Recently, I was on stage with Jack Tame when he asked me a simple question:
How do you sell over Zoom?
I gave him the practical answer.
Stand up. Raise your camera. Fix your lighting. Treat it like a stage.
All true.
But what I did not get time to explain that day was the mistake I made and the revelation that followed.
And that is the part that really matters.
The Assumption I Got Wrong
We had just run a full-day in-person workshop.
Twelve capable professionals.
They had presented live.
They had handled nerves.
They had improved their structure, delivery and presence.
Two weeks later, we hosted their follow-up coaching session online.
I naively believed they would show up as masters.
After all, presenting is presenting. Right?
Wrong.
What I saw shocked me.
Red faces.
Tight voices.
More self-consciousness than I had seen in the room.
They were more visibly anxious online than they had been live.
That was the moment something clicked for me.
Presentation skills do not automatically transfer environments.
Zoom Is Not a Smaller Stage. It Is a Different One
When you present in a room, you get feedback.
Micro nods.
Facial reactions.
Energy shifts.
Mirror neurons firing.
Your nervous system receives constant reassurance.
Online, that feedback disappears.
Instead, what do you get?
A small black dot.
Your own face.
And a heightened awareness of yourself.
The environment changes the psychology.
And if the psychology changes, the performance changes.
That is when I realised something important...
If we do not train people specifically for online environments, we are leaving a gap in their leadership capability.
The Fatigue Nobody Talks About
There is another layer to this.
Most professionals do not prepare for online presentations at all.
They sit at their desks all day.
They jump between emails, Slack messages and spreadsheets.
Their calendar reminder pops up.
They click the Zoom link.
And they go.
No state change.
No physiological reset.
No intentional shift into performance mode.
But great salespeople do not operate like that.
They move.
They prime.
They change state.
Because physiology drives psychology.
If you have been hunched over a laptop for six hours, your breath is shallow.
Your shoulders are rounded.
Your voice is compressed.
And then you are expected to be inspiring.
It does not work like that.
Zoom fatigue is not just screen time.
It is repeated micro-presentations without recovery.
Cognitive switching without physical reset.
Constant self-monitoring.
Over time, good enough becomes acceptable.
But here is what fascinates me.
When the Stakes Are High, Everything Changes
I am often brought in to coach teams for high-stakes pitches delivered online.
And suddenly, environment matters.
Now we are not just talking about content.
We are redesigning boardrooms.
We are asking:
- Where will you stand?
- How far are you from the camera?
- What does the lens height signal psychologically?
- How are you positioned to trigger connection and mirror neurons?
- If there are three of you presenting, how do transitions happen without clumsy handovers?
- What is happening in the background visually?
Because online amplifies clumsiness.
What might feel smooth in person becomes awkward on camera.
The room layout, camera angle, lighting and spacing between presenters all become part of the psychology of the pitch.
When millions of dollars are on the line, no one shrugs.
But in everyday leadership communication, people wing it.
That is the blind spot.
Online Is Now a Primary Performance Environment
We no longer have the luxury of treating Zoom like a phone call.
Online presentations are:
- Funding applications
- Board updates
- Investor pitches
- National briefings
- Sales conversations
If that environment shapes behaviour, and it does, then we must design for it intentionally.
Not as a nice to have.
As a leadership standard.
What I Now Tell Every Client
Before your next online pitch:
- Stand up.
- Raise your camera so your chin is slightly elevated.
- Move your body for 60 seconds before you join.
- Open your chest.
- Change rooms if you need to.
And most importantly:
Decide that this is a performance moment, not just another call.
Because the difference between email posture and leadership presence is often just 90 seconds of intention.
The day I watched those confident presenters shrink on Zoom changed how I coach.
Skill does not automatically transfer.
State matters.
Environment matters.
Design matters.
Leadership today is not just about what you say.
It is about how consciously you show up, even to a small black dot.
Want to See What Good Online Presenting Looks Like?
If you would like to refine how your team presents online, especially in high-stakes environments, this is exactly the kind of work I now prioritise in follow-up coaching sessions.
But the best place to start is simple.
Watch the webinar.
In it, I demonstrate what strong online presenting actually looks like.
How to use presence through a lens.
How to shift state before you speak.
How to hold attention even when your audience is remote.
You will find the link at the top of this website.
If you want to go deeper and build the foundational skills first, the StorySelling workshop is designed to make you comfortable in front of any audience, including a camera. It gives you the structure, clarity and confidence that then transfers powerfully into online group coaching and high-stakes pitch preparation.
In a world where more influence happens through a lens than across a table, showing up well is no longer optional.
It is leadership.
