Planning projects for April: making remote presentations that rock, managing virtual assistants

Posted on March 31st, 2009 by Sacha Chua

There are two interesting projects I’d like to get going for April. One will be a guide on making remote presentations that rock, and another will be a guide on managing virtual assistants. I would like to put together blog posts and perhaps a nicely-formatted e-book. For the presentation project, I’m also planning to run a couple of seminars at work, and maybe even offer one-on-one coaching too.

What do those projects look like?

Making remote presentations that rock

Possible topics:

Technology tips and screencasts
- Sametime Unyte
- Audacity
- Camtasia Studio or some other video/screencast software
Challenges and opportunities of remote presentations
Tips on information organization
Tips on visual presentation design
Delivery techniques
Preparation and follow-up
Virtual conferences – when you’re part of a bigger event

Coaching opportunities:

Give feedback on title, abstract, and bio
Give feedback on outline, navigational structures
Give feedback on design and organization
Evaluate delivery (in person or with recordings) – maybe swap with people? =) – to help people learn more about how to do presentations even more effectively

Possible tasks to delegate:

Transcribe my presentations and audio recordings on the topic
Edit audio to remove ums, ahs, and repeated words
Compile presentation tips from the Internet
Find illustrations for slides
Create draft slides
Format the blog posts into an e-book
Follow up after coaching

Managing virtual assistants

I’d like to focus on documenting lots of processes so that we can come up with something like a manual. =) Possible topics:

Web research
Product search
Calendar management (meetings, phone calls, and get-togethers)
Writing and content development
Everyday tasks (wake-up calls, concierge services, etc.)

Each post will have the following structure:

Why outsource to a virtual assistant
Sample requests and time saved (Examples for 15 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours)
What information should be included?
What milestones are useful?
Example step-by-step process, similar to the ones I’ve shared
Sample output template so that both the client and virtual assistant know what results are expected

Possible tasks to delegate:

Compile sample requests and templates
Find me other bloggers interested in collaborating on an e-book
Draft the text
Document step-by-step processes, including screenshots
Find client testimonials
Format the blog posts into an e-book

More posts about: va // 3 Comments »

Short URL: http://sachachua.com/blog/p/6034

Jenny Lisk

Hi Sacha – I’d like to attend the seminar(s)…can you please let me know when they will be? Thanks!
http://luxtechnica.com Case Larsen

I’d actually like to make use of virtual assistants, however i’m not quite sure what i’d use them for.

I’ve become fairly efficient about keeping on top of what needs to be done (GTD) — a lot of the stuff i’m making slow progress on are tedious physical tasks, like cleaning up the garage and the rest I am satisfied to date with leaving on the list, not to be done yet, although that part of the list continues to grow.

however, i’m willing to expand my scope of comfort with outsourcing — let me know if you want this guinea pig to contribute his experiences.
http://sachachua.com Sacha Chua

Come on right in! <grin> I have a few getting-started tips at http://sachachua.com/wp/2009/05/04/getting-started-with-virtual-assistance/. I ask virtual assistants to take care of processes that I haven’t automated, that I’m likely to forget, or that I often mess up. =) Others ask them to do web research and things like that.

You could try Timesvr’s free 3-day trial, or you could post an opening on oDesk for an as-needed hourly job. =) oDesk might be a good way to dip your toes in, because you won’t get charged if you don’t have anything for people to work on.

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