.

Incorporate these tips. Show up to engage at your next virtual meeting or presentation.

1. Yes, please clean up and dress appropriately. Posture, please. And, most importantly, wake up. Regardless of the time zones you work across.
2. Ask questions which require real answers, not Yes / No responses.
3. Avoid old-school presentation style: powering through a slide deck with your monotonous voice in the background.
4. If you need to present data, split the screen so people can look you in the eye. And you can look back at them.
5. If using a platform like Zoom, pay attention to people’s energy levels and body language. I work with and speak to organizations full of business, STEM and left-brain analytical professionals organized into silos. Guess which folks have the most energy on a call, but may lack content substance? Guess which folks have the greatest insights to share, but may lack an engaging style? Ponder the value of what gets lost in translation when people are not engaged in each other’s virtual content quality?
6. If your are the host of the virtual meeting or presentation, it is your responsibility to manage the ebb and flow of chatter, energy, insights, and engagement. If one group of folks, or a specific attendee or two, hijack content quality, guess who is in charge of re-establishing virtual equilibrium? You own that job. You own that virtual room. Time to level up those skill sets, too?

The virtual style points which matter most to everyone involve delivering high-value, engaging virtual content quality.

Not business as old-school usual, anymore. Because none of us are going “back” to work: virtually and in-person. We are moving forward into a more fully-optimized Future of Work: today, tomorrow, and future-forward.

What is holding you back from moving forward to where you need to go? Level up your virtual content quality, so the folks sitting on the other side of the business table are jazzed about your insights and the value you bring to their business tables. Together.

• Contact me. Set up a one-hour virtual coaching session, with full access to the video recording for 30 days. Let’s get to where you need to go. Together.

My One Millimeter Mindset™ virtual and in-person keynotes, breakouts, workshops, coaching and consulting programs leverage design-driven storytelling to translate across communication disconnects between people and professional disciplines. Together, we optimize strategic business and human capital value in individuals, workforces and organizations. My playbook of communication tools and methods, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com. 

Image source: Adobe Stock.