Reading the Zoom: The quirks of presenting online

The idea of a rapt audience sitting shoulder to shoulder watching a panel discussion is likely to give most of us anxiety in these pandemic lock down days.

The solo talks and panel discussions that are a major part of the art world have now understandably switched to being online only affairs. Often through Zoom, though quite a few have been using Instagram live as well.

I’m fortunate to have done many talks and panel discussions in person, so I thought switching to online would feel natural. However, there are a few quirks I hadn’t accounted for that have thrown me off. 

I’m using this blog post to share various tips that should prove helpful to you if you’re planning on presenting online.

Lack of feedback

Reading the room is an important part of presenting - judging if people are starting to get bored and then throwing some interactive elements in to keep them engaged. It’s a lot harder to do this now when presenting with slides on Zoom as I can only see a small selection of persons in the ‘ribbon’ on the side. Even if operating without slides the faces are small enough that it’s hard to read emotions based on the tiny faces I can see.

If I crack a joke it’s good to know if people are laughing and that’s difficult now given you generally mute all others to stop interference from those joining from a noisy room or from a windy garden. 

I’ve had to assume my jokes are landing and interactive elements are hard unless you ask people to post in the chat section, or un-mute everyone at certain points of the talk. 

Only seeing your top half means there’s a lack of movement and so it’s easier for viewers to drift off or be distracted. Given people are joining via phones or laptops, there are a myriad of things to distract them including emails and social media. 

I’m thinking more animated hand movements may help when presenting online. We’re often told to keep our hands under control when presenting in person, but here it may be useful. It’s also helpful to switch regularly between visual aids such as slides and presenting ‘in person’ to vary it up a little.

Eye contact

Making eye contact when presenting is vital and I’ve always been taught to divide the room into quarters and hold eye contact for a few seconds with each quarter. That way every single person in the audience feels like you’re making eye contact with each person individually. 

This is a lot harder on screen and is ineffective. When I make eye contact with those on screen, it probably looks like I’m gazing at their stomachs. To maintain eye contact you need to look up at the camera. I have to keep reminding myself of that and it still feels strange staring up at a webcam, when there are a dozen faces below it.

When listening a lot of people prefer to turn their screens off when it’s a one way conversation. This makes sense and should be respected given a BBC article recently told us about the new phenomenon of ‘Zoom fatigue’, and that turning off screens every now and then may help with this. 

However, it may make the speaker feel like they’re presenting into a void so it’s best just to ignore the blank screens and focus on those you can see, or better yet the camera.   

Instagram live

A lot of ‘in conversations’ I’ve seen have been on Instagram live and I’ve done one myself. It seems logical given almost everyone in art is on Instagram and they’ll get notifications once you’re live so they may tune in. 

It’s great for a short conversation, maximum 15-20 minutes and ideally under 5 minutes. I personally think it’s awful for anything longer. Instagram is a platform designed for constant scrolling and so asking people to listen in for more than even 5 minutes feels counter-intuitive -- it’s possibly why IGTV has made few inroads into YouTube’s dominance of all things video. 

It’s also not possible to easily watch on a laptop or PC, and I have no intention of holding my phone aloft for an hour or so. Casting to a TV is a possibility but then the portrait format doesn’t really suit that either. 

Most Instagram live conversations I’ve tuned into, I’ve dropped out of within a minute. That’s just my personal experience though I’d like to hear from those that have enjoyed it. 

Those are my musings and tips on presenting online. If you’d like to share your experiences or offer your own top tips let me know in the comments.