re: Teams Interview with presentation

[Lightsareonnobodyshome]

I have an interview for what would be a promotion but I have to do a presentation of up to 7 minutes on a system that I would use in the new role. I haven't used the system but there is a lot of info about it online. What I am most nervous about is the presentation itself, which is something I haven't done before and how I make it stand out.
I am very nervous about this and really don't want to talk myself out of this so any tips, suggestions and advice would be really appreciated.

Teams is really, really easy to use, the easiest of them all I find and therefore I use it pretty much all day every day. Is there anything that you're specifically worried about?

I agree that Teams is easy. Is there anyone you could set up a call with beforehand to practice sharing your screen and anything else you may need to check on.

Practise!! Set up an invite with someone to check you can present, your slides flow well etc. Practise for the time frame, try and pre empt any questions that may come up, but the best presentations are always the most natural where yhe person knows their subject. Good luck!

I would say... you don't need to make it stand out. Honestly, a good solid presentation is worth much more than something superficial and "quirky".

If I were interviewing, I would be looking for:
Confidence - that you are able to do it regardless of nerves.

Ability to talk clearly & articulately - i.e. the audience can understand you.

Ability to communicate ideas - so you can explain and potentially win your audience over to your point of view.

Use of visual aids is appropriate - i.e. don't just read out text on slides. (If you use slides then proof read at least 3 times!)
Structure of content - it makes sense and helps you tell the story.

Ability to answer questions i.e. think on the spot. Engagingness/enthusiasm/interest.

I think doing this on Teams is doing you a favour because you can have all your notes around the computer where the interviewers can't see them!

When I needed to use teams at short notice I used another laptop so I could see what the other people could see on the second screen so I didn't have to say "have I shared my screen" constantly.

I find the disadvantage with presentation mode on teams is that you can’t see the other person/people so you aren’t getting that non-verbal feedback that you’d get in a room or even on a video call. Practice beforehand so you are confident with the controls but it is straightforward to use.

Do a few practice runs a couple of days before the interview to find the ‘share screen’ button. I quite like teams and think it’s usability is quite good, although Microsoft have changed the locations of buttons a few times over the course of the pandemic so I’ve had a few instances of “where is the share screen button?” Annoying but not the end of the world. You want to practice sharing the application and screen to make sure the interview panel are seeing the presentation, not the notes part of a presentation. Before starting your presentation, check with the interview panel that they can view the presentation correctly. If they can’t, don’t get flustered - everyone has shared it incorrectly at some point - just stop sharing and reset it up again.

For a presentation, I would say don’t bother with the templates on PowerPoint. I would look at the company website and work out what their corporate colours are. Most corporate templates will actually be relatively plain and use the corporate colours for the title and main text. They might have a logo or two at the bottom but they are mostly lacking any fussy detail in the background. The corporate colours don’t have to be exact, just close enough. You’ll be able to see their style by looking at published documents on their website and copy that.

With presentations, you don’t want a lot of text on the slides. You want enough of a prompt to remind you of where you are but you want to then talk around those points. So do not type out everything you are going to say on that slide, that’s what the notes section is for if you want to do that. Try to make it visually appealing if you can, so ideally you’d include pictures. I’m not sure how much you can do if you’re talking about a system you’ll be using though. Just to be difficult, you also don’t want a presentation that is just photos. Ideally, you would have a few words so people can vaguely follow the presentation if they are viewing it after. Google will have some examples of good presentations. Practice speaking it out loud. Readjust the order of your presentations if you need to. I talk around the topic in a different way than if I were to right about the topic, so I always find I need to reorder my presentations slightly.

One thing I would advise strongly is having an email set up ready to go to the interviewer with your slides as an attachment. Quite often people who use Teams within their organisation don't realise that guests from outside the organisation often can't present. If you have an email ready to go and it won't upload, you can send the materials across to them and they can load up the slides for you.

What Elizabeth said: plus also don't forget to do a Chris Whitty and say 'next slide please' confidently if someone else is clicking through for you.

Look at the camera not at teh screen when you want to look like you are making eye contact

Also save the slides out as PDFs if someone else is presenting as not everyone has a system compatable with powerpoint or other presentation software. PDF is the safest version to make it look how you want on other peoples screen

A boring presentation is better than a pizzaz presentation that may not work right on the day. Focus on good comms in the presentation, not bells or whistles.