73% of people are doing something else during your remote presentation. They’re checking emails. Scrolling through LinkedIn. Shopping online. One guy is probably ordering pizza right now. And you keep talking to the camera, thinking they’re listening. They aren’t. And do you know what the worst part is? It’s not their fault. It’s yours. Because you gave them a presentation that’s as engaging as reading parking regulations.
Slide. Data. Chart. Slide. Data. Chart. Slide… And you’re surprised they drifted away somewhere between slides 7 and 8? Research shows that during remote presentations, people are 3 times more prone to distraction than in a meeting room. In a room, they see you, they feel the energy, they are in the same space. On Zoom? You’re just a tiny window sitting next to their 47 browser tabs. You are competing with the entire internet. And you’re losing.
But wait. There’s a solution.
No, it’s not about cutting off your audience’s internet. It’s about stopping making presentations that feel like an Excel manual. It’s about creating something that actually engages.
Let’s look at a practical example. Imagine two presenters.
The first one: “Now, let’s move on to slide 12. Here we see a chart showing a 15% sales growth in Q3. As you can see, on the X-axis we have the months, and on the Y-axis…” 73% of the audience just switched to Instagram.
The second one: “Remember Anna from sales? The one who always said our product was too expensive? Well, in August, she called me at 11:00 PM. You ask why? Because she had just closed the biggest deal in the company’s history. Want to know how she did it?” Now you have their attention.
Stanford calculated this precisely: people remember 22 times more when they hear a story than when they look at a chart. 22 times. So, if you want anything from your presentation to stick in their heads—tell them a story. Don’t show a slide with the header “Q3 Sales Growth.” Tell them about Anna calling at 11:00 PM with the deal of a lifetime.
How to do it in practice? Turn dry data into images.
Instead of: “Our platform reduced onboarding time by 40%,” say: “Instead of a week of training, new employees are productive in 3 days. It’s like hiring someone on Monday, and by Thursday, they’re already leading projects.” See the difference? One is a number. The other is a picture they can visualize.
But it’s not just about storytelling. The variety of the narrative matters. Anyone can juggle one ball. And it engages no one. To keep people from drifting away, you have to juggle multiple balls at once: Story. Metaphor. Data. Question. Twist. Back to the story. Rhythm. Change. Surprise.
Juggle and introduce more balls into your speech. You don’t need all of them. But use at least a few. Like what?
Use metaphors.
“Our IT infrastructure is like a house foundation—invisible, but if it collapses, the whole business goes down.” Everyone understands that immediately. Even those who have no clue about IT.Ask questions.
Not rhetorical ones like “Isn’t this fascinating?” Ask real questions that require an answer. “Raise your hands—who here lost a contract last week because the client didn’t understand our offer?” Now you’ve got them. They have to answer. They have to be present.Change the pace.
Story. BANG—a surprising number. Silence. Question. Metaphor. Data. Back to the story. Like a good DJ, you don’t play one beat for an hour. You mix. You surprise. You keep them in suspense.
And most importantly: stop reading from your slides. Seriously. If people can read your slide faster than you can narrate it—why do they need you? A slide is a support tool, not a teleprompter. On the slide: An image. A number. One powerful sentence. The rest comes from your mouth.
If 73% of people are multitasking during remote presentations, it’s only because most presenters give them a reason to. Boring slides. Monotonous tone. Zero story. Zero life.
Want them to listen? Give them a reason. Tell a story. Use a metaphor. Ask a question. Surprise them. Juggle multiple balls. Because anyone can handle one. And you’re not “anyone.” Right?
P.S. Next time you present on Zoom, try starting with: “Turn off your emails for 15 minutes. I promise you won’t regret it.” And keep that promise. My presentation training can help you with that. Check it out, ask for a quote, and become a true presentation maestro.
Piotr Garlej