How to Stay Productive While Working Remotely

 

Being in countrywide lockdown during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic inventively means a lot of us have been working from home over this past week. For some of us this is a skill that we are already familiar with, while others are not so au fait. We’ve collected our top tips that will help you overcome those challenges in the next couple of months, and help deliver exceptional presentations that are innovative and informative.

Working Effectively from home 

 

• Set yourself 3 goals per day and tick them off when you’ve done. Write them down on paper rather than doing this electronically! By setting goals you’re actively working towards tasks that will contribute to your business and personal goals and give you a justified sense of achievement at the end of each day.
•  Structure your day including breaks away from the screen, getting outside for fresh air or exercise. Make sure you leave some ‘margin’ in your daily plan for those inevitable ad hoc tasks and interruptions.
• Create a dedicated workspace within your home that you can leave at the end of the working day. Also turn off/remove all unnecessary distraction.
• Stay connected with colleagues and clients using video technology, it’s easy to feel isolated, especially if you live alone. There are lots of great solutions that are free (such as Zoom and WhatsApp) that will allow you to quickly connect with others.
• Ensure you have a dedicated start and finish time and don’t allow work to run into your evening. Work within your set hours and plan activities for when your ‘shift’ has finished.

 

Delivering Online Presentations

• Keep your audience engaged by using visuals and animations. Do more animations than you would do presenting face to face as. The on-screen motion will encourage your audience to look at the visuals. There is nothing worse than someone putting up a list of bullet points all at once, only to then start working their way through them and expecting you to remain engaged!
• In a small to medium size audience, pick out someone every so often and ask them what they can see on-screen. They are far more likely to be focused on the visuals and content if they think you’ll ask them a question about it! For bigger audiences use polls. Change the graphics on the screen approximately every 30 seconds, this could be a change of slide, slide animation, video, question, or interactive drawing on the slides.
• Create a presentation that is clear and easy to follow. It’s challenging presenting and being presented to online, so don’t make it any harder than it already is! Limit yourself to 3 key takeaways/messages and use the power of repetition to reinforce those key messages.
• Show personality and passion with your voice. Even with a good video call, body language is hard to read online. Stand up to present online, you’ll find it easier to be more enthusiasm and energised, it also helps add variation to the tone of your voice.
• Always include a call-to-action as this will encourage the audient to act. Call to actions shouldn’t be left to the end of the presentation but mentioned throughout to encourage participants to stay engaged.

 

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