Virtual presentations and meetings have become an indispensable feature of many workplaces, yet when conducted incorrectly they can become highly frustrating for presenters and attendees.

Audience members can become disengaged during virtual presentations due to not seeing cues that indicate engagement - such as nodding, verbally agreeing with what's being presented, or sitting on the edge of their seat.

Create a Meeting Agenda

An effective agenda offers structure, purpose and opportunities for collaboration at virtual meetings. It sets expectations among attendees while also making sure important topics are covered. To create an effective meeting agenda, consult stakeholders - leadership, presenters and attendees alike - on how best to craft it and learn their meeting's goals and outcomes.

Once you have an outline of potential discussion points, narrow them down and prioritize them based on importance and relevancy. This will ensure your team stays focused during your meeting and does not drift too far off topic. Furthermore, it's a good idea to decide how decision-making will occur at this meeting - for instance seeking consensus, voting or giving the leader final say as appropriate.

Make sure that you allot enough time during your meeting to cover all agenda items. Otherwise, it can quickly turn into an unproductive gathering without careful planning. By assigning estimated timeslots for tasks and using a consent agenda with repeating topics as discussion starters to save time, it will help your team remain on track and on task.

If you plan on using video conferencing software for your virtual meeting, it is advisable to conduct a trial run to make sure everything works as it should and identify and resolve any technical issues before the meeting commences.

Set a Meeting Schedule

Virtual meetings can quickly become dull and ineffective without an effective meeting agenda. An agenda makes it easier to stay on target with meeting objectives while keeping conversations flowing freely.

Prior to your meeting, send an email containing its description and agenda out to all those attending, giving them time to prepare before hand so that they are fully immersed and provide valuable input during the call.

An agenda sets clear objectives, basic meeting ground rules and specific action items. It is recommended to send this agenda at least 24 hours in advance or include it with meeting reminder emails so attendees have ample time to review it prior to attending a call.

Make sure all attendees use their webcams and only mute their microphones when speaking, to avoid distracting background noise, movements, breathing sounds or other sounds that may derail the discussion. However, for meetings with small groups it can be beneficial for attendees to remain unmuted so ideas and discussions flow more freely.

If there are any technical issues that need to be addressed prior to starting the meeting, be sure to inform all attendees so they can arrive early and test their software or hardware and resolve any issues prior to meeting commencement.

Have a Meeting Notetaker

Virtual meetings and presentations present unique challenges not always encountered during in-person gatherings. A primary issue is that participants cannot read each other's facial expressions or body language, making engagement challenging throughout long meetings. Furthermore, remote attendees may often multi-task or work from distracting environments which add noise during meetings.

To overcome these problems, designate a note taker during meetings to capture key points from each agenda item and ensure its outcomes are properly documented even after everyone has left. This ensures the meeting remains productive after everyone has left and all its outcomes can be accurately documented even after people log off of the call.

An additional helpful tip is encouraging participants to take written notes during a call, as studies indicate this helps people retain more information when written notes are taken by hand. You could also utilize digital whiteboards or an interactive chat function for participants to ask questions during meetings without interrupting other speakers' presentations - both options provide participants with an easy way to express themselves without disrupting others.

Make every attempt to keep meetings brief and concise, as long meetings can quickly lose focus and energy, which in turn reduces productivity. If needed, an online icebreaker could help revitalize everyone during an extended meeting session.

Have a Meeting Wrap-Up

Documenting meetings is essential, whether presenting, taking notes, or following up on action items. Appoint someone to take minutes, or use collaborative tools like Google Docs for virtual events to jot down notes during your virtual event so everyone can access them later.

Allowing participants to express their opinions during virtual meetings is also highly recommended; this can foster greater engagement and create a sense of community among team members, while at the same time giving you a great way to better get acquainted with colleagues and foster collaboration during remote meetings.

As meeting host, set the right atmosphere by familiarizing your team with the meeting software and explaining its operations (i.e. how to mute/unmute, etc). This helps ensure participants don't become distracted by technical issues that may arise during the meeting.

When presenting, consider using a whiteboard or presentation software with side-by-side collaboration capabilities. This allows participants to interact directly with documents, apps and websites directly within the virtual meeting room - such as UX designers sharing wireframes with teammates for comment in real time so as to keep conversations moving forward. In addition, shared whiteboards allow presenters to demonstrate rather than tell their ideas during presentations.