This week's podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. The cover people are working on a back cover, which means I'm close, close, close to the end of the publication work. Yay!
The Podcast:
The Transcript:
This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for September 19, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from the Effective Public Speaking book.
What About Black Boxes On a Virtual Presentation?
Many audience members leave their cameras off during your virtual presentation. There are all kinds of reasons for people to leave their cameras off, including eating a meal, dealing with small children, or being just plain tired of being on a screen all day.
Instead of being perturbed, consider inviting people to turn on their cameras. I often say something such as, “I'd love to see your smiling faces.” Or, “I realize you might not want your camera on now, but as soon as you have a question, please put that question in the chat. And if you are willing, please turn on your camera when I answer the question.
Turned-off webcams with the resulting black boxes are a fact of life. Once you invite people to turn on their cameras, leave the topic alone.
The Video:
The video link is here.