Quite a few have commented that for me it shouldn’t be any different as I officially work from home anyway.
This isn’t entirely true. Although I do officially work from home I do usually spend a significant amount of time on the road or in our London office.
Even when I am at home I am usually alone (well apart from my three furry helpers) and get a visit from the husband around lunchtime to break up the day.
All my routines are out of the window and the furry helpers are pretty bored with us being around, although this doesn’t stop the little one from trying to ‘help’ regularly.
One of Claire Trott's furry helpers
I am also having to deal with another human being who is here all the time, but we aren’t at divorce stage yet. We are still communicating by email so we don’t walk into each other’s web calls.
What I have noticed is that although you would have thought I would have more time without all the travelling, what you actually get is less down time.
You can easily go from one web chat, to a conference all to a webinar with next to no break. This has meant setting timetables in place, arranging to meet the husband for lunch and a mid morning coffee as well as setting a time to close the office for the day.
All my booked presentations have now become webinars and this has been a steep learning curve for me and some of my co-presenters, so I have put together a checklist. Hope it’s useful.
Tips for successful webinars:
- Shut the office door
Although the cat appearing mid-meeting is amusing it can be very distracting, cats also like to share a little too much and no one needs to see their rear end close up on their monitor.
- Turn off all other applications
It is amazing how the whole world suddenly needs to speak with you by any means the minute you are recording a live webinar. You can hear the email, pings and reminders popping up on your screen.
- That means phones too!
Put them on silent, or better still turn them off. In my case, off is better or my emails pop up on my watch and it is hard not to glance down at them.
- Dress appropriately
This isn’t just for the viewers’ benefit. In order to be professional, get up, wash and dress as though you are going to a meeting, it gets you in the right mind set. People will still wonder if you have your PJs on under your clothes but only you will know the truth.
- Either have a host or leave questions until an appropriate time
Have a break to pick up questions at the end of segments, trying to deal with them as you go, is a bit of a nightmare if you are on your own. They can be very distracting for both you and the audience. Do encourage questions in one form or another though, to at least pep up the presentation a bit.
- Don’t be afraid to include a break
Just because you are online doesn’t mean you don’t need a comfort break or a quick cuppa. Set the timings out clearly and maybe turn off your camera and mute you microphone, just in case.
- Do a test run
Make sure you know how it works, how to mute yourself and others, how to screen share and close the meeting. Look like you are in control, even if you aren’t very comfortable.
- Have fun
This isn’t normal, things go wrong, we are all learning so don’t take it all too seriously.
Claire Trott is chair of the Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes and head of pensions strategy, St James’s Place Group