Zoom to Success: Conversation with Nancy Ancowitz

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    Nancy Ancowitz is a career strategist, NYU career director, and author of Self-Promotion for Introverts®, Business Writing: Say More With Less, and Zoom to Success: Present Like a Pro. She helps professionals communicate with clarity and presence in high-stakes settings. She has had bylines in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and writes for Psychology Today and The Times of Israel.

In this conversation, Nancy talks about her new book, Zoom to Success: Present Like a Pro.

Geetesh: Your first book, Self-Promotion for Introverts®, focused on helping professionals gain visibility. What prompted you to focus specifically on virtual presence in your most recent book, Zoom to Success?

Nancy: I’ve long focused on helping people be seen and heard, not just in the rooms they occupy, but in the rooms they want to enter. That includes showing up prepared, practiced, and intentional about how and where they contribute, with a focus on adding value rather than worrying about how they’re perceived.

Work has increasingly moved onto screens, and the rules of visibility keep evolving with it. None of us were born Zoom natives. I learned along with everyone else, often the hard way. I see smart, capable people make mistakes every day, from the classic nostril shot to the mysteriously missing forehead. That became part of the impetus for this book. The goal is to turn that trial and error into shortcuts readers can use with less stress.

I’ve seen professionals lose impact not because their ideas are weak, but because the medium has changed. Eye contact is now a camera lens. Energy has to travel through a screen. Feedback is often quieter or delayed. For introverts, that can drain energy, especially when you’re staring at a grid of faces, including your own, inches from your eyes. It can also create a more controlled, thoughtful way to communicate. With strong preparation and practice, virtual presenting becomes more manageable and a powerful way to share your ideas.

Zoom to Success grew out of that shift. It treats virtual presence as its own skill set. The goal remains the same. You want your ideas to land. Doing that successfully can require adapting some old skills and learning some new ones.

Geetesh: Do virtual presentations demand more preparation than in-person ones? If so, how does that preparation differ?

Nancy: They demand different preparation, not necessarily more.

In person, feedback is fuller and easier to read. You see body language across the room, pick up energy shifts, and adjust on the fly. On screen, those signals are thinner or missing. Cameras go off. Expressions flatten. You may not see your audience at all. Attention drifts more easily because stepping away or multitasking carries little friction. That means you have to build the feedback loop more deliberately and adjust with less to go on.

You also prepare your environment as part of your message. Lighting, framing, background, and sound shape how people experience you before you speak. On screen, you have far more control over these elements, and small choices can either support your message or distract from it. A simple shift like raising your camera to eye level or facing a light source can change how credible and engaging you appear.

On screen, attention drops off faster if nothing changes. You’re often not sharing the same physical space, so you can’t rely on the natural energy or subtle social pressure that helps keep people engaged in a room. It’s easier to drift. Strong virtual presenters plan for that upfront. They break content into shorter segments, shift how they deliver it, and build in quick ways for people to respond. Even a brief chat prompt, a quick poll, or a one-word response can pull people back in.

The through-line is intention. You don’t rely on room momentum. You create it. You open with purpose, re-engage at regular intervals, and close with a clear takeaway that lands.

Geetesh: In Zoom to Success, what key skills or mindset shifts do readers develop, and how do these translate into more effective virtual presentations?

Nancy: The book builds a set of capabilities that work together.

First, it reframes nerves. That anxious energy becomes usable. When people redirect it toward connection, they stop being performative and start communicating with more intention. A simple shift like focusing on the value you bring, rather than your fear of being judged or attempt to impress, can steady delivery immediately.

Second, it sharpens audience awareness when you can’t fully see or read the room. Presenters learn to pick up subtle cues, such as cameras off or only a few faces on screen, and create quick points of interaction so they can adjust in real time. That applies whether you’re presenting, interviewing, facilitating a meeting or contributing in one. Engagement becomes something you actively reinforce throughout.

Third, it brings message, voice, and tech into alignment. This builds on the foundation from my second book, Business Writing: Say More With Less, where clarity, conciseness, and audience focus drive impact.

Here, that same discipline extends to the screen. Your content stays focused. Your delivery carries intention. Your setup supports rather than distracts. That alignment makes your message easier to follow and easier to trust. It also translates directly to better interviews, where clarity and presence often matter as much as the answers themselves.

The result is practical. You hold attention longer. You recover more smoothly when something goes off track. The screen stops feeling like a barrier and starts functioning as a tool.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.